Republicans block measure to halt US air campaign

Republican senators on Wednesday blocked a motion aimed at stopping the US air campaign against Iran and requiring that military action be authorized by Congress.

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That rejection leaves President Donald Trump's power to direct the war largely unbound, as the conflict continues to widen across the Middle East and beyond.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz by telephone: “Keep going until the end - we're with you,” according to a statement issued by Israel’s defense ministry on Thursday.

Israel, meanwhile, launched a large wave of strikes on Tehran on Thursday, targeting what it said was infrastructure belonging to the Iranian authorities, after Iranian missiles sent millions of Israelis rushing into bomb shelters.

As the US-Iran war entered its sixth day, the conflict has widened beyond Gulf states and into Asia, convulsing global markets and prompting thousands of stranded tourists and residents to try to flee the Middle East.

Iran's foreign minister called the sinking of an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday, which killed at least 80 people, an “atrocity at sea.”

He said the Iranian frigate Dena, a guest of the Indian navy with nearly 130 sailors on board, had been struck without warning in international waters, and warned that Washington would “bitterly regret” the precedent it had set.