US attacks Iranian minelayers
US Central Command released video of strikes on Iranian minelayers
Security incident closes streets near White House
Several major streets around the White House were closed
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A van smashed through a security barricade near the White House early on Wednesday morning, forcing a shutdown of the area.
The driver was taken into custody and there were no reported injuries following the incident at Lafayette Square, just north of the White House.
The Secret Service, which handles presidential security, said in a statement it was “looking into a suspicious vehicle”.
“The driver of the car has been detained and is being questioned,” it added.
Washington has been subject to heightened security amid the ongoing war against Iran.
Police closed off several major streets around the White House, preventing government employees and city workers from getting to their offices.
The first AI war: US and Israel test autonomous tech
In the first 24 hours of Operation Epic Fury, the US military struck more than 1,000 targets in Iran with the help of artificial intelligence.
Given the rate of 42 suggested targets per hour, experts have asked whether machines are now in charge on the battlefield because the human brain cannot keep up.
They have raised the possibility that artificial intelligence may have misidentified the primary school in Minab on the first day of the war. Growing evidence suggests that the US fired what appears to have been Tomahawk cruise missiles at the site, killing 110 children and dozens of others.
• The first AI war: US and Israel use Iran to test autonomous tech
Trump heads to Kentucky rally as cost-of-living concerns deepen
President Trump will hone in on domestic issues on Wednesday, turning away from the war in Iran to speak in Kentucky about his economic plans.
It marks Trump’s first campaign trip since the US and Israel began their campaign against Iran 12 days ago. He is due to speak at two events in northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio.
Oil prices have surged since the conflict in the Middle East broke out, adding to existing concerns about the cost of living in the US.
Trump this year faces midterm elections and will hope to reclaim the initiative before his party has to defend narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Spain permanently withdraws ambassador to Israel
Spain has permanently withdrawn its ambassador to Israel as the rift between the countries worsens over opposition to the war in Iran.
The ambassador was summoned back to Spain last September amid a diplomatic row over the war in Gaza. Spain banned its aircraft and ships from carrying weapons to Israel from its ports or airspace, which the Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar denounced as antisemitic.
Spain announced this week that the ambassador’s position had been officially terminated. Its foreign ministry said the embassy in Tel Aviv will be led by a diplomat for the foreseeable future.
Woman killed in strike on Iraq arms depot
Shrapnel from a strike on an arms depot belonging to an Iranian-backed armed group in central Iraq killed a woman, health and security officials told AFP.
A security source said “a bombing targeted an arms depot at a military base”, which mainly hosts the powerful Asaib Ahl al-Haq group in the eastern Wasit province.
He added that “a woman was killed when shrapnel from a rocket fell near her after the strike”. A health official confirmed her death and said another person was seriously wounded.
Fatalities from the war have been reported across at least seven countries in the Middle East, not including Iran, Lebanon and Israel, which have experienced the most intense and deadly attacks.
Russia ‘advising Iran on drone tactics’
Russia is giving Iran specific advice about drone warfare to aid in its war against Israel and the US, CNN reports.
Moscow, a heavy user of Iranian-made shahed drones in its war against Ukraine, has allegedly been giving the regime tactical advice in a new show of support after reports of more general assistance.
A western intelligence official told CNN: “What was more general support is now getting more concerning, including UAS [drone] targeting strategies that Russia employed in Ukraine.”
The drones have been surprisingly successful in targeting Gulf nations and penetrating their air defences, although many have been intercepted and destroyed.
President Zelensky wrote on X on Wednesday that “Russia has started supporting the Iranian regime with drones. It will definitely help with missiles, and it is also helping them with air defence”.
Iran warns of oil prices at $200 a barrel
Iran has told the US that oil prices will rise to $200 a barrel as it disrupts shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Prices approached $120 a barrel on Monday for the first time in almost four years, before falling back.
Iran’s military command said the US should “get ready” for an increase to $200 as the conflict continues. It also said the approach of “reciprocal hits” would come to an end in favour of “continuous strikes”.
The regime has weaponised oil and gas by exploiting a geographical advantage in blocking the Strait of Hormuz. About 50 ships a day passed through the Strait before February 28, but that has now slowed to a trickle
IEA oil release likely to offer only temporary relief
G7 nations have said they would support the collective release of oil from their reserves to tackle soaring prices since the start of the Iran war. However, the move is widely viewed as a short-term solution as long as the war continues and the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil exports pass, remains effectively shut.
Analysts said that previous interventions have had mixed results. In 2022, an initial release caused prices to rise by 20 per cent because traders interpreted the move as a signal that the oil crisis was more severe than previously estimated.
Fatih Birol, director of the International Energy Agency which is co-ordinating the release, has said that current strategic stocks represent about 124 days of lost supply from the Gulf, which means the buffer is finite if the conflict persists.
Iranians ‘will be able to grab hold of freedom’
David Mencer, the spokesman for Binyamin Netanyahu, told Times Radio on Wednesday that Israel and the US want to “create a portal for the Iranian people to walk through”.
“This regime has subjugated them,” he said. “We know that 80 per cent of Iran’s people are against the regime in Tehran and we are fundamentally taking it apart day by day.”
He said: “In a very very short time the Iranian people [will] have the opportunity to walk through that portal, walk through that doorway and grab hold of freedom.”
Mencer described the relationship between Netanyahu and Trump as “the best tag team in geopolitical history”.
“I can tell you my prime minister and President Trump are in daily contact. There is co-operation at almost every single level of government from our military to every single area and we’re in this together for the peace of mankind.”
Badenoch should apologise ‘for criticising UK pilots’
Starmer speaking in the Commons on Wednesday
HOUSE OF COMMONS/UK PARLIAMENT/PA
Sir Keir Starmer criticised Kemi Badenoch for saying British pilots were “just hanging about” in the Middle East.
