Bethany Bell
BBC Germany reporter

Friedrich Merz has called for a speedy change of government in Iran, saying: "The sooner the mullah regime stops, the sooner this war will be over."

The German chancellor says: "Iran is the centre of international terrorism and this centre must be shut down and the Americans and Israelis are doing that in their own way."

He also says the war could have "repercussions" on the German economy, the largest in Europe, and says his government is "doing everything we can to increase our independence in energy policy".

Duncan Kennedy
Reporting from RAF Fairford

Air activity has increased significantly in the last 72 hours here at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, south-west of England, with the United States putting in some of its heavy-duty bomber forces.

On Monday, three B-52 bombers landed - the first time B-52s have been seen in the UK during this current conflict. These old, subsonic, warhorse staples of the American Air Force came into service in the 1950s and have seen action everywhere from Vietnam to Afghanistan.

Some B-52s form part of the United States Strategic Command, meaning they can carry nuclear weapons. But they can also be used to deliver conventional air-to-ground munitions.

Four B-1 bombers have also landed here since Friday. These supersonic aircraft are capable of flying long distances and can carry up to 24 cruise missiles.

Fairford has a 10,000ft (3,000m) runway, making it ideal for these giant aircraft. These arrivals have attracted dozens of journalists and local people, who've dotted themselves around the perimeter fence to catch a glimpse of this impressive American firepower.

Two members of the United Arab Emirates armed forces have been killed in a helicopter crash caused by a technical malfunction, according to the country's defence ministry.

It's not clear whether the incident is related to the US-Israel war with Iran.

The UAE's Ministry of Defence says the two people killed were "performing their national duty" at the time of the incident on Monday, and that it "extends its deepest condolences and sympathies to the families of the two martyrs".

Earlier we reported that an explosion had been heard in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Qatar's defence ministry now reports that it has been attacked by 17 ballistic missiles and six drones from Iran.

It says that its armed forces have successfully intercepted all of the attacks without any casualties.

Almost no ships passing through Strait of Hormuzpublished at 13:53 GMT 9 March

13:53 GMT 9 March

By Kayleen Devlin

One of the key reasons oil prices have surged to a new four-year high above $100 (£75) is the absence of shipping traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the only route for tankers carrying oil and gas out of the Gulf.

Publicly available tracking data from MarineTraffic shows only one vessel, sailing under a Belize flag, crossing the strait and heading east into the Indian Ocean in the past 24 hours. Another Comoros-flagged vessel can be seen approaching, but has not transmitted its location for over 10 hours.

TankerTrackers.com, which monitors global energy shipments, tells BBC Verify that they have identified 57 vessels in the region that are “dark” - meaning they are not transmitting AIS tracking signals.

War-risk insurance premiums for vessels in the area have increased and Iran has threatened to “set ablaze” vessels using the route. BBC Verify has identified 11 reported incidents of damage to commercial ships in the area.

Neil Roberts, head of marine and aviation at the Lloyd’s Market Association which represents insurance firms, says many vessels remain at anchor because of safety concerns rather than the issue of obtaining insurance cover.

On Friday, the US announced a plan for a government-backed reinsurance scheme to help maintain coverage for ships transiting the strait.

Dearbail Jordan
Senior business and economics reporter

Like Europe and Asia, US stock markets have also fallen after being spooked by oil prices.

Within minutes of opening, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1.1.% - or more than 550 points, while the S&P 500 index fell by 1%.

The Nasdaq also began Monday in the red, down 1%.

On BBC News from 15:30 GMT, a panel of BBC correspondents and independent analysts will be answering questions on the ongoing effects of the war, including about the economic fallout as oil prices rise.

The panel will include deputy economics editor Dharshini David, Middle East correspondent Barbara Plett Usher, and energy analyst Bill Farren-Price.

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Image source, Reuters

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the world is "going to be a safer and a better place when this mission is accomplished".

Speaking at an event in Washington DC, Rubio says the US is engaged in a mission targeting "the world's largest hostage taker, the world's leading sponsor of terrorism - the regime in Iran".

He says the goals of the mission are clear, and include destroying "the ability of this regime to launch missiles... destroy the factories that make these missiles and destroy their navy".

