Top Iranian nuclear scientists killed, Israel says – as it happened

Iran started to lay mines on Thursday in the strait of Hormuz, a crucial Gulf passage for 20% of the world’s oil supply, US officials told the New York Times.

While Donald Trump has boasted that the US military has destroyed Iran’s navy, officials said Iran had started using smaller boats to place mines and enforce the closure of the strait it had imposed on its Gulf neighbours, sending oil prices sky high.

Iran’s move to close the narrow passage has long been an expected move by war planners in previous administrations but apparently took the Trump administration by surprise.

CNN reported on Thursday that senior Trump administration officials told lawmakers in recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to strikes by the US and Israel.

“Planning around preventing this exact scenario … has been a bedrock principle of US national security policy for decades,” a former US official who served in Republican and Democratic administrations told CNN. “I’m dumbfounded.”

Israel’s emergency services is reportedly saying two people have been injured in the country’s north after the military warned that Iran had fired missiles towards Israel.

One of the injured was a 34-year-old woman who was hospitalised with shrapnel injuries to her back, the Magen David Adom posted on social media.

The military warnings were followed by night-time rocket and missile alerts across Israel.

Emmanuel Macron has confirmed on social media that a French soldier has been killed in an attack in Erbil in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region – marking the first French military death of the Middle East war.

The French president named him in a post on X as Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins from Varces, saying he “died for France”.

To his family, to his brothers in arms, I want to express all the affection and solidarity of the Nation.

Macron also said in the post that several French soldiers had been wounded. He added:

This attack against our forces engaged in the fight against Daesh [Islamic State] since 2015 is unacceptable. Their presence in Iraq is part of the strict framework of the fight against terrorism. The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks.

As mentioned, France’s army said earlier that six French soldiers in training with Iraqi partners had been wounded and taken to medical centre after a drone attack in the region.

Emmanuel Macron has said a French soldier has been killed and several others wounded in an attack in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The French president is also quoted as saying the attack against French forces in the Erbil region was unacceptable.

France’s army was reported earlier as saying that six French soldiers engaged in counter-terrorism training with Iraqi partners were wounded after a drone attack in the region.

Cathay Pacific, AirAsia and Thai Airways are among a growing number of airlines hiking air fares as conflict in the Middle East boosts oil prices and sends travellers flocking to alternative stopover destinations in Asia.

The US and Israel’s war on Iran has sent the price of oil soaring while restricting access to refineries, with experts predicting air fares could be elevated for months even if the conflict ends.

Some airlines have locked in the price of a portion of their crude oil purchases but not the costs of refining that into jet fuel, leaving them exposed to price shocks.

Cathay Pacific planned to increase fuel surcharges for travellers as it had hedged none of the refiner’s margin and only 30% of its fuel costs.

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The US temporarily suspended sanctions on the sale of Russian oil on Thursday, issuing a Treasury Department license to allow the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels until 11 April, according to a letter posted online by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which oversees sanctions.

The sale of Russian oil has been sanctioned by the US in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, cast the windfall for Russia as one of a series of steps taken by Donald Trump “to promote stability in global energy markets and working to keep prices low as we address the threat and instability posed by the terrorist Iranian regime”.

The new license, which covers oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of 12 March, comes a day after the US announced it would release 172m barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum reserve in an effort to keep oil prices from further spiking after Iran closed the strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the globe’s oil supply normally passes.

The International Energy Agency earlier on Wednesday ordered its largest-ever release of government oil reserves – about 400m barrels.

Iran has reportedly continued to export oil, which is now more valuable since it responded to the US and Israeli attack by blocking other Persian Gulf countries from shipping their oil to the rest of the world.

Israel’s military is saying missiles were launched at the country’s territory from Iran a short while ago and that defence systems are operating to intercept them.

The Israel Defence Forces also said in a post on X that it had directed people in relevant areas via mobile phone to head to shelters.

The public is requested to exercise responsibility and act in accordance with the directives – they save lives.

The US air force refuelling aircraft that went down in Iraq had six service members onboard, Reuters has quoted a US official as saying.

The other aircraft involved in the crash of the US air force KC-135 aircraft was also a KC-135, the news agency quoted the official – speaking on condition of anonymity – as saying.