The prime minister said: “She mentions the HMS Dragon. Can I first start by thanking the Royal Navy who are serving? Can I second say that what’s been happening is it’s been carefully being loaded with the anti-strike ammunition and capability that it needs, and the navy and civilians have been working 22 hour shifts.
“But in relation to those that are taking the action, what does she say? ‘Just hanging about’. That’s how she described our pilots in the region. Let me tell you what they’ve been doing, flying sorties in seven of the ten countries in the region, day and night, taking out incoming strikes, protecting the lives of others whilst risking their own. If she had any decency, she’d get up and she would apologise.”
Badenoch said she had “never criticised our armed forces”. She said: “I am criticising him and his decision.”
Starmer attacks Tories over stance on conflict
Sir Keir Starmer said “you don’t get a second shot at making the right call on taking your country to war”.
Starmer said: “If [Kemi Badenoch] were prime minister, we would be in the war, and she would be coming back to parliament a week later to say ‘oh, sorry, I got that one wrong’.”
Badenoch responded: “If I were prime minister, HMS Dragon would have left a week ago.”
Starmer accuses Badenoch of ‘mother of all U-turns’
The prime minister has accused Kemi Badenoch of the “mother of all U-turns” over British involvement in Iran.
Sir Keir Starmer said: “I took the decision that we should not join the initial US-Israeli offensive against Iran. The leader of the opposition attacked me for that decision relentlessly. She said that the UK should have joined the US and Israel in the initial offensive strikes.
“Then yesterday, in the wake of the economic consequences, the leader of the opposition totally abandoned her position. She told the BBC ‘I never said we should join’. She told the BBC ‘I haven’t said we should have gone in with the United States’. That is the mother of all U-turns on the single most important decision a prime minister ever has to take, whether to commit the United Kingdom to war or not.”
Badenoch replied: “I think the mother of all U-turns is him saying that they’re not increasing fuel duty.”
Starmer says ministers will not increase price of petrol
The prime minister responded to a question on fuel duty and said: “We are not increasing the cost of petrol. We’re absolutely clear in taking the measures that are necessary to deal with the impact of the conflict in Iran. We’re dealing with that with other allies.”
He added: “Fuel duty is frozen. It’s going to remain frozen until September, and we will keep the situation under review in light of what’s happening in Iran.”
Starmer pays tribute to UK military
Sir Keir Starmer has praised the “courage” and “professionalism” of UK armed forces personnel amid the conflict in Iran.
The prime minister, speaking in the Commons, said they had “flown over 230 hours of defensive operations over multiple countries, shooting down multiple drones”.
He said: “We thank them for their courage and their professionalism.”
Revolutionary Guards ‘target US bases in Gulf’
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they had targeted several US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
“Key infrastructure at the US base at Mina Salman port, the nerve centre of the US Fifth Fleet… was hit by Iranian missiles and drones,” the Guards said on their website Sepah News, referring to US installations in Bahrain.
“At the same time Camp Patriot [in Kuwait], including equipment hangars, accommodation and assembly centres for American soldiers at the Mohammed Al-Ahmad and Ali Al-Salem naval bases, also suffered heavy losses,” they said, adding that they also attacked the Camp Buehring base in Kuwait.
The claims could not be immediately verified.
Israel scrambles to intercept Iranian missiles
Israelis practise yoga session in a large Tel Aviv underground bomb shelter
UPI/ALAMY LIVE NEWS
Israel has reported that Iran has fired more missiles against central areas of the country.
“Defence systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the Israel Defence Forces said in a statement, adding that residents were advised to take shelter until further notice.
“In the last few minutes, the Home Front Command issued a preliminary directive directly to mobile phones in the relevant areas. The public is requested to exercise responsibility and act in accordance with the directives — they save lives,” the message added.
The latest alarm came nine hours after the last air-raid warning that woke many Israelis in the early hours of Wednesday.
Reeves strikes cautious note over defence spending
Rachel Reeves said it was important to “learn the lessons from the past” when deciding how defence spending and military action would be allocated.
When asked by the Treasury committee what was holding the UK back from raising defence spending to its target of 3 per cent of GDP, the chancellor said she could not be “sanguine” about the country’s public finances, warning that raising government spending could increase pressure on household inflation rates.
Reeves said she was proud to deliver “the biggest uplift in defence spending since the end of the Cold War”, and said the UK could learn from the way Ukraine has used its military spending to “adjust to modern methods of warfare”.
Defence spending is expected to reach 2.6 per cent of GDP by April next year, the chancellor confirmed.
US-Israel strikes ‘hit Iranian ambulance boat’
Iran has accused the United States and Israel of striking a maritime ambulance boat at an island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, local media reported.
“Following the US-Zionist attacks this afternoon, a maritime ambulance stationed at the dock of Hormuz Island was hit by missiles,” the state-controlled Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday, showing video of the boat on fire.
It said the vessel transports emergency patients from the island to Bandar Abbas in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province. Other media carried similar reports.
Meloni criticises US-Israeli war on Iran
Meloni in the Italian senate in Rome on Wednesday
ANGELO CARCONI/EPA
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, on Wednesday delivered her strongest criticism yet of the US-Israeli war on Iran, describing it as part of a growing and dangerous trend of interventions “outside the scope of international law”.
Her remarks to parliament came after repeated accusations from the opposition that her right-wing government had been too soft toward its allies. Most other European nations, with the notable exception of Spain, have withheld direct critique of the US and Israeli attacks, largely calling for restraint.
Meloni also said Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, as that would end the international non-proliferation framework with “dramatic repercussions for global security”.
She also said the current conflict had contributed to the collapse of the global rules-based order, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“It is in this context of structural crisis in the international system, in which threats are becoming increasingly frightening and unilateral interventions outside the scope of international law are multiplying, that we must also place the American and Israeli intervention against the Iranian regime,” she told the senate.
