Image source, Getty Images

A little earlier, John Bolton, Donald Trump's national security adviser during his first term as president, told the BBC World Service it is "critical" for the US to work with opposition inside Iran.

Nobody can hand the people of Iran "freedom on a silver platter", they are "going to have to help get it", he says.

Bolton says this should involve identifying generals who "might come across to their side", as well as providing opposition figures with resources and communication capabilities.

"The real question is whether President Trump has the patience and persistence to see this thing through," Bolton adds.

We're seeing an update from the Israeli military, which says its air force has struck the Iranian regime's leadership compound.

In a statement on Telegram, the IDF says "numerous munitions" were dropped on the Presidential Office and the Supreme National Security Council.

It adds that a military training institution and "additional key regime infrastructure" were also hit.

Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei used the compound, the IDF says. Khamenei was killed at his own compound over the weekend in US-Israeli strikes.

New verified video shows explosions east of Tehranpublished at 09:56 GMT

09:56 GMT

By Emma Pengelly and Paul Brown

BBC Verify has confirmed new footage of explosions and smoke rising in Pardis, Tehran Province, east of the capital city.

We've reviewed satellite imagery showing the area of the smoke plumes, but haven't been able to identify a potential target.

Our checks show the footage first began being shared on social media on Tuesday morning. We’ve geolocated the visuals by matching a sports pitch, high-rise buildings and features of a nearby hillside to those visible in satellite imagery.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it was carrying out "simultaneous strikes" in Tehran and Beirut.

Image source, Telegram/VahidOnline

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Some 787 people have been killed in Iran since the US and Israel launched strikes at the country on Saturday, Iran's Red Crescent Society says.

Meanwhile, US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) reports that 742 civilians have died, including 176 children.

Fatemeh Mohammadbeigi, a member of the Iranian Parliament Health Commission, said on Monday that nine hospitals were targeted in Iran, accusing Israel and the US of targeting them.

The IDF has responded to allegations of targeting Gandhi Hospital in Tehran, saying the attack "was not targeted at the hospital".

The Iran Foreign Ministry has today accused both Israel and the US of targeting the same hospital.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

"This is a systematic attack on not just the military but civilians," journalist Mohammad Khatibi tells BBC World Service from inside Iran.

He says "every part" of the capital, Tehran, has been hit by US and Israeli strikes since the conflict erupted on Saturday.

This includes communication towers, broadcasting stations and the city's Grand Bazaar, which Khatibi says has been "reduced to rubble".

Asked what the reaction has been to the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - killed in US-Israeli strikes - Khatibi says there were "small groups" of people celebrating but there's been no large-scale unrest.

He also says that due to strikes on military and police installations - which typically respond to such unrest - he believes "separatists and opposition groups outside of Iran" will soon call for demonstrations similar to what Iran saw in January - which saw thousands killed.

"This [regime change] was the plan all along," Khatibi claims. "The nuclear issue I think it was just the excuse."

• A reminder: International news organisations are often refused visas to Iran, which severely limits their ability to gather information there.

Image source, EPA

Away from Lebanon, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says the country's air force has struck regime targets in Tehran with "significant force".

Katz says Israel is continuing to "degrade" missile-launch capabilities in the country, too.

The Iranian operation will "continue with full force for as long as necessary", he says.

A new ground incursion or better defence of civilians? Israel has its say on Lebanonpublished at 09:29 GMT

09:29 GMT

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Israel’s new ground move into “strategic areas in Lebanon” is a new blow to Lebanese sovereignty and the 2024 US-brokered ceasefire deal that was meant to end fighting between Israel and the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah.

But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is stressing its aim is not a new ground incursion, but better defence of civilians in northern Israel - tens of thousands of whom had to leave their homes during a year of cross-border attacks that went on in parallel to the Gaza war.

The IDF partially withdrew from southern Lebanon following the ceasefire deal. However, it remained in five points. It says it sent in additional ground troops on Monday. Israeli defence analysts suggest these will help create a new buffer zone to preempt any possible attempt by Hezbollah to carry out a cross-border raid.

Lebanese media say that Lebanon’s army has already left border positions in the south of the country in anticipation of the Israeli move.

On Monday, the IDF told people in more than 50 villages in southern Lebanon to leave.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Beirut

I’ve been talking to people from Lebanese communities near the Israeli border, following the announcement that the Israeli military will "advance and seize strategic areas in Lebanon".

A man still in the town of Marjayoun, in the south of Lebanon, who asked not to be named because of safety fears, says he will stay in his home until he is forced to evacuate.

"We’ve seen the reports but we’re not sure what we should do or what might happen next - I’ll keep assessing the situation with my family and move my parents to a safer place if necessary," he tells me.

Khoudor Sheikh Ali, 26, has fled from his home in the south and is now here in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

He says he was expecting this escalation, but that now "we can only pray".

"It feels very difficult and uncertain. I’ll watch how things unfold - I can’t do anything else."

A little before 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT), the Israeli military launched fresh strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut as well as Iran's capital Tehran.

Israel says it's hitting "military targets" in both locations. In Lebanon, the IDF says it's targeting sites that belong to Iran-backed Hezbollah.

We're yet to see images of the damage caused in Iran, but the below are from locations in Iran.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Shanaz Musafer
Business reporter

Europe's benchmark gas price is up 33% today, while the UK benchmark is also up 30% - both are trading at their highest levels since January 2023.

Gas prices had jumped about 50% on Monday after QatarEnergy, one of the world's biggest exporters, halted production following "military attacks" on its facilities.