"We are well on our way to achieving that objective," he says.

"Every single day this regime in Iran has less missiles, has less launchers, their factories work less and their navy is being eviscerated."

Image source, Gonzalo Fuentes/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

French President Emmanuel Macron is currently visiting Cyprus to meet his Greek and Cypriot counterparts in a show of "solidarity" - after a drone hit a British air base on the island’s southern tip.

At a press conference in Paphos, the French president says: "When Cyprus is attacked, Europe is attacked."

The French president says France will deploy two frigates - a type of warship - as part of the EU's naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea.

"We are in the process of setting up a purely defensive, purely escort mission, which must be prepared together with both European and non-European states," he says.

Image source, PA Media

An emergency meeting between G7 finance ministers is currently under way. The group is discussing the economic impact of the US-Israel war with Iran, including the rise in oil prices.

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has joined the meeting remotely. She will deliver an emergency statement to parliament this afternoon, following the meeting.

Picture shows damage to factory linked to Iran weapons programmespublished at 13:12 GMT 9 March

13:12 GMT 9 March

By Tom Gould

BBC Verify has confirmed imagery showing the aftermath of a strike on Isfahan Optics Industries (IOI), an internationally sanctioned company linked to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The factory in the central Iranian city of Isfahan was reportedly targeted this morning - and footage of another strike on the facility on 3 March has previously been verified.

The picture showing the smouldering rubble of IOI’s plant in Isfahan matches with satellite imagery of the area.

IOI has been sanctioned by at least eight countries, including the UK, as well as the European Union. It is a subsidiary of Iran Electronics Industries, which is owned by the Iranian defence ministry.

It is not clear from the picture who hit the factory. But the attack comes after Israel said on Thursday it has moved onto the “next phase” of its military operation against Iran, which involves expanding attacks on “the regime’s key weapon production sites”.

Image source, X

BBC Persian has been hearing from people inside Iran about their reaction to the appointment of Ali Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, as the country's new supreme leader.

A Tehran woman in her 40s describes Mojtaba as "worse than his dad".

"If he’s alive, I think the US and Israel will target him. Until he was selected last night, everyone was chanting against Mojtaba. No one accepts him except the supporters of this regime," she says.

Another Tehran woman, in her 20s, says he's "even more oppressive than his dad".

"I really hope their lives [officials] end in the war; otherwise, if we’re under his rule, we're all dead," she says.

A Karaj man in his 20s says: "I hadn’t even heard his name before or taken him seriously."

He says that "now it will become clear whether Trump has done a deal with them or not."

BBC Persian is the Persian language service of BBC News, used by 24 million people around the world - the majority in Iran - despite being blocked and routinely jammed by Iranian authorities.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

In Iran, supporters of the regime have taken to the streets of Tehran to celebrate the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader.

Images show people at a public gathering hoisting pictures of Khamenei and his father Ali, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes last week.

In one scene, a man holds a placard appearing to show an image of the elder Khamenei passing the flag onto his son.

AFP news agency reports thousands of people flocked to a central square in the Iranian capital this morning to pledge allegiance to the country's new leader.

While some have publicly celebrated, others have told BBC Persian he is "worse than his dad" and that they hoped his fate would be similar to his father's - more on that in our next post.

A reminder: International news organisations are often refused visas to Iran, which severely limits their ability to gather information there.

Image source, EPA

This has the potential to be the biggest oil shock in historypublished at 12:48 GMT 9 March

12:48 GMT 9 March

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

As the oil price spiralled above $100 (£75) a barrel to, at one point, $115 a barrel early this morning, word emerged of an emergency meeting of the G7 finance ministers - with the idea of a 300 million barrel release of emergency stockpiles co-ordinated by the International Energy Agency.

The speculation alone was enough to temper the rise in prices a bit, but they remain much higher than Friday’s close, and way above pre-conflict levels.

This can be of little surprise of course when millions of barrels of crude oil are stuck in the Gulf, and most Gulf countries are now reporting a slowing of their production at best - and force majeure shutdowns at worst.

Three hundred million barrels is, however, a massive number. It would be more than double the record previous intervention made in April 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These reserves have only been tapped five times.