Meloni said Rome was providing air-defense assets to Gulf countries hit by strikes from Tehran. Around 2,000 Italian soldiers are also based in the region.
Reeves: Nothing off the table for energy bills support
Rachel Reeves said “nothing is off the table” regarding targeted support for businesses and consumers facing higher energy bills from the Iran conflict.
She told the Treasury select committee that it was “much too early” to forecast future energy price cap changes as she confirmed that the scheduled 7 per cent drop on April 1 remains on track.
The chancellor said she was speaking with the competition regulator over concerns around the “price gauging” of heating oil, which is relied on by many rural communities to supply their energy needs.
She also said that a deeper UK involvement in the Middle East was not in the national interest.
How the world economy might be affected by attacks on Strait of Hormuz
Romania to allow US to use its territory for Middle East military operations
Romania is to allow American fighter jets and soldiers to deploy to its territory to assist military operations in the Middle East, according to reports.
The US has requested to use the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase on the Black Sea for combat operations and refuelling, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. The US also plans to deploy as many as 500 soldiers to Romania, one of the sources said.
Nicusor Dan, the Romanian president, has convened a meeting of the supreme defence council on Wednesday to discuss potential “additional military capabilities” on Romanian soil, the report added.
The eastern European country has been a Nato member since 2004.
Iranian internet blackout enters 12th day
The internet monitoring platform NetBlocks said that Iran’s internet blackout is “now among the most severe government-imposed nationwide internet shutdowns on record globally” and the country has “spent a third of 2026 offline”.
The blackout imposed since the start of US-Israeli attacks on the country has now lasted more than 12 days, but it comes after the internet was switched off for weeks due to widespread anti-government protests.
Most Iranian news websites remain inaccessible from abroad. Although some are still publishing posts on social media and Telegram channels.
Netblocks said that connectivity in the country has been at 1 per cent of normal levels, and that only sources approved by the regime were not being blocked.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceNumber of ships passing through strait collapses
Three vessels — a bulk carrier, container ship and cargo vessel — have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz within 24 hours, Peter Aylott of the UK Chamber of Shipping, told Times Radio on Tuesday. He described the attacks as indiscriminate.
He said shipping passing through the strait had dropped from 100 vessels a day to fewer than five, mostly Iranian ships. About 1,000 commercial vessels are estimated to be trapped in the Gulf, including 80 to 90 with UK interests.
The risk of attack means most ships are unlikely to move, he said. Last week, Iran attacked an Egyptian container vessel, and when a salvage tug went to tow it to safety, it was destroyed “with the loss of lives of perhaps four to eight crews”.
UK economy ‘better placed to cope with shock’
Rachel Reeves sought to reassure MPs that the UK economy is “in a stronger position” to respond to global shocks.
The chancellor told the treasury committee that the economy was in a much healthier state today “in many ways” compared with when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Reeves also said her fiscal rules would give her “scope for interventions” in the short term if needed.
When asked about energy prices, Reeves said that “movements in global oil and gas prices have less of an effect, although still a big effect, for prices paid for by consumers”.
Iran holds mass funeral for ‘martyred’ military officials
Iranian state media has broadcast a funeral ceremony for some of the senior commanders and military figures who were killed in the US-Israeli strikes.
According to reports, the dead being honoured on Wednesday include Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was a defence minister; Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander-in-chief; Vice Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the defence council secretary; the head of the supreme leader’s military office, Brigadier General Mohammad Shirazi and his reported replacement, Abolqasem Babaian (Babaiyan), who was also killed.
Press TV, the English-language Iranian state-controlled channel, described them as “martyrs” and showed a ceremony was taking place in Tehran’s Enqelab Square, attended by a crowd of mourners waving Iranian flags.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceSaudi Aramco boss warns of ‘catastrophic consequences’
The chief executive of Saudi Arabia’s state-backed oil company warned that there could be “catastrophic consequences” for the world’s oil markets if the Iran war continues to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, cautioned that the continuing disruption in the key waterway, through which about 20 per cent of all oil supplies pass, has upended the shipping and insurance sectors and is likely to hit aviation, agriculture, carmaking and other industries.
He said that global inventories of oil were at a five-year low, the crisis would lead to drawdowns at a faster rate, and it was critical for shipping in the strait to resume.
“There would be catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil markets, and the longer the disruption goes on, the more drastic the consequences for the global economy,” he said in a quarterly earnings call.
• Saudi Aramco to restore 70% of oil shipments ‘within days’
More ships targeted by suspected Iranian strikes
The aftermath of the attack
Details of ships hit by suspected Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday are now emerging.
A Thai bulk carrier, the Mayuree Naree, was targeted and damaged approximately 11 nautical miles north of Oman, two maritime security sources said. The Thai navy said 20 of 23 crew members had been rescued so far.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that a fire started by the attack had been extinguished and that necessary crew would remain on the vessel.
Earlier, the Japan-flagged container ship One Majesty also sustained minor damage from an unknown projectile 25 nautical miles northwest of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, two maritime security sources said.
A third vessel, the Marshall Islands-flagged Star Gwyneth, a bulk carrier, was also hit by an unknown projectile approximately 50 miles northwest of Dubai, maritime security firms said.
The latest incidents increase the number of ships that have been attacked since the conflict began to at least 14.
Oil back above $90 a barrel
Oil has risen back above $90 a barrel after a cargo vessel was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in a fire onboard.
Brent crude rose 5.6 per cent to $92.68 after falling overnight in Asia to about $88 after the Wall Street Journal reported that the International Energy Agency has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history.
• Read in full: Oil price tops $90 after ship attack in the Gulf
Markets are weighing conflicting signals on how long the Iran war will last against the near-total halt of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude hit $119.50 a barrel on Monday before easing on Tuesday in reaction to President Trump’s statement that the war was near an end.
