Here's the latest
• Iran ramps up: Iran early Wednesday claimed it launched its “most intense and heaviest operation” since the start of the war, state media reported, as interceptions were reported across Gulf states and Israel. Separately, a suspected Iranian drone hit a US diplomatic facility in Iraq on Tuesday, two sources told CNN.
• Renewed strikes: Israel said it had begun an “additional wave” of strikes on targets in Tehran Wednesday. Video geolocated by CNN shows explosions near Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport. Beyond the capital, a CNN team in northern Iran reported major night time air raids lasting nearly an hour.
• Vital trade artery: A cargo vessel was on fire in the Strait of Hormuz, UK’s maritime agency said Wednesday. Earlier, the US military said it destroyed Iranian mine-deploying ships near the strait. Sources told CNN that Tehran had begun laying mines in the key waterway.
Cargo ship on fire in Strait of Hormuz, crew evacuating, UKMTO says
A cargo vessel is on fire in the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by an unknown projectile, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
“The vessel has requested assistance and its crew are evacuating,” the maritime authority said, adding that the ship was located about 11 nautical miles north of Oman’s Musandam Peninsula.
“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity,” said the UKMTO statement.
Oman’s Coast Guard said it had no immediate comment when CNN reached out Wednesday morning.
Earlier Wednesday, another vessel reported damage after also being struck by a projectile off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, said UKMTO.
CNN team in northern Iran reports "major" overnight airstrikes
A CNN team in northern Iran reports witnessing major night time air raids lasting nearly an hour.
Jets could be heard streaking overhead followed by close by thuds shaking the walls over houses in the area in northern Iran.
It was unclear what the targets of the bombings were. The raids show the US - Israeli aerial campaign is active outside the capital Tehran.
Iran's police chief warns potential protesters that forces have "fingers on the trigger"
Iran’s police chief Ahmad‑Reza Radan has warned Iranians that anyone who takes to the streets to protest “will be treated not as protesters but as enemies.”
“Security forces have their fingers on the trigger,” Radan said on state TV Tuesday night.
In January, mass anti-government demonstrations spread across Iran in a wave of nationwide unrest that was brutally suppressed by Iran’s security forces.
Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Iranian people should not protest while US and Israeli strikes in Iran are ongoing, but said there will “come a moment” when President Donald Trump or the Iranian people will determine “it’s the time to seize that advantage” and rise up against the government.
Mines in Strait of Hormuz would cause chaos for shipping, world economy, military expert tells CNN
The threat of mines being laid in the Strait of Hormuz poses a huge challenge for any ships contemplating passing through the vital waterway, a military expert tells CNN.
Sources have told CNN that Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of the world’s crude oil passes.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has previously warned that any ship passing through the strait would be attacked, and the channel has effectively been closed since the start of the war.
Retired US Maj-Gen. Mark MacCarley pointed to how narrow the strait is, just 20 to 24 miles apart at its narrowest point, and how placing mines in its waters could cause chaos for shipping.
“Those ships must avoid the mines, and the mines themselves, the placement of the mines, create a challenge for the ship operators,” he told CNN’s Elex Michaelson.
The threats of explosives would “funnel those ships into a very small vector,” he said.
If any ship was hit, the effect could be potentially magnified, the retired general explained.
“There is potential for impact between those… oil tankers and the mines… and the significant potential for blockage of parts of the Straits of Hormuz, if two or three of those huge tankers are in fact taken out,” he said.
That would “significantly would impact the economies of most of the world,” MacCarley said.
CNN team hear booms over Qatar's Doha
A CNN team in Doha, Qatar heard booms over the city, loud enough to shake buildings, on Wednesday morning, after Iran fired repeated waves of missiles and drones at Gulf states.
Qatar’s defense ministry said it had “intercepted missile attack which targeted State of Qatar,” in a post on X.
Earlier Wednesday, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reported interceptions of drones and projectiles from Iran.
Videos show aftermath of new attacks on Beirut residential neighborhood
Videos geolocated by CNN show the aftermath of a new round of attacks on the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday.
A few floors of a high rise building are seen engulfed in flames in the upscale Tallet el Khayat neighborhood, in the city’s west. The building is visibly damaged, with several windows blown out.
In another clip, the street next to the building on fire is filled with debris.
The videos come as Israel said it had launched a new wave of attacks on Hezbollah infrastructure in a southern Beirut suburb.
Member of Iranian soccer team granted asylum changes her mind
One of the seven Iranian football players who sought asylum in Australia has changed her mind, forcing Australian officials to hurriedly move the other six women after Iranian authorities found out their location.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Parliament Wednesday that one of the women, having consulted some of her teammates who had already left the country, said she wanted to leave.
“Unfortunately, in making that decision, she’d been advised by her teammates and coach to contact the Iranian embassy and to get collected,” Burke said.
The remaining six are now in a safe location under guard by Australian police.
Their teammates left Sydney on Tuesday night and were last seen arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.
Burke didn’t name the woman who changed her mind but had previously announced the two additional woman who has sought asylum were a player and a team support member. Photos were published on the minister’s social account of the seven women earlier Wednesday.
Fears were held for the women on their return to Iran after having been branded as traitors by state media for failing to sing the national anthem before a match last week.
Last night, Iran’s foreign ministry encouraged the women to “come home,” with a spokesperson saying “don’t worry—Iran awaits you with open arms.”
