The UK has been "very clear" that it did not want to be part of the US and Israel's "original offensive action,” Lammy continues, adding that "of course" the UK will support defensive action.

Asked what this defensive action involves, and what its limits are, Lammy says he does not want to be drawn into "operational details".

Pushed further, he says he believes that striking missile sites within Iran to prevent the launch of attacks "would be legal".

"It is entirely legal to protect our people and protect our staff, and therefore all operational capability is available to us in those circumstances," he says.

The conversation moves onto Cyprus, with Lammy saying he has 400 additional staff dealing with air defences, including over the island.

The UK has deployed Typhoons and F35s to the region, he says, adding that France, Germany and others have also sent ships to the region.

Cyprus is part of Nato and the safety of the military base there is essential, he says.

When pushed on why HMS Dragon will not arrive for "weeks". Lammy says that the warship is not the only capability the UK has and that the air force is already keeping people safe there.

HMS Dragon will "bolster that over the coming days", he says.

Lammy then highlights that the UK pre-deployed to Cyprus in January and February into the region, "anticipating concern that many people will recognise".

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy says 6,500 Brits have already returned from the UAE and adds that he is pleased that a flight from Oman arrived at London Stansted Airport overnight.

He tells BBC Breakfast that 100,000 British nationals across the Middle East have registered their presence there.

"It is our intention and hope to see more charter flights out of Oman and commercial flights out of the region," he says.

He adds that the UK government is working with commercial airlines to "get our people out" when the airspace opens back up.

"This is a technical operation, and we've got more people to evacuate than in Afghanistan... this is a pretty big feat".

Image source, PA Media

A flight chartered by the UK government to bring back some Britons stranded in the Middle East landed at London Stansted Airport overnight.

The flight departed from Oman's capital city, Muscat - nearly 24 hours late due to technical issues - on Thursday night local time before landing at 00:53 GMT on Friday.

British nationals who landed in the UK on the first government flight out of the Middle East since the widespread conflict began six days ago have told the BBC how they scrambled across borders to get on the plane.

Fazal Chowdhury, a resident in Dubai, describes the experience as "a little bit surreal to be honest", saying that he and his wife decided to drive to Oman's capital Muscat as soon as they saw the initial reports of attacks.

"We just made a run for it straight away, checked into a hotel in Muscat, and there we were just waiting," Chowdhury said after landing in Stansted this morning.

Thousands of British nationals remain stuck in the Middle East.

Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the repatriation process is "not going to happen overnight", adding that the government will lay on additional charter flights in the coming days.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy will be speaking to the BBC shortly, we’ll bring you all the key lines.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

“The house was shaking for five minutes straight. Last night was the worst night,” says a man in his 30s in Tehran when I asked if he was doing okay.

He says he isn't. He tells me he could barely sleep last night because of the “constant explosions.”

It is still very difficult to contact people inside Iran amid the ongoing internet outage in the country, but some have managed to connect momentarily. I am withholding the identities of those I am speaking to, so I can protect their safety.

“I woke up to the sound of explosions at 5am and haven’t been able to sleep ever since,” says one woman in the capital.

“It was terrible. They were hitting so hard that all the windows were shaking. It sounded as if a dragon was making noises,” another woman says.

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry says it intercepted missile and drone attacks within its territory overnight.

Across several updates on X, it says a cruise missile was "intercepted and destroyed" near the city of Al-Kharj, south east of the capital Riyadh.

In the last hour it has also reported that several drones have been taken down near the capital itself.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Beirut

Civilians forced to flee from the southern suburbs of Beirut have woken this morning in shelters, cars, parks and relatives' houses.

The Israeli military last night said it was striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahieh area - a stronghold of the Iran-backed group - after it issued an unprecedented evacuation order for the south of the capital, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people.

Civilians sleeping on the streets spoke of their fear and confusion over what was happening.

"We packed only the important stuff like blankets," one woman from Dahieh told me. "We're really afraid but this is our land and if war comes, we just have to manage. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

The Lebanese Health Ministry says 123 people have been killed by the Israeli military since Monday and 683 injured.

Image source, Reuters

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it launched a "broad-scale wave" of strikes against Beirut overnight.

It says it struck "Hezbollah command centres" and a facility storing drones "for conducting attacks against Israel" in the Dahieh suburb of the Lebanese capital.

"The IDF will not tolerate any harm to be caused to the residents of the State of Israel," it says in a statement.

Osmond Chia
Business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The US Treasury Department has temporarily eased sanctions to allow India to buy Russian oil currently stranded at sea.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the 30-day waiver will allow oil to keep flowing in the global market and "alleviate pressure caused by Iran's attempt to take global energy hostage".

The move is a "deliberate short-term measure" that "will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government" as it only involves oil already stranded at sea, Bessent said on X.

US President Donald Trump sanctioned Russian oil following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, forcing buyers to seek alternatives.