Reeves: Conflict will disrupt trade and hit economy
Rachel Reeves speaking to MPs on Wednesday
HOUSE OF COMMONS/UK PARLIAMENT/PA
The conflict in the Middle East is “certainly not good for the British economy”, Rachel Reeves has told MPs.
Appearing before parliament’s treasury committee on Wednesday, the chancellor said it would be “unwise to speculate” about the impact of the Iran conflict on inflation, growth or interest rates, but added that the Treasury is “looking at a number of scenarios”.
Reeves told MPs: “It’s certainly not good for the British economy to have trade disrupted, and especially when so much oil and gas comes from that part of the world.
“But the best thing that we can do as a government is to seek to de-escalate this conflict.”
She said “the quicker we can de-escalate, the better it will be for all of those different economic variables”.
Reeves also said the UK would “play its part” in helping to unlock strategic oil reserves in response to surging barrel prices.
Lebanon enduring a ‘great trial’, Pope says
The Pope on Wednesday lamented the death of numerous civilians in the Iran war and said that Lebanon, which has been targeted by Israeli strikes, was going through a “great trial”.
Leo, the first American pope, called on pilgrims in his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square to pray for peace. “Let us continue to pray for peace in Iran, and throughout the Middle East, especially for the many civilian victims, including many innocent children,” said the pontiff.
Travel Doctor: ‘My flights via Dubai were cancelled — can I get a refund?’
Our travel expert also advises on Airbnb guest damage, affordable Malta and where to escape the January rain next year
• Read in full: ‘My flights via Dubai were cancelled — can I get a refund for my holiday?’
Poll: have your say on oil prices Google is a legitimate target, Iran warns
Iran has said its targets now extend to American tech companies, including Google and Microsoft.
The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency released a list of “Iran’s new targets”, which includes offices and infrastructure of US companies whose technology has been used for military applications.
“As the scope of the regional war expands to infrastructure war, the scope of Iran’s legitimate targets expands,” it said.
Google, Microsoft, Palantir, IBM, Nvidia and Oracle all have offices and infrastructure in multiple Israeli cities, as well as in some Gulf countries.
New supreme leader lightly injured in strikes, Israeli intelligence suggests
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was lightly wounded in the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, Israeli intelligence assessments suggest.
Reuters cited an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying that this was the reason Khamenei, 56, has not been seen in public since the start of the war.
The late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an airstrike on February 28, along with his wife and daughter-in-law: the mother and wife of Mojtaba.
Iranian state media have described the new supreme leader in Farsi language as “Jaanbaz” during the “Ramadan war”, their name for the current conflict. The term Jaanbaz means veteran or hero, but can also have overtones of someone who has risked their life or has been wounded, which has led some Iranians abroad to speculate that the leader was injured.
Expert tips: Do I have to fly an employee back from Dubai?
Q: Two years ago, a team member relocated to Dubai for work. We were happy to cover her moving costs because we saw the merit in having a small foothold in the region to develop our business there. Because of the conflict, she wants to return and has asked us to cover the bill again. We don’t want to do that. Do we just say “no” or do we have some responsibility to help?
• Read in full: Do I have to fly an employee back from Dubai?
‘We cannot allow Iran to threaten Europe’
The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said Iran cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, warning that such a development could trigger a nuclear arms race.
“We cannot allow the ayatollah regime to possess nuclear weapons, combined with a missile capability that could soon be able to strike Italy and Europe directly,” she told the Italian senate.
In pictures: Israel hits Iranian military sites
Before and after images of Kerman air base, about 800 km southeast of Tehran
AFP/SATELLITE IMAGE (C) 2026 VANTOR/GETTY IMAGES
Before and after images of an Iranian military facility in Darab, south-central Iran
SATELLITE IMAGE ©2026 VANTOR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Before and after images of at an Iranian military facility in Khorgu, southern Iran
SATELLITE IMAGE ©2026 VANTOR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
‘7 dead after Israeli strike on southern Lebanon’
Israel has killed seven and injured 11 in its latest attacks on southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
The Israeli attacks were on the town of Al-Shahabiya, in the southern Tyre district.
The aftermath of an Israeli attack on Beirut
HUSSEIN MALLA/AP
Earlier, an Israeli strike hit an apartment in a densely populated neighbourhood in central Beirut, state media reported.
This was the second time Israel has targeted the heart of the Lebanese capital since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli strikes.
FTSE 100 slides on oil supply jitters
London’s leading share index has opened down this morning after contradictory signals about how long the Iran war will last reignited concerns about the risks to inflation and global growth.
Brent crude has edged 2.5 per cent higher to $89.97 a barrel after falling in overnight trading in Asia after reports of the largest release of oil reserves in its history.
The FTSE 100 slid 0.8 per cent to 10,328.93 after rising 1.6 per cent yesterday, boosted by a sharp drop in oil prices after President Trump suggested the Middle East war could be close to ending. Shares in Germany and France were also lower after Asian equity markets rose overnight, with the Nikkei 225 up 1.4 per cent.
Comment: Starmer will pay price if bill for war spirals
The war in the Middle East was a political problem the prime minister could have done without (Daniel Finkelstein writes).
Already facing electoral difficulties, his party deeply uneasy, this crisis came at a particularly awkward moment. And it called upon his ability to make a convincing public case, never his strong suit as he came across as stiff and awkward on television.
• Read in full: Keir Starmer will pay the price if the bill for Iran war spirals
The whole thing also damaged the relationship with the United States, which the prime minister had been working so hard to maintain. The date of all this was October 1973, the prime minister was Edward Heath and the conflict was what is known as the Yom Kippur War. It turns out that there is little in international affairs that has never happened before.
Iran warns of attacks on US and Israeli banks
The Iranian armed forces have warned people not to be within one kilometre of US and Israeli banks as they will be the next targets.
