**Livewire** Operation Epic Fury Day Five: The Latest News From Iran and the Middle East

The military operation against Iran entered its fifth day on Wednesday. Iran is attempting to choose a new supreme leader, while the U.S. and Israel continue strikes, including on Tehran and Lebanon.

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**Wednesday’s live updates below. All updates in Eastern time**

10:05 AM: Israel has dropped over 5,000 bombs on Iran

The Israeli Air Force said that it has dropped over 5,000 munitions on Iran since the conflict began on Saturday, and that its fighter jets will “continue to deepen air superiority across all of Iran, with an emphasis on the Tehran area.”

09:55 AM: Vatican condemns “preventative war”

The Cardinal Secretary of State of Vatican City, Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s top diplomat, lamented the “erosion of international law” and it being replaced by the “law of force”, in the context of the Iran conflict.

Without specifically condemning the United States, Cardinal Parolin told Vatican News: “If states were to be recognized as having a right to ‘preventive war,’ according to their own criteria and without a supranational legal framework, the whole world would risk being set ablaze.”

09:35 AM: QatarEnergy declares force majeure

The state-owned QatarEnergy declared force majeure on its liquefied natural gas shipments on Wednesday, likely leading to further price spikes. The contractual clause indemnifies a firm against liability arising from extraordinary and unforeseeable events, such as natural disasters or war. QatarEnergy, which accounts for around a fifth of global liquid natural gas exports, said on Monday it was halting LNG production due to the conflict in Iran and the uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz, through which its gas is exported.

08:50 AM: Iran’s missile and drone capabilities slashed

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said that Iran’s military capabilities have been greatly diminished since the start of Operation Epic Fury, saying that the number of ballistic missiles fired from Iran are down by 86 per cent since fighting began on Saturday, and 23 per cent down in the past 24 hours, alone. General Caine added that the number of Iranian one-way attack drones sent off have fell by 73 per cent since the start of the conflict.

08:45 AM: U.S. submarine sank Iranian warship in international waters

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that a U.S. Navy submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean that “thought it was safe in international waters” on Tuesday evening. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth added that the U.S. Navy also sank Iran’s “prize ship”, the IRIS Shahid Soleimani, named after former Islamic Revolutionary Guard commander Soleimani Qasem, who was assassinated by the United States in 2020.

“Looks like POTUS got him twice,” Hegseth quipped.

08:35 AM: Hegseth: Attempted Trump assassin eliminated

The leader of the Iranian unit who allegedly attempted to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump has been “hunted down and killed” during Operation Epic Fury, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said.

“Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh,” Hegseth said.

08:30 AM: Iran is ‘toast’, Hegseth says

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday morning that “America is winning—decisively, devastatingly, and without mercy,” adding: “They are toast, and they know it… and we have only just begun to hunt, dismantle, demoralize, destroy, and defeat their capabilities— just four days in.”

Secretary Hegseth said that within the next few days, the United States and Israel will have “complete control of Iranian skies”.

“Operation Epic Fury has delivered twice the airpower of Shock and Awe of Iraq in 2003 — minus Paul Bremer and the nation-building… We are just getting started,” he said.

07:25 AM: IAEA says no damage to nuclear sites in Iran

Contrary to claims from Tehran, the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency said on Wednesday that based on the latest available satellite imagery, it has seen “no damage to facilities containing nuclear material in Iran and therefore no radiological release risk at this time.”

“Near Isfahan nuclear site, damage is visible at two buildings. No additional impact detected at Natanz after previously reported damage at entrances, and no impact at other nuclear sites, including Bushehr NPP,” the IAEA said.

07:10 AM: Ayatollah’s funeral ceremony delayed

The Iranian state-backed Tasnim News Agency has reported that the “farewell program for the holy body” of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which was scheduled for Wednesday, has been delayed amid the ongoing strikes on the regime by the United States and Israel. The state media outlet claimed that the delay was due to a “high volume of requests” to attend the funeral.

