LIVE: Israel hits Iran with wave of strikes as war enters fifth day

Iran’s next supreme leader will become a ‘certain target’ for the US and Israel after it emerged the late Ayatollah Khamenei’s son Mojtaba is the favourite to succeed him.

Israel’s threat comes as it unleashes its 10th wave of airstrikes on Tehran today, specifically targeting ‘terror infrastructure’ in the capital.

Iran meanwhile has continued its retaliatory attacks in Israel and across the Gulf states on another night of chaos in the Middle East.

As the fighting enters its fifth day, here’s everything you need to know:

• Israel has vowed to assassinate the successor to Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei whose funeral will take place in Tehran later today
• The Ayatollah’s son Mojtaba is reportedly in line to take over from his father though he is not a high-ranking cleric, has never held office and does not have an official role in the regime
• Israel has launched new attacks on Tehran and Lebanon with the military urging people to evacuate along the southern border as it targets Hezbollah militants
• Last night Iranian drones struck the US consulate in Dubai, causing it to catch fire while a missile also hit a US air base in Qatar
• Saudi Arabia has said two cruise missiles have been intercepted over Riyadh while a separate drone attack was also thwarted
• Iran has claimed it has ‘complete control’ of Strait of Hormuz despite Donald Trump indicating the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the passage
• Trump also mocked Sir Keir Starmer whom he called ‘no Winston Churchill’ in a major blow to the US-UK Special Relationship

Cruise line passengers who are trapped in ports in the Gulf ‘danced around the pool’ while suicide drone bombardment took place overhead, the Daily Mail reveals today.

Passengers and crews have been confined to their ships after escalating hostilities raised fears over safety in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes.

Darren Lee, from Manchester, is currently stuck with his family, including a 12-year-old son, on MSC Euribia in Dubai and is among thousands of cruise passengers scattered across at least six docked ships as they await news.

The father-of-two explained that despite the ship being surrounded by ‘booms’ as Iranian drones were intercepted, some people ‘carried on with their life as if nothing was happening’ and ‘danced outside around the pool’.

Israel has declared it shot down an Iranian fighter jet in the world’s first downing of its kind.

The IDF announced one of its F-35 warplanes brought down an Iranian Air Force YAK-130 plane over Tehran earlier today.

According to the military, it marked the first time a manned fighter jet had been shot down by an F-35.

The IDF said on X: ‘An Israeli Air Force F-35I recently shot down an Iranian fighter jet (YAK-130) over Tehran. This is the world’s first downing of a manned fighter jet by an F-35.’

It comes as Israel launches its 10th wave of airstrikes on Tehran today while the Israeli government has vowed to assassinate Iran’s new supreme leader as clerics decide who will succeed Ayatollah Khamenei.

An ambulance enters Sri Lanka’s naval HQ in Galle

by Sabrina Prenty

At least 101 people are missing, and 78 more are wounded after a submarine attack on an Iranian ship off Sri Lanka’s coast.

Sri Lanka’s defence ministry said that it was searching for the other crew of the IRIS Dena, which went down about 25 miles south of the island.

No information was immediately available on the cause of the explosion that sank the vessel, but Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vajitha Herath told parliament that the injured sailors were taken to a hospital in the island’s south.

The 180-crew frigate had issued a distress call at dawn.

‘We are keeping up a search, but we don’t know yet what happened to the rest of the crew,’ an official told AFP, dimming prospects for finding any more survivors.

Herath said two Sri Lankan navy vessels and an aircraft were deployed for the rescue operation, but did not say what caused the Iranian warship to sink.

Crude oil storage tanks at the Ras Tanura oil refinery

Saudi Arabia has today intercepted a drone targeting its massive Ras Tanura refinery in an attempted attack.

The incident comes following an earlier hit on the major oil complex along its Gulf coast which has the capacity to produce up to 550,000 barrels per day.

‘Initial estimates indicate that the attack was carried out by a drone and did not result in any damage,’ the ministry said in a statement posted on X.

On Monday, some operations at the Ras Tanura refinery were halted following an attack that caused a fire at the complex.

