Frank Gardner
Security correspondent, in Doha

It's the first day of Eid Al-Fitr, a three-day Islamic holiday marking the end of the month of Ramadan with its ritual fasting.

In normal circumstances, this is a time for celebration, togetherness, renewal and charity. But today the dark shadow of war hangs over this whole region here in the Middle East.

Here in Qatar, energy experts are still assessing the extensive damage to the country's key gas processing facility at Ras Laffan, which got hit twice by Iranian missiles earlier this week.

Further up the coast to the north, in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, oil and petrochemical installations have also been targeted by Iranian missiles, despite repeated denials by Tehran that it is targeting civilian sites.

Down the coast on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, shipping is still backed up on either side, with Iran dictating which ships can pass and which ones it will attack with drones and missiles.

The consequences of this war are already affecting economies around the globe.

Iran has told the UK that allowing the US to use UK military bases will be considered "participation in aggression", according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

Iran says Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a call with his UK counterpart Yvette Cooper, in which he said that any assistance provided by the UK to the US would lead to "an escalation of the situation".

Araghchi accused the UK and other European nations of a "biased approach" towards what he describes as "blatant aggression" from the US and Israel.

It is reported that Araghchi also criticised the UK for failing to condemn Israeli strikes on Iran's South Pars gas fields.

We are yet to hear from the UK government about this. The BBC has asked the UK foreign office for comment.

Image source, NetBlocks

Iran is entering Nowruz, the Persian New Year in "digital darkness" as the internet blackout in the country has now been in place for 21 days, Internet monitoring group NetBlocks reports.

NetBlocks reported on Thursday that the internet shutdown is now the longest recorded blackout in Iran's history, surpassing the shutdown imposed during protests in January.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Iranian outlets have published a statement by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirming that Ali Mohammad Naini, the IRGC's spokesman, has been killed in a strike.

Naini held various high-ranking posts before becoming the IRGC's spokesman.

He previously served as a cultural adviser to the mayor and as deputy head of the Cultural and Social Department of Tehran Municipality in 2014, during the mayoralty of fellow IRGC veteran Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

He was also former deputy commander of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force for cultural affairs and former deputy commander of the IRGC for cultural affairs.

Nearly 100 ships pass the Hormuz Strait - who is getting through?published at 07:53 GMT 20 March

07:53 GMT 20 March

Image source, Getty Images

Just under 100 ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of March, according to data analysed by BBC Verify, despite periodic attacks on shipping in the area by Iranian forces.

While some energy and everyday goods are still moving through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, daily traffic is down about 95% since the Iran war began on 28 February.

The data provided by shipping analysts Kpler shows 99 vessels passing the narrow strait so far this month, an average of just five to six vessels a day.

Our analysis indicates that about a third of these recent crossings were made by ships with connections to Iran.

Comparatively, about 138 ships passed through the strait every day before the war, according to the Joint Maritime Information Centre.

You can read more about major threats to shipping amid the closure of the strait here.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it struck targets in southern Syria overnight.

It says the strikes were in response to "attacks against the Druze population in As-Suwayda", which is a city in southern Syria.

"The IDF will not tolerate harm towards the Druze population in Syria and will continue to operate to defend them," it adds.

It says the targets it struck were a command centre and weapons in military compounds belonging to the Syrian regime.

For context: The Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethno-religious minority in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Nick Marsh
Asia business reporter

A number of Gulf countries are again coming under attack from drones and missiles fired by Iran, with reports of strikes in the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain overnight, including another strike on Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery.

In spite of this, the price of oil and gas – while still very high – appear to have stabilised somewhat after Thursday's volatility.

It follows assurances from US President Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that there wouldn't be further attacks on Iran's gas fields – for now at least.

In the longer term, however, markets will be deeply concerned by comments from Qatar's energy minister, who said it would take between three and five years to fully repair the country's critical Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas complex.

This will reduce Qatar's liquefied natural gas exports by nearly a fifth in that time.

A little earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had detected another wave of Iranian missiles.

It came around five and a half hours after the previous wave was reported.

Around 15 minutes later, it issued another update saying people could leave shelters.

Azadeh Moshiri
South Asia Correspondent, in Dubai

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Despite calls on Iran to halt its attacks, Kuwait's state oil firm KPC has said its oil refinery has been hit by multiple drone strikes. So far, there are no reports of casualties.

Emergency crews battled a fire at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, and some units have been forced to shut down, according to the state news agency.

