Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran’s missile attacks on Diego Garcia and Jerusalem demonstrate capability to target Europe, calling for global action alongside the US to counter threats.

Netanyahu visits site of Iranian missile attack, claims US-Israel fighting for entire world

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran&rsquo;s missile attacks on Diego Garcia and Jerusalem demonstrate capability to target Europe, calling for global action alongside the US to counter threats.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said the recent missile attacks on Diego Garcia shows that Iran has the capacity to reach deep into Europe and poses danger to the entire world.
Netanyahu was visiting the southern Israeli city of Arad which faced Iranian missile strikes on Saturday evening when he also said his country and the US are fighting together on behalf of everyone.
&ldquo;If you want proof that Iran endangers the entire world, the last 48 hours have given it. In the last 48 hours, Iran targeted a civilian area. They're using that as a mass murder weapon. Luckily, no one was killed, but that's due to luck, not their intention. Their intention is to murder civilians,&rdquo; Netanyahu said.
Pointing out that Iran fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Diego Garcia, Netanyahu said, &ldquo;That's 4,000 kilometres. I've been warning all the time. They now have the capacity to reach deep into Europe. They already have fired on European countries -- Cyprus. They are putting everyone in their sights.&rdquo;
For the past two decades, Israel has been referring to the Iranian ballistic missile programme, arguing that such weapons with nuclear capabilities would pose a grave threat not only to itself but also to Europe.
Iran fired missiles at the UK-US air base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean on Saturday.
The Israeli prime minister also drew attention to Iran's attack on Jerusalem right next to the holy sites of the three monotheistic faiths, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Al Aqsa Mosque and said, &ldquo;By dint of a miracle, again, no one was hurt. The three sites were nevertheless the targets,&rdquo; he said.
A fragment from a ballistic missile fired by Iran fell quite close to the Al Aqsa mosque and the Western Wall on Friday. It was a second such attack during the recent escalation when the old city of Jerusalem, home to the three holy sites of the three faiths, was impacted.
In an earlier attack, debris from the intercepted missile fell quite close to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, leaving marks of destruction on some nearby buildings.
Netanyahu also said Iran is stopping the maritime international route, energy route and &ldquo;trying to blackmail the entire world.&rdquo;
&ldquo;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,&rdquo; he claimed.
Calling upon the international community to come together in the fight against Iran, the Israeli leader said he is happy to see some of them beginning to move in that direction, but claimed that more is needed.
&ldquo;(US) President Trump's call to have the international community confront this terrorist, fanatic regime of zealots, that is a call not only for the security of America and the security of Israel, it's for the security of the entire world. And it's time for them to act,&rdquo; he asserted.
Responding to questions from reporters, Netanyahu said that Israel is responding to these attacks &ldquo;with great force&rdquo; but not targeting Iranian civilians.
&ldquo;We've defined two clear goals. One is to completely break their nuclear programme, their missile programme and their capacity to produce the components for both of these programmes. We're well on our way in achieving it,&rdquo; the Israeli premier claimed.
&ldquo;We've also set a goal of creating conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow this tyranny that has tormented them and made life miserable, and is making life miserable for the entire world. And I hope we achieve that too,&rdquo; he reiterated.
The missile strike in Arad Saturday evening left 115 people injured with nine of them in serious condition, rescue services said.

Israel carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, destroying key bridges and targeting militants after rocket attacks into Israel, escalating the Middle East conflict.

Israel launches wave of strikes on south Lebanon, hits bridge

Israel carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, destroying key bridges and targeting militants after rocket attacks into Israel, escalating the Middle East conflict.

Israel said it struck Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon on Sunday shortly after the military was ordered to destroy bridges used by the Iran-backed militant group across the Litani River.
Lebanese official media reported Israeli raids in several areas of the south, while an AFP correspondent saw smoke billowing from a key bridge that was hit outside the city of Tyre, in an escalation in violence in Lebanon after two days of relative reprieve.
Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Israeli-US attacks.
Israel has sent troops into Lebanon and carried out extensive airstrikes in the country, while Hezbollah has kept up rocket barrages.
Israel's military said it began "a wide wave of strikes" against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
Earlier Sunday, Israel said rocket fire from Lebanon killed one person, the first fatality there due to Hezbollah fire since the latest war erupted three weeks ago.
Two Israeli soldiers had previously been killed in southern Lebanon, according to the military.
Lebanon's health ministry said four people were killed on Sunday in two strikes in the south, while authorities have reported 1,029 dead in three weeks of conflict and more than one million displaced.
 - Bridges -
Israel's ZAKA 360 emergency response unit said a person was pronounced dead after a strike on their vehicle "carried out by a rocket fired from Lebanon".
Local firefighters said flames had engulfed two vehicles after a "direct hit" in the northern Israeli kibbutz community of Misgav Am.
Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters targeted "a gathering of Israeli enemy soldiers" in Misgav Am "with a rocket barrage".
It was among a series of attacks the group claimed on Sunday, mainly against Israeli troops in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon, where Israeli soldiers have been carrying out ground incursions.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military "to immediately destroy all the bridges over the Litani River that are used for terrorist activity, in order to prevent Hezbollah terrorists and weapons from moving south".
The Litani River runs around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the Israeli border.
The Israeli army later bombed the key Qasmiyeh bridge, located on a main highway outside the city of Tyre, with the AFP correspondent reporting the bridge was partly destroyed.
Earlier this week, Israel attacked two bridges spanning the Litani, also alleging they were being used by Hezbollah.
&nbsp;
- 'Commander' killed -
Katz said the military was also instructed to "accelerate the demolition of Lebanese houses in the contact villages in order to thwart threats to Israeli communities".
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency also reported at least one strike on the Bekaa Valley in the country's east.
Hezbollah said its fighters repeatedly targeted Israeli soldiers and vehicles in or near the border town of Taybeh, as well as in or near the strategic town of Khiam, where the group has repeatedly said it has targeted Israeli forces in recent days.
On Saturday, Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces in Khiam and in the coastal town of Naqura.
The group also claimed attacks on northern Israel on Saturday, including targeting an air defence system in Maalot-Tarshiha, where Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11 reported three people were lightly wounded.
The Israeli military said it killed a fighter on Saturday who was the "commander of the special forces in Hezbollah's Radwan Force", referring to the group's elite unit.
Israel has warned residents of swathes of south Lebanon to evacuate and has said it wants to create a buffer zone in Lebanon to protect residents of northern Israel.