“Last night, the terrorist US army and the brutal Zionist regime, after failing in their military objectives, targeted one of the country’s banks,” a spokesman of the Quds Force said in a statement on Telegram.
“With this illegitimate and unconventional act of war, the enemy has left our hands free to target economic centres and banks belonging to the United States and the Zionist regime in the region.
“Americans should expect our retaliatory and painful response. People in the region should stay out of the one kilometre radius of the banks.”
In pictures: US bombers land back in Britain 
A B-1 bomber comes in to land at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES
Four injured after drones hit Dubai airport
A drone attack on Wednesday injured four people at Dubai airport, one of the world’s busiest, although it continues to operate as normal.
The Dubai Media Office, a government agency, said that those injured were foreign nationals.
Authorities confirm that two drones fell in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport (DXB) a short while ago, resulting in minor injuries to two Ghanaian nationals and one Bangladeshi national, and moderate injuries to one Indian national,” it said in a statement. “Air traffic is operating as normal.”
Trump says Iran ‘welcome’ at the World Cup
President Trump has said that Iran are “welcome to compete” in the World Cup this summer in US, Mexico and Canada, according to the president of Fifa.
Gianni Infantino said he had discussed Iran’s participation with Trump, after it was thrown into doubt by the US-Israeli offensive.
“President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino said following their meeting.
Iran’s team is scheduled to play at least three group-stage games in Los Angeles and Seattle from June 16 against New Zealand, Egypt and Belgium.
Infantino, who has been head of world football’s governing body since 2016, awarded Trump the inaugural Fifa peace prize in December last year.
Analysis: How close is Trump to achieving his goals in Iran?
President Trump has said the US is “ahead of our initial timeline” in its Iranian attacks
GETTY IMAGES/X/THE WHITE HOUSE
President Trump said this week he had made “major strides” towards his “military objective” and declared the Iran campaign fought by the US and Israel was “pretty well complete” as he sought to calm market and voter concerns about the impact on fuel prices.
He has set out four key military aims: eliminating Iran’s nuclear threat, destroying its ballistic-missile programme and its navy and stopping its proxy terror groups — as well as various other goals. Here we assess his progress so far.
• Read in full: Fact check — how close is Trump to achieving his goals in Iran?
Cargo ship hit in the Gulf
A bulk carrier ship was hit by an unknown projectile 50 nautical miles northwest of Dubai on Wednesday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.
The crew are safe and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said. It is the latest of a series of attacks on shipping after two earlier incidents in the region.
More than a dozen commercial ships have been hit by suspected Iranian retaliations since the start of the US-Israeli military campaign against the country.
Iranian asylum-seekers moved after team-mate reveals location
Six Iranian football players, who are claiming asylum, a team official and two unidentified local officials
AUSTRALIAN DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Iranian women footballers claiming asylum in Australia were evacuated from their safe house on Wednesday after one team member changed her mind and revealed their location to the Iranian embassy, Canberra said.
Seven members of Iran’s visiting women’s football delegation had sought sanctuary in Australia after they were branded “traitors” at home for refusing to sing the national anthem.
But one member of the group had second thoughts after speaking to other players who had turned down asylum in favour of returning to Iran, the Australian home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said.
The woman exposed the location of the other asylum-seekers when she contacted Iran’s embassy in Australia.
“As a result of that it meant the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was,” Burke said. “I immediately gave them instructions for people to be moved and that has been dealt with immediately.”
New supreme leader ‘safe and sound’
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “safe and sound” despite injury reports, the son of the Iranian president said on Wednesday.
“I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound,” said Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, in a post on his Telegram channel.
State television had called Khamenei a “wounded veteran of the Ramadan war” but never specified his injury.
On Wednesday The New York Times, quoting three unnamed Iranian officials, said that Khamenei “had suffered injuries, including to his legs, but that he was alert and sheltering at a highly secure location with limited communication”.
The 56-year-old son and successor of the Islamic Republic’s longtime ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has yet to address the nation or issue a written statement since he was declared supreme leader on Sunday.
US drops dozens of bunker ‘penetrator bombs’
US B-2 bombers have dropped dozens of bunker “penetrator bombs” on underground Iranian missile sites.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the US military is now moving to dismantle Iran’s missile production. “Our incredible B-2 bombers recently dropped dozens of 2,000-pound penetrator bombs on deeply buried missile sites.”
Leavitt claimed that more than 5,000 enemy targets have been struck and that “Iran’s ballistic missile attacks are down more than 90 per cent, and their drone attacks are down by approximately 85 per cent since the start of Operation Epic Fury.”
The sustained air and sea campaign has rendered the Iranian navy “combat ineffective”, with the destruction of over 50 naval vessels, including a key drone carrier, and a complete blockade of its ships from major regional waterways, according to the White House.
Analysis: Why oil wars are back on the agenda
As black, choking clouds hang over Tehran, the taste of burning in the air, the mind is catapulted back three decades to the oil wells set alight by Iraqi forces in their scorched retreat from Kuwait (Catherine Philp writes).
Oil wars, in which fossil fuels are either the cause of a conflict or a weapon within it, were supposed to be a thing of the past as the world embraced clean energy and the shale revolution moved the centre of production away from the Middle East.
But the US-Israeli assault on Iran has put oil wars firmly back on the agenda. President Trump began the year with a foreign intervention driven by oil, removing President Maduro of Venezuela and coercing his regime to grant America access to its energy supplies. He continued with a blockade of fuel on Cuba, threatening any country that supplied it, in an attempt to collapse its communist government.
Now an embattled Iranian regime is weaponising oil and gas, exploiting a strategic geographical advantage by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil flows.
• Read in full: Oil clouds spitting on Iran prove the energy wars never stopped
How the Iran war could end — and affect the UK
As the conflict reaches its 11th day, there is still no clarity about how long it will last and what objectives President Trump wants to achieve before declaring an American victory.
