A torpedo from a U.S. submarine sunk an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth told reporters as the Iranian conflcit entered its fifth day on Wednesday.
We’re closing our live blog now after another dramatic day of developments in the Iran conflict. You can catch up on all the key events from today in the round-up article below.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told a dinner with Special Forces soldiers in Ankara that Türkiye is coordinating with NATO allies to ensure the country's security. He was speaking after NATO forces neutralised a ballistic missile from Iran in Turkish airspace earlier on Wednesday.
He said: "We are taking every precaution in close consultation with our NATO allies and intervening immediately where necessary. We are issuing the strongest warnings to prevent similar incidents happening again."
Oil and liquified natural gas tankers, as well as cargo ships, remain at anchor off the coast of major Gulf energy suppliers, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to Reuters estimates, based on ship-tracking data from the MarineTraffic platform.
The U.S. Department of Defense has shared footage of its attack on Iranian warship, Iris Dena, off the southern Sri Lankan coast. Colombo's Deputy Foreign Minister said at least 80 people had died in the U.S. strike on the vessel.
Iran has postponed the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to Iranian state media. A new scheudule for the farewell ceremony is set to be announced at a later date.
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirms the United States carried out a submarine torpedo strike that sank an Iranian frigate travelling near Sri Lanka’s southern coast, prompting rescue efforts for the crew.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declares the United States is winning the war against Iran and has the capacity to sustain the fight “for as long as needed”, as conflict escalates region‑wide.
"Our air defenses and that of our allies have plenty of runway. We can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to," Hegseth said.
The number of people killed in U.S.-Israel strikes rises to 1,045 in five days of US-Israeli attacks against Iran.
A ballistic missile launched from Iran, detected heading towards Turkish airspace after passing through Iraqi and Syrian airspace, was successfully intercepted and neutralised by NATO air and missile defence forces deployed in the eastern Mediterranean, according to the Turkish Ministry of Defence.
A Sri Lanka Navy spokesperson confirmed that 32 people injured in a submarine attack on an Iranian vessel off the Sri Lankan coast have been rescued and are receiving treatment in hospital.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s late supreme leader, has survived the U.S. and Israeli air strikes that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other key figures, two Iranian sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
Economy and Finance Minister, Roland Lescure, said on Wednesday that a meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors will be held "early next week" amid U.S. and Israel's conflict with Iran.
"I spoke with my counterparts, notably with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. We agreed to set up a meeting that will likely be early next week because... We can let a week pass, see how the conflict evolves, even see how the markets evolve," he told radio station France Info.
Southern Cyprus has said that a suspected object was detected near Lebanese airspace on Wednesday. The airspace above Larnaca Airport has been closed as a precaution, a government source said.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said the current situation with Iran highlights the failure of the international order. He condemned the Iranian strikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure across the Middle East. Carney also said that Canada would welcome a change of regime in Tehran.
The U.S. government has ordered non-emergency personnel and their families to leave Bahrain on Wednesday due to safety risks.
The Sri Lankan navy dispatched a rescue mission after a distress call from an Iranian ship, a defence ministry spokesperson said earlier on Wednesday.
Foreign minister Vijitha Herath did not give further details but said Sri Lanka would take appropriate action.
Iranians will bid farewell to late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a ceremony on Wednesday at Tehran's Imam Khomeini prayer ground, state media reported.
The ceremony will last for three days and the funeral procession will be announced when it is finalised, it said.
China’s NPC (The National People's Congress) spokesperson urged an immediate end to military operations and a return to talks on the Iran issue, saying no country has the right to dominate international affairs.
China is willing to work with the United States to promote communication on all levels while upholding its "red lines" and principles, Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for the national legislature, said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, more than 470 Chinese citizens have been evacuated to safety since the conflict in Iran began at the weekend, Mao Ning, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters on Wednesday.
The U.S. military on Tuesday (3 March) identified four of the first American soldiers killed in the war against Iran as the Trump administration warned the intensifying conflict would lead to more American casualties.
Among six U.S. military deaths so far, the four soldiers were members of an Iowa unit of the U.S. Army Reserve. They died on Sunday when a drone slammed into a U.S. military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said on Wednesday (4 March) it intercepted and destroyed a drone in the country's Eastern Province.
The ministry did not immediately provide further details on the drone's origin or whether the incident caused any damage or casualties.
Several people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a four-storey residential building in the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, the state news agency NNA reported early on Wednesday.
Rescue teams were working to pull families from beneath the rubble, NNA said.
Donald Trump has warned that any Iranian ships approaching a declared U.S. blockade zone in the Strait of Hormuz will be “immediately elimina...
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is on a five-day visit to China, his fourth trip in four years, highlighting Spain’s push to stre...
Nine suspects have been formally arrested over last week’s gun attack near Israel’s consulate in Istanbul, judicial officials have said...
Azerbaijani and Armenian civil society representatives have convened for a new round of dialogue under the ‘Peace Bridge’ initiative, a...
Hungary’s political landscape is entering a new phase after voters brought an end to the long rule of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, wit...
Donald Trump has warned that any Iranian ships approaching a declared U.S. blockade zone in the Strait of Hormuz will be “immediately eliminated”, as tensions escalate over maritime restrictions in the Gulf. The comments come after weekend peace talks in Pakistan failed to reach an agreement.
The reopening of Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran reflects the “special relationship” between the two countries, a regional expert has said.
At a time of deepening global polarisation, rising conflict and shrinking space for dialogue, Pakistan is stepping into a historic role. Diplomatic engagements in Islamabad, bringing together regional powers amid the Iran crisis, signal both urgency and opportunity.
The Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, said that the U.S. hegemonic approach has been the main obstacle to reaching a fair agreement, his office announced on Monday.
Hungarians vote in elections on Sunday that could see the end of hard right nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s more than 15 year rule. Opinion polls show Orbán’s Fidesz party trailing 45-year-old Péter Magyar’s centre-right opposition Tisza party.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators held their highest-level talks in half a century in Pakistan on Saturday in an effort to end their six-week war, as President Donald Trump said the U.S. military had begun the process of clearing the Strait of Hormuz.
At least 30 people were killed on Saturday in a stampede at Haiti’s Laferrière Citadel World Heritage Site, with authorities warning that the death toll could rise.
Israel has reprimanded Spain’s most senior diplomat in Tel Aviv after a giant effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was blown up in a Spanish town.
Nine suspects were arrested on Saturday (11 April) in connection with a terror attack targeting a police post in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district.
Nine suspects have been formally arrested over last week’s gun attack near Israel’s consulate in Istanbul, judicial officials have said. The assault left one attacker dead and two Turkish police officers lightly wounded.
Azerbaijani and Armenian civil society representatives have convened for a new round of dialogue under the ‘Peace Bridge’ initiative, as both sides seek to sustain engagement ahead of key political developments in the region.
The reopening of Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran reflects the “special relationship” between the two countries, a regional expert has said.
Cement maker Lafarge was found guilty by a French court on Monday (13 April) of paying millions to jihadist groups, including ISIS, to keep a plant running during the Syrian civil war.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that talks with Pakistan had been positive, while Türkiye stressed the importance of stronger ties between Kabul and Islamabad.
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