Iran’s military warns of completely shutting the strategic Strait of Hormuz if US targets its power plants, affecting global crude oil and LNG shipments.

Iran military says to completely close Strait of Hormuz if US targets power plants

Iran&rsquo;s military warns of completely shutting the strategic Strait of Hormuz if US targets its power plants, affecting global crude oil and LNG shipments.

Iran's military threatened on Sunday to completely shut down the strategic Strait of Hormuz if US President Donald Trump acts on threats to target the country's power plants.
Trump has given Iran 48 hours to reopen the strait which has been effectively closed since the start of the war sparked on February 28 by US-Israeli bombardment of Iran.
The war has since spread across the Middle East, with Iran responding with drone and missile attacks on Israel and US interests in the region.
"If the United States' threats regarding Iran's power plants are carried out... the Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed, and it will not be reopened until our destroyed power plants are rebuilt," the military's operational command Khatam Al-Anbiya said in a statement carried by state TV.
The military said it would also strike Israel's "power plants, energy, and information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure", along with power plants in regional countries hosting US bases and companies with US shareholders.
It added that the measures will be taken "to defend our country and the interests of our nation".
Traffic through the vital strait -- through which 20 percent of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes -- has been brought to a near-standstill since the start of the war.
A relatively small number of vessels have been able to transit it -- around five percent of its pre-war volume, according to analytics firm Kpler.
Iranian forces have attacked multiple vessels, saying they failed to heed "warnings" against transiting the waterway.
In recent days, Iran has allowed some vessels from countries it considers friendly to pass, while warning it would block ships from countries it says have joined the "aggression" against it.
Iran's parliament is mulling imposing tolls on shipping through the strait with Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf saying maritime traffic would "not return to its pre-war status".

US President Donald Trump criticised NATO allies for not assisting in securing the Strait of Hormuz, blaming them for high oil prices amid the US-Israel military actions against Iran.

Trump labels NATO allies 'cowards' over lack of military support against Iran

US President Donald Trump criticised NATO allies for not assisting in securing the Strait of Hormuz, blaming them for high oil prices amid the US-Israel military actions against Iran.

US President Donald Trump on Friday branded NATO allies "cowards" for not heeding his demand for military assistance against Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz shipping route.
Trump has recently veered between saying that Washington needs no help to secure the vital waterway for oil tankers, and then lashing out at other countries for failing to help.
"Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!" Trump posted on his Truth Social network.
"They didn't want to join the fight to stop a Nuclear Powered Iran. Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don't want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices.
"So easy for them to do, with so little risk. COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!"
The 79-year-old Republican, a long-term skeptic of the Western military alliance, has launched a series of diatribes against NATO in recent days.
On Thursday, six major international powers, including Britain, France, Germany and Japan said they were ready to "contribute to appropriate efforts" to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
But they have not formally committed to any mission to work in the crucial waterway -- while other allies such as Germany and Italy have ruled out doing anything before a truce in the Middle East war.
None of the countries Trump has called on to help was consulted before the US-Israeli mission started.
An effective Iranian blockade has paralyzed commercial shipping through the crucial maritime chokepoint, which in peacetime sees a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas pass through it.
Global oil prices have spiked as a result of the war, which erupted on February 28 when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, leading Tehran to retaliate with strikes across the Gulf region.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lanka denied a US request to station missile-armed aircraft at Mattala airport, reaffirming its neutral stance amid tensions involving Iran and the United States.

Sri Lanka rejects US request to station warplanes, asserts neutrality

Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lanka denied a US request to station missile-armed aircraft at Mattala airport, reaffirming its neutral stance amid tensions involving Iran and the United States.

Sri Lanka refused permission to the United States to station two of its warplanes at a civilian airport in the island's south in early March, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said on Friday.
Washington wanted to relocate two of its missile-armed aircraft from a base in Djibouti to Sri Lanka's civilian Mattala International Airport, Dissanayake told parliament.
The request, made on February 26, was turned down to maintain Colombo's neutrality and ensure its territory was not used for any military purpose that could help or hinder either side, he said.
The Indian Ocean nation was drawn into the consequences of the war when a US submarine torpedoed an Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, just off its coast in March.
"They wanted to bring two warplanes armed with eight anti-ship missiles to Mattala International Airport from March 4 to 8, and we said 'no'," Dissanayake said.
He did not say whether the US request was to use Sri Lanka as a base for the aircraft to carry out any offensive action against Iran.
Sri Lankan military sources told AFP that Sri Lanka would not have allowed its airspace to be used to launch aggression against any other nation, in line with the island's foreign policy.
Dissanayake said Iran too had made a request for a port call by three of its warships, returning from India after a naval exercise, on the same day the US requested permission to station their two aircraft.
"We were still considering the Iranian request to bring the three ships to Colombo from March 9 to 13. Had we said 'yes' to Iran, we would have had to say 'yes' to the US too," he said.
"But we didn't. We are steadfastly maintaining our position of neutrality," he added, drawing applause from the 225-member legislature. "We will not succumb to pressure from anyone."
The US attack on IRIS Dena on March 4 killed at least 84 sailors whose remains have since been repatriated to Iran.
 -Saving lives- Dissanayake said Sri Lanka's navy and the airforce swung into action to rescue 32 sailors from the sunken frigate and recovered the remains of 84.
A second Iranian ship, IRIS Bushehr, was allowed to enter Sri Lankan waters the following day amid fears for the safety of its 219 crew, who have since taken shelter in Colombo.
"It was a humanitarian gesture to shelter the sailors," Dissanayake said. "We were saving lives."
The third vessel, IRIS Lavan, made it to the south Indian port of Kochi and some of its sailors have returned home, according to Indian officials.
Dissanayake said his government had also demonstrated its neutrality by abstaining on a UN Security Council resolution last week condemning Iran's attacks.
"We did not support that resolution because it was a half-truth. It did not reflect the full story," Dissanayake said. "We stand for justice and fairness."
Sri Lanka maintains close ties with both the United States, the island's main export market, and Iran, the main buyer of Sri Lankan tea.

