The US military says it has struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran, saying their operation has been nearly double the scale of the “shock and awe” strikes in Iraq in 2003.

The commander of the US Central Command said the US had destroyed 17 Iranian ships after "the largest buildup by the US in the Middle East in a generation".

In other developments:

• the US has identified four of the first American soldiers killed in the conflict with Iran
• the UK government is chartering a repatriation flight out of Oman on Wednesday to help stranded British nationals
• stock markets across Asia have seen red this morning, with stocks falling by more than 8% in South Korea having
• Israel has been launching new strikes on targets in Iran - and has warned of retaliatory attacks
• several people are reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, where Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah
• Iran has continued its strikes around the region, with Saudi Arabia saying it has intercepted two cruise missiles

We are now ending our live coverage on this page. You can follow all the latest updates here.

As strikes continue across the Middle East, many countries outside of the region are arranging repatriation flights to bring citizens home.

These images show people being brought back to Bratislava from Jordan on flights arranged by the Slovakian government.

Speaking to the Reuters news agency, 53-year-old Zuzana describes sirens "going off there every now and then. And missiles were just flying over us. We even saw some shot down".

Anton, 23, says air raid warnings "started to get more intense".

"I did not even see the rockets, it was terrifying and I cannot imagine experiencing it on a daily basis," he says.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, Reuters

Saudi Arabia's defence ministry has said that it intercepted two cruise missiles south of its capital, Riyadh, news agencies Reuters and AFP are reporting.

Separately, the official Saudi Press Agency is reporting that nine drones have been intercepted.

Saudi officials did not say where the missiles and drones were launched from.

Stock markets across Asia are seeing red this morning, but South Korea is having an especially tough time.

Its Kospi exchange was forced to halt trading for 20 minutes on Wednesday after stocks fell by more than 8%. Trading has since resumed but the Kospi is more than 10% lower.

The pause is part of an automatic mechanism called the circuit breaker, designed to prevent extreme market volatility if share prices fall drastically.

It was the first time the country's index circuit breaker was activated since August 2024.

A circuit breaker will kick in again if share prices fall by 15%.

Seoul is a big importer of Middle Eastern oil and its export-reliant economy is especially vulnerable to geopolitical shocks that can put shipments at risk.

Click here for details about today's trading.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Israel's military says Iran has been retaliating to its fresh wave of strikes.

In the last few hours, Israel sounded alarms, warning of missiles launched from Iran.

Sirens blared and Israelis received mobile phone alerts instructing them to shelter and stay there until further notice.

Israel says it also monitored projectiles launched from Lebanon, where Israeli strikes have targeted Hezbollah.

The missiles and projectiles were intercepted and there were no immediate reports of casualties, Israel says.

James Kelly
Journalist, User Generated Content

Jonathan Ing, a British architect living with his family in Riyadh, says a "key question right now" is not how to celebrate his birthday tomorrow but whether to stay or go.

He says they are "staying put" for the moment but will "keep an eye on the situation".

"Life is continuing mostly as normal. I think with the attack on the US Embassy, which is 100m from my house, is the first real sign of concern in the public.

"Now it feels that the war is closer to our doorstep," he adds.

We have just been informed that the UK government has chartered a commercial flight out of Oman to help British nationals who want to leave the Middle East.

The flight is scheduled to leave Muscat on 4 March at 23:00 local time (19:00 GMT), and will take the most vulnerable people first.

The Foreign Office says British nationals who have registered their presence in the UAE and are currently in Oman should urgently fill out this form, external if they would like a seat on the flight.

It urged people not to make their way to the airport unless they have been called by the Foreign Office.

It adds that it will continue to work with airlines to find more routes for people to return to the UK.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre says it has received a report of an "unknown projectile" striking a ship off the coast of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

The UKMTO is a Royal Navy-led organisation that liaises between merchant shipping and military forces for maritime security purposes.

It said the strike damaged the vessel's steel plating, but there "has been no fire or water intake".

The crew are reported safe, and authorities are investigating, the UKMTO added.

Here's a quick look at a selection of images showing scenes from inside Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel and the UAE on Tuesday.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Israel has asked residents of over a dozen villages and towns in Lebanon to evacuate as it warned of more attacks that it says are aimed at Hezbollah.

The warning from Israel, delivered by military spokesman Avichay Adraee, warned people to move at least 1km away from the identified areas.

It adds: "Anyone who is near Hezbollah operatives, facilities, and weapons is putting their life at risk."

