Turkey, the UAE and Qatar all say they have intercepted Iranian missiles, while Israel says it has detected more attacks
Meanwhile, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves says the war in the Middle East is likely to put “upward pressure on inflation”
Delivering an update to MPs, Reeves says she stands ready to “support a coordinated release” of international oil reserves
Earlier, the IEA suggested such an agreement had not been reached in a meeting with G7 finance ministers, after the benchmark oil price passed $100 a barrel
Israel says it’s carrying out attacks on three parts of Iran, while also hitting Lebanon
On Sunday, Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei – the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed nine days ago by US-Israeli strikes – as its new supreme leader
“No one accepts him except the supporters of this regime,” one person in Iran tells us
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Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge criticises the fact that a Navy warship has not yet been deployed off the coast of Cyprus, saying it would be needed for air defence operations.
He says the UK’s response so far has “completely undermined our international standing”, both in the eyes of allies and “those who can exploit such weakness”.
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UK defence secretary calls for de-escalation in Lebanonpublished at 18:1218:12
Healey says the government is “deeply concerned about escalation in Lebanon”.
He calls on Hezbollah to cease attacks against Israel and says “we do not want to see Israel expand this conflict further into Lebanon”.
Healey describes the Iranian regime as “a destructive force which has slaughtered protesters”, and calls on it to give up its nuclear ambitions and restart negotiations.
He says the UK’s response has been “driven at all times by military advice”.
The UK is now conducting defensive air sorties in support of the UAE, Healey says, and British forces have shot down two drones – one over Jordan, the second heading to Bahrain.
A third Wildcat helicopter has arrived in Cyprus and RAF operations experts have been deployed to more than five countries in the region, he adds.
The UK has eight jets in Qatar and “more jets in Cyprus than any other nation”.
John Healey has confirmed Navy destroyer HMS Dragon will leave Portsmouth for the Mediterranean in the “next few days”.
He says the government has also sent Typhoon and F35 fighter jets, counter-drone teams and radars to the region.
The defence secretary says the government’s response, which is coordinated with the US, Nato and Gulf allies, is underpinned by assuring there is a “legal basis for our decisions”.
The drone which hit RAF Akrotiri last week was fired from Lebanon or Iraq, the UK defence secretary says.
The Ministry of Defence previously confirmed the drone – which caused minimal damage at the British military base – was not launched from Iran, but has not previously said where it originated from.
For context: A drone hit the British base last Sunday, causing “minimal damage” and no casualties. The next day, two further drones headed for Akrotiri were intercepted, a Cypriot government spokesperson said. The MoD said it would move family members to alternative accommodation as a precautionary measure.
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Defence secretary making Iran statement in Commonspublished at 17:477:47
UK Defence Secretary John Healey is now giving an update on the situation in the Middle East.
You can watch live at the top of this page and we will bring you the key details here.
The slowdown of oil and gas making it out of the Middle East and rising energy prices has led some to question the UK’s energy security.
Among them is Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice, who posted on X: “The Net Stupid Zero political class are to blame: UK has just 2 days’ worth of Gas stored.”
According to the latest figures from National Gas – which builds and manages the country’s gas infrastructure – the UK has 7,254GWh (gigawatt hours) of gas in storage, and the expected demand today is about 2,600 GWh .
But expressing the amount of gas stored as the number of days of supply would be putting it into “extremely simple and unrealistic terms”, analysts at energy consultants Wood Mackenzie tell BBC Verify.
They say the UK has the ability to produce its own gas, has five pipelines to import it from continental Europe, as well as three terminals for liquified natural gas, adding: “All of these would have to be inoperable for storage to be the sole source of supply, which is not going to happen.”
National Gas says it has no concerns about storage levels, which are broadly what they would expect at this time of year.
Donald Trump has just announced an unexpected news conference at 17:30 local time (21:30 GMT) in Doral, the Miami suburb where he has spent the weekend.
It will follow a Republican event in which Trump will meet House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican members of the House of Representatives.
The US President has been making a handful of phone calls to journalists regarding Iran, and we spoke to him on Air Force One on Saturday.
However, this would mark the first time that he has had a formal press conference since hostilities began. His last press conference, in the White House briefing room, took place on 20 February.
While Trump’s event in Florida is focused on domestic politics, the US-Israeli operation in Iran continues to be the focus of the country’s media.
Trump is likely to be asked about rising petrol prices, as well as his thoughts on Iran’s new leadership and how he views the potential “end game” in the country.
SOURCE: BBC
