Nobel laureate María Corina Machado will not lead negotiations over new elections, contrary to expectations
The interim government of Venezuela has announced it will begin formal talks with the opposition aimed at “strengthening democracy” in the country.
The move is backed by the US, which says it is seeking a “democratic transition” in a country still recovering from the twin earthquakes that killed more than 4,700 people.
Continue reading...Tehran shuts strait of Hormuz and carries out retaliatory strikes as Trump threatens to attack site linked to Iran’s nuclear programme
Iran threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East after the US reimposed a blockade of its ports and ships, as the two countries traded strikes for a fifth day and Donald Trump threatened to attack a site linked to Iran’s nuclear programme while he weighed further expanding US strikes next week.
The US blockade came into force early on Wednesday, and was followed by a 90-minute wave of strikes against Iran’s coastal defence systems and missile sites, according to the US military. Iranian authorities said the previous day of US strikes had killed at least seven troops, and wounded more than 300 people – the highest casualty count of any recent round of violence between the two countries.
Continue reading...American president says ships will be charged for safe passage through strait in apparent policy reversal
The US has launched its third consecutive night of strikes on Iran hours after Donald Trump said Washington would reinstate a maritime blockade on the country and, in an apparent policy reversal, charge ships for safe passage.
“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz,” the US military’s Central Command said.
Continue reading...This live blog has now closed – you can read our latest report from the Middle East here
Bahrain’s interior ministry instructed residents to take shelter after attacks on the island nation as Iran targets US interests in the Gulf.
The siren has been sounded... citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” the ministry posted on X.
Continue reading...American and Iranian forces exchange heavy missile and drone attacks over control of strait of Hormuz, increasing pressure on truce
The US military has launched a new wave of attacks against Iran amid the escalating standoff over the strait of Hormuz, with Tehran saying the latest strikes had “rendered futile” all the diplomatic efforts of the past few months.
The US military began launching more strikes against Iran at 9pm GMT on Sunday, US Central Command (Centcom) said on X, “to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz”.
Continue reading...Republican senator, who died Saturday, had a global reach few could rival and was vital in shaping Trump’s worldview
It was revealing that one of the first tributes to Lindsey Graham, a US senator who died on Saturday aged 71, came from Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, a far-right provocateur who recently caused widespread anger by sharing footage of himself taunting bound activists who had been trying to sail to Gaza with aid.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was not far behind, calling Graham a “great friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine”, and he was quickly followed by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who described him as “a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer”.
Continue reading...Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the UAE reportedly came under attack as Tehran says it is closing Strait of Hormuz
There has been almost no visible traffic in the strait of Hormuz so far today, with only two oil products tankers seen approaching the narrow waterway, according to a Bloomberg report.
As a reminder, the US president, Donald Trump, has declared the ceasefire over while leaving the door open for talks, and mediators have been trying to salvage a diplomatic solution despite the attacks intensifying.
Continue reading...Ceasefire at the point of collapse after almost a week of tit-for-tat exchanges escalate tensions across Gulf region
Donald Trump has rejected Iranian claims to have closed off the strait of Hormuz as both sides battled for control over the waterway, leaving a ceasefire agreed last month at the point of collapse.
US forces said they had attacked 140 targets in Iran on Saturday night and Sunday morning after Tehran struck and disabled a container ship in the strait, whose transit it said had not been approved. In a statement, US Central Command (Centcom) said its targets had included missile and drone sites, naval facilities, ammunition depots, communication networks and surveillance locations.
Continue reading...Iran responds by targeting US-allied Kuwait and Qatar and accusing US of striking near its sole nuclear power plant
The US has launched new airstrikes against Iran, hours after Donald Trump threatened to escalate the conflict unless Iran stopped attacking ships in the strait of Hormuz.
Iran, which was burying its former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, responded by targeting US-allied Kuwait and Qatar and accused the US of striking near its sole nuclear power plant.
Continue reading...The US military said the strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels on Tuesday that violated the ceasefire
Iran has accused the US of violating the agreement aimed at ending the war between the two sides, after the US military launched strikes around the strait of Hormuz and revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Tehran to export oil.
The US military said the attacks launched in the early hours of Wednesday were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting through the strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
Continue reading...US Central Command says Tehran in ‘clear violation’ of ceasefire with ‘unwarranted’ attacks on commercial ships
The US military launched a series of “powerful” strikes against Iran, it announced on Tuesday night, in response to what it said were “unwarranted, dangerous” Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels in the strait of Hormuz.
