Live Reporting
Edited by Jenna Moon and Tinshui Yeung, with reporting from BBC Persian and teams across the Middle East
-
UAE intercepts 23 missiles and 56 drones, defence ministry sayspublished at 13:13 BST
In its daily update, the UAE Ministry of Defence says it intercepted 23 ballistic missiles and 56 drones from Iran on 4 April.
This brings the total number of interceptions since the start of the conflict to 498 ballistic missiles, 23 cruise missiles and 2,141 drones, according to a post on social media.
Authorities say two members of the armed forces, a contractor and 10 other people have been killed in the UAE since the start of the war. Two hundred and seventeen people have been injured.
-
Iran denies that second crew member has been arrestedpublished at 12:50 BST
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC PersianA sub-unit of Iran’s IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) in Iran’s southern Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad province, and the governor of the same province, have both denied that the second American crew member of the F-15 has been arrested.
Separately, the governor has denied that the first pilot was rescued by the US and has labelled it as “enemy tacticâ€.
State-affiliated Iranian channels have urged citizens to “capture the pilot alive†and offered rewards.
In one widely circulated example, Iranian outlets reported on a reward of around £50,000 ($66,100), an amount that is strikingly higher than the country’s estimated monthly salary range of £150 to £230.
-
Photos show aftermath of strike in Ramat Gan, Israelpublished at 12:27 BST
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it was operating in six areas in central Israel following Iranian strikes on Saturday, according to Israeli media.
Buildings were damaged in the city of Ramat Gan, to the east of Tel Aviv, as pictured below. There are currently no reports of fatalities.
Earlier, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had identified missiles launched from Iran, asking the public to go to a protected space.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters -
Radioactive fallout ‘will end life’ in Gulf countries, Iran’s foreign minister sayspublished at 12:05 BST
Image source, EPAIran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has commented on a reported attack near the Bushehr nuclear plant.
He writes on social media: “Remember the Western outrage about hostilities near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine? Israel-U.S. have bombed our Bushehr plant four times now.
“Radioactive fallout will end life in GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] capitals, not Tehran. Attacks on our petrochemicals also convey real objectives.”
The US and Israel have not yet confirmed that they were involved in the attack.
-
How some Iranians reacted to US jet downingpublished at 11:45 BST
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC PersianI’ve been asking some of my contacts inside Iran what they think about the US
jet downing. All those I talk to are against the current establishment, but
they have different views and opinions.“I reckon this is meant to set up a ground invasion. I mean, more
than 30 days into the war, your aircraft ends up destroyed, your pilot’s stuck
in another country, you can’t take out the missile site but you hit a bridge
instead… it’s not exactly impressive, is it?†a man in his 20s in Tehran said.“The US has done things they hadn’t done before in Iran, I think.
The situation is not normal, I hope they don’t take the pilot as a hostage,†a
man in his 30s in Tehran said.“If someone had told me this story and it was about another
country, I’d have said it was an imaginary story,†a woman in her 20s in Tehran
said.“I’d say let’s just wait to see what Donald Trump actually does.
It’s way too early to call it. I fear that things could swing pretty sharply in
favour of the Islamic Republic if he actually decides to destroy energy
infrastructure after this,†a man in his 30s in Karaj, a city near Tehran,
said.It’s still very difficult to contact people inside Iran because of the ongoing internet blackout, but some have managed to connect using satellite internet such as Starlink and other methods, though it comes at a high cost. Using or possessing Starlink can lead to up to two years in prison.
-
Watch: Footage shows explosions in Beirut overnightpublished at 11:26 BST
Video footage shows strikes overnight in Beirut, Lebanon. Orange flashes and explosions can be seen, with smoke rising over the capital city.
The IDF said overnight that it had struck “Hezbollah infrastructure sites”.
-
Nuclear watchdog calls for ‘maximum military restraint’ after power plant incidentpublished at 11:09 BST
Image source, Getty ImagesThe International Atomic Energy Agency – the global nuclear watchdog – says it has been informed of the strike near the Bushehr nuclear plant and has expressed “deep concern”.
“No increase in radiation levels was reported,” it writes on X.
It says nuclear power plant sites and nearby areas “must never be attacked” and calls for “maximum military restraint” to avoid a nuclear accident.
-
Iran says area around nuclear power plant hit for fourth time, one killedpublished at 10:50 BST
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian
Image source, ReutersImage caption, A satellite image of Bushehr nuclear power plant before the conflict
The area around the Bushehr nuclear power plant has been attacked today for the fourth time during the current war, according to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation.
The organisation says one of the plant’s physical protection employees was killed in the attack, and it accuses the US and Israel of responsibility.
The US and Israel have not confirmed the attack.
The statement says that initial investigations suggest the incident “did not cause damage†to the main parts of the plant and its operation was “not affected”. However, the statement warns that because of the “significant amounts of radioactive material”, any serious damage could risk a “major nuclear accident”.
Bushehr is Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant and was completed with Russia’s help.