Meanwhile, reports have indicated that the remnants of the Islamist regime in Tehran are preparing to select the son of the slain Ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, as the next Supreme Leader of Iran.

07:05 AM: Israel issues evacuation warning to southern Lebanon

The IDF has urged residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes and head north of the Litani River as it continues its operations against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists, who broke the 2024 ceasefire on Sunday by launching rockets into Israel in a “revenge” strike for slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Times of Israel said that Lebanese state media has reported witnesses seeing the Israeli Army making a land incursion into the country, with troops reportedly reaching the southern Lebanese town of Khiam.

According to the paper, the last time the IDF issued such a broad evacuation order for the region was during its October 2024 ground operation against Hezbollah.

07:00 AM: UAE and Qatar Thwart Iranian strikes

The Ministry of Defence of the United Arab Emirates reported that its air defence systems successfully intercepted three ballistic missiles on Wednesday. The MoD said that 121 drones were also successfully intercepted; however, eight drones fell within the UAE.

In total, 189 ballistic missiles have been launched by Iran towards the UAE since the start of the conflict on Saturday, 175 of which were destroyed, 13 of which fell into the sea, and one which landed inside UAE territory. Additionally, 941 Iranian drones have also been sent towards the Gulf state, 876 of which were destroyed and 65 of which landed. Eight Iranian cruise missiles have also been destroyed, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that it has also intercepted ten Iranian attack drones and two cruise missiles.

06:55 AM: Israel shoots down Iranian fighter

An Israeli Air Force F-35 successfully shot down an Iranian Yak-130 jet over Tehran on Wednesday. The downing of the Russian-made fighter marks the first time that an F-35 has shot down a manned Iranian aircraft, the IDF said per the Times of Israel.

06:45 AM: Unrestricted naval warfare against Iran continues

Warships can be among the most costly assets owned by any government, and perhaps as a consequence, naval battles are comparatively rare compared to clashes between troops and airstrikes. So the Iran operation is proving an interesting exception to the rule and an abject demonstration of the reach of American power as the Iranian navy continues to be destroyed wherever found.

We already reported on the CENTCOM claim that the entire Iranian navy in the Gulf of Oman area has been eliminated in strikes, but now we hear from the Sri Lankan government that a Iran navy ship has been sunk in their territorial waters, some 2,000 miles away. Reuters states that the Iranian frigate Dena broadcast a mayday call around 0600 Colombo time (0030 London) off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, prompting the dispatch of two Sri Lankan warships and air assets for a search-and-rescue mission.

It is unclear how many fatalities there have been, but Reuters states Sri Lankan government spokesman have talked of over 100 missing and many injured.

While it is claimed the Iranian warship was sunk by a submarine, this hasn’t been confirmed, and who was operating the submarine is likewise unknown.

Iranian warship Dena was one of a class of at least six ‘Moudge’ class frigates built indigenously, but based on an earlier 1960s class of Alvand Frigates. Designed by Vosper Thornycroft, those warships were built in the United Kingdom and exported to Iran shortly before the Islamic Revolution. Venerable hull designs or not, the ships have been updated with new Chinese anti-ship missiles, keeping them a relevant threat in the seas around Iran.

Several of both classes are said to have been destroyed in recent days, including an Alvand that was burned at its moorings at the Konarak naval base over the weekend.

If the loss of the Dena is confirmed to have been by submarine, it would be the first time a hostile warship would have been sunk by a submarine in decades. Indeed, the last acknowledged attack was against the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano by a British submarine in 1982. This was also the first time a ship had ever been sunk in war by a nuclear-powered submarine.

It is possible that other ships have been sunk by submarines since, however. A South Korean corvette was sunk by torpedo in 2010, with Seoul blaming the attack on a North Korean ‘midget’ submarine, which Pyongyang denied.

Iranian Navy’s Sahand Frigate pictures in 2019. The Sahand is the identical sister-ship to the Dena, said to be sunk this morning off the coast of Sri Lanka. The Sahand itself was claimed sunk by the United States in the Gulf of Oman over the weekend. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

For earlier livewire updates from Tuesday please click here