By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, March 4 (Reuters) - An independent United Nations probe investigating rights violations in Iran condemned on Wednesday attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran as well as Tehran's retaliatory strikes across the region, saying they violated the UN Charter.

The United Nations Charter bans the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - The United States military carried out a strike that hit an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka's coast, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

One of the officials, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was carried out by a U.S. military submarine.

Earlier, Sri Lankan authorities said they had rescued 32 people who were on board the ship and recovered several bodies from the sea.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, March 4 (Reuters) - The Vatican's top diplomat warned on Wednesday that the ongoing U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran undermine international law and said nations do not have a right to launch "preventive wars", in an unusually direct criticism of the military campaign.

"If states were to be recognised as having a right to 'preventive war' … the entire world could risk going up in flames," Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, said in an interview with Vatican News.

LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - Britain needs to keep a cool head over the conflict in the Middle East to address the public's concerns about escalation, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday.

Starmer was speaking after U.S. President Donald Trump heaped fresh criticism on his leadership over Britain's limited support for U.S. strikes on Iran.

"I know the whole country is worried about the potential for escalation," Starmer told parliament.

"We need to act, therefore, with clarity, with purpose and with a cool head."

By Angelo Amante

ROME, March 4 (Reuters) - Italy's government is likely to provide military aid, including an air defence system, to Gulf nations that have requested help with equipment in the face of Iranian air strikes, two sources said on Wednesday.

The sources, who asked not to be named, said that while a final decision had not yet been made, Italy would probably send one of its SAMP/T batteries that can intercept ballistic missiles. They would not say which country would receive the system, or which battery Rome was considering redeploying.

March 4 (Reuters) - Operatives from Iran's Ministry of Intelligence signalled openness to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to talks on ending the war, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing officials briefed on the matter.

The offer was made through an unnamed country's spy agency, the NYT said, citing Middle Eastern officials and officials from a Western nation who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The White House and the CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A ballistic missile launched from Iran and heading towards Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria was destroyed by NATO air defence systems, Turkish officials said Wednesday.

The defence ministry said it had been "engaged and neutralised by NATO air-and-missile defence assets deployed in the eastern Mediterranean".

It did not specify the missile's intended target. Iran has been hitting sites across the region in retaliation after the United States and Israel launched strikes against it on Saturday.

By Laila Bassam, Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry and Nazih Osseiran

BEIRUT, March 4 (Reuters) - Hezbollah’s decision to enter the Middle East war in support of its patron Iran has opened a rift with its main political ally at home in Lebanon, leaving the group deeply isolated as the country lurches into another devastating conflict with Israel.

By Nathan Layne and Aleksandra Michalska

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire, March 4 (Reuters) - When Michael Leary learned the United States had struck Iran, he questioned whether the move honored the "America First" pledge that earned his vote for President Donald Trump and feared it could pull the country into another Middle East quagmire.

March 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. military has joined Israel and attacked more than 1,000 targets in Iran and killed many of its top officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Below is a look at the legality of the U.S. attacks, which critics say exceed the president's authority and fails to comply with international law.

WHAT HAS TRUMP SAID?