Joseph Kent, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in protest of the US-Israeli war against Iran, calling it unjustified and influenced by external pressures.

Middle East war: US counterterrorism official resigns, says 'war started under Israel's pressure'

Joseph Kent, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in protest of the US-Israeli war against Iran, calling it unjustified and influenced by external pressures.

A senior US counter-terrorism official resigned on Tuesday to protest the US-Israeli war against Iran and said the Islamic Republic posed no imminent threat to the United States.
"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran," Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said in his resignation letter to President Donald Trump.
Kent -- a former member of the Green Beret special forces who served multiple combat tours -- said "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."
Kent is the first senior US official to resign from the Trump administration to protest the war against Iran.
"Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation," Kent said in his letter to Trump.
"Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran," he said.
"This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory," he said.
"This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women," Kent said.
"I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives," he added.

Israel says it has killed Iran’s senior leader Ali Larijani in a major escalation of the ongoing Middle East conflict, as strikes intensify, oil routes face disruption, and global tensions rise.

Israel claims killing of Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani amid escalating Middle East war

Israel says it has killed Iran&rsquo;s senior leader Ali Larijani in a major escalation of the ongoing Middle East conflict, as strikes intensify, oil routes face disruption, and global tensions rise.

Israel said Tuesday it had killed Iran's powerful national security chief, Ali Larijani, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling him the leader of "the gang of gangsters" that runs the Islamic republic.
If confirmed, Larijani's death would be a huge blow to Iran's ruling system more than two weeks into the war engulfing the Middle East, which has upended global markets and had consequences far beyond the region's confines.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Larijani was "eliminated last night", although this has not been confirmed by Iran.
"This morning we eliminated Ali Larijani, the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
He said the overthrow of Iran's authorities by the people "will not happen all at once, it will not happen easily. But if we persist in this -- we will give them a chance to take their fate into their own hands."
It comes less than three weeks after US-Israeli strikes on February 28 killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since 1989, triggering a regional war with global repercussions.
It also comes weeks after a massive popular movement against the Islamic republic was crushed by authorities, with rights groups reporting thousands killed in the crackdown.
Larijani, 68, has been described as a key pillar in the ruling system, close to the late ayatollah and central to the government's nuclear policy and strategic diplomacy over decades.
After the war broke out, he became even more powerful. While the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public since he was appointed to replace his slain father, Larijani walked with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran.
The reported assassination comes as strikes shook countries across the Middle East on Tuesday, from Gulf nations to Iraq, Lebanon and Iran.
An AFP reporter had earlier Tuesday reported blasts in Tehran, after a night of heavy bombardment mixed with thunder and rain.
 - Targeting leaders -
Shortly after Israel said it had killed him, Larijani's official social media profiles posted a handwritten note by him paying tribute to Iranian sailors killed when a US submarine sunk an Iranian frigate this month.
The note was not dated, nor did the post address the claim of his death.
Israel also said Tuesday it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, in a strike in Tehran.
And it said it had targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran, though he was not confirmed dead.
Israel has since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas pursued what analysts have described as a policy of decapitation, targeting the leaders of its enemies, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon, as well as top leaders in Gaza.
The whereabouts of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is the subject of much speculation. US President Donald Trump said Monday that "we don't know... if he's dead or not".
 - Trump appeals -
Across the region, hundreds of people have been killed and millions more displaced in the war.
In retaliation for the US-Israel attacks, Iran has targeted US interests, energy facilities and civilian infrastructure of its energy-rich neighbours, sending oil prices soaring.
Its threats and attacks on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude oil passes, have also all but closed the key waterway.
Oil prices surged around three percent Tuesday after several countries pushed back on Trump's demand they help secure the strait by sending warships to escort tankers.
The US president has warned that it would be "very bad" for the future of the NATO military alliance if the allies refused to help.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was working with allies to craft a "viable" plan to reopen the strait, but ruled out a NATO mission.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday the war was "not a matter for NATO", while EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels indicated no appetite to join the conflict.
Trump has also appealed to nations including China, Japan and South Korea to help on the Strait of Hormuz.
Some countries have negotiated safe passage for some of their ships, including India, while Iraq said it was in contact with Iran over the issue.
 - Asking for shelter -
The war has also drawn in Lebanon, after Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants struck Israel over Khamenei's killing.
Israel has stepped up strikes and deployed ground troops to its northern neighbour, including targeting Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday, and later, conducting an air strike near the city's airport.
The Lebanese military said on Tuesday that an Israeli strike on a car and a motorcycle in southern Lebanon killed one of its soldiers and wounded four others.
More than a million people have been displaced across Lebanon, while Israeli strikes have killed 886 people since March 2, Lebanon's health ministry says.
In the southern city of Sidon, far from the border, displaced people were sleeping in their cars parked along the seafront corniche, according to an AFP team on the ground.
"Lots of people are coming every day to ask for shelter but we don't have space anymore, we can't accept them," said Jihan Kaisi, the director of an NGO that runs a school-turned-shelter, where more than 1,100 people are crammed together.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the escalating Middle East conflict.

