BBC News

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended his decision not to permit the use of UK bases for the initial US-Israel strikes on Iran after US President Donald Trump criticised the UK's stance, saying the PM was “no Winston Churchill”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has urged Starmer to go further, saying the UK has "became part of this, whether we liked it or not”.

“Why are we being dragged into a war without a plan?” A Question Time audience member asked the panel.

Labour’s Stephen Doughty MP, Conservative James Cleverly, columnist Annabel Denham, writer George Monbiot, and defence editor Shashank Joshi discuss the events in the Middle East.

Catch up with the whole of the debate with BBC Question Time on iPlayer and Sounds now.

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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended his response to the Iran war and announced he will send four additional fighter jets to Qatar.

Adam is joined by Jane Corbin, Panorama film maker; Lucy Fisher, Whitehall editor for the Financial Times, and Mikey Kay, military analyst for the Security Brief, to discuss Starmer’s press conference, and to take a deeper look at the weaponry being used by both sides in this conflict.

00:00 Introduction

00:56 Why did Starmer give a press conference?

08:17 What weapons does the UK have?

11:50 How is Iran retaliating?

15:00 The cost of weapons

19:58 Iran's missile capability

22:50 What is it like to witness a drone attack?

26:15 How did Israeli and US intelligence networks inform the initial attack on Iran?

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Donald Trump has called on Iran to surrender, claiming it no longer has the ability to defend itself against US and Israeli attacks.

The US President said that Iran’s air force and navy were “gone”. He claimed: "We’re destroying more of Iran’s missile and drone capability every single hour, knocking them out... Iran have no air force, they have no air defence. All of their airplanes are gone, their communications are gone.... Their navy is gone”.

Trump also said he must “be involved in the appointment” of Iran’s next leader and dismissed as “unacceptable" the idea of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeding his father as the country's Supreme Leader.

Meanwhile Israel has continued its assault on Lebanon. It has begun striking what it describes as Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahiya neighbourhood, a densely populated commercial and residential area in the southern suburbs of Beirut. 

The IDF had earlier issued forced evacuation orders for the whole population of Beirut’s southern suburbs – home to 500,000 people – leading to widespread panic and huge queues of traffic as people tried to flee.

Reeta Chakrabarti presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Tom Bateman, Lyse Doucet, James Waterhouse, Nick Beake, Hugo Bachega, Chris Mason, Jessica Parker, Wyre Davies and Paul Adams.

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As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues, US President Donald Trump has said the Americans have a "virtually unlimited supply" of weapons.

But some Washington insiders have expressed concern that munitions stockpiles could be strained, as the US arms not only its own military, but those of Israel, and its Gulf allies.

Iran's drones are cheaper and faster to produce than US Tomahawk missiles and other high-tech weaponry. But how long can Tehran's supplies last?

We speak to the BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Beale about the types of weapons being used in this war, and how they are shaping each side's strategy.

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The United Arab Emirates has been pulled into the growing confrontation between the US, Israel and Iran. Usually an influencer hotspot, places like Palm Jumeirah have been caught in the cross fire.

But some have noticed influencers in the region seem to be posting identical messages across social media.

BBC News analysed 129 posts from content creators based in Dubai during the first days of the conflict, to look for any unusual patterns.

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On day six of the US-Israel war with Iran, Iranian drone and missile attacks have spread across the region, with the UAE and Azerbaijan reporting new incidents. Inside Iran, people tell the BBC they feel "trapped" as US‑Israel strikes continue, while evacuations unfold in southern Lebanon. 

The UK has also announced new military deployments and stranded travellers have described chaotic journeys home. 

For the latest updates, go to bbc.com/news 

00:00: Developments on day six

01:23: UK announces plans to send jets to Qatar

03:03: The scale of Iranian drone attacks 

06:09: The impact of the war on the global economy 

08:08: Repatriation flights arrive in the UK

09:25: Voices from Inside Iran

11:33: BBC News Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet

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The UK will send four fighter jets to Qatar to strengthen UK defensive operations as US-Israel strikes on Iran continue, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.

He confirmed that the first UK flight to bring citizens home has taken off and that 4,000 have already returned.

Earlier, a passenger on board the plane told the BBC it had been a "shambles" after the flight was delayed due to a technical issue.

Starmer also defended his decision not to join the initial strikes on Iran, after he declined a request to allow US planes to use British bases.

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Israel has carried out new attacks on Lebanon and Iran, with explosions seen across Tehran.

Iranian attacks were reported in Israel, with air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and explosions seen in the sky as strikes were intercepted.

Across the region, explosions were reported in Qatar and Bahrain while six people were injured by falling debris in Abu Dhabi; Azerbaijan said it was attacked by two Iranian drones; and a tanker was damaged in the northern Gulf - Iran said it hit a US ship.

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Six days on since the first US–Israeli strikes on Iran and the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, comparisons to past US interventions in the region are proliferating. 

Many Americans are asking whether this latest military operation will become another ‘forever war’, as the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan came to be called. 

We talk to Gordon Correra, security analyst for the BBC, about America’s complicated history of intervention in the Middle East and surrounding region, and ask what these past conflicts might tell us about possible outcomes for the war in Iran.

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Chapters:

00:00 What can Trump learn from the past?

02:00 Lessons from the Iraq War

05:44 Does the US have a plan for Iran?

09:08 What is public opinion for the war in Iran?

11:58 Lessons from the Afghanistan war

17:00 Lessons from Libya and Gaddafi

20:50 Has there ever been a successful US intervention in the Middle East?

24:06 Could the conflict in Iran become the new 'forever war'?

UK and US stock markets rose but Asian indexes tumbled on Wednesday as oil and gas prices remained volatile over fears the US-Israel war with Iran may drag on.

The FTSE 100 index of the largest firms listed in London as well the big US and European indexes all rose on Wednesday following two days of sliding share prices, while several Asian indexes plummeted for a third day.

Oil and gas prices dipped on Wednesday but were still much higher than when the conflict started, after shipping traffic was virtually halted from travelling through a vital waterway near Iran.

Experts have warned that if oil and gas prices remain elevated it could make goods and services more expensive.

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