Video of missile launches shown on state media as Iran renews attacks
Video released Wednesday by Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency shows what it said were missiles being launched.
The footage was released following a statement from the country’s revolutionary guards claiming it had launched its “most intense” operation since the start of the war, with interceptions and sirens reported in Israel and across the Gulf.
The new wave of strikes comes as Iran continues to target Gulf neighbors and strategic US installations across the region, and the Trump administration publicly maintains the United States is winning the war.
Strikes are hitting paramedics in Lebanon, homes in Tehran and US diplomatic facilities in the Gulf
Strikes hit residential areas in Iran early Wednesday during a wave of Israeli attacks, while Tehran launched what it called its “most intense” operation of the war, targeting Israel and Gulf nations.
Here’s what you need to know on day 12:
- Israeli strikes: Israel launched a second wave of strikes in the Iranian capital Tehran, and is also striking a suburb of Beirut in Lebanon, its military said late Tuesday. Early morning Wednesday, the Iranian Red Crescent said a residential area in Tehran had been targeted, while a paramedic in Lebanon was killed after an Israeli strike hit a Red Cross ambulance.
- Iran ramps up: Iran’s military said it launched its “most intense and heaviest operation” since the start of the war overnight into Wednesday, according to state media. The attack targeted locations in Israel and US assets in the region, state media reported.
- Regional attacks: Gulf states have been intercepting new waves of Iranian drones and missiles early Wednesday local time. A suspected Iranian drone also hit a US diplomatic facility in Iraq Tuesday, near the Baghdad airport, two sources told CNN. And a container vessel was damaged by a suspected projectile off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
- Mines in the strait: The US military said it destroyed Iranian naval ships — including 16 minelayers — near the Strait of Hormuz. Sources earlier told CNN that Tehran has begun laying mines in the waterway, the world’s most important energy chokepoint, through which about one-fifth of all crude oil travels.
- Iranian women’s soccer team: Seven members of the Iranian soccer team – six players and a support member – were granted humanitarian visas in Australia after seeking asylum, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed Wednesday. The rest of the team left Sydney late Tuesday.
Fresh attacks reported around the region as war enters 12th day
Countries in the Middle East are reporting new attacks and interceptions early Wednesday local time.
Iran: Israel said it began a new wave of strikes in Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday. Video geolocated by CNN shows explosions coming from the direction of Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport. And the Iranian Red Crescent said it was responding to an airstrike on a residential area in the capital early Wednesday. Footage released Wednesday by Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency shows what it said were missiles being launched.
Sirens sounded in central Israel on Wednesday morning, after the Israel Defense Forces warned of missile launches from Iran. No injuries were reported. Earlier, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said it had executed “multi-layered and continuous waves” against targets in Israel.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said Wednesday morning it intercepted and destroyed two drones in eastern parts of the country, the center of the kingdom’s oil and gas industry. Earlier, it said it intercepted six ballistic missiles heading for the Prince Sultan Air Base.
The United Arab Emirates warned residents to stay in a safe location, with its defense ministry saying air defenses were “responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.” A container vessel was damaged by a suspected projectile off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, the UKMTO said.
Sirens have also been sounding in Bahrain and the interior ministry has urged residents to head to the nearest safe space.
Iraq: Iran has continued to target US military and diplomatic installations in Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Earlier on Tuesday, a suspected Iranian drone hit a US diplomatic facility near the Baghdad airport, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Lebanon: Israel said it had launched a wave of strikes in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Kuwait’s National Guard said it shot down eight drones within its area of responsibility on Wednesday morning.
Qatar: A CNN team in Doha heard booms over the city, loud enough to shake buildings, on Wednesday morning.
Red Cross paramedic killed in Israeli strike as Lebanon's humanitarian situation deteriorates
A paramedic in Lebanon has died from his injuries after an Israeli strike hit a Red Cross ambulance in the southern Tyre district, the country’s Ministry of Public Health said Wednesday.
The health worker was one of two paramedics wounded in the strike while conducting a rescue mission in the town of Majdal Zoun, the ministry said.
The humanitarian situation in the country is “rapidly deteriorating” affecting more than 1 million people, the United Nations humanitarian office (UN OCHA) said in an update Wednesday.
“Hostilities continue to directly impact nearly the entire population residing south of the Litani River, as well as parts of Baalbek Governorate, the Bekaa Valley, and large areas of Beirut’s southern suburbs,” OCHA said.
At least 570 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel began strikes on the country last week and nearly 760,000 displaced, the country’s Disaster Risk Management Unit said Tuesday.
Health facilities are overstretched and new waves of Israeli airstrikes and mass evacuation orders have “triggered a sharp escalation in internal displacement,” OCHA said. There are concerns over the safety and conditions of shelters, especially for women and girls.
UKMTO: container vessel damaged by "suspected projectile" off UAE
A container vessel has sustained damage off the north coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The incident was caused by a “suspected but unknown projectile” and the extent of the damage is “under investigation by the crew,” UKMTO said in a report Wednesday.
The vessel was located northwest of the UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah and all crew members are safe and accounted for, the UKMTO added.
Explosions seen near Tehran's airport as Israel launches new wave of strikes
Video geolocated by CNN shows explosions coming from the direction of Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
In the video, which was posted to social media Wednesday morning local time, several large explosions can be heard and a large orange flash can be seen.
It comes as the Israeli military said it had begun a new wave of strikes on Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.