In a statement on social media, US Central Command accused Tehran of a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement between US and Iran, which was signed last month.
Continue reading...President also threatens to pull all American troops from Europe and rails against Nato stance on Iran war
Donald Trump has revived his bid for the US to acquire Greenland, threatening to pull all American armed forces out of Europe after the continent repeatedly pushed back.
Arriving at the Nato summit in Ankara on Tuesday, the US president also suggested his commitment to defending Europe had been tempered by political decisions by leaders on immigration and energy.
Continue reading...Crowds swelled through Tehran as mourners dressed in black carried flags proclaiming: ‘We will rise’
A crowd of “millions” assembled on Monday for the funeral procession of Iran’s assassinated supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
The scale and depth of the march, however engineered, represents an extraordinary turnaround for a country that only seven months ago was gripped by street protests at which thousands of people were killed by government security forces.
Continue reading...IRGC warnings force ships to turn back as Tehran uses passages from Qur’an to send messages to Gulf delegations
The diplomatic and military contest for control of the strait of Hormuz has intensified alongside the dramatic scenes of mourning for the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, with some claiming Khamenei’s legacy ultimately depends on Tehran’s grip on the waterway, and so the global economy.
Over the past 48 hours, as crowds have swirled in Tehran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps appeared to have started to plug a gaping and growing gap in their monopoly control of the strait.
Continue reading...President says Washington’s relationship with Nato is ‘not reciprocal’ and ‘they were not there for us’ in Iran war
Donald Trump has said it is “ridiculous” for the US to continue its “one sided” relationship with Nato, less than a week before a summit of the military alliance in Ankara.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that “They were not there for us!!!” and Washington’s relationship with Nato “is not reciprocal”.
Continue reading...US president posts that meeting will take place on Tuesday in Qatari capital after exchange of fire in strait of Hormuz
Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hold talks in Doha after the US and Tehran traded fire in the strait of Hormuz this weekend, threatening the collapse of a ceasefire meant to keep the strait open and pave the way for peace talks.
In a terse post on Truth Social, the US president claimed the meetings would take place in the Qatari capital, as US media reported that the two sides had agreed to halt strikes after tit-for-tat attacks that once again cut off shipping through the crucial waterway.
Continue reading...Marco Rubio is scrambling to provide effective disaster response to country whose president US deposed in January
This week’s dual earthquakes in Venezuela are a test for the new era of American power in the western hemisphere, as the Trump administration scrambles to provide an effective disaster response mission to a country that it now calls an ally in Latin America, after a US special forces raid in January deposed the country’s strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro.
The US is marshalling what secretary of state Marco Rubio called a “big, fast, effective” and “whole-of-government” response as the state department sent three specialised urban search and rescue teams and pledged a $150m assistance fund that one former disaster relief expert called the largest he had seen within 24 hours of an incident.
Continue reading...Vice-president appeared on Bill Maher’s show hours before more military strikes were exchanged in strait of Hormuz
JD Vance said on Friday that the US wins “either way” regarding negotiations with Iran, pointing to what he called the destruction of its nuclear program and diminishment as a country.
“If we make the final deal, then great,” the US vice-president told HBO’s Bill Maher. “If we don’t make the final deal, their nuclear program is still destroyed. They’re still much weaker as a country, so my attitude is America wins either way.”
Continue reading...Objections comes as Trump threatens to renew attacks on Iran if it doesn’t rein in its proxy in Lebanon
US political figures from left and right voiced fresh objections on Sunday to Donald Trump’s provisional deal with Iran – even as the US president made new threats while Vice-President JD Vance hailed progress during the first round of direct peace talks in Switzerland.
Negotiations in Lucerne between the US and Iran have already run into difficulties, after Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
Continue reading...Suggestion that Scott Bessent so described a world leader included in Regime Change, by New York Times reporters
Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, advised Donald Trump not to host Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, having called the Ukrainian president a “little fucker”, a “special-needs child” and “Mr Bean on crack”, according to a new book.
The suggestion that a US cabinet official described a world leader in such terms is included in Regime Change, a blockbusting account of the second Trump administration by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, set to be published worldwide on Tuesday.
Continue reading...