US-Iran ‘war’ highlights: Israel carries out ‘large-scale strikes’ in ‘heart’ of Iran; UK allows US to use bases

Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, says it will halt passage of cargo vessels through the Strait of Hormuz for “safety” reasons.

“We are suspending all vessel crossings in the Strait of Hormuz until further notice,” the Danish group said in an online advisory.

“The safety of our crews, vessels and customers’ cargo remains our key priority,” it said.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told Al Jazeera that this war “cannot bring about any good result for the other side”.

“There is no victory in this war. They have not been able to achieve their targets, and they will not be able to achieve their targets in the coming days. As long as they continue, they cannot achieve anything,” Araghchi said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that they had attacked the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf after US and Israeli strikes killed the country's supreme leader.

"The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was struck by four ballistic missiles," the Guards said in a statement carried by local media, warning that the "the land and sea will increasingly become the graveyard of the terrorist aggressors".

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said that state institutions in Iran “are in place” and that the country “has constitutional procedures in place".

“You may see the selection of a supreme leader in a day or two,” he was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying.

Iran's Guards have claimed that they targeted the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln amid the ongoing hostilities, AFP reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that Iran has “always been open to diplomacy, unlike America, which attacked us for the second time during negotiations”, Al Jazeera reported.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told Al Jazeera that the country has “begun a constitutional process, and the Transitional Council was established today and will work to manage affairs.”

“We have no restrictions or limits in defending ourselves,” Abbas Araghchi said.

The death toll in the Beit Shemesh strike has risen to nine, according to Israeli health services. The deaths occurred due to the impact of the Iranian ballistic missile.

At least three people have been killed and 58 others wounded in the United Arab Emirates, according to the country's defence ministry.

This figure is since Iran began its retaliatory campaign in the Gulf in response to US and Israeli attacks.

The ministry said in a statement that the UAE detected 165 ballistic missiles, destroying 152, and intercepted two cruise missiles. A total of “541 Iranian drones were detected, 506 of which were intercepted and destroyed”, the statement added.

The attacks resulted in the deaths of three people – one from Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh, it said.

Iran President Mahmoud Pezeshkian said in a speech that the country will continue to strike hard and follow the footsteps of Supreme Leader.

“We will continue following in the footsteps of our supreme leader,” the Iranian President said in a televised speech.

“The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to strike hard, will continue to destroy the military bases of our enemies,” he said.

“The martyrdom of the leader of the revolution was a culmination of years of sacrifice,” he added.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian is delivering a televised statement.

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif expressed gief over Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death in joint US-Iraeli strikes.
“The Government and the people of Pakistan join the people of Iran in their hour of grief and sorrow and extend the most sincere condolences on the martyrdom of His Eminence Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei,” Sharif wrote on X.

“Pakistan also expresses concern over the violation of the norms of international law. It is an age-old convention that the Heads of State/Government should not be targeted. We pray for the departed soul. May Allah Almighty grant patience and strength to the Iranian people to bear this irreparable loss,” he added.

US and Israeli attacks on Iran are unacceptable, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday as he called for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of talks to prevent a wider regional conflict.

The "blatant killing of a sovereign leader" and the incitement of regime change were "unacceptable," Wang told Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on a phone call, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

The death toll in an Iranian ballistic missile in Israel’s Beit Shemesh city has now risen to 8, Israeli emergency services were quoted by Al Jazeera as saying.

At least 27 people were wounded, including two in serious condition.

The Iranian foreign ministry, in its statement over the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has once again condemned US and Israeli strikes during the diplomatic talks between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear program, BBC reported.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said in a statement that Khamenei’s path "will continue".

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry says it summoned the Iranian ambassador on Sunday, a day after the kingdom accused Tehran of targeting its territory with strikes.

“Foreign Ministry summons the Iranian ambassador to the Kingdom in response to Iran’s brazen attacks that targeted the Kingdom and a number of brotherly countries,” the ministry said in a statement on X.

News agency Reuters reported six deaths in Israel's Beit Shemesh due to an Iranian missile strike on Sunday.

Key members of the OPEC+ oil cartel have announced a greater-than-expected increase to production quotas following US and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered retaliation by Tehran across the Middle East.

The eight-strong V8 (Voluntary Eight) group in the alliance, which includes key oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia – as well as several Gulf states bearing the brunt of Tehran’s missile strikes – said they had agreed a “production adjustment” of 206,000 barrels per day (bpd). “This adjustment will be implemented in April,” they said in a statement.

An impact from an Iranian ballistic missile strike has killed at least four people and injured about 20 others in Israel’s Beit Shemesh, 30km (19 miles) west of Jerusalem, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Magen David Adom ambulance service.

Israel’s army said in a statement on Telegram that search and rescue forces, together with medical teams and a helicopter for casualty evacuation, are operating at the impact site.

Al Jazeera reported new explosions being heard in Dubai as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues to spiral on Sunday.

A barrage of missiles launched from Iran caused multiple casualties in central Israel on Sunday, including a young girl, according to Israel's emergency service.

"Paramedics are treating a number of casualties, including a girl in serious condition," Magen David Adom said in a statement, referring to missile fire that struck the Beit Shemesh region.

Iranian state television said Sunday that an oil tanker was sinking after it was struck while attempting to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

"The fate of the offending oil tanker that was struck while attempting to illegally pass through the Strait of Hormuz is that it is now sinking," state TV reported, without elaborating.

It carried footage showing heavy black smoke emanating from the burning tanker at sea.

The strait carries a quarter of the world's seaborne oil and a fifth of all liquified natural gas.

On Saturday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards had warned that the vital waterway was unsafe due to US and Israeli attacks and was therefore closed to ships.

Iran's embassy in Jakarta said Sunday it welcomed Indonesia's offer to mediate between Washington and Tehran, following US and Israeli strikes against Iran.

Indonesia's foreign ministry said on Saturday that President Prabowo Subianto was willing to travel to Tehran to mediate if both parties agreed.

The Iranian embassy welcomes "the readiness of the President of the Republic of Indonesia to mediate in this conflict", the mission said in a statement.

The embassy also "emphasised the importance of taking a firm stance by Indonesian officials in condemning the aggression and crimes of the United States and the Zionist regime of Israel".

The IDF said in a statement that it hit two fighter jets, an F5 and an F4, at the airport of Tabriz in western Iran as they were preparing to take off “a short while ago”.

The Israeli military statement, accompanied by a video of the attack, said “the strike was conducted to degrade the Iranian Air Force’s activities and to further expand the degradation of the regime’s aerial defence”.

New explosions have been heard in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Manama, AFP reported.