The Ras Tanura facility along the kingdom’s eastern Gulf coast is home to one of the largest refineries in the entire Middle East and a cornerstone of the kingdom’s energy sector.

by Perkin Amalaraj

Iran has showed off a sprawling underground network of tunnels filled with row after row of drones and rockets, amid fears the US and its allies are burning through expensive weaponry in their war against the regime.

Footage released by the Fars News Agency, which is closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, shows long lines of missiles and Shahed drones.

With a ticking clock playing in the background, the propagandistic video used dramatic drone footage to show off the extent of their cheap arsenal.

One shot appeared to show a wall-to-wall hanging depicting the now-dead Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei looking out over the massive arsenal of drones.

A series of Iranian flags were seen hanging down from the roof of the tunnels, which appear to have been hewn from rock deep beneath the earth.

Another showed a pair of lorries carrying Shahed drone launchers, each one holding four of the cheap drones.

by Mark Nicol

Gulf states facing an Iranian drone blitz may only have enough anti-drone defence missiles to last four days.

In a tactic that has surprised the US and its allies, Iran has responded to attempts to force regime change by raining down missiles and drones on its neighbours.

By spreading strikes across more than five countries at once and sustaining over 2,500 drones per day, Tehran is forcing its adversaries to divide their defences.

A source told the Daily Mail: ‘At the current rates the supplies could run out within four days. The interceptors are being used at an unprecedented speed.’

The vast majority of Iranian projectiles have been blocked, but only a few need to breach the defences of Gulf nations to change the perception of the conflict.

Top: Cody Khork (L) and Noah Tietjens / Bottom: Nicole Amor (L) and Declan Coady

The Pentagon on Tuesday identified four of six US troops killed in the Iran war after they were struck in a drone attack in Kuwait.

The Department of Defense said in a statement that the four service members were killed during an “unmanned aircraft system attack” in Kuwait’s Shuaiba port on Sunday.

It identified the four as Captain Cody Khork, 35, Sergeant Declan Coady, 20, Sergeant 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, and Sergeant 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42.

All four were ‘supporting Operation Epic Fury,’ which the US has named its strikes against Iran, it added.

Two others who were also killed in action have not been publicly identified.

On Monday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said a total of six US military personnel were killed since the start of the Iran war over the weekend.

‘US forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran’s initial attacks in the region,’ CENTCOM said in a post on X.

Kuwait’s army has declared it is dealing with a ‘wave of missiles and drones’ in its airspace.

In a statement released on X, an army spokesperson said the forces are carrying out missions to counter and intercept the weapons.

‘The General Staff affirms its complete readiness to deal with all threats to ensure the protection of the country’s land and airspace and the safety of citizens and residents,’ the statement reads.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has shot back at Donald Trump after the President said the US could cut off all trade amid a row over Iran.

Trump called Spain ‘terrible’ and ‘unfriendly’ after it refused to allow America to use its military bases in its opening attack on Iran at the weekend

But Sanchez told his nation Spain will not be ‘complicit’ in a conflict that is against its interests.

‘The position of the government of Spain can be summed up in four words: no to war,” he said in a televised address.

‘We will not be complicit in something that is harmful to the world and contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of retaliation.’

A senior Iranian adviser to the late Ayatollah Khamenei has declared there will be no negotiations with the US and the war can continue ‘as long as we want’.

Mohammad Mokhber told Iranian state television there is ‘no trust in the Americans’.

He said: ‘We have no basis for any negotiations with them: We can continue the war as long as we want.’

Donald Trump has also suggested the war could be protracted as he previously boasted about US weapon stocks.

Larnaca Airport

Cyprus has confirmed two planes were temporarily prevented from landing at Larnaca airport after a suspicious object was identified.

A government source said two Greek F16 fighter jets had been scrambled to intercept the object.

Reuters had reporting the airspace above Larnaca was closed but a government spokesperson later clarified a request was made for two planes to remain in holding patterns while the object was investigated.

The airspace was not closed at any time and is operating as normal, he added.

Yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer announced the UK will deploy the Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon and helicopters with anti-drone capabilities to Cyprus to protect British interests.

It comes after RAF Akrotiri was attacked by an Iranian drone which caused minimal damage and did not result in any injuries.