Israeli military says it will continue operations in line with Israeli government directives until told otherwise
The Israeli military said it had launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran, after Donald Trump signalled a pause in US attacks against energy infrastructure after what he said were productive talks with Iran.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it would continue operations in line with Israeli government directives until told otherwise.
Continue reading...British PM to chair Monday meeting including chancellor and Bank of England head on fallout from Iran war; International Energy Agency chief says it will release more stockpiled oil ‘if necessary’
British prime minister Keir Starmer is set to chair an emergency meeting on the economic fallout from the war in Iran on Monday, with chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey also attending, the UK government has said.
Financial markets face another turbulent week after Iran said it would strike its Gulf neighbours’ energy and water systems if Donald Trump followed through on his threat to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t fully open up the crucial strait of Hormuz.
Topics expected to be covered are the economic impact of the crisis on families and businesses, energy security and the resilience of industry and supply chains alongside the international response.
Continue reading...Israeli air defence systems fail to intercept projectiles during attacks on southern cities of Arad and Dimona
Iranian missile strikes have wounded about 200 people in southern Israel, after air defence systems failed to intercept projectiles that hit two cities close to a nuclear facility.
Among the injured in the attacks on Arad and Dimona were a 12-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl, both reported to be in serious condition. The Israeli broadcaster Channel 13 reported early indications of possible deaths, though there was no official confirmation.
Continue reading...First responders report 33 injured at multiple sites in Dimona, including a 10-year-old boy in serious condition
An Iranian missile has hit the Israeli town of Dimona, home to a nuclear facility, in what Iran said was retaliation for strikes on its own nuclear site at Natanz.
Dimona hosts a facility just outside the main town widely believed to possess the Middle East’s sole nuclear arsenal, although Israel has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons.
Continue reading...Move to allow shipments already at sea comes amid a supply crisis and after US president says he does not ‘want to do a ceasefire’; IDF says it is attacking regime targets in Tehran after missiles fired at Israel from Iran
Hello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and its repercussions for the Middle East, the world and the global economy.
President Donald Trump said on Friday he was considering “winding down” military operations against Iran, as the US temporarily eased sanctions on Iranian oil shipments to stem a global supply crisis.
Iran is willing to help Japanese ships sail a vital route for global fuel supplies, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Kyodo News in an interview published on Saturday. Japan depends on crude oil imports from the Middle East, most of which transits the strait of Hormuz.
Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia but neither of them hit the joint US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, the Wall Street Journal and CNN reported, citing multiple US officials. The WSJ said one of the missiles failed in flight, and a US warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other. Neither outlet confirmed when Iran launched the missiles.
One person was killed and two others wounded after an Israeli airstrike hit a house in a town in southern Lebanon early on Saturday, state media said.
Trump continued to make his disappointment with the British government known, saying the UK “should have acted a lot faster” in allowing the US military to use its bases in the Middle East.
Earlier, Downing Street approved US use of its bases “for the collective self-defence of the region”, including “defensive operations” degrading Iranian missile sites targeting ships in the strait of Hormuz. Britain had previously only allowed US forces to use its bases for operations to prevent Iran firing missiles that put British interests or lives at risk.
Araghchi said UK prime minister Keir Starmer “is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran”.
Continue reading...US president says he told Netanyahu ‘don’t do that’ as he distances himself from attack that has angered Gulf allies
The US-Israeli war against Iran has exposed further divisions between the two countries after an Israeli strike on Iran’s largest gasfield angered US allies in the Gulf and prompted Donald Trump to say he knew nothing in advance about the attack – a claim that Israeli officials disputed.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said he had spoken to Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu following the strikes on Iran’s South Pars gasfield – part of a reserve shared with Qatar – and had told the Israeli prime minister to refrain from further attacks that could escalate a regional war on energy infrastructure.
Continue reading...Death confirmed of Esmail Khatib, the third senior Iranian figure killed in 24 hours, as Israel also launches intense airstrikes on Lebanon
Israel struck Iran’s giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, marking a major escalation of the war, hours after Israeli forces killed the regime’s intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades.
The attack on the Pars site in the Persian Gulf, which Iran shares with Qatar and constitutes the world’s largest natural gasfield, prompted Tehran to warn neighbouring states that their energy infrastructure could be targeted “within hours”, and triggered furious rebukes from Qatar and other nations in the region.
Continue reading...Trump warns Nato faces ‘very bad’ future if US allies fail to assist in opening the vital oil route; Israel says thousands of targets in Iran remain – follow it live
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Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has said she has no immediate plans to send her country’s maritime self-defence forces to help protect tanker traffic in the strait of Homuz.
We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework.
I would like to engage in solid discussions based on Japan’s views and position regarding the need for early de-escalation.
Continue reading...There is little sign of imminent regime change in Iran as its blockade of strait of Hormuz shocks global economy
Few doubt that in the first days of the new war in the Middle East, the initiative belonged to the US and its ally Israel. Now it seems less sure, however.
