IRGC claims base in south-west England was used by US to launch bombing missions, making it ‘legitimate target’
The government has said the UK is “ready to defend itself” after Iran’s military warned that any bases being used by the US were “legitimate targets”.
The UK has allowed the US to launch “defensive” operations from British bases hosting American planes since the start of its war on Iran but has refused to help in offensive operations.
Continue reading...Residents eligible for dining and hotel packages if they can persuade family and friends to city spurned by visitors amid Iran war
Dubai is offering to pay residents who attract family and friends to visit the emirate in an effort to revive tourist numbers that have plummeted since the city was drawn into the US-Israel war on Iran.
The Dubai Invite scheme, an initiative of the department of economy and tourism, allows residents of the United Arab Emirates to nominate friends and relatives and then to receive benefits worth more than 3,000 UAE dirham (about £610) if they visit.
Continue reading...US military says it is degrading Tehran’s ability to threaten ships in strait of Hormuz; Houthis say tankers violated their blockade; US signs nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia
More on Yemen’s Houthis claiming strikes on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea:
The master of one tanker reported being struck by an unknown projectile about 70 nautical miles south-west of Al Shuqaiq, causing a fire that the crew was fighting, the British naval security monitor UKMTO said.
Continue reading...GOP-controlled chamber paves way for reconciliation bill, while making long-shot attempt at new voting restrictions
House Republicans on Wednesday agreed to begin the process of writing a $95bn bill to fund the war with Iran as well as provide new aid to farmers, while making a long-shot attempt to impose new restrictions on voting nationwide.
In a virtually party-line 216-214, the Republican-controlled chamber passed a budget resolution that paves the way for the creation of a reconciliation bill, which can advance through the Senate under special rules that circumvent the Democratic filibuster and requires only a simple majority to pass. Two Republicans – Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, as well as Kevin Kiley, an independent of California who aligns with the GOP – joined all Democrats in opposing the measure.
Continue reading...Abbas Araghchi says he has kept on the move since being pulled from rubble after strike on first day of war
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described how he was pulled from the rubble of a leadership compound after the US-Israeli airstrike that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war, and has survived since by constantly moving around the capital, Tehran, by car.
In an interview with the Iranian journalist Javad Mogouyi, Araghchi confirmed Israel and the US had accurate intelligence on the location of Khamenei and other officials, enabling them to target Iran’s senior leadership.
Continue reading...Sgt Angel S Pampersad also believed to be dead in attack that killed two others, raising death toll to 18 troops since start of Iran war
The US military has confirmed that a third service member is believed to be dead in Friday’s attack on a base in Jordan and identified them as Sgt Angel S Rampersad, 28, of New York.
The confirmation brings the death toll to 18 US service members killed since the war began.
Continue reading...Sgt Michael Emmanuel Swinton died during controlled detonation, bringing total of US personnel killed in war to 17
The US military has identified an army soldier killed recently during a “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone in Iraq as Sgt Michael Emmanuel Swinton, of Fayetteville, North Carolina.
According to a press release from the US defense department on Tuesday morning, the 30-year-old Swinton was supporting overseas contingency operations in Iraq – and he was “killed in action during a controlled detonation of a downed One-Way Unmanned Aerial System” on Saturday at Erbil airbase in northern Iraq.
Continue reading...President accused of having ‘lost control of this war’ as deaths of trio in Iranian military strikes fuel rising concern
Democrats have seized on the deaths of three US troops killed in Iranian strikes to urge Donald Trump to urgently reverse his resumption of the war with Iran amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties.
Even as US forces launched a 10th consecutive wave of attacks against Iranian targets, concern over the deaths of American service personnel threatened to complicate moves to escalate the conflict, which has reignited after he last week walked away from a memorandum of understanding agreed with Iran in June.
Continue reading...Revolutionary Guard says it targeted US aircraft in Jordan and stopped two tankers in strait while American military says it is ‘holding Iran accountable’
The price of oil jumped in early Asian trade on Monday after the US carried out its latest wave of strikes on Iran and a vessel caught fire in the strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude for September delivery rose 2.72% to $90.50 a barrel by around 0100 GMT, after briefly crossing $91 – its highest price since June.
CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further diminish Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction.
Continue reading...Diplomats say de-escalation talks continue as Trump vows retaliation over US soldier deaths
The US military said it has launched its 10th consecutive round of strikes on Iran to force the reopening of the strait of Hormuz.
Earlier on Monday, Iran’s president said the country is in a “full-scale war” after the US expanded its aerial campaign and Tehran struck Washington’s Gulf allies, even as diplomats said talks to de-escalate were continuing.
Continue reading...US military says service member was killed in Iraq during ‘controlled detonation’ as it launches more airstrikes at Iran
The US military announced another death of a service member as it launched more airstrikes at Iran on Sunday in response to the killing of American troops , and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighboring Israel.
The US military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.
Continue reading...Energy secretary grapples with mounting criticism over length of US war as Democrat calls conflict ‘war of choice’
A Trump administration official on Sunday grappled with mounting criticism over the length of the US war with Iran after months of promised diplomatic breakthroughs, short-lived ceasefires, and the deaths of three more American troops bringing the total number of American military members killed in the conflict to 17.
Appearing on ABC’s This Week, the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, defended the Trump administration’s strategy after being confronted with his earlier claims that the war which began in February would have ended by now.
Continue reading...Sirens sound in Bahrain and Kuwait accuses Tehran of targeting civilian sites and infrastructure as Iran strikes US allies
The US retaliated against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) after two American troops were killed and one was missing in Jordan when Tehran launched a wave of attacks against US allies in the Middle East.
Iran’s attacks came as the renewal of US strikes on Iran entered a second week and fighting escalated over the strait of Hormuz.
Continue reading...Less than a month after hailing a ceasefire, Trump resumed strikes on Iran, a move experts warn could prolong the war and hurt Republicans ahead of midterms
For half a century, Donald Trump has performed a public high-wire act based on high-stakes risks and shattering time-honored norms to get what he wants.
The approach has paid off handsomely, helping him survive multiple bankruptcies to reach billionaire status and numerous legal and political scandals to be elected US president twice.
Continue reading...Leaked US intelligence report concluded Iran retained 70% of missiles and launchers after 38-day spring campaign
Iran and the US have been trading blows for six consecutive nights and there are no shortage of signs that the renewed fighting will worsen further. Tehran and Washington remain far apart diplomatically, and though the US retains a significant military overmatch, Iran has more than enough capability to inflict damage.
Friday’s developments are a case in point. A wave of US attacks, with missiles launched from jets, drones and warships, targeted Iranian ports and the south of the country, collapsing a tower at Chabahar, on the Gulf of Oman, and highways and bridges into the strait of Hormuz port of Bandar Abbas, perhaps in an effort to cut it off.
Continue reading...Boarding of M/T Wen Yao in Gulf of Oman comes as expanded airstrike campaign hits five bridges in southern Iran
American forces boarded a ship in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday as part of the renewed blockade of Iran’s ports that began earlier this week, the US military said.
US Marines boarded the M/T Wen Yao “to ensure full compliance with the ongoing US naval blockade,” US Central Command (Centcom) said in a post on X.
Continue reading...His comments come after 103 House Democrats backed an unsuccessful bid to halt billions in military aid to Israel
Senator John Fetterman said he would consider leaving the Democratic party it ever became “the anti-Israel party”, as more than 100 House lawmakers backed halting military aid to the Middle Eastern ally over its incursions into Gaza and Lebanon.
The Pennsylvania senator has emerged as one of Israel’s most prominent advocates among Senate Democrats, even as others in the party back away from their traditional support for the country amid accusations that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government committed genocide in Gaza.
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...US hits targets in port cities of Bushehr and Bandar Abbas while Iran targets Bahrain and Jordan in retaliation
Donald Trump has backed down from a threat that ships would have to pay a 20% fee to the US for “security” in the strait of Hormuz, replacing it with what he described as investment and trade deals with Gulf Arab states as US and Iranian airstrikes resumed for a third day.
The US president said he had decided to scrap the toll “based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership”, and touted “massive” investments, just five hours before the toll was due to come into effect. He said the US would continue to blockade Iranian ports.
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.
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