Middle East crisis live: Israeli military tells hundreds of thousands to flee Beirut | US-Israel war on Iran

Patrick Wintour

The US proposal to pull Kurdish fighters into the conflict with Iran would open a Pandora’s box that would risk fragmenting Iraq as well as Iran, said H A Hellyer, a senior associate fellow for geopolitics and security at the Royal United Services Institute.

“I’ve never seen such a resounding opposition to a policy idea in Washington from all sides of the political spectrum as I have when it came to this particular idea,” Hellyer said Thursday at a Chatham House seminar in London.

A US official with knowledge of the discussions between Washington and Kurdish officials told the Guardian earlier this week that the US was ready to provide air support if Kurdish fighters crossed the border from northern Iraq. On Wednesday, Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) said US officials have contacted Kurdish opposition group leaders regarding a potential operation, and that some of their forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province and were on standby.

Hellyer said bringing the Kurds into this conflict risks drawing in other countries in the region, like Turkey. “And you also risk igniting something among other ethnic groups in Iran, including the Azeris, and the Baluchis,” Hellyer said.

“All of this, I think, is very risky, very dangerous, and the next order consequences could be very serious indeed,” he said.

Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, appeared to allude to the current conflict unfolding in the Middle East in a statement posted on social media to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the 1991 Kurdish uprising.

“In this commemoration, we reiterate that the Kurdistan region, as always, must remain a key factor in peace and stability and must not become part of any conflict or military escalation that harms the lives and security of our fellow citizens,” Barzani posted on social media.

“Protecting the territorial integrity of the Kurdistan region and our constitutional achievements can only be achieved through the unity, cohesion, and shared national responsibility of all political forces and components in Kurdistan.”

A Pakistani businessman accused of plotting to kill Donald Trump told a federal jury on Wednesday that he was coerced into the scheme by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which he said had threatened his family to secure his participation.

On Wednesday, defense secretary Pete Hegseth said that the person who led a plot to assassinate Trump had been killed in the airstrikes on Iran.

The plot dates back to 2024, when federal prosecutors under the Biden administration charged 51-year-old Iranian national Farhad Shakeri and two New York men with running a murder-for-hire operation on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The aim, the department of justice said at the time, was revenge for Trump’s killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

Siraj Datoo

Oil prices have continued to rise as the crisis in the Middle East fails to show any signs of deescalation.

Iran has said it is halting all traffic through the strait of Hormuz, one of the busiest shipping corridors for oil and gas but the US president has tried to calm both constituents and businesses. Donald Trump said that the US will provide the risk insurance necessary for boats (many insurance providers have either doubled their premiums or canceled the policies) and also pledged that the US navy will escort ships through the strait if necessary.

There’s another line too, from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt who in a post in on X, sought to reassure Americans on gas prices: “The Trump Administration will continue to unleash American energy dominance, and tap into our newfound oil in Venezuela.”

• Azerbaijan has responded strongly to the alleged drone strike in the Nakhchivan region near the border of Iran. Though Iran has denied any involvement, Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, has ordered the country’s armed forces to be at “the highest level of readiness” for any retaliatory action and summoned Iran’s ambassador to the foreign ministry in Baku.

• Iran claimed it had hit a US oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf and that the vessel was on fire. There was no immediate confirmation of the incident or comment from the US. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it maintains full control of the Strait of Hormuz and has effectively closed it to oil and gas exports.

• UK defence secretary John Healey flew into Cyprus to calm the diplomatic fallout over a drone that evaded detection and hit an RAF base, prompting fury from local ministers. UK officials believe a drone that hit an RAF base in Cyprus evaded detection by flying low and slow when it was launched by pro-Iranian militia in Lebanon or western Iraq.

• Iran continued to launch a wave of missiles at Israel, sending millions of residents into bomb shelters, just hours after moves to limit Donald Trump and his ability to prolong the war were blocked in Washington. Other countries in the Gulf region continued to deal with the fallout: six people were injured in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates from falling debris after air defences intercepted a drone and Qatar officials urged residents to stay inside as air defences worked to halt an attack. The ministry of defence in Bahrain said on Thursday that their air defences had destroyed 75 missiles and 123 drones since the start of the conflict.

• The Israeli military said it was beginning a new widespread wave of attacks in Tehran. Israel also said it carried out strikes on Beirut targeting Hezbollah while Lebanese state media reported an Israeli drone strike killed a Hamas official.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has verified more than a dozen attacks on health infrastructure in Iran amid the US-Israeli campaign. Four healthcare workers have been killed and 25 others injured, according to the organisation.

The Israeli military has issued an evacuation order for all of the southern suburbs of Beirut, in an area called the Dahiyeh which it says is a Hezbollah stronghold.