Part of this may be deliberate ambiguity. But the course of the conflict is no longer entirely in the president’s control and ministers are war-gaming a range of scenarios.
So what would the impact be to the UK and the world economy of the conflict lasting between a few weeks and many months?
• Read in full: Three ways the Iran war could end — and the implications for UK
Sri Lanka to hand over bodies of 84 Iranian sailors
A Sri Lankan court has ordered that the bodies of 84 sailors killed in a US attack on an Iranian warship off the island nation’s coast last week be handed over to the embassy of Iran, local media reported on Wednesday.
The warship, Iris Dena, was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine in the Indian Ocean while it was returning from a naval exercise organised in the Bay of Bengal.
Sri Lanka, obeying the Geneva Convention, which mandates that those who can help must provide assistance to shipwrecked combatants, sent out two naval vessels on a search and rescue mission.
Iris Dena had been drilling off the coast of India alongside warships belonging to American allies like Australia and Japan at the International Fleet Review.
Indian officials claimed that the Iris Dena, meanwhile, was unarmed, due to the nature of the exercise it had been taking part in.
What happens when oil storage runs out?
The Bapco oil refinery in Bahrain was hit by an Iranian drone on Monday
REUTERS
The largest producers of oil in the Gulf region face a race to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s major commodity export routes. Some have only a few days before their storage tanks are full and they are forced to cut production more substantially.
Producers are left with few alternatives to pushing oil out of the region. Pipelines can be struck by drones and alternative shipping routes are beset by shortages of vessels and prone to attacks.
• Read in full: Gulf has just days before oil storage runs out — so what next?
Protesters ‘will be dealt with as enemies’, warns Iran
Iran’s national police chief has said protesters inside the country will be treated as enemies.
“If anyone comes forward in line with the wishes of the enemy, we will no longer see them as merely a protester, we will see them as an enemy,” said the national police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, in comments aired by state broadcaster IRIB late on Tuesday.
“And we will do to them what we do to an enemy. We will deal with them in the same way we deal with enemies,” he added. “All our forces are also ready, with their hands on the trigger, prepared to defend their revolution.”
His warning comes as the Middle East war sparks fears that mass anti-government rallies could reignite and be meet by a government crackdown similar to that on anti-government protests in January.
Iranian authorities acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths in the unrest, including members of the security forces and bystanders, but say the violence was caused by “terrorist acts” fuelled by Iran’s enemies. The Human Rights Activists News Agency, however, has recorded more than 7,000 killings in the crackdown, the vast majority protesters, though the toll may be far higher. More than 50,000 have been arrested, the US-based group has said.
Israel strikes apartment in central Beirut
A destroyed apartment in Beirut on Wednesday
HUSSEIN MALLA/AP
An Israeli strike hit an apartment in a densely populated neighbourhood in central Beirut on Wednesday, state media reported.
This is the second time Israel has targeted the heart of the Lebanese capital since the latest war with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah broke out.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel has kept up strikes on Hezbollah despite a 2024 ceasefire and has since launched attacks across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said that “the enemy targeted an apartment in the Aisha Bakkar area” in central Beirut close to one of the city’s biggest shopping malls.
Aftermath of an Israeli strike on an apartment building in Beirut
IDF identifies missiles launched from Iran
Missiles launched from are seen streaking across the night sky over Hebron in the West Bank on Wednesday
WISAM HASHLAMOUN/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
Israel’s military detected missiles heading from Iran and had activated air defences as it pressed a “wave” of strikes against Iran and Lebanon.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said on its official Telegram account.
Air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem. A short time later, Israel’s military said it was permitted to leave shelters.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services reported no immediate injuries after the missile fire, but said its teams were treating “a small number of people who were injured on their way to protected areas”.
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv.
Ship struck near Strait of Hormuz
A container ship near the Strait of Hormuz has been struck, according to the UK’s maritime monitor.
The projectile hit the vessel 25 nautical miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
The master of the vessel said it was damaged, but all crew members were safe and accounted for, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
Details are not known about the extent of the damage. UKMTO urged all ships passing through the area to “transit with caution”.
Major Saudi oil field targeted
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted seven drones heading towards an oil field in the southeast of the country.
“Two drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field were intercepted and destroyed,” the ministry posted on X.
Another five drones were intercepted and destroyed, the ministry said in separate posts.
The oil field sits near the border with the United Arab Emirates and is operated by Saudi giant Aramco, one of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalisation. The field is crucial to the kingdom’s vast oil production.
Israel targeted with three missile salvos
Iran has fired three salvos of missiles at Israel overnight, the Times of Israel reports.
The latest salvo set off sirens in central Israel and some parts of the northern West Bank.
Israel’s ambulance service said it received no reports of injuries, and residents of areas where sirens sounded have been given the all-clear to leave their shelters.
Oil reserves plan stabilises prices and lifts Asian markets
Oil prices stabilised and markets rose in Asia in early trading after the Wall Street Journal said the International Energy Agency (IEA) had proposed its largest-ever release of oil reserves.
The proposal was made during an IEA meeting on Tuesday, the newspaper said, before the organisation’s 32 members make a decision on Wednesday.
The IEA is a highly influential body, shaping global energy policy by covering 80 per cent of global consumption.
Threats made by President Trump surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, along with the news the US had destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the strait, are also believed to have contributed to more buoyant markets.
Around midnight in the UK, the price of Brent Crude was down 0.84 per cent at $87.06. Equities rose in Asian trade, with the Nikkei in Tokyo adding around two per cent and the Kospi in South Korea up roughly 2.5 per cent.
New missile strikes on Israeli and American targets
Iran has launched new strikes on Israeli and American targets in the Middle East, state broadcaster IRIB said on Wednesday.
The barrage was “the most intense and heaviest since the start of the war”, lasting three hours, the broadcaster added, citing a statement from Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards. It targeted Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as Jerusalem.
