Here is another question from our YQA session on the BBC News channel, to Lyse Doucet about a UN agency.

Bilal, in England, asked if the UK is allowed to halt funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) without consulting Parliament first.

Countries including the UK, US, Germany, Italy, Japan and Austria made the decision to suspend payments to UNRWA after the agency sacked several of its staff over allegations they were involved in the 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas.

Lyse said this wasn't a decision that had to go through the UK Parliament - and stressed that the move is a "suspension" of payments "not an end". She continued:

An UNRWA spokesperson has said if funding isn't resumed, the agency will not be able to continue its operations beyond the end of February.

Asked by Dan in York what Iran gains from supporting militants groups of the sort thought to have carried out Sunday's attack, Parham Ghobadi, a senior reporter with BBC Persian, says it hopes to force the US to ask Israel to stop the war in Gaza.

“But there’s always a possibility that the unexpected can happen and things might spiral out of control," he adds.

“This might be one of the mistakes that the Iranians, or the groups supported by them, might have made.”

Today, we are reporting on a drone attack at a US base in Jordan near the Syrian border, which has killed three American troops. Here's what we know right now:

• A militia group based in Iraq, the Islamic Resistance, has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is thought to have taken place at the living quarters of a US base
• The US has levelled its accusations at Iran, which backs a number of militia groups in the region, and promised to respond
• Iran denies that it was behind the attack, calling the accusations "baseless" and saying it was "not involved in the decision making of resistance groups"
• A US defence official said the attack drone approached "low and slow" at the same time a US drone was due to return from a mission, meaning defences were down and there was little warning
• In addition to those killed, US officials said at least 34 others had been injured. Eight were evacuated for medical treatment outside of the base, and some are in critical but stable condition
• On Monday, reports emerged of a strike on a site in Syria believed to be used by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has killed six people. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far

We've got some more information for you now on reports of strikes on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria a little earlier.

Seven people were killed, including pro-Iran fighters, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Obseratory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based campaign group.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said the strikes had hit the Sayyida Zeinab district, south of the Syrian capital.

Syria's state-run Sana news agency said civilians were among the dead, and blamed Israel for what it called "an aerial act of aggression" targeting a "number of points" in southern Damascus.

Israel hasn't commented on the accusations.

We've just been watching a panel of experts answer questions about what's happening in the Middle East, and are now bringing you some of the highlights.

A question from Marissa, in London, was just put to the BBC's chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet about whether the UK and US are planning to go to war in the region given what's happening.

Lyse says: "Some would say they're already at war in the Middle East - war takes different shapes and sizes". She goes on:

Remember, you can watch live coverage of this story by hitting the 'play' button at the top of the page.

The attack on US troops is a "very serious" incident and President Biden will want to respond in a "military fashion", according to Sir Mark Lyall Grant, a former UK ambassador to the UN.

He says he expects to see a very strong response against some of the "Iranian-backed or affiliated" militias based in Syria and Iraq in the next 24 hours.

But Grant, who is also an ex-national security adviser, says he does not think the US will launch an attack "directly on Iranian soil" and he does not think the Iranians are seeking further escalation either.

More broadly, he says many commentators had expected things to escalate further after months of war in Gaza, but so far there has not been a full-scale conflagration in the region.

He adds that President Biden "did well early on" by taking some deterrent steps – including sending warships into the region and giving very direct warnings to Iran not to escalate things further.

The BBC's US partner CBS reports that American troops were still in their sleeping quarters in the early morning hours when the drone struck their Tower 22 base.

A defence official said the drone came in "very low and very slow" at the same time that a US drone was returning to the base from a mission.

As a result, the auto-response features of the air defence system were turned off so as not to shoot down the US drone, the official added.

That meant there was little to no warning for the troops at the base.

There's a lot to understand when it comes to the attack on the US base in Jordan, which we've been reporting on. If you feel that you need more explanation and analysis - don't worry, you're not alone.

Readers have been sending in their questions today. And coming up, many of them will be answered live on the video stream at the top of this page by BBC chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, Parham Ghobadi, correspondent at BBC Persian, and Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.

Watch the discussion by hitting the 'play' button from 12:30 GMT. We'll bring you some highlights here in the page as well.

Iranian state media is reporting that several people have died and more are injured after strikes on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria.

Reports suggest the attack hit an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps site.

An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment on the explosions, when asked by the Reuters news agency.

We'll bring you more information as it comes to light.

Raffi Berg
Digital Middle East editor

Image source, Getty Images

The base which was hit in a deadly drone attack in a north-west corner of Jordan is one of more than a dozen where US military personnel operate across Iraq, Jordan and Syria.

In recent months, these bases - ranging in size from a military outpost such as Tower 22 which was hit in Jordan, to the Al Asad air base in western Iraq - have been attacked by militias trained, funded and equipped by Iran.

There are about 3,000 US troops based in Jordan, a key US ally, and 2,500 in Iraq - there at the invitation of the Iraqi government as part of a US-led coalition to prevent a resurgence of the jihadist Islamic State group, which still has a presence there after being routed in 2017.

There are also about 900 US personnel in Syria, officially there to support its anti-IS ally the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria's semi-autonomous north-east region. The Syria government opposes the US presence in its country, calling it an occupation.

The US also maintains many more bases further afield across the Middle East, including three major air bases in the Gulf and a port in Bahrain which serves as the headquarters of the US Naval Forces Central Command and the US Fifth Fleet.