Moscow has evacuated many of its staff from the plant. The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said two days ago that a “final wave of evacuation” involving about 200 people is tentatively scheduled for next week.
Iran’s nuclear programme has long been a point of contention, leading to extensive international sanctions. The US-Israeli war with Iran began on 28 February, two days after a third round of indirect US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.
-
What we know – and don’t – about the missing US airmanpublished at 10:30 BST
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The F-15E fighter jet at the Paris Air Show in 2025
We know that a US F-15E fighter jet – which usually has a crew of two – was shot down in southern Iran on Friday. The pilot was rescued from the jet by American forces, but a weapon systems officer is still missing.
The rescue mission included two helicopters and an A-10 Warthog plane. One helicopter carrying the rescued pilot from the F-15E jet was hit by small arms fire, injuring crew members on board, but landed safely.
An A-10 Warthog assisting with the US rescue efforts was also hit – the pilot ejected over the Gulf and was subsequently rescued.
Iran says it has shot down an American A-10 Warthog that was part of the search-and-rescue mission for the first downed aircraft.
Iranian officials are offering rewards of about £50,000 ($66,100) to citizens who help capture the missing airman, state media report.
We don’t know of the status of the US search-and-rescue mission. We also don’t have any updates from Iran on if it has located the airman.
Nor do we know if the missing crew member is alive, or if the A-10 Warthog Iran claims to have shot down was the same plane involved in the US rescue efforts.
Once we learn more, we’ll bring you the latest right here.
-
Risky moment for US as search continues for missing airmanpublished at 10:10 BST
Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondentThis is a moment fraught with risk.
It’s a risky US operation to rescue the missing crew member, even though they’ve all prepared for years for this kind of moment.
It is also fraught with political peril.
If Iran finds this airman, and he’s paraded on TV, it will be a propaganda victory for Iran, and a political humiliation – and worry – for the US.
And, it would provide Tehran with a prisoner of war – a bargaining chip at a time when efforts to end this war are already stuck, despite US President Donald Trump’s claims of great progress.
It’s a moment which could give real meaning to the name of this US military operation – Epic Fury.
Retaliation when it comes will be risky for Iran, the region, and a world already suffering economic shocks.
After five weeks of war, the US and Israel have inflicted serious damage on Iran’s military capabilities.
But the defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has repeatedly declared they’ve achieved “total air dominance.â€
That boast has been burst.
-
Iran says major petrochemical complex came under attackpublished at 09:49 BST
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC PersianThe security deputy to the governor of Iran’s southern province of Khuzestan has said that the Mahshahr petrochemical complex was targeted today.
Valiollah Hayati says the Bandar Imam petrochemical company was also targeted. He has accused the US and Israel of attacking both sites.
Iranian outlets have quoted Hayati as saying that five people have been injured so far following the attacks.
Both facilities are parts of Iran’s petrochemical industry, producing goods derived from oil and gas. Located in the south of the country, they are hubs for petrochemical production and also export along the Gulf.
In a statement, the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone Organisation said that workers in the industrial zone had been evacuated and that the potential pollutants “do not pose a danger to neighbouring citiesâ€.
The Israel Defense Forces told the BBC that it “cannot comment in general on the situationâ€.
-
Watch: Aftermath as Israeli city of Bnei Brak struck by Iranian missilespublished at 09:30 BST
Air raid sirens are heard just before a missile strikes the Israeli city of Bnei Brak, just east of Tel Aviv.
Video footage shows smoke rising from the scene, and flashing lights as emergency teams respond at the site.
-
Iran’s internet blackout enters 36th daypublished at 09:11 BST
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC PersianIran’s internet
blackout has now entered day 36, with most users cut off from the outside world
for over 840 hours, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks.Connectivity to the
outside world remains at 1% of normal levels.NetBlocks has said
that “the measure remains in place, entering day 36 after 840 hours, isolating
the general public as authorities explore ways to give chosen users access via
a tiered whitelisting system.â€Meanwhile, the BBC
understands that some officials, pro-establishment users, and journalists still
have unrestricted access, while others are paying large sums to get online.A few people have
managed to connect using satellite internet such as Starlink and other methods,
but it comes at a high cost.In Iran, using or
possessing Starlink can lead to up to two years in prison, and authorities are
trying to crack down on it.Iranian outlets have reported that “hundreds†of
Starlink devices have been confiscated since the war started.
Image source, Netblocks -
Capturing American crew member would be a ‘huge prize’ for Iran, US expert sayspublished at 08:47 BST
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Laurel Rapp, director of the US and North America programme at Chatham House, says that rescuing the missing crew member from the downed jet is “a critical mission”.
She says that capturing the US crew member would be a “huge prize” for Iran, offering them a “very powerful bargaining chip”.
If they are captured and images are released of them, it could worsen the American public’s view of an already unpopular war, Rapp adds. “If those images were to come forward, those would be incredibly shifting from an American viewpoint”.
