Summary

  • A huge fire engulfs a tower in Kuwait and missile and drone attacks are reported across the Gulf as the war in the Middle East enters a second week

  • Meanwhile, President Trump accuses Sir Keir Starmer of seeking to "join wars after we've already won" and says that "we don't need" UK aircraft carriers

  • The comments come as the BBC learns that British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has been placed on advanced readiness

  • In Tehran, oil depots were hit by intense aerial bombardment, with locals reporting multiple explosions and heavy smoke. "It was as if the night had turned into day," one man tells BBC Persian

  • Israel has warned residents in the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate as it targets the Iran-backed group Hezbollah

  • An Israeli strike on a hotel in central Beirut killed four people, the Lebanese Health Ministry says

  • Israel says it struck "key commanders" of the Lebanon Corps of the Quds Force, the IRGC's overseas operations arm

Live Reporting

Edited by Aparna Alluri, with reporting from BBC Persian and correspondents across the Middle East

  1. What did Trump say about UK PM Keir Starmer?

    Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on a flight from Delaware to Florida on 7 March as US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth watches on from behind him.Reuters

    The US president took to his social media platform Truth Social to say the US did not need the UK's two aircraft carriers in the Middle East.

    "The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!"

    This comes after Starmer refused to let the US use UK bases in the initial strikes on Iran. Trump later said "he has not been helpful".

    “I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK," he told the Sun newspaper.

    For context: The UK government has not joined offensive operations or given any commitment to do so. Earlier, the BBC reported one aircraft carrier had been put on an advanced state of readiness in case it needed to be deployed to the region. The UK has allowed the US to use its bases for defensive operations.

  2. Strikes hit Beirut overnight

    Overnight, the Lebanese Health Ministry announced that four people had died and another 10 were injured in an Israeli strike on a hotel in Beirut.

    Photos from a Ramada hotel show its walls blackened and damaged.

    Eight people were also killed in strikes on more than 20 towns and villages, AFP news agency reported, citing the health ministry.

    The Israeli military said it had carried out a "precise strike" in Beirut on members of the Quds Force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' overseas operations arm. It did not say who had been targeted or where the strike hit.

    Earlier in the night, it said it was striking "Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahiyeh area in Beirut".

    The Ramada hotel has blackened and damaged walls.AFP via Getty Images

    The walls of the hotel appear blackened and damaged after the strike

  3. Israeli military announces new wave of strikes against Iran

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on X that they have just "launched another wave of attacks across Iran", addiong that they are targeting infrastructure throughout the country.

    The announcement came at around 08:30 in Tehran (around 05:00 GMT), as the capital woke up after a night of strikes on its oil refineries.

    About half an hour earlier, the IDF had said it was working to intercept missiles from Iran.

  4. Fire lines boulevard in Tehran after Israel strikes oil depots

    Watch: Huge flames in Tehran after Israeli strikes on oil refineries

    Overnight, Israeli strikes targeted oil refineries in Tehran sending plumes of smoke into the sky.

    One resident told the BBC, "it was as if night had turned into day".

    The flames have spilled into the nearby Koohsar Boulevard, where an onlooker said they were burning homes and shops.

  5. Israeli strike on Beirut hotel kills four people and wounds 10, Lebanese authorities say

    Overnight in Lebanon, the health ministry said that an Israeli strike on a hotel in central Beirut killed four people, and injured 10 others.

    The hotel was housing people displaced by the fighting in Southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, according to Reuters news agency.

    Some had been seen leaving the building for fear of further strikes.

  6. IDF says it carried out strike on Iranian forces in Beirut

    As we had been reporting earlier, the IDF said in a post on Telegram that they carried out a "precise strike" which targeted "key commanders in the IRGC's Quds Force's Lebanon Corps who operated in Beirut".

    The Quds Force is the overseas operations arm of the IRGC or Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IDF said earlier this week that they had killed the temporary commander of the Lebanon Corps, Daoud Alizadeh.

    In the statement about tonight's strike the IDF accused the Quds Force of having "operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians" and said they will "continue to precisely eliminate the commanders of the Iranian terror regime wherever they operate."

    The statement did not specify the exact location of the strike. Iranian officials do not appear to have commented on the strike so far.

    Several hours earlier, the IDF had said they had begun "an additional wave of strikes in Beirut" on "Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahiyeh area".

  7. Civilian facilities damaged from drone interceptions, Kuwait army says

    Civilian facilities in Kuwait have been damaged by falling debris after drone interceptions, the Kuwait army says.

    "Some civilian facilities have sustained material damage as a result of debris and shrapnel falling from interception operations", an official spokesman of the Ministry of Defense is quoted saying in a post on X, shared by the Kuwait army.

    Footage on social media has shown a large fire engulfing a tower in Kuwait.

    The country's air force "continues to engage hostile aerial targets", the spokesman says, as the army urges citizens and residents to "adhere to the safety and security instructions".

    Fire tears through tower in Kuwait City amid Iran strikes

  8. US-Israel war with Iran moves into second week

    We have moved our live coverage here, and will continue to bring you ongoing news from the conflict in the Middle East, which has now entered its seocnd week.

    Oil depots in Tehran have been hit, Lebanese officials say four people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a hotel in Beirut, and Israel says it struck "key commanders" of the Lebanon Corps of the Quds Force, the IRGC's overseas operations arm.

    Gulf states have also been reporting missiles and drone strikes.

    A huge fire has engulfed a tower in Kuwait, where the army says it has been dealing "with a wave of hostile drones that breached the country's airspace".

    We will bring you more details as we get them. Stay with us.