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The US-Israeli military campaign against Iran has entered its fourth day, with Israel launching simultaneous strikes on Tehran and Beirut, the US death toll rising to six service members, and Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.

This comes as France announced plans to expand its nuclear arsenal and deploy warheads to European allies, Pakistan's president defended ongoing strikes in Afghanistan amid what Islamabad has called "open war," and President Zelenskyy said trilateral peace talks with Russia and the US have not been cancelled despite regional tensions.

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Major Story

🇮🇷🇺🇸 US-Israel war in Iran: Day 4

Military developments

Israel launched simultaneous strikes on Tehran and Beirut on Tuesday, targeting what it called military objectives of the Iranian regime and Hezbollah. The US death toll has risen to six service members — all Army soldiers from the same logistics unit in Kuwait — with 18 seriously wounded. Three US F-15s were shot down over Kuwait in a friendly fire incident, with all crews surviving. Iranian state media claimed a command building at a US air base in Bahrain was destroyed — a claim the US has not confirmed. The US embassy in Riyadh was hit by two drones, causing a limited fire and minor damage, while the US embassy in Kuwait has closed until further notice. An Israeli strike damaged Tehran's Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Strait of Hormuz and energy

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, with an IRGC official warning any ships attempting passage would be "set ablaze." Major maritime insurers including Gard, Skuld, and NorthStandard have cancelled war risk cover for vessels in the Gulf, with the cost of hiring a supertanker from the Middle East to China hitting an all-time high of over $400,000 — nearly double last week's rate. QatarEnergy, one of the world's largest LNG producers, has halted production after attacks on its facilities, a shutdown that could remove almost 20% of global LNG supply. Satellite images show damage to Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery. Amazon Web Services said two data centres in the UAE and one in Bahrain were struck by drones, taking the facilities offline and prompting AWS to advise customers to migrate workloads to other regions.

UK position

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament the government "does not believe in regime change from the skies," putting him at odds with Trump after refusing to permit UK bases for the initial strikes. Starmer later agreed to allow US use of British bases for "defensive" strikes on Iranian missile sites after a drone hit RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus — a decision that drew criticism from Cyprus, which expressed "dissatisfaction" that Britain had not clarified bases would only be used for humanitarian purposes. Trump told the Telegraph he was "very disappointed" in Starmer for taking "far too long" to change his mind.

US justification and domestic reaction

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the US struck preemptively because "we knew there was going to be an Israeli action" and that Iran would retaliate against American forces. When asked if Israel "dragged" the US into the conflict, Netanyahu dismissed the suggestion as "ridiculous," telling Fox News that "Donald Trump is the strongest leader in the world." Trump said the "big wave" of the US attack is yet to come, while Vice President Vance insisted the US would not enter a "multi-year conflict." Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said after a classified briefing: "There was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. There was a threat to Israel." The Trump administration is expected to seek supplemental funding from Congress to pay for the operation.

International reaction

Spain became the only major EU country to explicitly criticise the US-Israeli strikes, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez rejecting what he called "unjustified and dangerous military intervention." Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar accused Spain of "standing with Iran" and "all the tyrants of the world." The EU's joint statement called for "maximum restraint" but did not mention the strikes that began the escalation.

Casualties and evacuations

The Iranian Red Crescent has reported over 555 killed in the strikes so far. Funerals have begun in the southern city of Minab for at least 168 students killed when a girls' elementary school was struck on Saturday — the school sits about 60 metres from an Iranian military base. The US State Department has ordered mandatory departure of non-emergency personnel from Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait, and urged all Americans in the region to "depart now." Foreign nationals are fleeing Iran via Azerbaijan, with an estimated 370-400 people evacuated since Saturday, including nationals from almost 20 countries.

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