Russia ‘is sharing targeting intelligence on US ships with Iran, missile sets Bahrain hotel on fire, Tehran braces for ‘the big one’- live updates

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the US-Israel war with Iran as the conflict enters its seventh day.

Here are your main developments:

• Russia is facing claims it passed intelligence to Iran on the location of US warships and aircraft
• Donald Trump demanded Iran’s regime to surrender or face ‘guaranteed death’ as his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned the US has ‘only just begun’.
• Trump added he was not currently considering sending US ground troops into Iran after saying he would ‘have to be involved’ in choosing Iran’s next leader
• US forces sent a massive Iranian drone carrier up in flames last night as part of its effort to sink the entire Iranian Navy
• Israel has declared a ‘next phase’ in the conflict with more airstrikes in Tehran and Beirut
• The IDF has released footage of the moment Ayatollah Khamenei’s military bunker was obliterated beneath his Tehran compound
• Iranian missiles struck a hotel and two residential buildings in Bahrain with footage showing a fire in the capital Manama
• Saudi Arabia said it destroyed three drones east of Riyadh today as Iran presses on with attacks across the Gulf
• The US Air Force’s heaviest bombers are expected to arrive at British bases within hours

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Russia, as well as China, are ‘not really a factor’ when questioned about a possible geopolitical fallout caused by the Iran war.

On Wednesday, asked for his response at a press conference after Russia and China both called for a ceasefire, Hegseth said: ‘I don’t have a message for them, and they’re not really a factor here, and our issue is not with them.’

The CIA and the Pentagon declined to comment on the Washington Post’s report and the Russian Embassy in Washington has not responded to comment.

Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran to help Tehran attack American warships and aircraft across the Middle East, a bombshell report has claimed.

The Kremlin has reportedly passed information on the locations of several US assets since the start of the war on Saturday, according to the Washington Post who spoke to three intelligence officials.

‘It does seem like it’s a pretty comprehensive effort,’ one of the officials told the Post.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Iran has not asked Russia for military support since the US and Israel launched its airstrikes on Saturday

Moscow has openly condemned the attacks as a ‘deliberate, premeditated and unprovoked act of armed aggression’.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has announced some countries have started mediation efforts to end the war with the US and Israel.

Without naming the countries involved in peace discussions, Pezeshkian said any talks should address those who started the war.

‘Some countries have begun mediation efforts. Let’s be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation’s dignity and sovereignty,’ said Pezeshkian in a post on X.

‘Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict.’

A British businessman has recalled the horror of his wife’s 60th birthday celebrations in Dubai as Iranian drones and missiles were fired towards the city.

Grant Berry, who runs mattress retailer Home World in Grimsby, was in the UAE with his family when they came under attack.

He recalled the terrifying experience after he returned to the UK with his wife Samanatha via a flight to Manchester yesterday.

‘We were having a great time, we’d had a couple of days there and then we were just finishing a brunch where we were getting fed lobsters and everything like that. Then I just started hearing some banging and at first I thought it must be fireworks,’ he said.

‘It never entered my head that it must be anything serious. Then it became clear it was serious because there were explosions that were extraordinarily loud. Everybody was running for cover.’

by Eliana Silver

The war in the Middle East is raging on, with Iran continuing its attack on the Gulf and intense Israeli airstrikes pounding Tehran and Beirut early on Friday.

Iran launched new retaliatory attacks at the end of a full week of bombardment, which US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned was ‘about to surge dramatically’.

The Islamic Republic had vowed the US would ‘bitterly regret’ torpedoing one of its warships as it sent hundreds of drones and missiles at its Arab neighbours.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military said on Friday morning it had begun ‘a broad-scale wave of strikes’ on Tehran, Iran’s capital.

Witnesses described the Israeli airstrikes as particularly intense, shaking homes in the area. Others reported explosions around the Iranian city of Kermanshah in an area that is home to multiple missile bases.

by Mark Duell

Despite Iran being 3,000 miles away from the UK, the US-Israeli attacks on the country are already expected to have a major impact on the cost-of-living for Brits.

The fallout from the conflict could last for months with UK consumers facing a knock-on effect on wallets through higher energy bills, mortgage rates and grocery prices.

Today, the boss of Octopus Energy warned energy markets are ‘in turmoil’ in the face of the intensifying conflict in the Middle East which began on Saturday.

The UK’s largest household energy supplier said it has increased fixed-price tariffs and introduced exit fees for these tariffs in the face of soaring oil and gas prices.

A raft of other major suppliers have pulled fixed-price tariff deals completely. In the week since attacks first started between Iran and US-Israeli forces, the number of fixed deals available has more than halved, according to data from Uswitch.

The IDF has released footage of the moment Israeli fighter jets blew up the late Ayatollah Khamenei’s military bunker underneath his Tehran compound.

Khamenei, Iran’s former supreme leader, was killed on Saturday on the first day of Operation Epic Fury when US and Israeli bombers targeted his compound which had functioned as official residences and administrative headquarters.

Thirty bombs were reportedly dropped on the compound during Saturday’s strikes which also killed four of Khamenei’s relatives and two high-level military leaders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump were reportedly shown an image of the 86-year-old’s body after it was recovered.

by Martin Robinson

After Trump warned Iran that the ‘big one’ is coming, central Tehran was hit with one of the biggest explosions of the war so far on Friday.

There were deafening bangs and multiple plumes of smoke and fireballs as a huge payload hit the Moqaddad base of the Revolutionary Guards.

Tehran’s famous Azadi Tower can be seen in the centre of a video as the bombs rained down on the Iranian capital.

Debris was thrown across the city centre and some witnesses even claimed have seen bodies thrown up more than 100ft in the air.

Iranians filming the bomb blasts could be heard exclaiming at the ferocity of the explosions hours after the US President told the Iranian military to ‘surrender or die’.

Iran has claimed it has launched attacks on American bases in Kuwait as it vowed to press ahead with further strikes against Gulf states.

According to Iranian state television, the army said in a statement earlier: ‘Over the past few hours, various types of destructive drones of the Army’s ground forces have targeted American military bases in Kuwait in large numbers.

These attacks will continue in the coming hours.’

The US has several installations in Kuwait, including two air bases, alongside a number of other outposts.

Ali Al Salem Air Base is home to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, one of the main hubs for delivering combat support in the region.

by Sabrina Penty

Unverified social media footage claims to show the moment a Kuwaiti jet mistakenly shot down an American F-15 plane in a friendly fire blunder, with at least two pilots seen parachuting to safety.

An F/A 18 pilot from Kuwait is alleged to have launched three missiles against three separate American planes, according to sources familiar with initial reports of the incident.

All six airmen were forced to eject to safety after their F-15E Strike Eagles were mistaken for Iranian jets on Monday morning, the US Central Command reported.

Newly released footage purports to show an American F-15 going up in flames midair after being struck as it starts to plunge towards the ground rapidly.

Qatar’s energy minister has warned that the price of a barrel of oil could double to more than $150, dragging down global economies.

Saad al-Kaabi says the Middle East conflict could result in a new energy crisis and ‘bring down the economies of the world.’

Currently, oil is trading at around $85 a barrel. That comes after spending most of the year around the $60-$65 a barrel mark.

Mr Kaabi told the Financial Times that such a rise will ‘bring down the economies of the world.’

‘If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted. Everybody’s energy price is going to go higher.’