Mohsen Rezaee, a senior officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, on Sunday said “the end of the war is in our hands” and called for the withdrawal of Washington’s forces from the Gulf and compensation for all damage caused by the assault.
Continue reading...David Pocock’s comments come as new photos show scale of damage and government official says its ‘quite possible’ bodies disturbed
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The bodies of Australian soldiers buried in Gaza have “very likely” been disturbed, the independent senator David Pocock says, as new photos tendered to parliament show widespread damage of graves by Israeli bulldozers.
About 146 of the 263 graves of Australian soldiers buried in Gaza have been damaged, Senate estimates heard last week.
Continue reading...Tehran wants ceasefire but terms ‘not good enough yet’, US president claims, as both sides launch new waves of strikes
Donald Trump has warned he is not ready to seek a deal to end the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, saying that though he thought Tehran was keen to negotiate a ceasefire, the US would fight on for better terms.
Trump’s comments came as Iran launched fresh missile and drone attacks on countries in the Gulf and on Israel, and Israeli and US warplanes launched new waves of strikes on Iran.
Continue reading...US president said he did not want to make a deal with Iran yet, while claiming that he might hit Kharg Island again ‘just for fun’
The Trump administration’s communications licensing tsar fired a warning shot over the US broadcasting industry Saturday, threatening to cancel the spectrum permits of broadcasters pushing what he termed “hoaxes and news distortions”.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr posted on social media that broadcasters running “fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
Continue reading...The facility was attacked on Friday night, bringing the toll of medical staff to 31 killed in past 12 days
Israel killed 12 medical workers in a strike on a medical centre in south Lebanon on Friday night, bringing the toll of healthcare staff killed in the country by Israel to 31 over the past 12 days.
A primary healthcare facility in the town of Burj Qalaouiyah was hit by an Israeli strike late on Friday, setting it ablaze and causing the structure to collapse on top of the staff inside. The strike killed doctors, paramedics and nurses on duty, according to the Lebanese ministry of health, which said it “violated all international humanitarian laws” in a statement.
Continue reading...Iran is trying to create wedges between Gulf states and the US, but Trump is very comfortable on the ‘escalatory ladder’
• Middle East crisis – live updates
In its current phase, the Israeli-US war against Iran and its proxies has become a proving ground for two competing concepts of military escalation, each of which threatens to become a trap.
On one side, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have failed thus far in their ill-defined and shifting strategic aims. Despite killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and other key leaders in the opening salvo of the campaign, the clerical regime remains and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium is unsecured. Airstrikes are intensifying and hitting a greater number of targets.
Continue reading...White House contends with reality of shoddy preparations for war and unclear conditions for victory
As US and Israeli jets descended to deliver the opening salvos of the war in Iran, Donald Trump’s back-of-the-envelope plan for regime change in Tehran was about to run into the reality of the largest US intervention in the Middle East since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.
That reality came quickly.
Continue reading...Armed groups appear to have increased their firepower as they carry out raids deep in Hamas-controlled territory
Pro-Israel Palestinian militia have launched repeated raids, clandestine assassination and abduction operations deep inside parts of Gaza controlled by Hamas in recent months, with new operations launched recently despite the outbreak of conflict with Iran.
The militia, which are all based in eastern parts of Gaza that are under Israeli control after a ceasefire came into effect in October, have received significant logistic support from Israel since last year but appear to have increased their firepower, allowing new and more aggressive attacks in recent weeks.
Continue reading...Rescue efforts continue for remaining two crew members from refuelling plane that crashed in western desert
Four of the six crew members onboard a US military aircraft that crashed in western Iraq were killed, the US military has said as rescue efforts continued for the remaining two.
The KC-135 military refuelling plane crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, in an incident the military said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.
Continue reading...Five soldiers were indicted over alleged violent abuse and rape of Palestinian man at detention centre in 2024
Israel’s top military lawyer has dropped all charges against five soldiers accused of the violent abuse and rape of a Palestinian detainee from Gaza.
The military advocate general, Itay Offir, said prosecutors lacked key evidence after the victim was sent back to Gaza, and that the conduct of senior officials had affected the chance of holding a fair trial.
Continue reading...Iran has set ablaze two tankers in Iraqi waters as it increased attacks on oil and transport facilities across the Middle East
Iran escalates attacks on infrastructure and transport across the Gulf
How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?
An Iranian source is denying the country will allow India-flagged tankers to pass through the vital strait of Hormuz, Reuters is reporting.
The news agency a little earlier quoted an Indian source as saying Iran would in fact allow such tankers to pass through the strait, a key artery for global oil trade.
Continue reading...Iran has set ablaze two tankers in Iraqi waters as it increased attacks on oil and transport facilities across the Middle East
Iran escalates attacks on infrastructure and transport across the Gulf
How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?
An Iranian source is denying the country will allow India-flagged tankers to pass through the vital strait of Hormuz, Reuters is reporting.
The news agency a little earlier quoted an Indian source as saying Iran would in fact allow such tankers to pass through the strait, a key artery for global oil trade.
Continue reading...