Lebanon also says six people have been killed in Israeli strikes on the country's south.

The warnings cover the following villages and towns: Rabaa Thalathin, Hawla, Qalaat Dibba, Qabrikha, Touline Khirba, Shaqra, Sawana, Majdal Selm, Tamriya, Tayri, Talousa, Safad, Batikh, Jmeijmeh, Bani Hayyan.

Osmond Chia
Business reporter

Asian stock markets slid again for a third day in a row while energy prices edged up.

South Korea's Kospi index opened as low as 7% and is now trading around 6% lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 is down by 3%.

Australia's ASX 200 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index are also in the red.

Meanwhile, the prices of US-traded oil and Brent crude are higher by 1.2% on Wednesday morning, as tankers along the crucial Strait of Hormuz remain at a standstill and fresh strikes rock the Middle East.

Read more here

Image source, Getty Images

An 11-year-old girl has died after shrapnel fell on her in a residential area of Kuwait, a spokesperson for the country's Ministry of Health says.

"She passed away as a result of her injuries despite resuscitation attempts," the spokesperson, Dr Abdullah Al-Sund, said.

Four members of her family, including her mother, have been taken to hospital, according to Al-Sund.

The New York Times reports that the Kuwait Army said it had destroyed incoming aerial targets, causing debris to fall on a residential building.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says 1,097 civilians have been reported killed in Iran since 28 February.

Of those, 181 were children under the age of 10 years old, the agency says. The number of civilian injuries has reached 5,402, including 100 children, HRANA adds.

It says there has been at least 104 attacks in the past 24 hours alone. They have hit military bases, medical centres and residential areas, HRANA says.

Hundreds more reported deaths are being reviewed.

US President Donald Trump earlier accused UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of not behaving like Winston Churchill in his response to the strikes on Iran.

In the video below, the BBC's Political Editor Chris Mason considers how the comments might impact the UK and US's so-called special relationship.

Qatar's state news agency says that Qatari security forces "successfully arrested two cells" operating for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the early hours of Wednesday.

Seven of the suspects "were tasked with espionage missions to gather intelligence on the nation's vital and military infrastructure," the news agency says.

Three others also accused of spying were "trained in the use of drones", it adds.

"During the investigations, the suspects confessed their links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and stated that they had been assigned to conduct espionage and subversion missions," the state news agency says.

Images have emerged showing the funerals for some of the victims of an airstrike that hit a girl's school in the Iranian city of Minab.

Iranian officials said more than 160 people were killed when the school, which was near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base, was hit by an airstrike on Saturday.

BBC News has not been able to independently verify the Iranian authorities' death toll.

The US military said it was looking into reports of the incident, while Israel's military said it was "not aware" of any operations in the area.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said there has been no clear rationale given for the US strikes on Iran.

If the Trump administration or the Israeli government had evidence of an imminent threat, "they would be shouting that evidence from the rooftops," Power told BBC.

Saudi Arabia says it will take all necessary measures to defend its security and protect residents, according to the state press agency.

The kingdom's cabinet emphasised its "readiness to mobilise all capabilities to support" ally countries as they respond to any potential attacks from Iran, the Saudi Press Agency said in a statement, external.

Image source, Getty Images

A Central Intelligence Agency station at the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia reportedly was hit in a drone strike on Monday.

The US and Saudi Arabia have confirmed that two drones hit the embassy complex in Riyadh, but there was no ​indication if the spy hub was the target of the strike, Reuters says.

The attack “collapsed” part of the embassy’s roof and “contaminated” the inside with smoke, according to a State Department alert obtained by the Washington Post.

It also said the embassy sustained “structural damage” and told personnel to “continue to shelter in place”, the Post reports.

Image source, Reuters

The commander of the US Central Command has just released an update on the military operation in Iran in a video on X.

Referencing the "shock and awe" of the 2003 attacks on Iraq, he says the first 24 hours of this operation were nearly double the scale.

He says the US has struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran and has destroyed 17 Iranian ships.

"Today, there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman," Senior US Admiral Brad Cooper says.

With the mission involving more than 50,000 troops, 200 fighters, two aircraft carriers and bombers, he says this represents "the largest buildup by the US in the Middle East in a generation".

"We have severely degraded Iran's air defences and destroyed hundreds of Iran's ballistic missiles, launchers and drones," he says.

In retaliation, the US commander says "Iran has launched over 500 ballistic missies and 2000 drones", adding they "indiscriminately targeting civilians".