New Iranian supreme leader calls for defiance, keeps key waterway shut

Iran&rsquo;s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the escalating Middle East conflict.

Iran's new supreme leader ordered the vital Strait of Hormuz oil shipping lane to remain closed on Thursday, while US President Donald Trump said stopping the Islamic republic's "evil empire" was more important than crude prices.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly injured in an air strike, has yet to appear publicly since his nomination last Sunday as supreme leader, and his defiant message was read by a newscaster on state television.
Khamenei, whose father Ali Khamenei was killed in the first wave of US-Israeli attacks at the start of the Middle East war, called for the Strait of Hormuz to remain blocked and for Gulf countries to close their US military bases.
"The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used," Khamenei said of the waterway through which a quarter of world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) usually transit.
He added that "a limited amount of" Iran's revenge for US and Israeli strikes had "taken concrete form, but until it is fully achieved, this case will remain among our priorities."
Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Gulf energy targets on Thursday that sent prices oil spiking briefly above $100 a barrel and led to a warning that the crisis could lead to "the largest supply disruption" in history.
But Trump dismissed growing concerns, writing on social media that "of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World."
 - Vessels attacked -
Images from Bahrain on Thursday showed thick smoke rising after a strike on fuel tanks in Muharraq, with residents told to stay inside and close their windows.
Drones caused damage again at Kuwait's international airport and in downtown Dubai, while Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted drones headed towards its Shaybah oil field and its embassy district.
Shipping in and around the crucial Strait of Hormuz remains at a near-standstill, with another three vessels attacked in the Gulf off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.
The Paris-based International Energy Authority, a world authority on energy markets, warned Thursday the 13-day conflict "is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market", which would surpass those of the 1970s.
With Gulf states slashing production and oil tankers stuck in the Gulf, benchmark oil prices have risen 40-50 percent since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, threatening to crimp growth and stoke inflation.
 - 'Mistake' -
A top Iranian military figure warned on Wednesday that the country could wage a prolonged war that would "destroy" the world economy.
Trump, who is under mounting domestic pressure, ruled out the air campaign ending "immediately" while indicating that US forces were running out of targets to hit.
"If the White House imagines the conflict will stop when Donald Trump decides it... they're making a mistake and ignoring the lessons of history," Pierre Razoux, director of studies at the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies, told AFP.
"The Iranian regime, which no longer has anything to lose, will wage a war of attrition against the United States and Israel to punish them for their aggression."
One Tehran resident hoping for the fall of the Islamic republic told AFP she was worried about the US and Israel calling off their air campaign despite her fears about the daily bombardment.
"I don't know what will happen to us mentally and emotionally if it doesn't work out this time," she told AFP on condition of anonymity.
 - 'End of the line' -
The conflict has spread across the region, with hundreds killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, including at least eight more who died on Beirut's blood-stained seafront where displaced families were camping in tents.
After the Iran-backed Hezbollah group announced a new operation against Israel on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he was ordering troops to "prepare for expanding" attacks on Lebanon.
The violence has killed more than 687 people in Lebanon, according to authorities, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced.
In Iran, over three million people have been displaced by the war, according to new figures issued Thursday by the UN's refugee agency.
Israel's military said it had began a new "wide-scale" wave of strikes in Iran on Thursday, including one southeast of Tehran that it said had targeted a site used for developing nuclear weapons.
Satellite imagery from Wednesday shows what appeared to be three strikes from bunker-busting munitions at the Parchin military facility.
US forces said they had struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels amid fears that Tehran could render the Strait of Hormuz unnavigable.
The Strait, through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes, lies off Iran and is just 54 kilometres (34 miles) wide at its narrowest point.
Tehran has vowed that not one litre of oil will be exported from the Gulf while US-Israeli attacks continue, although industry figures suggest its own sanction-hit exports are continuing to get through.
 - Oil prices spike again -
Oil prices have soared past $100 a barrel despite an announcement that leading consumer countries would authorise a record release of their strategic crude reserves in action coordinated by the IEA.
The move was not enough to allay fears of a global crisis.
"In trading desk language, the IEA release is the equivalent of pointing a garden hose at a refinery blaze," commented Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.
Iran's health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people have been killed in the war, a figure AFP has not been able to independently verify.
In Israel, authorities said 14 people have been killed, while attacks in the Gulf have killed 24 people, including 11 civilians and seven US military personnel, according to local authorities and the US Central Command.
The war has cost the United States more than $11.3 billion, lawmakers were told in a Pentagon briefing, according to the New York Times.

A van crashed through a security barricade near the White House early Wednesday, prompting a temporary shutdown of nearby streets in Washington. Authorities detained the driver and said no injuries were reported.

White House area shut down after van breaches security barricade

A van crashed through a security barricade near the White House early Wednesday, prompting a temporary shutdown of nearby streets in Washington. Authorities detained the driver and said no injuries were reported.

A van smashed through a security barricade near the White House early Wednesday, authorities said, forcing a temporary shutdown of the area in downtown Washington during morning rush hour.
The driver was taken into custody and there were no reported injuries following the pre-dawn incident at Lafayette Square, just north of the White House.
A police bomb squad cleared the vehicle and declared the scene safe, said a spokesperson for the US Secret Service, which handles presidential security.
"The individual is currently being interviewed by the Secret Service and criminal charges are pending," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Washington has been under heightened security amid the US-Israel war on Iran.
Dozens of emergency vehicles with lights flashing descended on the scene, as police closed several major streets around the White House.
Traffic congestion snarled the area as office workers and tourists were blocked from passing through.

Israel has authorised its military to take additional strategic positions in Lebanon after Hezbollah attacked Israeli bases in support of Iran. The escalation follows fresh airstrikes in Beirut and redeployment of Lebanese troops along the border.