Washington has put particular pressure on India - a major buyer of Russian energy - to stop buying its oil in an effort to reduce money flowing to fund the invasion.

Separately, China is in negotiations with Iran to allow ships carrying crude oil and Qatari gas safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing anonymous sources.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

The Israeli military said that its strikes overnight targeted what it called “regime infrastructure” in Tehran. It says it has also been attacking “Hezbollah infrastructure” in the armed group’s strongholds in Beirut.

Israel’s military is stressing what it says is its “synchronised action” and “truly historic co-operation” with US forces in Iran.

The IDF chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, said that the initial “surprise strike phase” had involved establishing “air superiority” and attacking ballistic missile sites. He said there would be “additional surprises” in the next phase to “further dismantle the regime".

Overnight, Israeli warplanes carried out their 14th wave of strikes on Iran since Saturday, with heavy bombing reported in Tehran and other cities. On Thursday, sirens warning of Iranian missiles went off repeatedly in Israel with one apparent use of a cluster warhead – although no injuries were reported.

In Lebanon, there were more explosions in southern Beirut overnight, after Israel’s military gave warnings for people to leave entire neighbourhoods – causing scenes of panic.

Image source, EPA

Last night at the US Central Command, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper and President Donald Trump held a briefing on US operations against Iran.

Hegseth said “the amount of firepower over Iran and over Tehran is about to surge dramatically”.

He added that the UK decision to allow the US to use the Diego Garcia military base would help Washington intensify attacks.

“It was unfortunate that the Brits didn’t from day one say, ‘Hey, go ahead and have access,’” Hegseth said. “But we got there.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK would send four additional Typhoon fighter jets to join Britain’s squadron in Qatar. The UK has allowed the US to use British bases “to conduct defensive operations”, the PM said.

Image source, EPA

US President Donald Trump has told NBC News, external that it would be a "waste of time" currently to send US troops to Iran, and that it is not something he is thinking about right now.

"It's a waste of time. They've lost everything. They've lost their navy. They've lost everything they can lose," Trump said on Thursday.

He added that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's earlier remark to NBC that Iran was ready for a US or Israeli ground invasion was a "wasted comment".

Trump also said he wanted to "clean out" the current Iranian leadership structure.

“We want them to have a good leader. We have some people who I think would do a good job," he said, without naming anyone.

Strikes have been reported across the Middle East overnight, as the US-Israel war with Iran enters its seventh day.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

BBC correspondent Greg Mackenzie was at Stansted Airport speaking to passengers on the first UK government flight evacuating citizens from the Middle East.

Some spoke about the anxiety and stress they experienced in Muscat, Oman as they waited for their flight to depart.

The UK government has said it is looking into organising more charter flights in the coming days out of Oman.

There have also been commercial flights flying out of the United Arab Emirates to the UK.

Image source, Getty Images

During this war, BBC reporters have been deployed across the Middle East. While not on the ground in Iran, our colleagues have also managed to speak to some people inside the country despite internet outages.

Here is some of what they have been saying:

• "The number of explosions, the destruction, what is happening - it's unbelievable," says Salar, whose name has been changed, in Tehran. "Each day has felt like a month," he says. "The volume of attacks is so high."
• "We are not used to having missiles intercepted above your head," influencer HofitGolan living in Dubai told BBC News. "I saw missiles being intercepted and smoke on the Palm [building].”
• "Let them say whatever they want - I'm not going to Beirut to be on the streets," said Mohamed, who is among the civilians in southern Lebanon told to leave their homes because of military action. "I'm not next to Hezbollah or any of its infrastructure, so I should be fine," he said, adding that he would rather die in his home than flee.
• Andrew Crow and Jean Weir, from Glasgow, had checked out of the Fairmont The Palm hotel in Dubai just hours before it was caught in a large explosion on Saturday. "The flight was a long one on the way back, I can assure you, but we are relieved to be home," Andrew said.

We're continuing to bring you the latest developments from the war between Israel, the US and Iran.

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

• In a briefing at the US Central Command, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that firepower over Iran is about to expand dramatically
• While President Trump said the US has been striking Iranian drone and missile systems "every single hour"
• Hegseth said that the US can sustain its campaign for as long as it wants to, and that a number of US allies have also stepped up to help
• He also said that Trump will have a "heck of a say" in who will run Iran, while Trump himself earlier told US outlets that he will "have to be involved" in the appointment of the next leader
• Meanwhile, Israel says it has launched strikes in Beirut and Tehran; Iran says that it has launched missiles at Tel Aviv; Bahrain said Iran had attacked a hotel and residential buildings; and Qatar said it intercepted a drone attack on the al-Udeid air base, the largest US military base in the Middle East
• The first UK government flight evacuating citizens out of the Middle East has landed at London Stansted Airport after its departure from Oman