Trump warns of more strikes on Iran
Donald Trump warned the US is preparing to launch more strikes against Iran, after he said he considered the US-Iran truce to be “over”. “I’ll give a little warning – we’re going to hit them hard tonight,” the US president told reporters at the Nato summit in Turkey.
US strikes hit southern Iran
Iran’s southern region was rocked by a wave of US strikes, with state media reporting explosions in the cities of Bandar Abbas and Bushehr along the Gulf coast. The Pentagon said the strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial ships in the strait of Hormuz.
Thousands of seafarers stranded
Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said nearly 6,000 seafarers are stranded in the strait of Hormuz, as he called for “maximum restraint and de-escalation” after US and Iran exchanged attacks in the region.
Iranian president condemns US conduct
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has likened the US’s conduct as co-host of the World Cup to its foreign policy approach, in that it’s “bending rules, bullying rivals, creating obstacles, and cheating”. “This is their MAGA playbook. Iran rejects such games. We stand firmly for our rights,” he wrote on X.
US defence secretary cancels Israel trip
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defence, has cancelled a planned trip to Israel as violence escalates in the Middle East. Hegseth was expected to meet Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz, according to reports. It would have been his first trip to the country as US defence secretary.
Oil prices surge 5% on Hormuz attacks
Oil markets have recorded the sharpest price rise in nearly two months after a series of attacks on fossil fuel tankers near the strait of Hormuz led Donald Trump to declare that the ceasefire deal with Iran was “over”. Brent, the global crude benchmark rose by 5% on Wednesday to more than $78 a barrel, the highest price since the US and Iran agreed the ceasefire while negotiating an end to the war last month.
Arab League secretary general blocked from Ramallah
The new secretary general of the Arab League, Nabil Fahmy, said Israel had blocked him from visiting Ramallah, in what would have been his first foreign visit since taking office this month. The regional bloc’s secretariat was informed by Palestinian authorities “of the Israeli occupation authorities’ rejection of a visit... to the occupied Palestinian territories” to visit Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, Fahmy’s office said in a statement.
Rights groups say Israeli soldier’s photo may be war crime
An Israeli soldier’s photo of a Palestinian man from Gaza stripped to his underwear, blindfolded and bound face-down to an iron rod corroborates extensive reporting on Israeli torture of Palestinians in detention and itself may constitute a war crime, rights groups have said. The image was shared on a now-deleted personal social media account, with the Hebrew-language caption “good morning”. It was brought to wider public attention by a Palestinian writer and activist who goes by Tamer.
Kuwait intercepts Iranian missiles and drones
Kuwait’s armed forces has issued an update on the Iranian attacks against the country this morning, saying it had intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones that breached Kuwaiti airspace at dawn. “The incident resulted in no material damage or casualties,” it added in a statement.