Israel orders troops to seize new positions in Lebanon

Israel has authorised its military to take additional strategic positions in Lebanon after Hezbollah attacked Israeli bases in support of Iran. The escalation follows fresh airstrikes in Beirut and redeployment of Lebanese troops along the border.

Israel on Tuesday ordered the military to take control of more positions in Lebanon, where the army pulled back some of its forces after Hezbollah attacked Israeli bases in support of its backer, Iran.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorised the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to advance and take control of additional strategic positions in Lebanon in order to prevent attacks on Israeli border communities," Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
In response, the Lebanese army has redeployed soldiers from several recently established border positions on Tuesday following the Israeli army's "escalation", a Lebanese military source told AFP.
The troops "numbering in total eight to nine soldiers at each point, were redeployed to their bases because of the danger to their safety", the Lebanese military said.
Lebanon was drawn into the regional war on Monday after an initial rocket attack on Israel by Hezbollah, which said it wanted to "avenge" the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the US-Israeli strikes.
Israel promptly responded with large-scale strikes on Lebanon, where the government on Monday declared an immediate ban on Hezbollah's military activities.
The Israeli military said on Monday it had killed the head of Hezbollah's intelligence services, Hussein Moukalled, in a strike in Beirut.
On Tuesday, it announced the killing of another senior militant it named as Reza Khazai in a strike in Beirut, saying he was responsible for overseeing Hezbollah's weapons build-up on behalf of Iran's elite Quds Force.
The military did not identify his nationality.
 - 'All options' -
Hezbollah said it targeted on Tuesday three Israeli military bases in response to the Israeli strikes on the group's strongholds.
Although Israel has maintained that it is not planning a full-scale ground invasion of Lebanon, the military has stated that "all options are on the table" to halt incoming rocket fire from Hezbollah.
On Tuesday, Katz declared that troops had been ordered to seize additional locations inside Lebanon, though the military described these steps as "tactical measures" rather than a ground invasion.
Israeli forces had previously entered Lebanon in September 2024 after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges initiated by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border had been evacuated as fighting between the two intensified.
The Israeli military has since said it did not plan to evacuate northern communities again, noting that it has reinforced troop deployments along the Lebanese border and strengthened air defences in the area.
Under a November 2024 truce, only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army may bear arms south of the Litani river, which runs around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border.
Israel was supposed to withdraw all of its forces from Lebanon under a ceasefire agreed in November 2024 but has kept troops in five border areas it deems strategic, citing Hezbollah's refusal to surrender its own arms.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has conducted regular air strikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.

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U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on Wednesday said that no corners were cut to give an approval of Pfizer-BioNTech's&nbsp;Covid-19 vaccine.&nbsp;Dr June Raine, the chief of MHRA&nbsp;said that UK had given the vaccine an emergency use authorisation because&nbsp;strict tests were done and all guidelines were complied with. Immunisations are set to begin in the UK as early as next week, according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Residents in care homes for older adults and care home workers will be the highest priority.&nbsp;

No corners cut for Pfizer vaccine approval: UK's drug regulator

U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on Wednesday said that no corners were cut to give an approval of Pfizer-BioNTech's&nbsp;Covid-19 vaccine.&nbsp;Dr June Raine, the chief of MHRA&nbsp;said that UK had given the vaccine an emergency use authorisation because&nbsp;strict tests were done and all guidelines were complied with. Immunisations are set to begin in the UK as early as next week, according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Residents in care homes for older adults and care home workers will be the highest priority.&nbsp;

No corners cut for Pfizer vaccine approval: UK govt
UK drug regulator: strict&nbsp;tests done, rules complied with
UK has given Pfizer's vaccine emergency use nod
Immunisation could start next Monday: UK govt

US President Donald Trump warned of destroying Iran’s oil infrastructure if a peace deal is not reached, escalating tensions that have already pushed global oil prices higher amid fears of wider conflict and Strait of Hormuz disruption.

Trump threatens to destroy Iran oil island despite price surge

US President Donald Trump warned of destroying Iran&rsquo;s oil infrastructure if a peace deal is not reached, escalating tensions that have already pushed global oil prices higher amid fears of wider conflict and Strait of Hormuz disruption.

