US bombs Iran live updates: Iran launches fresh strikes in Israel as Trump promises major retaliation

That concludes our coverage for today, thanks for following along.

Scroll through the previous posts to catch up on today’s events.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence says its air force has intercepted and destroyed 97 ballistic missiles and 283 drones since Iran launched strikes on the country, according to the official Kuwait News Agency.

One person has been killed and 32 have been injured “amid ongoing regional developments”, the agency has reported the country’s health ministry as saying.

According to the BBC, the death toll from a missile strike on Beit Shemesh in Israel has been revised to eight, a Zaka rescue services spokesman said.

Nearly two dozen others are suffering from injuries of different severity following the strike on the Israeli city west of Jerusalem.

In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces accused Iran of directly firing missiles toward the city neighbourhood, “killing innocent civilians”.

At least six people have been killed after a missile strike in the city of Beit Shemesh, central Israel, the country’s medical emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) says.

The service says medics are treating 23 people who have been wounded. MDA says two are seriously hurt, three are in a moderate condition and 18 have minor injuries. All are being taken to hospital.

A ship near the Strait of Hormuz has been struck by an “unknown projectile”, the UK Maritime Trade Organisation (UKMTO) says.

A vessel north of Oman and east of the strait has been struck by an unknown projectile above the waterline, it said.

“Although the engine room was originally reported as on fire it has now been reported that the fire is under control,” read the statement published on X, adding that authorities are investigating.

At least 150 tankers, including crude oil and LNG vessels, have dropped anchor in open Gulf waters beyond the Strait of Hormuz, shipping data shows.

Pope Leo has said that he is following events after US-Israeli strikes against Iran with “deep concern” and made an appeal to stop what he called a “spiral of violence.”

“I address a ‌heartfelt appeal to the parties involved to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes ⁠an irreparable abyss,” ⁠said the pope.

“Stability and peace are not built through mutual ⁠threats or through weapons … but ⁠only through reasonable, ⁠genuine, and responsible dialogue,” the pope said during his weekly address to ‌pilgrims in St Peter’s Square after a Sunday ‌prayer.

Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) says Tehran has been hit by 60 attacks in 24 hours, leaving 57 people dead.

Israel’s military says it has been targeting the capital, with smoke seen billowing above the city.

Plumes of smoke were seen rising over the skyline on March 1 following explosions in Tehran, Iran.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences over the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Russian state news agency TASS reports.

He described Khamenei’s death as a “cynical murder that violated all norms of human morality and international law.”

Alireza Arafi, a cleric on Iran’s Guardian Council, has been appointed as the jurist member of the country’s temporary Leadership Council.

The 67-year-old cleric, a member of the Guardian Council that must later choose a supreme leader, was confirmed to the council by the Expediency Council, a powerful arbitration body.

Arafi joins President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholam‑Hossein Mohseni‑Ejei on the interim council.

Motorists face a potential 40¢-a-litre hike in fuel prices to back above $2 if the attacks on Iran escalate in a protracted war that seriously disrupts global oil supplies.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it has banned merchant vessels from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between the Islamic republic and Oman that handles about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas, in retaliation for the weekend bombardments by the US and Israel.

Analysts and economists are warning the conflict will send global oil prices sharply higher over the next few days, inevitably pushing up the cost of petrol for motorists and threatening the Australian economy.

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