Trump said it would be 'wonderful' if Kurds launch insurgency

Iran's president says countries have begun mediation efforts

With its supreme leader killed and its war machine under relentless US pressure, Iran now stands largely alone - its longtime partners Russia and China offering nothing more than diplomatic condemnations and expressions of concern.

Emirati airlines resumed some flights to global cities from the war-hit Gulf yesterday, but a Lufthansa jet that was headed to the region diverted over safety fears and an Air France repatriation flight was forced to turn back due to missile fire.

Iran has spent decades and billions of dollars preparing foreign proxy fighters like A J, a commander in a pro-Iranian paramilitary group in Iraq, for a moment just like this. Since the US and Israel went to war on the Islamic Republic a week ago, A J has been awaiting marching orders from Tehran.

Israel and the United States yesterday stepped up their attacks against Iran and its allies in the sprawling Middle East war, as US President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” to end the crisis.

US and Israel pounded Iran and Lebanon yesterday as President Donald Trump encouraged Kurdish opposition groups to go on the offensive against Tehran, potentially opening a dangerous new front in the widening war that may draw in more countries.

The conflict that began Saturday with US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader has spread across much of the region, sparking global economic pressure, energy disruptions and travel chaos

The beleaguered Iranian regime, with very few international allies, has been counting on Moscow's support amid the ongoing US-Israeli strikes

Here are the latest main events related to the war in the Middle East:

More nations were drawn into the widening war in the Middle East yesterday, as a US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka and Nato air defences intercepted a missile fired from Iran toward Turkish airspace.

Gulf states are on the front line of the Middle East’s newest war, and they are not happy.

The Israeli military said it struck "dozens" of Iranian security command centres on Wednesday, hitting sites across the capital Tehran

With global energy prices on the rise, President Donald Trump said the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital chokepoint into the Gulf that Iran has threatened to seal off

Explosions tore through Tehran, Beirut and elsewhere across the Middle East yesterday, as the United States, Israel and Iran escalated attacks, raising fears that the conflict could drag on.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran amid its escalating war with the US and Israel has raised fresh concerns over liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to Bangladesh, which relies heavily on the narrow maritime corridor for its energy imports.

Two special flights arranged to repatriate stranded Bangladeshis amid Middle East crisis

AFP was not in a position to verify the toll given by the organisation

Move aims to ease pressure on travellers affected by flight disruptions

For decades, Dubai's sales pitch featured gleaming skylines, tax-free salaries, ease of doing business and something far more intangible: the unspoken promise that whatever was happening elsewhere in the Middle East, this city was different