US President Donald Trump pushed concerns about surging world prices aside Monday and threatened to destroy Iran's oil wells, power plants and main export terminal if Tehran does not quickly accept a peace deal.
An earlier Trump comment warning of a possible assault by US ground troops to seize Iran's Kharg Island oil facilities had already sent prices higher, but the US leader then doubled down in a combative social media post.
Trump expressed confidence that a negotiated settlement would soon be reached but warned that if it was not -- or if Iran continued to block the Strait of Hormuz to most sea traffic -- US forces would "blow up" Kharg Island and all of Iran's oil wells and electricity generation.
Iran has previously threatened that if its key economic sites face further US and Israeli strikes it will target the energy infrastructure of its oil and gas-rich Arab neighbours on the Gulf, and the month-old war has already inflicted havoc on the global economy and plunged markets into turmoil.
Market experts warned that any US ground operation or wider Iranian retaliation could send oil prices to levels not seen since the July 2008 commodity boom, when the cost of world benchmark crude Brent hit close to $150 per barrel -- and could rise far more.
Brent has already risen in price by nearly 60 percent this month, and the US benchmark WTI by more than half.
"If the US were to launch a ground invasion of Iran, possibly taking the Kharg Island, or if Tehran were to intensify retaliatory strikes on energy infrastructure or fully close the Strait, projections of $200 (a barrel) oil will not be an otherworldly supposition anymore," analyst Tamas Varga of PVM Energy said.
As Israel pressed its offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in south Lebanon -- hitting, an official told AFP, an army checkpoint and killing a Lebanese soldier -- Indonesia confirmed on Monday that one of its peacekeepers was killed after the UN force said a projectile hit one of its positions.
Separately, the Israeli military said one of its soldiers was killed on Sunday in combat in southern Lebanon, bringing to six the number of troops killed since fighting with Hezbollah began this month.
 - Diplomatic efforts -
On the ground there appeared to be no let-up in hostilities. Israel said its air defence batteries responded to "missiles launched from Iran", after earlier announcing it was striking "terror regime military infrastructure across Tehran".
Israel confirmed that in recent days it had hit the Imam Hossein University in Tehran, which it says is used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for advanced weapons research. Tehran has warned it could strike US universities across the Middle East.
On the diplomatic front, Pakistan -- acting as a go-between for Washington and Tehran -- hosted foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad on Sunday for talks on the crisis.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said they had discussed how to "bring an early and permanent end to the war."
He said Iran and the United States had expressed "confidence in Pakistan to facilitate the talks" and that he had spoken to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi as well as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other foreign ministers who also backed the idea.
Nevertheless, the speaker of Iran's parliament accused Washington of using diplomacy as a smoke screen.
Despite making diplomatic overtures, including proposing a 15-point plan to end the war, the United States has also been sending more military assets into the region, including an amphibious assault ship carrying 3,500 Marines.
 - Sleepless nights -
The weeks of strikes have also taken a heavy toll on ordinary people in Iran.
"I miss a peaceful night's sleep," an artist in Tehran told AFP, saying night-time strikes were "so intense it felt like all of Tehran was shaking".
The war has escalated into a regional conflagration as Tehran retaliates with attacks on Gulf states and virtually seals the critical Strait of Hormuz oil shipping lane.
Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz, which previously accounted for a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade and a fifth of liquefied natural gas shipments, to vessels from hostile nations.

Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old leader, was sworn in as Nepal’s prime minister following a landslide electoral victory. His appointment marks a historic moment as the youngest democratically elected leader.

Rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah becomes Nepal’s youngest democratically elected PM

Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old leader, was sworn in as Nepal&rsquo;s prime minister following a landslide electoral victory. His appointment marks a historic moment as the youngest democratically elected leader.

Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as Nepal&rsquo;s prime minister on Friday, making history as the youngest leader to be democratically elected to the top office of the Himalayan nation, around six months after the dramatic collapse of the KP Sharma Oli government in an unprecedented youth movement.
The 35-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader, popularly known as 'Balen', was sworn in by President Ram Chandra Paudel at a ceremony at the President's Office. The RSP had registered a landslide victory in this month's parliamentary elections.
Shah, a former mayor of Kathmandu, is the youngest leader to be democratically elected to the top office in the Himalayan nation. He is also the first person from the Madhes region to become the prime minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Shah shortly after the swearing-in ceremony and said he was looking forward to working closely with his Nepalese counterpart to take forward India-Nepal ties.
&ldquo;Your appointment reflects the trust reposed in your leadership by the people of Nepal. I look forward to working closely with you to take India-Nepal friendship and cooperation to even greater heights for the mutual benefit of our two peoples,&rdquo; PM Modi posted on X.
Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship.
Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services. Nepal's access to the sea is through India, and it imports a predominant proportion of its requirements from and through India.
Balen is the first democratically elected prime minister to be sworn in since the coalition government led by former prime minister Oli was ousted in September last year, following the youth-led Gen Z protest against corruption, nepotism, and a social media ban that escalated into violence.
Following Oli's ouster, former chief justice Sushila Karki took charge as the interim prime minister on the recommendation of the Gen Z group.
Balen was a popular choice to lead the interim government, but declined, saying he would rather head the government by contesting the parliamentary election for a full term.
&ldquo;Congratulations to the newly appointed Prime Minister, Balendra Shah. I feel all the more elated that a 35-year-old young man is my successor. I extend my best wishes to him. I wish him success in pushing forward the people's mandate with vigour and rigour,&rdquo; Karki posted on X after the ceremony.
Apart from Balen, other ministers also took the oath at the ceremony on Friday.
Swarnim Wagle took the oath as the Minister of Finance, Shisir Khanal as Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Sudan Gurung as Minister for Home Affairs.
Balen will hold the portfolios of the Defence Ministry and the Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ministry.
Biraj Bhakta Shrestha will oversee the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, and Bikram Timilsina will serve as Minister for Communications and Information Technology.
Pratibha Rawal was appointed Minister of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Ganesh Paudel as Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, and Sunil Lamsal as Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.
Similarly, Gita Chaudhary took oath as Agriculture and Livestock Development Minister, Sasmit Pokharel as Minister for Education, Science, and Technology, Nisha Mehata as Minister for Health and Population, Sita Badi as Minister of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens, and Sobita Gautam as Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs.
In the March 5 general elections, Balen defeated four-time prime minister Sharma Oli by a huge margin in the Jhapa-5 constituency, a long-standing stronghold of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).
The RSP won a landslide victory in the March 5 poll, securing a massive 182 seats out of the total 275 seats in the House of Representatives (HoR), making it eligible to form a majority government.
Balen and the RSP tsunami almost wiped out the traditional parties, with the Nepali Congress winning only 38 seats, followed by the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) with 25, and the Nepali Communist Party getting only 17 seats.
Pakistan&rsquo;s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Shah for his party&rsquo;s landslide victory.
China has also congratulated Shah on his appointment saying it is &ldquo;Ready to work with Nepal&rsquo;s new government to further strengthen traditional friendship and practical cooperation,&rdquo; China&rsquo;s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian posted on X.
Balen is the youngest democratically elected prime minister of the Himalayan nation. Before him, a few young leaders were nominated or appointed, but they were not democratically elected.
Like Tulsi Giri, who was nominated in 1963 as the chair of the council of ministers, a position that was equivalent to that of prime minister by the then-king, was around 37 years old when he took charge.
Significantly, he was not elected but nominated by King Mahendra Shah.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned civilians across the Middle East to avoid areas near US forces amid escalating tensions, even as Donald Trump said talks to end the conflict were progressing.