Israel’s military said it detected missiles heading towards the country and had activated its air defences. Soon after, the Israeli army announced it had detected another volley of missiles fired at Israel from Iran.
Don’t hit Iran oil facilities, Trump tells Israel
The Trump administration has asked Israel to stop targeting energy facilities in Iran, in part over concerns it could affect oil prices further, according to reports.
The request is the first known instance of the US attempting to scale back Israel’s ambitions in Iran since their joint attacks in February, Axios said.
Trump officials are believed to be concerned that such attacks could set back US aims to co-operate with Iran’s oil sector after the war — similar to the approach it has taken with Venezuela — and may prompt retaliatory attacks on energy infrastructure across the Gulf, which could have a significant impact on oil markets.
An Israeli official told the news outlet that “the US asked that we notify them in advance of any future strikes on oil facilities in Iran”.
North Korea backs Iran’s choice of leader
North Korean state media has said it respects Iran for choosing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his successor in becoming the country’s new supreme leader.
“We respect the rights and choice of the Iranian people to elect their supreme leader,” Pyongyang’s unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The official went on to say the US and Israel were “destroying the regional peace and security foundations and escalating instability worldwide”.
The spokesperson accused Washington and Israel of violating Iran’s “political system and territorial integrity”, while attempting to “overthrow its social system”, adding that such actions “deserve worldwide criticism and rejection as they can never be tolerated”.
Iran drone hits US diplomatic base in Iraq
A major US diplomatic facility in Iraq was hit by a major drone assault on Tuesday in a suspected Iranian attack, the Washington Post has reported.
The Baghdad Diplomatic Support Centre, a sprawling logistical hub for American diplomats near Iraqi military bases and the Baghdad airport, had already come under repeated attacks since the war with Iran broke out at the end of February.
One of the six drones launched towards the compound made it through air defence systems, the newspaper said. While no casualties were reported, the assault highlights the vulnerability of US facilities in the Middle East.
The attack was believed to have been carried out by militias operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-supported armed groups, which have stepped up their attacks since the US and Israel began strikes on Iran last month.
Saudi Arabia destroys seven missiles in attack by Iran
Saudi Arabia has intercepted seven ballistic missiles in separate attacks targeting an air base and its eastern region.
The country’s defence ministry said the missiles were all destroyed as they headed towards Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts a significant number of US Air Force members. On Monday, a seventh US soldier was confirmed to have died from injuries he sustained during an attack on the base on March 1. The ministry later added that it had intercepted another ballistic missile launched “towards the eastern region”.
Shortly after, the UAE also said its air defences had intercepted missiles and drones coming from Iran.
Analysts fear Gulf countries are running down their highly valuable interceptor missiles, including those belonging to their Patriot defence systems, adding to fears they will not be able to intercept Iranian strikes efficiently if the war continues for many weeks and months.
Plan for huge release of oil reserves to lower prices
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history in a bid to bring down oil prices, according to reports.
The amount suggested would exceed that put on the market in two releases after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal said, and was proposed during an IEA meeting on Tuesday, before the organisation’s 32 members make a decision on Wednesday.
The IEA is a highly influential body, shaping global energy policy by covering 80 per cent of global consumption.
Satellite reveals missile strike on air base
A composite image shows the base before and after the strike
AFP/SATELLITE IMAGE (C) 2026 VANTOR/GETTY IMAGES
Satellite imagery shows the damage to Kerman Air Base, around 500 miles away from Tehran, after an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday.
Israel’s military said it had unleashed a new “wave of strikes” on Tehran, shortly after a round of explosions was heard in the Iranian capital.
Israel fights off new strikes from Iran
Israel’s military has said Iran has launched a fresh barrage of missiles towards it and had activated air defences, in response to a new wave of Israeli strikes on Iran and Lebanon.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said on its official Telegram account.
G7 leaders will discuss crisis and oil prices
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, will convene a call with leaders of the Group of Seven on Wednesday to discuss the Iran crisis and rising energy prices, his office said.
The G7 governments — the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, Britain, Germany and France — are weighing how to respond to a sharp rise in oil prices triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The group’s energy ministers stopped short of agreeing on a release of strategic oil reserves on Tuesday and instead asked the International Energy Agency to assess the situation before acting.
Daniel Finkelstein: Starmer will pay if war bill spirals
He can’t do much about it, but voters will punish the prime minister anyway if conflict in the Middle East pushes up the cost of living even further.
• Read in full: Starmer will pay the price if the bill for Iran war spirals
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe urges PM to ‘avoid war’
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian mother who was held in Iranian jails on espionage charges for six years from 2016, has urged the prime minister to avoid further involvement.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
VICTORIA JONES/REUTERS
The British-Iranian author is among three former political prisoners and more than 100 other Iranians living in the UK who signed a letter which says that the way the war is being conducted is strengthening the Iranian regime rather than allowing for democracy. Other signatories include Aras Amiri, a former British Council worker kept in jail for three years in Evin prison in Tehran, and Nasrin Parvaz, who spent eight years in Iranian jails from 1982.
The letter states: “Nobody can claim to want the end of the Islamic republic more than we do. But attacking the country in this way will have the opposite effect. It will entrench the authoritarians and give life to the fiction that has sustained them internally for decades: that they are fighting western imperialism.”
Russian consulate ‘damaged in shelling’ in Iran
Russia’s consulate in the Iranian city of Isfahan was damaged in shelling earlier this week, Maria Zakharova, the country’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said.
An attack on a diplomatic representation was a “blatant violation” of international conventions and all sides should observe the “inviolability of diplomatic sites”, she said.
“On March 8, in the Iranian city of Isfahan, as a result of an attack on the governor’s administration of the province of the same name located nearby, the Russian consulate was damaged,” Zakharova said.