There’s no definitive figure on how big the population is here but some estimates put it between 300,000 to 700,000. It is believed to be the first time the Israeli military has ordered large swathes of the Lebanese capital to flee, when before they would force people out of specific buildings that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would then strike.

The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said the latest order covers four major neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs of Beirut – Bourj el-Barajneh, Hadath, Haret Hreik and Shiyyah.

“Save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately,” he said in a message posted on social media.

“Beware, heading south is prohibited. Any southward movement could endanger your lives.

“We will inform you of the safe time to return to your homes.”

UK prime minister Keir Starmer addressed the nation in a press conference this afternoon to give an update on the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Here are the main points from the briefing:

• Starmer said he stands by his decision not to join the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. He added that the best way forward for both Iran and the world is a negotiated settlement.

• Responding to questions on Trump’s remarks that he has “ruined the special relationship”, Starmer said it was “in operation right now”. He added that it was up to Trump to make the right decisions for the US, and for him to do the same for the UK. “There’s nothing controversial about that.”

• The UK is sending four additional Typhoon jets to Qatar, as well as Wildcat helicopters with anti-drone capabilities being sent to Cyprus. Starmer said the US has been allowed to use British airfields to carry out defensive missions and that HMS Dragon is heading for the Mediterranean.

• The first charter flight from Oman took off today. The prime minister said more than 4,000 people have arrived back in the UK on commercial flights from the UAE. This comes after a repatriation flight from Oman scheduled last night was delayed due to what officials said were “operational issues”.

• There was no specific request from US to use UK bases until Saturday afternoon. When asked to responds to reports that he wanted to give the US permission to use UK airfields last week but was blocked by cabinet ministers, he said there was no request from the US on Friday and therefore there was no decision to be made. The US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Saturday morning.

For more details on the news conference, head over to our UK politics blog here:

Ben Quinn

More than 2,000 people had arrived in the UK on Wednesday on eight flights from the UAE, MPs have been told by a Foreign Office minister, Hamish Falconer. A further eight flights are expected from the UAE today.

British Airways has also now agreed to lay on new flights from Muscat, the capital of Oman, which were expected to fly every day following talks with the government, he added.

However, there was criticism from MPs including the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, who pressed the government on the failure of the first repatriation flight chartered by the UK government to take off via Oman on Wednesday evening. She asked why the Iranian ambassador had not been expelled when Falconer summoned him to the Foreign Office on Wednesday.

“This situation is shameful and embarrassing and never in the history of this great nation has government been so feeble when our people are under assault,” she said.

Concerns were also raised by Labour MPs, including Adam Jogee, who praised the government’s response but told of constituents whose flights through the Middle East had been cancelled and were now being asked to pay £1,000 a night in accommodation costs for the next three weeks.

He called on the government to “go further and faster in ensuring that airlines and travel agents don’t take advantage of people and let them down”.

Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, called a security meeting on Thursday regarding the alleged drone strike in the Nakhchivan region and delivered a speech stating that “any hostile force will feel the full might of our ‘Iron Fist’”.

The Iranian armed forces have denied launching drones into Azerbaijani territory. Nonetheless, Aliyev said Azerbaijan “strongly condemns this heinous terrorist act” and that his government has summoned Iran’s ambassador to the foreign ministry in Baku.

“Those responsible must be brought to justice without delay,” he said. “The Iranian side must provide an official explanation to Azerbaijan, issue an apology, and ensure that the perpetrators are held criminally accountable.”

Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s armed forces “have been placed at the highest level of combat readiness and are prepared to carry out any required operations”.

“We will not tolerate this unprovoked act of terror and aggression against Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said.

In the US, Senate Republicans voted down on Wednesday a war powers resolution that would have required Donald Trump to seek congressional approval before continuing the war with Iran.

The vote broke down along party lines, with John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as the sole Democrat to vote against the measure. On Wednesday, prior to the vote, Fetterman went on CNN News Central to voice his support of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran and say that this was a situation of “country over party”.

“What I’m trying to establish is that every single senator in the Congress says we should never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. That now has made that possible after that. And now they’ve eliminated this leadership,” Fetterman said. “Now, do you really want those things? Does it really matter? Were you really serious about that? Because if you were, why can’t we just acknowledge – I’m not with all of it – but this was a great development for the region.”

Anchor Kate Bolduan asked Fetterman if he thought the US and Israel were aligned in their war goals, specifically in regards to comments made by Israeli defence minister Israel Katz that “any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime” would become “an unequivocal target for elimination”.

