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The Strait of Hormuz remains open to all shipping except vessels linked to “Iran’s enemies”, a top Iranian official said Sunday, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to “obliterate” the Islamic Republic’s power grid if the waterway was not “fully open” within 48 hours.
“If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Saturday evening.
Tanker traffic through the waterway — a vital artery of global commerce — has ground to a halt amid Iran’s de facto blockade. As a result, oil prices have surged beyond the $100-a-barrel threshold and the average cost for a gallon of diesel has risen above $5.
Iran’s representative to the International Maritime Organisation, Ali Mousavi, said Tehran was ready to cooperate to improve maritime safety in the Gulf, adding that ships not linked to “Iran’s enemies” could pass through.
On Friday, Trump criticized NATO allies for refusing to help secure the strait, though he later claimed it would soon “open itself” and dismissed the waterway as being of little importance to the U.S.
Donald Trump claims ‘death of Iran’ on Truth Social
In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump has claimed the “death of Iran” while taking aim at the Democrats.
From his Florida golfing retreat, he said: “Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The US president claimed victory over Tehran on Friday as the war enters its fourth week, with strikes continuing. Despite this, there has been no regime change and Iran continue to block the Strait of Hormuz with a significant knock-on effect to global trade.
Holly Evans22 March 2026 12:32
Former diplomat questions evidence that Iran has longer distance missiles
A top former diplomat has thrown doubt over the credibility of Israel’s claims that Iran has missiles capable of reaching “deep into Europe”.
Simon McDonald told Times Radio: “They’re curious. I mean, we know that Iran has been developing a missile programme. They wanted longer and longer range missiles.
“But frankly, there’s no evidence that they have missiles of this capability apart from an Israeli source. And the Israeli agenda is to get Europe more concerned, more involved, more supportive of what they’re doing.
“But I note as a fact that Iran hasn’t tried to use a missile with this range, and it is in a pretty desperate state.”
When questioned if the UK could be vulnerable to an attack, he said: “True. But I repeat, apart from this Israeli report, I don’t see any evidence that Iran has this capability.
“And I also note that in the last three weeks, Israel and the United States have been very specifically targeting Iran’s missile programme. So what capabilities Iran had three weeks ago have been significantly degraded.
Kate Devlin22 March 2026 12:18
Trump’s 48 hour threat has caused ‘elevated uncertainty’ in financial markets
“President Trump’s threat has now placed a 48-hour ticking time bomb of elevated uncertainty over markets. If the ultimatum is not walked back, we will likely see a Black Monday reopening of global equity markets in free fall and oil prices spiking significantly higher,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.
Tehran would likely strike Gulf energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which “would deepen and prolong the pain of higher energy prices”, Sycamore said.
Oil prices jumped on Friday and settled at their highest in nearly four years, after Iraq declared force majeure on all oilfields developed by foreign firms, Israel attacked a major gas field in Iran and Tehran responded with strikes on neighbours, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
President Trump has given Iran a 48-hour warning to reopen the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
Holly Evans22 March 2026 12:04
Netanyahu claims Iran have missile capacity to ‘reach deep into Europe’
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Iran have the capacity to “reach deep into Europe” as he urged other leaders to join the war against Tehran.
He told reporters: “They fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Diego Garcia. That’s 4,000 kilometers. I’ve been warning all the time.
“They have now the capacity to reach deep into Europe. They already have fired on European countries, Cyprus. They are putting everyone in their sights.”
He added: “What more proof do you need that this regime that threatens the entire world has to be stopped? Israel and the United States are working together for the entire world.
“And it’s time to see the leaders of the rest of the countries join up. I’m happy to say that I can see some of them beginning to move in that direction, but more is needed.”
Holly Evans22 March 2026 11:47
‘Inevitable’ that US and Israel took action in Iran, Cleverly says
It was “inevitable” that the US and Israel decided to “take action” in Iran, the shadow housing secretary has said.
Sir James Cleverly told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that Iran is now deploying “very, very long-range missiles”, but did not say if he believed them capable of hitting the UK as he is not privy to the types of intelligence reports he once was.
This came after his Government counterpart Steve Reed appeared to suggest Israel’s warning that Tehran has developed missiles that could reach Europe is exaggerated.
Sir James said: “When I was foreign secretary we were absolutely consistent that our primary focus with regard to Iran was preventing them acquiring a credible nuclear weapon, they were tiptoeing towards that with greater enrichment, so it was inevitable that Israel and the US decided they needed to take action to prevent that from happening.”