Iran warns civilians as Trump says talks 'going well'

Iran&rsquo;s Revolutionary Guards warned civilians across the Middle East to avoid areas near US forces amid escalating tensions, even as Donald Trump said talks to end the conflict were progressing.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned civilians across the Middle East Friday to stay away from areas near US forces, in a mark of defiance after President Donald Trump claimed talks to end the month-long war were "going well".
The Guards' warning came after Trump again extended a deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy assets, pushing it from Friday to April 6.
With war engulfing the region four weeks after the United States and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28, Tehran resident Ensieh said every day she was "losing more hope".
"We're caught between three mad powers, and war is terrifying," the 46-year-old dentist told AFP journalists outside Iran. "I know I'll never be the same person again."
Local media confirmed fresh strikes rained down overnight on Iran's capital -- muffled by the sound of thunderstorms according to an AFP correspondent -- as well as the holy city of Qom further south and Urmia in the northwest.
A month of US and Israeli attacks have damaged at least 120 museums and cultural and historic sites nationwide, a top Tehran official said, including the UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace -- sometimes likened to Versailles.
In announcing a new reprieve over the Hormuz blockade, which threatens lasting damage on the global economy, Trump insisted the Islamic republic wanted to "make a deal".
But the Iranian side, which has made it clear it wants to end fighting on its own terms, indicated no let up in reprisal attacks against Israel and targets across the Gulf.
Accusing US-Israeli forces of resorting to "human shields", Iran's Guards told civilians to "urgently leave locations where American forces are stationed so that no harm comes to you" -- as Iran's military threatened to target hotels housing US soldiers across the region.
 - 'Hostage' -
Markets have been upended by Iranian attacks on trade and energy targets in the Gulf, with Kuwait saying Friday its main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack at dawn.
A top Iranian official threatened to attack Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu, home to the Samref oil refinery, as well as the coastal Fujairah oil complex in the United Arab Emirates, should a ground invasion take place.
"Step onto Iranian soil, and $150 becomes the floor for oil," Vice President Esmael Saghab Esfahani wrote on X. "Destruction of Fujairah and Yanbu are just our entry tickets."
Iran's message on Hormuz was just as defiant, with the Guards saying the strait was "closed" to vessels travelling to and from enemy ports, and that they had turned back three ships seeking to cross.
Oil prices and stocks were mixed after Trump pushed back for a second time his ultimatum, while in the latest sign of the economic fallout the Bank of Spain warned the country faced a "significant slowdown" due to the war.
With America's top diplomat Marco Rubio in France for G7 talks, counterparts pressed him for clarity on American plans for Iran.
UK foreign minister Yvette Cooper called for a "swift" conflict resolution and an end to Iran's block on Hormuz that was holding "the global economy hostage."
Without revealing his source, German top diplomat Johann Wadephul said a "direct meeting" between Washington and Tehran was expected "very soon" in Pakistan, which is acting as a go-between.
Iran has reportedly replied to a 15-point US plan and is awaiting a response, having made its own demands including war reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over Hormuz.
 - 'Heavy price' -
The Tasnim news agency said Tehran also called for an end to US and Israeli attacks on its territory and on aligned regional groups -- a reference to Lebanon's Hezbollah, among others.
But analysts at the Soufan Center warned the United States cannot "make any guarantees on behalf of Israel."
And in spite of the push for diplomacy, America's Israeli ally showed no sign of wavering, with Defence Minister Israel Katz vowing to "intensify and expand" strikes on Iran in response to missile attacks on its soil.
"They will pay a heavy price, an increasingly heavy one, for this war crime," Katz said in a video message.
The escalation threat came despite opposition leader Yair Lapid warning its military was "stretched to the limit and beyond" especially on the front with Lebanon -- drawn into the war after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel.

Donald Trump warns Iran to engage in talks as Israel claims killing of a key IRGC naval commander, while Pakistan confirms facilitating indirect US-Iran negotiations amid rising Middle East tensions.

Trump says Iran 'better get serious' in Mideast war talks

Donald Trump warns Iran to engage in talks as Israel claims killing of a key IRGC naval commander, while Pakistan confirms facilitating indirect US-Iran negotiations amid rising Middle East tensions.

