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Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service, coming to you live from London.

I'm Regini Vaidyanarthan.

The war in the Middle East has entered a third day and appears to be ramping up into a major international conflict across multiple countries.

Hundreds are reported to have been killed as the US and Israel continue to hit Iran, with the Israeli military saying that it's striking the heart of Tehran, where large explosions are being heard.

Well, the IDF has also expanded its campaign to neighbouring Lebanon.

It says the head of Hezbollah's intelligence has been killed in Beirut.

This was the sound of fighting in the Lebanese capital.

Meanwhile, Tehran has been retaliating with fresh attacks on Israel and across the Persian Gulf,

including missile strikes on Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The country's supreme leader, Ayatolli Ali-Hamini, was killed in the early hours of the war.

Well, in the last hour, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsseth's been updating the media.

Let's have a listen to some of what he had to say.

The mission of Operation Epic Fury is laser-focused.

Destroy Iranian offensive missiles.

Destroy Iranian missile production. destroy their Navy and other

security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons. We're hitting them surgically,

overwhelmingly, and unapologetically. With every passing day, our capabilities get stronger,

and Iran's get weaker.

We set the terms of this war from start to finish.

Our ambitions are not utopian.

They are realistic, scoped to our interests and the defense of our people and our allies.

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