Here are the latest main events related to the war in the Middle East:
- France lets US use bases -
France has allowed US aircraft on some of its bases in the Middle East during the conflict, the French military said Thursday, adding that they "contribute to the protection of our partners in the Gulf".
Spain has come under intense US pressure for refusing to allow Washington to use its bases.
- No call for aid -
Iran has not requested military aid from its ally Russia since Israel and the United States began striking the country last week, the Kremlin said Thursday.
- Cyprus ring of steel -
Spain will send its most advanced frigate to protect Cyprus after a drone strike on a British base on the Mediterranean island sucked it into the Middle East war, the defence ministry said on Thursday.
The "Cristobal Colon" will join French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" and Greek navy ships to offer protection and help evacuate civilians, the ministry said. Italy also said it would send "naval assets" to the EU member state in coming days.
Britain's Defence Minister John Healey arrived in Cyprus on Thursday.
- Fresh Israeli strikes -
Israel's military said Thursday it had "just begun a large-scale wave of strikes against infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran".
Iranian news agency Tasnim and local media reported several explosions heard in Tehran Thursday morning.
Earlier, AFP journalists heard explosions in Jerusalem as Iran launched a fresh round of missiles at Israel, according to Iranian state media and the Israeli military.
- Blasts in Doha -
Another round of explosions were heard over the Qatari capital Doha Thursday, AFP journalists reported, describing a column of black smoke rising on the horizon.
Qatar's defence ministry said its military was working to intercept an incoming missile attack.
Earlier, Qatar began evacuating residents living near the US embassy in Doha.
- Iran hits Iraqi Kurds -
Iran said Thursday it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles, following strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.
The strikes killed a member from an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative.
- Israel kills Hamas official -
Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike had killed a senior Hamas official Thursday, the first reported targeted killing of a member of the Palestinian militant group since the war began.
- Azerbaijan protests Iran strikes -
Azerbaijan, a close ally of Israel, on Thursday summoned Iran's envoy after two people were wounded in drone hits on an airport and near a school in the exclave of Nakhichevan, warning the attack "will not go unanswered".
- US will 'regret' sinking -
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of committing an atrocity by sinking an Iranian navy ship off Sri Lanka.
"Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set," he posted on X.
A second Iranian warship was heading towards Sri Lanka's territorial waters Thursday, a minister told parliament.
- Iran says hit US tanker -
Iran hit a US oil tanker with a missile Thursday, "in the north of the Persian Gulf" and set it on fire, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement reported by state television.
The incident has not been independently confirmed.
- Iran internet blackout -
Iran's internet is "around 1 percent of ordinary levels" with a communication blackout sparked by the war with Israel and the United States entering a fifth day, monitor Netblocks said Thursday.
- Australia deploys 'military assets' -
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that "military assets" had been deployed to the Middle East as a contingency plan.
While Albanese did not elaborate, local outlet SBS News reported they were planes.
Italy said it would send air-defence assistance to the Gulf.
- Strike hits Hezbollah stronghold -
An air strike hit the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut early Thursday, after an Israeli warning to residents.
Israeli strikes along Beirut's airport highway killed three people, Lebanon's health ministry said.
- Oil spill near Kuwait -
A "large explosion" hit a tanker in the waters off Kuwait, causing an oil spill, British maritime security agency UKMTO said.
"The Master of a tanker at anchor, reports witnessing and hearing a large explosion on the port side then seeing a small craft leave the vicinity" off the Gulf state's Mubarak Al-Kabeer area, the agency posted on X.