“Yeah just keep killing them until they’re gone,” Fetterman said. “I mean, absolutely. I’ve read that they’re (Israel is) going to target who they (Iran) ever elect to be their next leader and kill them. Absolutely. I fully support it. So, that’s what’s entirely appropriate.”

When Bolduan pushed further on the issue, asking Fetterman who should decide the leader of Iran“if you think the United State should take part in taking out every next leader going forward” if the leader doesn’t meet the right measure, he responded by saing he “absolutely” supports killing the leadership of Iran.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I absolutely support killing, you know, the leadership of the Iranian. Absolutely. I absolutely support that,” Fetterman said. “I think that’s entirely appropriate until hopefully they’ll pick someone that realizes that they need to live and coexist in peace in the region and stop trying to destroy Israel and to stabilize the region.”

The US House of Representatives is set to vote on a similar measure later today. For more, follow along with our live coverage here.

Azerbaijan vowed to respond after a drone attack on an airport in its territory, which the Baku government said came from the direction of Iran.

Iran denied involvement and has blamed the attack on Israel, but the Azerbaijani defence ministry placed the blame squarely on Iran.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran bears the entire responsibility for the incident,” the ministry said in a statement.

It added: “These acts of aggression will not remain unanswered.”

The ministry said it would “prepare necessary retaliatory measures” without specifying what they would be. It added that it would investigate the types of drones that were used in the attack in the Nakhchivan exclave close to the border with Iran, which injured four people.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied Tehran had targeted Nakhchivan, telling the Azerbaijani outlet AnewZ that his country is “not targeting neighbouring countries”.

The newswires have uploaded images from a video appearing to show the damage at Nakhchivan airport after what Azerbaijani officials said was a drone attack carried out by Iran. Iran has denied involvement and blamed Israel.

Azerbaijan said one drone fell on the terminal building of the Nakhchivan airport, which is about six miles across the border from Iran, and another drone landed close to a school building in a nearby village.

The AP news agency has issued this photograph which it says shows damage to a school in Julfa, about 20 miles south of the airport and less than two miles from the Iranian border at the Aras river.

The Iranian armed forces denied launching a drone attack on Azerbaijan, following reports that two drones flying from the direction of Iran fell near the airport in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan.

“The Islamic republic of Iran … denies its armed forces launched a drone toward the Republic of Azerbaijan,” the general staff of the armed forces said in a statement carried by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Blaming the attack on Israel, it said: “Such actions by the Zionist regime to disrupt relations between Muslim countries through various means are well documented.”

The Iranian warship that was sunk by a US submarine was on its way home after taking part in naval exercises hosted by India, officials in New Delhi have said.

The Iris Dena sank in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka yesterday after a US torpedo attack, killing more than 80 people. Scores of people are still missing while 32 people were rescued by Sri Lankan authorities.

India’s defence ministry said the Iranian warship had participated in the International Fleet Review – a ceremonial event designed to showcase the maritime capabilities of the Indian navy and international partners – and the multilateral naval exercise Milan 2026 in the port of Visakhapatnam from 15 February to 25 February. The ministry said 74 countries had joined the events.

A second Iranian ship has been reported in waters close to Sri Lanka today and has sought emergency permission to dock. Sources told the Guardian the ship was a logistical pipe-laying vessel, which is not categorised as a warship. It may be as close as 10 nautical miles from the western coast of Sri Lanka, putting it within the country’s sovereign waters.

You can ready more on this story here:

Consternation in Cyprus over British sovereign base areas following strike on RAF Akrotiri

Helena Smith

Over in Cyprus, British defence minister John Healey has just wrapped up talks with his Cypriot counterpart.

Emphasizing the two countries’ long- standing friendship, Healey said talks had focused on “how the UK is further reinforcing our air defences to support our shared security,” following Sunday’s drone attack on the RAF Akrotiri airbase.

The presence of UK sovereign base areas – a remnant of British colonial rule – has long been a bone of contention among both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The drone strike, which caused marginal damage to the military installation’s landing strip, has brought that disgruntlement out into the open at an official level as never before.

For the first time the island’s political and diplomatic elite has expressed consternation over the dangers posed by the facilities, saying Britain has not done enough to protect the installations and surrounding areas where locals live.

The UK, unlike Europe, is perceived to have dragged its feet in deciding to deploy military support.

“There’s a sense of there being too little too late,” one senior official told The Guardian this morning. “There’s been a lot of talking at the highest level and the defense minister’s visit is part of that. But now we’ve gone beyond words. Now is a time for serious cooperation regarding the bases. Now is the time for action.”

Bahrain air defences have destroyed 75 missiles and 123 drones since the start of the conflict, the Bahrain Defence Force said on Thursday.

The general command urged residents to stay home and not go out unless absolutely necessary.