“Windows were shattered in the office building and residential apartments, and several employees were thrown by the blast wave. Fortunately, there were no casualties or serious injuries.”
President Putin discussed the conflict with the Iranian leader on Tuesday, the Kremlin said. He has called for a halt to all hostilities.
More footballers claim asylum
A further two members of Iran’s women’s football team have claimed asylum in Australia after they were branded “traitors” at home for failing to sing the national anthem before their AFC Asian Cup match against South Korea last week.
One player and one support member sought sanctuary before the side flew out of Sydney on Tuesday evening, Tony Burke, the home affairs minister, said. They joined five other players who had already claimed asylum.
US ‘destroys 16 minelayers’
US Central Command claims to have destroyed 16 minelayers close to the Strait of Hormuz. On X, it said it had also targeted “multiple” Iranian naval vessels. The post included footage of boats being destroyed.
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North Korea has said it supports the Iranian people’s choice of Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader. Khamenei was named on Monday to succeed his father, who was killed in the initial airstrikes by the US and Israel.
North Korea’s foreign ministry also strongly denounced “illegal” acts of aggression by the US and Israel which were destroying peace and escalating instability worldwide, KCNA state news agency said.
Trump ‘lies to justify Operation Epic Mistake’
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, has said Trump’s claim that Iran had been been planning to attack American forces immediately before the US-Israeli attacks began was “a sheer and utter lie”.
On X, Araghchi also said that Operation Epic Fury, the name used by Washington for the military action on Tehran, was Operation Epic Mistake.
“The claim that Iran was planning on attacking the US or US forces, whether preventively or pre-emptively, is a sheer and utter lie,” he said. “The sole purpose of that lie is to justify Operation Epic Mistake, a misadventure engineered by Israel and paid for by ordinary Americans.”
Israel to ‘create conditions for Iran’s freedom’
Binyamin Netanyahu has told the Iranian people that Israel will soon “create the conditions” for them to gain their freedom.
“People of Iran,” he wrote on X, “We are waging a historic war for liberty. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you to remove the Ayatollah regime and gain your freedom.
“Together with the United States, we are hitting the Tyrants of Teheran harder than ever. In the coming days we will create the conditions for you to grasp your destiny.”
In pictures: US strikes Iranian ‘mine boats’ 
Footage from US Central Command shows strikes on IRGC navy boats including a Shahid Soleimani-class catamaran after reports that Iran is using small craft to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz
Iranian diplomats killed in Beirut strike
Iran has accused Israel of killing four of its diplomats in a weekend strike on a seafront Beirut hotel that it called a “terrorist attack”.
Tehran’s permanent mission to the United Nations said in a letter to the UN secretary-general that the strike on the Ramada Hotel early on Sunday “resulted in the assassination and martyrdom” of four diplomats.
The Israeli military has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had “conducted a precise strike targeting key commanders” in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, its foreign operations arm.
The Iranian ambassador to the UN accused the security council of ignoring a “grave terrorist attack” and “war crime”.
“The council is turning a blind eye to this grave violation despite its primary responsibility under the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security,” Amir Saeid Iravani said.
Steepest petrol price rise since 2022
Motorists in Liverpool queue to fill up before prices rise further
PHIL NOBLE/REUTERS
Petrol prices have risen by their fastest rate since 2022 because of the war in Iran and there are warnings that inflation will be significantly higher at the end of the year.
Prices of unleaded petrol at the pump have risen to an average of 138.95p per litre — up 6.12 per cent since the start of the conflict, according to the RAC. Diesel price increases have been even steeper, rising to 155.12p, an increase of almost 9 per cent.
It is the steepest rise in the cost of petrol since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
• Read in full: Steepest petrol price rise since 2022 squeezes motorists
‘US navy escort? Maybe on PlayStation’
The Speaker of the Iranian parliament has derided American claims that the US navy escorted a ship through the Strait of Hormuz.
“An oil tanker crossed Strait of Hormuz escorted by US Navy ships? Maybe on PlayStation!” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X.
Trump claims destruction of minelayers
President Trump has taken again to Truth Social to claim: “I am pleased to report that within the last few hours, we have hit, and completely destroyed, 10 inactive mine laying boats and/or ships, with more to follow!” He gave no further details.
Risk is too high for escorts, US navy says
The Parnassos, a crude oil tanker, sits anchored off Muscat while passage through the Strait of Hormuz is halted
BENOIT TESSIER/REUTERS
The US navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying that the risk of attacks is too high.
The navy’s assessment diverges from President Trump’s statements that America is prepared to provide naval escorts whenever needed to restart regular oil and gas shipments. Shipping along the strait has all but halted since the war began, preventing exports of around a fifth of the world’s oil supply and sending global oil prices surging to highs not seen since 2022.
A senior official with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said Iran will fire on any ship trying to pass.
The US navy has held regular briefings with shipping and oil industry representatives, telling them it cannot provide escorts for the time being, sources told Reuters.
Erroneous claim over tanker escort
Earlier, Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, deleted a video on X in which he said the US navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. The White House later stated that the US navy had not done so.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said no US navy vessel had “dared” approach the strait, which they have all but closed in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important shipping lanes. About a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes through.
Ali Mohammad Naini, an IRGC spokesman, said: “None of the US warships have dared to approach even the Sea of Oman, the Persian Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz during the war.” The claim that a tanker had been escorted through was a “pure falsehood”.
Mine warning on Truth Social
Trump warning about mines in a Truth Social post. “If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY!” he wrote.
“If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before. If, on the other hand, they remove what may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction!”
Trump: Remove mines from Strait of Hormuz
President Trump has told Iran to remove any mines it may have placed in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that if Tehran did not it would face military consequences at a level not seen before.
Trump added that the United States had had no reports of Iran placing any mines in the stretch of water.
Earlier reports in the American media said that intelligence reports showed Iran had begun placing mines in the strategic waterway.