According to Trading Economics, the UK is "particularly exposed due to limited storage capacity and heavy reliance on imports, with domestic inventories below 30% at the end of February".

Image source, UGC

In Oman, a fuel tank at the Port of Duqm has been targeted in a drone attack, according to the country's state news agency.

"The resulting damage was brought under control without any human casualties being recorded," an unnamed security source is cited as saying.

The same port was targeted by drones over the weekend. One worker was injured, according to reports.

In nearby Qatar, production of liquefied ⁠natural gas was halted on Monday - about a fifth of global supply - after Iranian attacks on some of its facilities. Saudi Arabia also suspended ​production at its largest domestic refinery.

Oman has been a key mediator for years in US-Iran talks - the most recent of which took place in the country last month, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi describing the mediated discussions as a "good beginning".

We've a few more lines to bring you from Darren Jones, chief secretary to Keir Starmer, who's been talking to BBC Breafkast.

He says the British armed forces are now involved in the Iranian conflict - in a defensive capacity - because British citizens are "at risk".

"We were not involved in the initial American and Israeli strikes in Iran, but now that British citizens are at risk... it is right that we do everything we can to reduce that risk and to defend British citizens," Jones says.

What does this involvement look like? It includes RAF pilots being in the skies "shooting down missiles", he says, and allowing the US to use British air bases. (Starmer explained that latter decision to MPs yesterday - read more on that here.)

Asked if he believes the US's actions have been illegal, Jones says this is a question for the US.

This morning, new comments from Donald Trump have been released by the Sun - in which the US president says the US relationship with the UK is "obviously not what it was".

Now the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Darren Jones, says the relationship "remains important".

"I understand the president has not been satisfied that we were not involved with the first wave of strikes," he tells BBC Breakfast.

However, Jones says the UK "will only commit British armed forces when there is a legal basis to do so, a clear plan of action and when it is in the interest of our country".

He adds that the US-UK relationship "operationally" remains the same, as their militaries are continuing to work closely together "right now".

"I recognise the president has taken a different view... but as I say our military personnel are collaborating now in the interest of British citizens in the region," he adds.

"That's a reflection of our special relationship, working as the public would expect us to."

As a reminder, the UK initially said the US couldn't use British bases for strikes on Iran - then said they could be used for "defensive" strikes.

Israel's ground advance a new blow to Lebanese sovereigntypublished at 07:56 GMT

07:56 GMT

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

As we reported moments ago, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz says the Israeli military will seize "strategic areas in Lebanon" to stop fire on Israelis living along the border in the north of the country.

The move is a new blow to Lebanese sovereignty, and to the 2024 US-brokered ceasefire deal that brought an end to a year of full-on fighting between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Lebanese reports say that Lebanon’s army is beginning to pull back from its positions in the south.

Donald Trump has criticised Keir Starmer for his role in the US attacks on Iran.

Speaking to the Sun, Trump says the prime minister "has not been helpful. I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK."

In a telephone interview, Trump adds: "It's very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was."

On Monday, Starmer told the Commons the government "does not believe in regime change from the skies".

The UK initially did not allow the US to use British bases to attack Iran, but then opened its bases for "defensive" strikes on Iranian sites.

Trump tells the Sun: "France has been great. They've all been great. The UK has been much different from others."

Image source, Reuters

We're just seeing a statement, translated from Hebrew, from Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz.

He says he and PM Benjamin Netanyahu "have authorised the IDF to advance and seize additional strategic areas in Lebanon in order to prevent fire on Israeli border communities".

He continues: "The IDF continues to operate forcefully against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The terrorist organisation is paying - and will continue to pay - a heavy price for its fire toward Israel."

Katz adds Israel is determined to "defend the border communities", saying: "We promised security to the communities of the Galilee, and that is what we will deliver."

Image source, Reuters

Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group, says it has attacked three Israeli military sites "in response to the criminal Israeli aggression that targeted dozens of Lebanese cities and towns".

In three separate posts on Telegram, Hezbollah says it hit the Nafah base in the Golan Heights with a "large missile salvo", as well as the Meron and Ramat David air bases, in northern Israel, with drones.

The Israeli military has not commented on the apparent attacks.

As black smoke is pictured above Beirut - see our previous post - the AFP news agency reports loud explosions in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Israel announced earlier this morning that it was launching new attacks on "military targets" in both cities.

Israel says it's attacking "military targets" in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

We have just received these pictures of thick black smoke rising above Beirut's southern suburbs.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, EPA

On the fourth day of the US-Israeli war with Iran, here are the latest developments:

• Israel has launched a fresh wave of "extensive airstrikes" on what it calls "military targets" in Tehran and Beirut
• The US embassy in Riyadh has been hit by two drones, according to the Saudi Ministry of Defense, causing a "limited" fire
• Iranian state media says a command and staff building at a US air base in Bahrain has been destroyed

• An Iranian official has threatened to "set fire" to any ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz - a key route for global energy supplies
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday "the hardest hits are yet to come" from the US military on Iran. He was speaking after Donald Trump called Saturday's strikes "the last, best chance" to eliminate "threats" from Tehran
• Six US service members have been killed since the war began. Three US fighter jets were shot down yesterday in Kuwait an "apparent friendly fire incident" - the crews survived
• Yesterday, UK PM Keir Starmer told MPs he "does not believe in regime change from the skies". But he is allowing the US to use British military bases for "defensive" strikes on Iranian missile sites

As for what happens next? "It is way too soon to have any idea of when or how the war will finish," says the BBC's international editor Jeremy Bowen.