US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday to engage in talks to end the Middle East war "before it is too late", after Tehran publicly spurned US overtures to resolve the nearly four-week conflict.
Trump's warning came as Israel said it had killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy, calling him "directly responsible" for throttling the Strait of Hormuz since the war's outbreak.
Hopes for a negotiated end to the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has engulfed much of the region, rose after Washington was said to have put a peace plan to Tehran, only for the Islamic republic to deny the sides were speaking.
But Pakistan confirmed Thursday it was indeed facilitating "US-Iran indirect talks" by relaying messages -- and that a 15-point American plan was being "deliberated upon" by Tehran.
"They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won't be pretty!" Trump warned on social media, saying Iran had been "militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback".
Iran's foreign minister flatly denied Wednesday that "negotiations" had been engaged with Trump's administration -- but did concede messages were being exchanged through "friendly countries".
"We seek an end to the war on our own terms," Abbas Araghchi said on state TV.
Islamabad has been touted as a go-between, given its longstanding ties with both neighbouring Iran and the United States, as well as its network of regional contacts.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said "brotherly countries" Turkey, Egypt and others, were also supporting the process -- while the Gulf Cooperation Council said it wanted to be involved in any talks.
 - Conflict spreads east -
Under near-daily bombardment since February 28, Iran was hit by a new wave of Israeli strikes Thursday -- one of which Israel said had "blown up and eliminated" the Guards' naval commander, Alireza Tangsiri, and several senior officers.
Defence Minister Israel Katz blamed Tangsiri for throttling the vital Hormuz shipping lane -- which Iran is blocking to all but "non-hostile" vessels, with Malaysia for instance saying its tankers were being allowed passage.
Elsewhere, the Israeli army was conducting what it called "wide-scale" strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure.
Local media reported attacks in the central cities of Isfahan and Shiraz, in Bandar Abbas in the south and Tabriz in the northwest -- but also Mashhad and Birjand, towards the Afghan border in an area largely spared until now.
Off the coast from Bandar Abbas on Qeshm -- the largest Iranian island in the Persian Gulf -- one local resident told AFP via Telegram he hoped the site would not be taken over by the military.
"The suffering of people, the poverty, and the political oppression have been getting worse every year," said 42-year-old Sadeq.
"I don't think war is the solution to these conditions, but ending it won't change much for us either," he said. "Our bigger war is with the Islamic republic."
Iran, in turn, kept up retaliatory attacks on several parts of Israel, where falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles wounded seven people.
And fresh violence flared in the Gulf, with two killed by debris from an Iranian ballistic missile intercepted near Abu Dhabi, and drones fired at both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
 - 'Top person'? -
Iran has targeted Gulf nations it accuses of serving as launchpads for US strikes, including hits on energy sites and other civilian infrastructure that threaten lasting damage to the world economy.
Crude prices had fallen since last week, but the wavering messages on talks saw oil prices jump again Thursday with equities mixed.
Trump has accused Tehran officials of covering up ongoing talks for fear of becoming assassination targets, following the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
The White House has declined to identify the "top person" it is speaking with in Iran -- beyond saying it is not the late leader's son Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to be injured and has not been seen since succeeding his father.
 - No Lebanon 'surrender' -
To avenge Khamenei's killing, pro-Iran Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2, drawing Lebanon into the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had "created a genuine security zone" in southern Lebanon, where an Israeli soldier was killed Thursday.
Hezbollah meanwhile launched a new volley of missiles at military sites in central Israel, after its chief Naim Qassem said negotiations with Israel would amount to "surrender".

President Donald Trump said the United States and Iran held “productive conversations” towards ending the three-week Middle East conflict, pausing threatened strikes on Iranian power plants, while oil prices tumbled and global tensions continued.

Trump announces 'very good' US-Iran talks, halts strikes on power plants; Iran denies any negotiations

President Donald Trump said the United States and Iran held &ldquo;productive conversations&rdquo; towards ending the three-week Middle East conflict, pausing threatened strikes on Iranian power plants, while oil prices tumbled and global tensions continued.

President Donald Trump said Monday the United States and Iran had held "very good" talks towards ending the three-week Middle East war, putting threatened US attacks on Iran's power plants on hold in a stunning about-turn.
In a social media post that immediately sent oil prices tumbling, Trump said Washington and Tehran had held "productive conversations" over the last two days towards "a complete and total resolution" of hostilities in the Middle East.
In Iran, media outlets quoted the foreign ministry denying any such talks and suggesting Trump was angling to bring down energy prices sent soaring by the war -- with no mention of his claim on state television's latest news bulletin.
But Trump asserted he had told the Pentagon, on the basis of talks to date, to "postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings."
He said the US-Iranian sides would keep talking "throughout the week."
The bombshell announcement came ahead of a Monday night ultimatum for the Islamic republic to reopen the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane -- or see Trump "obliterate" its power plants.
In response, Iran had threatened to deploy naval mines in the Gulf and target power plants across the region -- ramping up its rhetoric after warnings the world faced an energy crisis of historic proportions if the US-Israeli war with Iran drags on.
 - Strikes -
Tehran has retaliated against US-Israeli attacks by throttling traffic through Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of global crude, hitting energy sites and US embassies across the Gulf as well as targets in Israel.
Israel hit Tehran with fresh strikes on Monday, with the latest wave reported by the military minutes after Trump's announcement.
The head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol warned overnight that, in the event of a protracted war, daily oil losses put the world on track for a crisis worse than the combined impact of both 1970s oil shocks and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Oil prices have been driven above $100 a barrel by the conflict -- and they tumbled sharply after Trump's announcement, while and European stocks rebounded.
International benchmark Brent North Sea crude plunged more than 14 percent to $96.00 per barrel, while the main US oil contract West Texas Intermediate shed more than 14 percent to $84.37 per barrel.
Sign of the conflict's tentacular impact, the world's second economy China had said earlier Monday it was capping domestic fuel cost increases to mitigate the effect of surging oil prices.
 - Lebanon ground campaign -
Weighing in before Trump's post, China's foreign ministry had warned of an "uncontrollable situation" should the war expand further.
Key Iran ally Russia meanwhile called after Trump's announcement for an "immediate cessation of hostilities".
In a call with Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi, Russia's Sergei Lavrov called for "a political settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of all parties involved, above all Iran," the Russian foreign ministry said.
The US president had offered varying timelines and objectives for the war, saying Friday he was considering "winding down" the operation -- only to later threaten Iran's power plants, of which it has more than 90.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has yet to comment on Trump's announcement, has spoken of a long-term campaign against Iran's government, a state sponsor of Hamas, which launched the October 7, 2023 attack triggering the Gaza war.
In Lebanon, Israel has also expanded its ground campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah, warning of "weeks of fighting" there.
The Lebanon violence has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than a million, according to the health ministry.
On Monday Israel's military said it was working to intercept a new salvo of missiles from Iran -- while confirming its own artillery fire had killed an Israeli civilian a day earlier near the Lebanese border.
In Iran, at least 3,230 people have died in the war, including 1,406 civilians, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. AFP is not able to access the sites of strikes nor independently verify tolls in Iran.

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