US Central Command (Centcom) earlier said it was carrying out rescue efforts after the KC-135 aircraft went down in “friendly airspace” in western Iraq in an incident that was “not due to hostile fire or friendly fire”. The second aircraft landed safely.

The KC-135, built by Boeing in the 1950s and early 1960s, has served as the backbone of the US military’s air refueling fleet and is critical to allow aircraft to carry out missions without having to land.

News of the crash comes the same day as two US sailors were injured after the USS Gerald Ford suffered a non-combat-related fire onboard.

The US military refuelling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq on Thursday is the fourth US aircraft downed since the US and Israel began attacking Iran on 28 February.

It wasn’t immediately clear if there were casualties in the latest incident, which US Central Command said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire. Rescue efforts were under way after the US KC-135 aircraft went down, it said.

Earlier this month three US air force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down in a “friendly fire” incident by Kuwait air defences. All crew members in those jets ejected safely.

Seven US troops have been killed in the war on Iran, while Reuters reported on Tuesday that as many as 150 US troops have been wounded. The death toll in Iran is more than 1,300, according to the country’s UN ambassador.

You can read more on the refuelling plane crash in our report here:

The Lebanese health ministry has said that 70 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Thursday.

Among the dead were two academics, Hussein Bazzi and Murtadha Sarour, killed in an attack on the campus of Lebanese University.

Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, condemned the attack as a “flagrant violation of international laws and norms”.

What happened today at the Faculty of Sciences is a crime condemned by all standards, and a flagrant violation of international laws and norms that prohibit attacks on educational institutions and civilians. It is a new chapter in the targeting of civilians.

• US Central Command said it is carrying out rescue efforts after it lost a military refuelling aircraft in “friendly airspace” in Iraq, while saying neither hostile or friendly fire were to blame. A statement said “rescue efforts are ongoing” after an incident involving two planes, the second of which landed safely.

• Israel launched fresh strikes on Tehran and Beirut.

• Donald Trump said his war on Iran is “moving along very rapidly” and “doing very well”. He called Iran “a nation of terror and hate”, and said it is “paying a big price right now”.

• Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a veiled threat to kill Iran’s new supreme leader, saying he “wouldn’t take out life insurance policies” on Iran’s new ayatollah or the leader of Hezbollah. Using his first press conference since the start of the war to defend his joint military assault with the US against Iran, he said Israel aims to stop Iran from moving its nuclear and ballistic projects underground, and that some Israeli strikes have killed top Iranian nuclear scientists.

• The US Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, will escort vessels through the strait of Hormuz when it is militarily possible, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told Sky News. The plan to escort ships would go ahead as soon as the US has “complete control of the skies and … [Iran’s] rebuilding capabilities for the missiles completely degraded,” Bessent said.

• Trump said the Iranian national football team was “welcome” to participate at this summer’s World Cup – which is taking place in the US, Canada and Mexico – but, extraordinarily, added: “I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.” The US president didn’t elaborate on the nature of the risk.

• Six French soldiers engaged in counter-terrorism training with Iraqi partners were wounded after a drone attack in the region, France’s army said, as reported by Reuters.

• A US defence official has told BBC News that there were no significant injuries and all American soldiers stationed there remain on duty after a base, also in Erbil, northern Iraq, housing UK and US forces came under attack from an Iranian drone last night. No British soldiers were injured in the attack either, BBC News understands.

• A ballistic missile fired from Iran hit an open area in central Israel, causing no injuries, the IDF’s Home Front Command said, as quoted by Haaretz.

• Saudi Arabia’s defence forces said it intercepted a drone heading towards the Shaybah oil field (drones have been targeting the area regularly this week), as well as a ballistic missile and three drones launched towards the country’s eastern region.

• Qatar’s defence ministry has said that it intercepted two ballistic missiles, one cruise missile and multiple drones launched from Iran.

US Central Command has said it is carrying out rescue efforts after it lost a military aircraft in “friendly airspace” in Iraq. In a statement it said:

US Central Command is aware of the loss of a US KC-135 refuelling aircraft. The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing. Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely.

This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.