If the service member is captured, the risk is that de-escalating the conflict could make it seem like taking a hostage offers leverage, Rapp says. “Right now, the goals of this operation… remain unclear and are becoming increasingly complex,” she says.
-
Israel says it struck ‘key infrastructure’ in Tehran on Fridaypublished at 08:14 BST
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says its has completed “a wave of strikes against terrorist regime infrastructure sites” in Tehran on Friday.
The military’s update says it struck an aerial defence site where “missiles intended to target aircraft were stored” as well as a military site “responsible for safeguarding the regime’s research”.
“These completed strikes are part of the ongoing phase of increasing damage to the Iranian terror regime’s core systems and foundations,” the IDF says.
-
The two US warplanes reportedly shot down by Iranpublished at 07:51 BST
An F-15E fighter jet was downed in southern Iran on Friday, which has left the US and Iran scrambling to find a missing American crew member.
The F-15E’s pilot has been rescued, but a weapon systems officer is still missing.
Meanwhile, Iran claims it has shot down a second US warplane over the Gulf.
US media say an A-10 Warthog was shot at during a search-and-rescue mission for the first downed aircraft.
The Warthog’s pilot ejected over the Gulf and was subsequently rescued, the BBC’s US news partner CBS reports.
-
Iran could still cause major headaches for Trumppublished at 07:14 BST
Joel Gunter
Reporting from JerusalemIt was only four days ago that the US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was boasting that the US had achieved such air superiority over Iran, and degraded Iran’s air defences so badly, that the US Air Force could now fly slow-moving, B-52 bombers over Iran without concern.
Those bomber runs had barely begun before Iran achieved its greatest success so far against the US — the downing of an aircraft over its territory. And not a heavy bomber, but a nimble, fast-moving fighter jet.
One of the crew of the downed F-15 jet has been rescued, but one remains unaccounted for. If the remaining airman is taken prisoner by Iran, it will significantly raise the stakes for the US.
He or she would likely be put on television for all to see, an image that could only worsen the view of this conflict among an American population already suffering from raised gas prices and the loss of 13 members of its military.
The conflict is also dogged, both in the US and around the world, by a sense that US President Donald Trump has failed to present a coherent argument for starting it and failed to achieve his stated goal of regime change.
Trump has said that the situation with the downed jet will not affect negotiations with Iran.
But that could quickly change if the airman is captured. And, it demonstrates that however degraded, Iran is still capable of creating major military and political headaches for Trump in this war.
-
Search continues for missing American crew memberpublished at 06:52 BST
US forces are continuing to search for a missing American crew member after an F-15 fighter jet was downed in southern Iran yesterday.
If you’re just catching up on the news, here’s what to know:
-
A pilot that was also aboard the aircraft has been rescued
-
Iranian officials are offering rewards of about £50,000 ($66,100) to citizens who help capture the missing airman, state media have reported
-
Iran claims it has shot down an American A-10 Warthog that was part of the search-and-rescue mission for the first downed aircraft
-
The Warthog’s pilot ejected over the Gulf and was subsequently rescued, the BBC’s US news partner CBS reports
-
US President Donald Trump told NBC “we’re in war”, and said the attack on the fighter jet will not affect any negotiations with Iran
-
Separately, the US says that 365 service members have been wounded in action since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran
Media caption, Video appears to show a US plane and helicopters over southern Iran
-
-
Previous incidents when US fighter jets have been downedpublished at 06:17 BST
A US fighter jet being downed by enemy forces is an exceptionally rare occurrence, something that has only happened a couple of times over the last few decades.
Three US F-15 fighter jets were downed over Kuwait in “an apparent friendly fire incident,” in early March, US Central Command (Centcom) said. All six crew members were able to safely eject.
All six crew members of a US military refuelling aircraft were killed in an incident involving a second aircraft on March 12 in western Iraq, Centcom also said.
On 7 April 2003, a US F-15E Strike Eagle was downed over Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, killing pilot Eric Das and weapons officer William Watkins.
The flight took off from Al Udeid Air Base, in Qatar, to perform a “critical interdiction missionâ€, attacking targets near Tikrit, Iraq, according to the US Navy Memorial website.
A US A-10 Thunderbolt II plane is also believed to have been shot down by a surface-to-air missile in Baghdad, Iraq, on 8 April 2003, according to the US air force. The pilot safely ejected before the aircraft crashed.
Another F-15E fighter jet crashed in northeast Libya in March 2011. Four aircraft and two helicopters were sent to recover the pilot, the US Marine Corps said at the time.
Image source, EPAImage caption, File photo of a US Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelling tanker. Six crew members in a US military refuelling aircraft were killed during an incident in March.
-
Syrian state TV reports explosions in Damascuspublished at 05:28 BST
Syrian state TV is reporting explosions being heard in the Syrian capital Damascus and its countryside area early on Saturday. The cause is unknown, Reuters news agency says.
The explosions may have been a result of Israeli air defences intercepting Iranian missiles, state TV says.
