Iran news and live updates: Pete Hegseth declares America ‘didn’t start this war but we’re finishing it’

At least 10 people have died in Israeli attacks on Beirut, Reuters reports.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Hezbollah’s rocket launches from Lebanon “target all the efforts and endeavours exerted by the Lebanese state to keep Lebanon away from the dangerous military confrontations taking place in the region,” according to AP.

He warned that using Lebanon as a platform for proxy wars it was not involved in would put the country at risk.

Israel Defence Forces Northern Command chief Rafi Milo said the strikes were aimed at Hezbollah in response to rocket fire from the Iran-backed group.

“The [Israeli] strikes continue – their intensity will increase,” he said.

Explosions have reportedly been heard across Jerusalem following an Iranian missile alert.

Blasts were also reported in Gulf cities, including Dubai in the UAE, Doha in Qatar, and Manama in Bahrain, CNN reports.

The Israeli military has announced it will intensify its operations in Lebanon and has reinforced troop deployments along the border.

“Shortly after Hezbollah’s rocket fire… we launched a first broad wave of strikes in Beirut and southern Lebanon, targeting senior operatives, headquarters, and terrorist infrastructure,” Israel’s Northern Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo said.

“The strikes continue — their intensity will increase.”

The Israel Defense Forces carried out multiple strikes across Lebanon, including in the capital Beirut early Monday, following claims by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah that it had fired projectiles into Israel.

The IDF has ordered evacuations in 52 southern settlements and confirmed further plans to target Hezbollah positions.

Iran’s security chief has declared the country will not enter negotiations with the United States, as Tehran faces ongoing US strikes.

“We will not negotiate with the United States,” Ali Larijani said in a post on X, responding to reports that Iran is seeking to restart talks with the White House.

Larijani, a close adviser to the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reportedly named as his successor.

Australians face higher petrol prices and even more interest rates rises as the US-led war on Iran worsens an already bad inflation situation.

Motorists in Australia’s big cities were already paying more than $2 a litre for unleaded petrol with those prices yet to even reflect the double-digit increase in crude oil prices that occurred on Sunday night and Monday morning, following the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But those relying on their car could soon by paying $2.40 a litre, conservatively adding $22 to a weekly fill, should an escalation in the conflict disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.

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Energy Minister Chris Bowen has revealed Australia has 36 days worth of petrol and 34 days worth of diesel stockpiled, as concerns mount over the security of supplies during the Middle East crisis.

“I am pleased that these stocks are the highest they have been for any time in 15 years,” Mr Bowen told Parliament in response to a question from One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce.

Mr Joyce then questioned whether the stored reserves were on Australian soil, or on ships.

The Minister responded that’s a “reasonable” clarification, adding that fuel is either in Australia “or on ships in our economic zone”.

The post accompanying the video signalled the operation is ongoing.

“U.S. forces are taking bold action to eliminate imminent threats posed by the Iranian regime. Strikes continue,” the post said.

An Iraqi Shiite militia group has claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting US troops at Baghdad International Airport, further escalating retaliation following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The group, Saraya Awliya al-Dam, is among several Shiite militias that have operated in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. The claim adds another front to the widening conflict.

The incident comes as other Iranian-backed groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, have entered the fighting, raising concerns that the conflict is spreading beyond Iran and Israel.

Opposition leader Angus Taylor has kicked off his first Question Time in his new chair after deposing Sussan Ley last month.

Mr Taylor has used his first question to put pressure on Anthony Albanese over his government’s potential involvement in the attempted return of 34 women and children from an ISIS-linked camp in northern Syria.

He asked for the PM to confirm that none of his ministers, nor any member of staff, made representations to any relevant departments or agencies to support or expedite the issuing of Australian passports to them.

The PM fired back by digging up old quotes by former leader Peter Dutton about the repatriation of 40 people, including fighters, from the region under a former Coalition government.

British forces are responding to a suspected drone strike on the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus, the Ministry of Defence confirmed, with no casualties reported.

The strike occurred at midnight, with the MoD describing it to the BBC as a “live situation”.

“Our force protection in the region is at the highest level and the base has responded to defend our people,” a spokesperson said.

The incident follows Britain’s decision to allow the US to use its bases for “defensive” strikes on Iranian missile sites, though Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK would not join offensive action.