Many flights cancelled – but some now going ahead
Dozens of flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted to the Middle East are cancelled for the fifth straight day on Wednesday – but a limited amount of flights in and out of the region are now taking place.
More than 3,000 flights a day across the region have been cancelled, with wider long-haul routes also affected due to airspace closures.
Some Etihad Airways flights are now going ahead Heathrow later this evening (Steve Parsons/PA)
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As of 8am on Wednesday, 31 flights out of Heathrow to the Middle East have been cancelled, but a number of flights remain on the schedule, and 14 arrivals from the region are still currently expected to go ahead to bring stranded Britons back home.
Government flight to rescue Britons stranded in Oman
The UK government has chartered a commercial flight out of Oman to help British nationals leave the region.
The first flight specifically arranged by the UK government is scheduled to leave Muscat International Airport on Wednesday night at 11pm local time, taking the most vulnerable people first.
The Foreign Office have told British nationals in Oman to fill out a form for a seat on the flight, and urged people not to go to the airport unless called.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said that there are an estimated 300,000 British citizens currently in Gulf countries.
Civilian death toll in Iran over 1000
1,097 civilians have been reported killed in Iran since February 28, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
181 or those killed were children under the age of 10 years old, the agency.
HRANA also said that there have also been 5,402 civilian injuries, including 100 children.
Attacks have hit military bases, medical centres and residential areas, and hundreds more reported deaths are being reviewed.
Energy bills could rise by £500 a year, experts warn
Donald Trump’s war on Iran could send energy bills for millions of households in Britain spiralling by £500 a year, leading economists are warning.
The Resolution Foundation said that many families were looking forward this year to a rise in living standards.
However, it stressed that this could be knocked off course by the full-scale conflict which has erupted in the Middle East after the US/Israeli attacks on Iran.
IDF hit dozens of targets in Tehran
Israel has hit a number of military targets across Tehran overnight, according to a Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) spokesman.
The strikes targeted the headquarters of Basij, a paramilitary force linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, as well as missile launch pads, logistical facilities and defence systems.
Posting on Telegram, the force confirmed that Israel’s air force struck “dozens of command centres of the Iranian terror regime” in Tehran, with munitions dropped on Basij and internal security command centres.
The IDF said last night that they were targeting “the Iranian terror regime’s launch sites, aerial defence systems and additional infrastructure”.
The IDF has also begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, and have issued a warning for civilians in16 villages and towns in south Beirut to evacuate.
Smoke has been seen rising from the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, a known Hezbollah stronghold.
REUTERS
What’s happened overnight?
Here are some of the key developments:
* Israel and the US have targeted sites deep inside Iran, with Tehran carrying out strikes around the Gulf.
* The Israeli military said early on Wednesday it had begun a wave of strikes targeting Iranian launch sites, aerial defence systems and infrastructure.
* Israel also continued to target the pro-Iran Hezbollah group in neighbouring Lebanon. An evacuation warning was issued to 16 villages in southern Lebanon, urging them to leave their homes.
* In Israel, air raid sirens sounded early on Wednesday warning of Iranian missiles, and loud blasts as the missiles were intercepted shook buildings, said witnesses.
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday
REUTERS
* US Admiral Brad Cooper, Washington’s top commander for the Middle East, said the country’s assault on Iran is ahead of schedule with more than 2,000 Iranian targets hit.
* Iran says deaths from the attacks had reached 787 on Tuesday
* The US military has identified four of the first American soldiers killed in the war against Iran
* Iran fires retaliatory drone strikes on multiple Gulf nations. The CIA station at the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia and a car park next to the US Consulate in Dubai have been struck by drones.
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the conflict in the Middle East as it enters a fifth day.
We’ll bring you all the major developments as the day progresses.
