War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran urged the United Nations nuclear watchdog to condemn US strikes that it said targeted the Darkhovin nuclear power plant under construction in the country’s southwest, AFP reports.

“Iran… expects the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Board of Governors and the Director General of the IAEA, who from time to time makes political statements regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, to clearly state their position on this matter in condemning the US crime,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.

Iran says it will not allow the vital Strait of Hormuz to be used by its foes to threaten the country’s security, reports AFP.

“We must not allow this waterway to be misused again to threaten Iran’s security and national interests,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP, adding the country was “determined to take the necessary measures” to safeguard its sovereignty.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Baqaei has repeated Tehran’s stance that “there is no ambiguity” in the text of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the US, Al Jazeera reports.

“The text of the Memorandum of Understanding is a short text and has 14 clauses,” he has told reporters in the Iranian capital.

The official adds: “We had said from the very beginning that the responsibility for the future management of the Strait of Hormuz lies with Iran, and this issue will be pursued in consultation with Oman and through dialogue with regional countries.”

“The text is completely clear, and there is no excuse for America to break the treaty,” Baqaei says.

Iran says that diplomatic exchanges with the United States via mediators are ongoing despite US military strikes on the country, AFP reports.

“We have been informed by mediators, we have received messages — without going into details — but the main point is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators,” says Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei at a press conference in Tehran.

South-east Asia’s top diplomats will express alarm over renewed hostilities in the Middle East when they gather in the Philippine capital on Tuesday for talks to be joined by western and Asian counterparts, including from the US, China, Russia and the EU, according to The Guardian.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will first meet among themselves in Manila on Tuesday to discuss — among other main concerns — the US-Iran hostilities that have triggered fears of a return to a full-blown war.

They plan to issue a joint statement expressing alarm over the developments and urge both sides to resume talks, two south-east Asian diplomats told the Associated Press.

One person has been killed and several others injured after the US army attacked, according to Al Jazeera.

Majid Farshi, director general of crisis management at East Azarbaijan province, told the state news agency IRNA that the strike in the early hours of the day targeted a military area in the southwest of Tabriz city, located in northwestern Iran.

A vessel was struck by an unknown projectile 8 nautical miles (14.8 km) northwest of Oman’s Kumzar, overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said, adding that the vessel is currently adrift, according to Reuters.

The crew safely abandoned the vessel and have been recovered by a tug boat, UKMTO said after reporting earlier that the vessel was on fire.

The fire has not been extinguished, but no environmental impact was reported, UKMTO said.

The governor of Bushehr says several locations in the city have been hit in an attack, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

The official added that the scope and extent of the strikes are currently under investigation.

Explosions were heard in the Bahraini capital Manama after air raid sirens were triggered, according to AFP journalists.

Bahrain’s interior ministry had said that alarm “siren has been activated”.

“Citizens and residents are requested to remain calm, head to the nearest safe location, and follow updates through official channels,” it said.

The Kuwaiti army says it is responding to Iranian drone attacks adding that loud sounds heard across the country were due to interceptions, according to AlJazeera.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman voices support for Lebanon and its president during a phone call, AlJazeera reports.

In a post on social media platform X, Lebanon’s presidency said that President Joseph Aoun spoke with the crown prince about the latest developments in Lebanon and the region.

The crown prince affirmed Saudi Arabia’s support for Lebanon “in this particular circumstance” and for the choices adopted by Aoun to safeguard Lebanon’s “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”, the presidency says.

“Prince Mohammed also renewed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to assisting Lebanon in all areas identified as priorities by the Lebanese government,” according to the statement.

Aoun thanked the Saudi crown prince for his support and for measures taken to strengthen Lebanon’s economy, accepting an invitation to visit the kingdom to discuss matters of mutual interest, the statement adds.

Iran will end the war with the US when it has “the upper hand in the field”, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said in an interview with state media, Al Jazeera reports.

Talking to the IRNA news agency, Araghchi said the most critical decision in crisis management was identifying the precise moment to halt hostilities and begin negotiations.

“The end of the war is possible either through absolute military victory or through negotiations. The right time to negotiate is precisely when you have achieved a reliable field and strategic achievement on the military front,” he said.

“You cannot take risks with the lives of the people and the fate of the entire country; decisions must be made based on accurate and complete calculations,” Araghchi said.

The foreign minister added that politicians must constantly weigh whether continuing the war would increase gains or impose heavier human and national costs.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it targeted “US military facilities” at the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait in the latest wave of its operations, Al Jazeera reports.

The IRGC claimed that a drone attack destroyed an early-warning radar system and that separate strikes hit an aviation equipment warehouse and a hangar housing US MQ-9 drones, setting several aircraft on fire, according to a statement carried by the IRIB broadcaster.

Bahrain’s interior ministry had said that the “siren has been sounded”.

“Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” it said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran is using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage in the regional conflict and called on other countries to do more to protect global shipping, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking to reporters before travelling to the Philippines, Rubio said the US would continue taking measures to safeguard maritime traffic but argued that other governments should contribute equipment or funding to help share the burden.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it launched ballistic missiles at US C-17 transport planes and P-8 aircraft at Aqaba airport in Jordan, claiming several were heavily damaged, according to AlJazeera.

In a statement carried by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the IRGC also claimed that 20 hangars housing US forces in the Muwaffaq Salti/Al-Azraq air base were destroyed.

An MQ-9 drone has reportedly been intercepted and shot down over Eslamabad-e Gharb in Iran’s western Kermanshah province, AlJazeera reports, citing Mehr news agency.

Mehr says the drone was targeted by an advanced air defence system operated by the IRGC Aerospace Force and linked to Iran’s integrated air defence network.

US President Donald Trump says that the United States is hitting Iran “very hard” to honour American service members who have been killed, according to AlJazeera.

“We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honour of the, probably three, it’s probably three great patriots,” Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington following the World Cup final.

“We feel very badly,” when asked about the military fatalities, adding that those who died were fighting so that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon”.

The US embassy in Bahrain says it has information suggesting Iran may seek to target unspecified locations in central Manama, AlJazeera reports.

It urged Americans to remain vigilant, follow instructions from local authorities and immediately seek shelter if warning sirens sound or explosions are heard.

The US Central Command (Centcom) said that it had “successfully completed the ninth consecutive evening of strikes against Iran”.

“Centcom assets targeted Iranian military command centers, air defence 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,” it said.

“The US military is holding Iran accountable at the commander in chief’s direction. Centcom forces remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” it said.

Oil prices surge over 3 per cent in early Asian trading, driven by intensifying military clashes between the United States and Iran that have severely disrupted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, according to AlJazeera.

Brent crude futures jump $2.75, or 3.12pc, to $90.85 a barrel by 22:02 GMT. Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures advance $2.56, or 3.10pc, to settle at $85.05 a barrel.