This is the nightmare scenario that Gulf countries had hoped to avoid - their energy infrastructure becoming a repeated target in the war.

After Israel's strikes on Iran's South Pars facility, Iran has retaliated, with Gulf countries' on the frontline of its fury.

The war shows no sign of abating, even as countries across the Gulf mark Eid al-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Israel has been hitting Iran's capital, Tehran, with air strikes as Iranians mark Nowruz - the Persian New Year.

Overnight, Iran also launched rounds of missiles at Jerusalem. The loud thuds of interceptions were repeatedly heard overhead here through the night.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier told journalists that Iran was now “decimated” and unable to enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles.

This week, as Iran retaliated for Israel’s attack on its vast South Pars gas field, global energy prices soared. They’ve now started to fall back with Israel’s pledge to refrain from similar strikes and US plans to boost oil output.

There was also a joint statement on Thursday evening, in which the UK, France, Japan and others expressed what they said was their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage” through the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have all reported missile and drone attacks in the past few hours.

The UAE's Ministry of Defence says it is currently responding to incoming threats from Iran, and told residents they might hear booms from air defence systems that are intercepting attacks in the sky.

Kuwait also warned of explosions as a result of its air defence system, and asked people to adhere to safety instructions from authorities.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defence reported the interception and destruction of several drones in the eastern region of the country.

In Bahrain, sirens rang out and the interior ministry asked residents to go to their nearest safe place. Later, officials said it was a result of "Iranian aggression", and that falling shrapnel had caused a fire at a warehouse.

Nick Marsh
Asia Business Reporter, Singapore

We knew Iran's attacks on Qatar's Ras Laffan facility were significant, but these are huge numbers being cited by the country's energy minister.

He says Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity will reduce by 17% over the next five years, causing the country to lose $20bn in annual revenue.

LNG is created by cooling natural gas down to a very low temperature using a large industrial processing unit known as a train. The minister says the Iranian attacks on Ras Laffan damaged two of the plant's 14 trains.

Iran's attack on Ras Laffan was in response to an Israeli attack on Wednesday to its South Pars gas field, which is located just north in the Persian Gulf.

Image source, Reuters

"Five years isn't a repair," Ciaran Roe, chief commercial officer at HySights, a clean fuels market intelligence provider based in Singapore, tells the BBC. "It's a full rebuild".

Countries in Asia are the most reliant on Qatari LNG, especially Japan, South Korea, India and China. In Europe, Italy and Belgium are already big customers - but the continent as a whole is becoming increasingly reliant on Middle Eastern gas, having turned away from Russian imports in the wake of the Ukraine war.

Qatar is one of the leading, if not the leading player, in the global natural gas market.

"Fear may be embedded in the market for several months, if not years," says Roe. "This will change governments' thinking towards LNG imports".

LNG is a crucial energy source needed to heat people's homes, cook food and even power ships and factories. It's also needed to make fertiliser to grow food.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, Getty Images

The days before the Persian new year festival Nowruz usually see Iran buzzing with excitement, as people shop for new clothes, snacks and sweets, to usher one of the most significant celebrations in the country.

Nowruz, which translates to "new day" marks the first day of spring, has been celebrated in Iran and among the Persian diaspora for more than 3,000 years.

This year, it's different.

Markets remain open, but some are fearful of going home to the capital Tehran, which has been most intensely bombarded by US and Israeli strikes.

"I wish everything could be wiped from our memories like we just woke up from a bad dream," Mina tells me.

Here's more on how Iranians are preparing for the event under the shadow of war.

Image source, EPA

Our live coverage of conflict in the Middle East continues, as nations across the Gulf respond to attacks overnight.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference last night, where he said Israel would "hold off" future attacks on Iranian gas fields after being asked to do so by President Trump
• Netanyahu also rejected accusations that he'd dragged Trump into the war with Iran
• Blasts were also heard in Jerusalem and Tehran, Iran's capital - Iran's foreign minister earlier warned that Tehran would act with "zero restraint" if there were further attacks on its infrastructure
• The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have all reported missile and drone attacks in the last few hours, which the UAE and Bahrain have attributed to Iranian aggression

• US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) has issued an update on the death toll in Iran, which it says has reached 3,186 people since war began on 28 February
• The price of gas has risen sharply in the UK and Europe following the attack on Qatar's Ras Laffan energy complex, which Qatar's PM has called a "very dangerous escalation by the Iranians"

Stay with us for more updates and analysis.