First Thing: Conflict spirals in Middle East as NGO says at least 700 Iranian civilians killed

Trump says the war could last weeks or ‘far longer’. Plus, what a high schooler detained by ICE for 10 months wants you to know Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning. Iranian drones hit the US embassy in Riyadh as Tehran continued to launch waves of retaliatory strikes at the Gulf and Israel, while Israeli soldiers began operating in southern Lebanon on the fourth day of an increasingly regional war in the Middle East. What is the legality of the attacks on Iran? The Guardian spoke to legal experts, who were in consensus that the initial strikes were unlawful under international law. “There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of an imminent threat by Iran,” said Susan Breau, a professor of international law and a senior associate research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. The US constitution also enshrines the power to formally declare war exclusively to Congress, but the president did not seek congressional approval beforehand. What has the US said about the war’s justification? It keeps shifting. Donald Trump initially said there were “imminent threats” to Americans, and that the US wanted to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, as well as urging Iranians to rise up and topple the regime. Then Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said on Monday that Israel’s determination to attack Iran – and the certainty that US troops would be targeted in response – had forced the Trump administration to take pre-emptive strikes. Are European countries joining? Spain denied the US permission to use jointly operated military bases on its territory for its “unjustified” assault on Iran, while Trump criticized the UK for taking “far too long” to approve American use of its airbases. What are the implications of disrupting the strait of Hormuz ? The strait, which Iran controls, is a key global shipping route, with a fifth of global seaborne oil passing through it. It is now effectively closed and the price of oil has jumped, triggering fears of a new wave of global cost-of-living pressures . This is a developing story. Follow our live coverage here , and see the war in maps, video and photos here . Continue reading...