President Donald Trump says the US will "obliterate" Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not open before a 48-hour deadline - the waterway is vital for global oil shipping.
Iran warns it will retaliate against all US-linked energy infrastructure in the Middle East if its power plants are attacked.
More than 100 people have been injured after strikes on southern Israel, emergency services say. The target appears to have been a nuclear facility 13km (8 miles) away from the city of Dimona.
Meanwhile, Israel says it launched a wave of strikes on the Iranian capital overnight. Saudi Arabia and the UAE say they have intercepted drone and missile attacks.
An attempted Iranian strike on the joint UK-US base on Diego Garcia happened late on Thursday night into Friday morning, the BBC understands. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says the UK won't be drawn into wider conflict.
"Losing your home is worse than the war itself": Iranians have been describing their experiences of the war to the BBC.
Three weeks after the joint US-Israeli war against Iran began, the conflict has reached a fuzzy state of mixed messages and uncertainty, with Donald Trump's public comments often seemingly contradicted by realities on the ground.
The war is "very complete, pretty much", President Trump has said, but new American ground forces - including a Marine expeditionary unit - are moving into the region.
It is "winding down", but US and Israeli bombing and missile strikes on Iranian targets continue unabated.
Opening the Strait of Hormuz, the geographic choke point through which 20% of the world's oil export travels, is a "simple military manoeuvre", but for now only Iranian-approved ships are transiting the waters.
The Iranian military is "gone", but drones and missiles are still striking targets in the region and targets have extended as far as the joint US-UK base in Diego Garcia.
In a Saturday evening post on Truth Social, Trump threatened an escalation, warning that if Iran didn't "fully open, without threat" Hormuz in 48 hours, the US military would begin targeting Iranian power plants, "starting with the biggest".
The day before, however, he had used his social media website to provide a numbered list of American military objectives for the Iran war, which he said the US was "getting really close" to fulfilling.
The items, comprising his most detailed statement on the subject since the war began, included degrading or destroying Iran's military, its defence infrastructure and its nuclear weapons programme, as well as protecting American allies in the region.
Not included was the goal of securing the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump said should be the responsibility of other nations that are more dependent on oil exports from the Gulf.
Comments 0
Sign in to join the conversation
Sign In Create AccountNo comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!