He added: “We’re relying on other countries to protect British personnel, British nationals and British interests, and that is not the position we should be in.”
Asked if Conservatives would retaliate against Iran’s attempt to strike Diego Garcia, he said: “It’s not about retaliation, it’s about making sure that – whether it is the UK directly, or our allies, or in conjunction – we degrade their ability to target us.”
Holly Evans22 March 2026 11:30
Iran warns of ‘irreversible damage’ to regional infrastructure if power plants attacked
Critical infrastructure and energy facilities in the Middle East could be “irreversibly destroyed” should Iranian power plants be targeted, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in comments posted on X on Sunday.
His comments come after US President Donald Trump warned that Iranian power plants would be targeted if the Strait of Hormuz is not “fully open” within 48 hours.
Qalibaf said regional infrastructure would become “legitimate targets” should Iran’s facilities be hit, and that its retaliation would increase the price of oil for a while.
Holly Evans22 March 2026 11:16
Zelensky says a long war in Iran is a ‘plus’ for Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has a “very bad feeling” about how the war in the Middle East will affect Ukraine.
He told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I have a very bad feeling about the impact of this war on the situation in Ukraine and the focus of America, it’s more on the Middle East than on Ukraine unfortunately.
“Therefore, you see that our diplomatic meetings, trilateral meetings, are constantly postponed. There is one reason: war in Iran.”
He added that US President Donald Trump is “concentrating on Iran”.
On whether the Kremlin is benefiting from the Middle East war, Mr Zelensky said: “Putin will want a long war. For Putin, a long war in Iran is a plus.
“In addition to energy prices, it means the depletion of US reserves and the depletion of air defence manufacturers, so we have a depletion of resources.
“So, it is beneficial for Putin that the resources do not go to Ukraine against whom he has directed his army and is fighting with. He needs to weaken us and this is a long process. The Middle East is one of the ways to do that.”
He added that there will “definitely be a deficit” of Patriot missiles available to come to Ukraine’s aid if needed, saying it presents “another challenge”.
Holly Evans22 March 2026 11:08
Watch: Iranian missile hits Israeli city near nuclear facility after failed interceptionIranian missile hits Israeli city near nuclear facility after failed interception
Holly Evans22 March 2026 11:03
Gas executive says North Sea exploration would ‘make a difference’ to prices
The chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica said more exploration in the North Sea “would definitely make a difference” to energy prices as he was questioned on the impact of the war in the Middle East.
On future-proofing the UK, Chris O’Shea told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I think we need to look at getting more gas storage, we need to look at getting more home renewables, we need to look at more batteries and I do think that we should look at producing the resources that we’ve got ourselves.
“Now we don’t do that in Centrica, we don’t produce in the North Sea any more, we sold that business, but it makes sense if you’ve got resources you should.
“It’s not a silver bullet … nothing in and of itself will fix this but these activities will bring prices down.”
Asked if it would make a difference if the UK Government said yes to more exploration, Mr O’Shea said: “It would definitely make a difference but it wouldn’t make a difference just in the UK, it would make a difference across Europe.”
British Gas chief executive says UK should look at resources in the North Sea (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Wire)
Holly Evans22 March 2026 10:58
Increase in energy bills may be ‘inescapable’ if war continues
An increase in energy prices may be “inescapable” if the war in the Middle East “stays as it is”, the chief executive of Centrica, which owns British Gas, has said.
Chris O’Shea told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “There is some speculation as to where prices will go from 1 July but the reality is that we are less than one month into what’s called the observation period, so we’ve got to wait and see what happens over the next 10 weeks.
“Cornwall Insight, I think, have predicted that there’s going to be an increase in prices. If it stays as it is then I think that’s inescapable, but I don’t think it’s helpful to have speculation at the moment because we have to see what’s going to happen over the next 10 weeks.”
Mr O’Shea also told the programme: “The world uses about 100 million barrels of oil a day. We’ve lost about 20 per cent of that through the Strait of Hormuz. The loss of gas through the Strait of Hormuz being closed is about three or 4% of global gas.
“So, the impact on gas, and therefore on electricity bills, should be lower than the impact on oil. So, my gut feel is that you’ll see more of an impact of this in the petrol pumps than you will in bills.”
Asked about support to help people with bills, he said Centrica has had meetings with the Government and hopes they are looking at “targeted support”, telling the programme: “I do think targeted help is far better than blanket help.”
Holly Evans22 March 2026 10:47