Israel says Iran firing missiles from populated areas, warns civilians to keep away

A Thai ship was hit by unidentified projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, causing and an explosion at the stern and fire in the engine room, Thailand’s transport ministry said on Wednesday.

The Thai-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was struck off the northern coast of Oman amid the Iran war.

The ministry said 20 crew members were rescued after abandoning the vessel in a lifeboat and were picked up by the Omani navy and three were still missing.

Families of staff at Iran’s embassy in Beirut have temporarily left the city due to the security situation in Lebanon after Israeli attacks, Iran’s embassy said on Wednesday.

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad-Reza Raouf Sheibani, said the move was made to protect the safety of Iranian nationals.

He said families of embassy employees, along with teachers and students from an Iranian school and some Iranian residents, had temporarily departed Beirut following coordination by the embassy.

Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons alongside missile capabilities that could reach Europe, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday.

“We cannot allow the Ayatollah regime to possess nuclear weapons, combined with a missile capability that could soon be able to strike Italy and Europe directly,” Meloni told the Italian Senate.

She warned such a development could trigger a nuclear arms race.

Iran’s president warned that global order and security would be shaken if the international community does not hold the United States and Israel accountable for attacks on the Islamic Republic, state media reported.

Masoud Pezeshkian made the remarks in a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has no intention of targeting or engaging with countries in the region,” Pezeshkian said.

“Only bases from which attacks are launched against our territory will be targeted, within the framework of our legitimate right of self-defense,” he said.

Pezeshkian warned that failure by the international community to act would undermine global stability.

“If the international community and international organizations do not address the main causes of this imposed war and military aggression against Iran, the conditions governing global order and security will become chaotic and unstable,” he said.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood approved a Metropolitan Police request to prohibit the march and any associated counter-marches for one month from 1600 GMT on Wednesday, while allowing only a static protest under strict conditions.

Police said it was the first time such powers had been used since 2012 and said ordinary protest conditions would not be enough given the scale of the event, expected counter-protests and heightened tensions linked to the Middle East conflict and Tehran’s threats to British allies and bases overseas.

The Met said the London march was “uniquely contentious” because it originated in Iran and is organized by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, which police described as supportive of the Iranian regime.

Officers also pointed to security service warnings about Iranian state-backed threats in Britain, saying MI5 and counterterrorism police had foiled more than 20 such plots over the past year.

Previous Quds marches in London have led to arrests for support for proscribed groups and antisemitic hate crimes, police said, though they stressed this year’s ban was based on a specific risk assessment rather than politics.

The IHRC condemned the ban as politically motivated and said a static protest would still go ahead. Its spokesman Faisal Bodi told British media the march had taken place peacefully for decades, but he also openly praised Iran’s former supreme leader Ali Khamenei and said he would “happily” hold his picture.

Britain is not the first European country to move against such rallies. Berlin banned its annual Quds march in 2021 after years of controversy over Hezbollah-linked symbols and antisemitic messaging, although German courts and local authorities have continued to wrestle with similar cases since then.