US-Iran war: Women’s Iranian soccer team arrive back in war-torn region after fraught journey from Australia

We are wrapping up another day of our live blog of the war in the Middle East.

Thank you for following along. Join us again tomorrow for more rolling coverage.

The Iranian women’s soccer team have crossed the Turkish border into Iran to complete a fraught return journey from Australia, after five members withdrew asylum claims they had lodged there.

Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one support staff member after they sought asylum, saying they feared possible persecution if they returned to Iran.

Concerns over their safety surfaced when several players failed to sing the national anthem at a women’s Asian Cup match earlier this month after the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran.

Read the full story ​here​.

- with Reuters

Footage shared on social media overnight and authenticated by BBC Verify shows what appears to be a blast near the US embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

While it is hard to determine the precise location of the blast in the video, the point of view of the clip suggests the impact was close to the US embassy.

According to the Reuters news agency, the US embassy was targeted by a drone attack and the sound of an explosion was heard in the area.

At least 8 people were killed in an airstrike on a courthouse complex in Iran’s Larestan County on Wednesday, according to Iran’s official judiciary news agency Mizan.

The head of the Fars province judiciary told Mizan that one lawyer, six clients and a member of the judicial staff were killed, but the agency reports the exact number of those killed and wounded is not yet known, AP reports.

Iran’s state media has reported that facilities associated with Iran’s huge offshore South Pars natural gas field came under attack on Wednesday,

Iranian state television reported on the attack targeting facilities at Asaluyeh in Iran’s southern Bushehr province.

They did not immediately elaborate.

South Pars is the world largest natural gas field, with both Qatar and Iran operating facilities on it, and has repeatedly been attacked during the war so far.

A funeral ceremony has been held in Tehran for top security official Ali Larijani and Basij forces chief Gholamreza Soleimani, who were killed in US-Israeli air strikes.

According to Press TV, the ceremony took place as officials and mourners gathered to honour the two figures.

Larijani and Soleimani were among the highest-ranking officials killed since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran last month.

Iran has launched a fresh wave of missiles towards Israel, according the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), BBC reports.

It says its air defences are working to intercept the attack, and has urged residents who have received an emergency alert to their phones to take shelter.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) says it will attack crossings on the Litani River in southern Lebanon this afternoon, BBC reports.

“Hezbollah’s activities and the transfer of terrorist elements into southern Lebanon under the protection of the civilian population,” IDF spokesperson Avichai Adraee said in a statement on X.

Adraee said that the military will attack the crossings “to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and weapons” and ordered residents to “continue moving to the area north of the Zahrani River and refrain from any movement southward that could endanger your lives.

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz made the announcement on Wednesday that Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Esmail Khatib, has been killed, AP reports.

The claim follows the killings of top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force.

“significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all the fronts,” Katz said, without elaborating.

There has been no comment from Iran yet.

According to AP, Iraq has resumed oil exports from fields in the city of Kirkuk via a pipeline to Ceyhan port in Turkey.

The Iraqi oil ministry claimed that the breakthrough came after the Iraqi government in Baghdad reached an agreement with the autonomous Kurdish administration north of the country.

The ministry said it initially will export 250,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

The war and the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz have severely impacted Iraq, whose economy depends overwhelmingly on oil.