Image source, Reuters

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has urged Iran to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.

"We are concerned and would urge Iran to continue to de-escalate tensions in the region," he said, adding: "We absolutely condemn what has happened over the past couple of days.

"My thoughts are with all of those impacted, those who lost their lives, their families and those that are injured... We stand resolutely with our allies to bring stability and peace to the region, and that's what we'll continue to work towards," he said.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said yesterday it was behind the attack on the US base near Jordan's border with Syria.

The umbrella group emerged in late 2023 and consists of several Iran-affiliated militias operating in Iraq. It has also claimed other attacks against US forces in recent weeks.

In a statement the Islamic Resistance said it targeted three US bases in Syria and Jordan - Shaddadi, Rukban and Tanf, as well as an Israeli oil facility in the Mediterranean.

Iran has denied that it was behind the attacks, saying it was "not involved in the decision making of resistance groups".

US President Joe Biden responded to the attacks saying that the US "will hold all those responsible to account at a time and manner of our choosing".

Read more here

Image source, .

Do you have questions about the attack on the US base on Jordan's border with Syria - or the rising tensions in the region and what it means for the rest of the world?

You can now put your questions to BBC chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, Parham Ghobadi, correspondent at BBC Persian and Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.

They'll be answering them live in a discussion on the stream at the top of this page at 12:30 GMT. We'll bring you their best explanation and analysis here in the page too.

Get in touch via:

• Email: yourquestions@bbc.co.uk
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Biden's dilemma is how to retaliatepublished at 10:51 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January

10:51 GMT 29 January

Jeremy Bowen
International editor

Image source, Reuters

This is Iran's system. They have funded and trained militias that operate in the region, including in Iraq and Syria.

Iran’s enemies regard them as a network of terrorists, but Iran regards them as a forward defence which means they can hit their enemies. And it’s still deniable. They are denying they had anything to do with the attack on the US base.

The US doesn’t accept that. So President Biden’s dilemma now is how to retaliate, who to hit and where to hit.

Hitting Iranian soil itself would be a very big escalation, so they'll probably not want to do that, but they might try to do something in the middle that works.

A big question about that though: can the US deter attacks by hitting back hard? Or is it simply going to fuel this steady escalation that we’re seeing across the region?

We've just heard from the Iraqi government, who have put out an English-language statement condemning escalation of violence, "particularly the recent attack on the Syrian-Jordanian border".

The statement said the Iraqi government would be closely monitoring the "alarming security developments in the region".

Iraq is willing to collaborate on "establishing fundamental rules to prevent further repercussions in the region", it said.

These developments "pose a threat to regional and international peace and security" it added.

Yesterday, news emerged that a drone attack at a US base near the Syria-Jordan border had killed three American troops and injured dozens others. Here's what we know about it:

• The US is accusing Iran-backed militia of being behind the attack, which is thought to have taken place at the living quarters of a US base
• Joe Biden has vowed that the US will "respond" in time. Some Republicans are calling for sweeping retaliatory attacks as a deterrent
• Iran has denied that it was behind the attack, calling accusations "baseless" and saying it was "not involved in the decision making of resistance groups"
• In addition to those killed, US officials said at least 34 others had been injured. Eight were evacuated for medical treatment outside of the base, and some are in critical but stable condition
• Jordan condemned the attack and said it was continuing to co-operate with the US to secure the border and to fight terrorism
• The UK called on Iran to de-escalate the situation, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "We absolutely condemn what has happened over the past couple of days"

Image source, Reuters

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has urged Iran to de-escalate the situation following the attack on the US base.

"We strongly condemn attacks by Iran-aligned militia groups against US forces. We continue to urge Iran to de-escalate in the region," he posted to X.

"Our thoughts are with those US personnel who have lost their lives and all those who have sustained injuries, as well as their families."

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, President Joe Biden labelled the attack which killed three US troops "despicable and wholly unjust".

He also vowed the US “will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing”.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that he was "outraged and deeply saddened" by the deaths, and echoed Biden’s vow to respond.

Senate leader Chuck Schumer said: "My heart is with the families of those killed and injured. We must work to hold those responsible accountable.”

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries also called for accountability for “every single malignant actor responsible”.

The former US ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein says he thinks both the US and Iran will be looking at ways to avoid further escalation.

Speaking to the BBC World Service, he says the US administration will be under "a great deal of pressure" to step up its operations against militant groups in the region.

But Feierstein says he believes it is unlikely President Biden would want to go as far as a direct strike against Iran, as some US politicians have been calling for.

"I still think the US administration would like to avoid [further] escalation," he says, adding that the view in Washington seems to be that the Iranians also don't want a wider war.

"So far everybody seems to have been looking for a way that is manageable without triggering a wholesale conflict in the region."

Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement claims it launched a missile at a US warship in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday evening.

Military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement that the Iran-backed group’s naval forces targeted the USS Lewis B Puller, an expeditionary mobile base platform ship deployed in the region to support the US 5th Fleet.

The operation was part of “military measures in defence of Yemen, reaffirmation of the decision to support the oppressed Palestinian people”, he added.

There was no immediate comment from the US military.

The Houthis have carried out dozens of drone and missile attacks on merchant and naval vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since mid-November in response to Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The US said in January it would re-designate the Houthis as "global terrorists".

On Friday, the destroyer USS Carney shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden, according to the US military's Central Command.

And on Saturday, the British destroyer HMS Diamond shot down a drone targeting it in the Red Sea, the UK ministry of defence said.