If agreed, this would represent a quarter of stockpiles. But this also has the potential to be the biggest oil shock in history.

Three hundred million barrels is effectively less than three days of global oil consumption (104 million barrels), about a fortnight of normal traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Nick Edser
Business reporter

With oil and gas prices rising - and the markets falling - as a result of the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran, let's take a quick look at how the financial markets are faring.

Global oil prices have jumped on fears that there will be a lengthy disruption to energy supplies through the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route. The price of Brent crude reached nearly $120 (£90) a barrel earlier on Monday, before falling back to around $104.

However, that’s still a big rise on the $93-a-barrel it was at the end of last week.

Gas prices have also jumped. UK gas prices surged by nearly 25% to 171p a therm when trading started on Monday, before slipping back to about 156p.

European stock markets are lower, following steep falls earlier in Asia. London’s FTSE 100 index is down 1.1%, Germany's Dax index has dropped 1.6% while France's Cac 40 has fallen 2%.

UK government borrowing costs have continued to rise as markets rethink the prospects for the future direction of interest rates.

Before the conflict, interest rate cuts had been expected this year, but this has changed given the expected impact of the oil price surge on inflation. On Monday, the yield - or interest rate - on two-year government bonds, which indicates how much it would cost to borrow money for two years, rose sharply to 4.12% from 3.87%.

An explosion has been heard in the Qatari capital Doha, according to the news agencies AFP and Reuters.

Qatar's Ministry of Defense says armed forces have intercepted a missile attack targeting the country.

Macron's Cyprus visit has poor optics for the UKpublished at 12:25 GMT 9 March

12:25 GMT 9 March

Jessica Parker
Reporting from Cyprus

Image source, REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool

French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting Cyprus today to meet his Greek and Cypriot counterparts in a show of "solidarity", a week after a drone hit a British air base on the island’s southern tip.

France has already sent a frigate to the eastern Mediterranean, while an aircraft carrier is also en route. Greece, Spain and Italy have also deployed warships to help protect their EU ally.

The UK says it has bolstered air defences - both before and after a drone punched a hole in a hangar reportedly used to house American U2 spy planes.

But the optics of other European leaders and warships getting to Cyprus first - when it was a key British base that was struck - will fuel accusations the UK government has been far too slow in deploying HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer that’s yet to set sail.

Jacob Phillips
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

• Blasts continue to be heard across the Middle East - with heavy explosions reported in Tehran and Beirut
• One person has been killed in an Iranian strike on Tel Aviv, Israel says. Meanwhile Turkey says it has destroyed an Iranian missile that had entered its airspace, and the UAE defence ministry says it has detected tens of drones and missiles. It comes after reports of attacks across the Gulf overnight

• Oil prices continue to rise, with the cost of a barrel passing $100 (£75) for the first time since 2022. South Korea and Croatia are among those introducing price caps
• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warns the longer the conflict in the Middle East goes on the more likely it will hit households and businesses. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will join an emergency meeting of G7 finance ministers this afternoon

• But US President Donald Trump says the sharp rise in the cost of oil is a "very small price to pay" for world peace
• Mojtaba Khamenei has been chosen as the new supreme leader of Iran, nine days after his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes - Israel and the US have vowed to target Ali Khamenei's successor

The Turkish defence ministry says a second ballistic munition launched from Iran has been destroyed by "Nato air and missile defence assets" after it entered Turkish airspace.

In a statement, the ministry adds that debris fell onto empty land in the southern city of Gaziantep, but there were no injuries or casualties.

Last week, the Turkish defence ministry said an Iranian missile heading towards its airspace was destroyed by Nato defences.

The UAE Ministry of Defence says it has detected 15 ballistic missiles today, destroying 12, while three fell into the sea.

The ministry also says it detected 18 drones, intercepting 17, with one crashing within UAE territory.

Since the start of Iran's attacks, the ministry says it has detected a total of 253 ballistic missiles, eight cruise missiles and 1,440 drones. Two ballistic missiles and 81 UAVs hit the country - the rest were intercepted or feel in the sea, it says. These attacks have resulted in four deaths and 117 injuries so far, it says.

Earlier, authorities in Abu Dhabi said two people were injured after Iranian strikes were intercepted.