War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Gold prices have fallen more than one per cent after US President Donald Trump said the interim peace deal with Iran was “over”, sending oil prices higher and stoking fears of inflation and higher US interest rates.

Spot gold fell 1.02pc to $4,063.67 per ounce by 8:50 GMT (1:50pm PKT), after dropping to its lowest since July 2 earlier in the session. US gold futures for August delivery shed 1.97pc to $4,074.80/oz.

Trump has accused the Iranians of repeatedly misrepresenting what had been agreed in the ceasefire that Washington and Tehran signed on June 17, while speaking to the press ahead of the Nato summit in Ankara.

“Everyone’s agreed, no nuclear weapon. We make a deal. They go outside, joke to the press, they say we never even talked about it. There’s something wrong with them, they’re cuckoo,” the US president said.

World oil prices soar more than five per cent after US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was over, following fresh strikes in the Middle East.

International benchmark Brent North Sea crude jumps 5.3pc to $78.09 a barrel, while the main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, advances 5.4pc to $74.23 a barrel.

US President Donald Trump says that the memorandum of understanding signed with Iran to end the conflict is “over”, adding he doesn’t want to engage with Tehran.

Trump was speaking in Ankara ahead of the Nato summit.

“To me, I think it’s over,” he said after a pause when asked about the ceasefire. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore; they’re scum … they’re led by sick people.”

He added, “I’ll speak to our negotiators, they want to negotiate … but they have to come back to me.”

Trump said, “Frankly, I don’t want to waste my time with them. Now, I’ll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they want, but I don’t see it.”

He added, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them. They’re liars.”

“We pay far, far too much, billions and billions of dollars too much,” Trump has said of Nato, calling it “unfair” that the alliance is “not there” for the US despite its protection.

“But I want to say that this is a great leader; they’re lucky they have him,” he added, referring to Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, whom he was speaking alongside at the Ankara summit.

“It’s their biggest asset.”

Iran’s military has warned that any site enabling the United States to attack the country would be considered a “legitimate target”, after hostilities resumed despite an agreement intended to end the war, AFP reports.

“Any support provided to the aggressive American army to violate the sovereignty and territory of Islamic Iran will be a legitimate target of the armed forces,” the military said in a statement.

Speaking at the Nato summit in Ankara, Trump has again criticised the alliance for not assisting the US’ efforts in Iran.

“When they could have, they weren’t there for us, and we’ve been there for them,” he said, remarking that the US has spent “over a trillion dollars” on protecting these countries from Russia, despite it having “nothing to do with us”.

“They haven’t treated us right, and Mark understands that … and we’re gonna work something out, I think, one way or the other.”

European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said that “exchanges of fire between the United States and Iran had further complicated already fraught efforts to end the war”, adding that Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait are “unacceptable”.

In a post on X, she said, “Under the memorandum, Tehran committed to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Its recent attacks on ships near the Strait violate that commitment and threaten to disrupt the resumption of energy supplies. Freedom of navigation must be unimpeded.”

“Next Monday, EU foreign ministers will meet with their Gulf counterparts to discuss how we can work together to support the implementation of the agreement and preserve freedom of navigation in the Strait as well as the Red Sea,” she added.

China denounced a sharp escalation in hostilies in the Middle East after the United States struck dozens of targets in Iran, with Beijing’s foreign ministry warning both sides against “reigniting” the war in the Middle East, AFP reports.

“Reigniting the war is not in the interests of either side, and military means cannot solve the fundamental problems,” foreign spokesperson Mao Ning told a news conference, when asked about the strikes.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said that airlines should not operate within the airspace of Iran and Iraq, amid ongoing tensions and the potential for further military action, Reuters reports.

The EASA said its bulletin for the airspaces of Iran and Iraq was valid until August 31.

The agency’s previous bulletin, which expires on Wednesday, included Lebanon. It had also asked airlines to exercise caution when operating within the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Qatar has condemned strikes carried out by Iran against Kuwait and Bahrain and called for diplomacy, as hostilities resume following attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

Qatar, a key intermediary in talks between Iran and the United States, has said it “emphasises the need to spare the region the consequences of these unjustified attacks”, in a foreign ministry statement posted on X.

Doha has also emphasised the need to “pursue the path of dialogue and diplomacy, to de-escalate tensions, and to build upon the progress achieved under the memorandum of understanding”.

British travel company Jet2 has said that easing geopolitical tensions have led to strong bookings in recent weeks, with booked-to-date passengers for summer up 7.1pc, Reuters reports.

The global aviation and leisure industry has been contending with higher costs and weak consumer confidence stemming from the Iran war, though peace negotiations to end the war are giving some holidaymakers confidence to go ahead with their travel plans.

Jet2, which sells flights and package holidays, posted profit before taxation of 551 million ($735.81m) for the year ended March 31, down 7pc from 593.2m a year earlier.

A member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy was killed during a confrontation with US drones in the southern port city of Bandar Mahshahr, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reports.

Oil prices have gained more than 3pc after Iran and the US military traded airstrikes and Washington reimposed crude sales sanctions on Tehran, raising fears their fragile truce was unravelling and Middle East supplies could be disrupted again, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures gained $2.40, or 3.2pc, at $76.56 a barrel at 06:45am GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $2.26, or 3.2pc, to $72.70 a barrel.

“While the revocation doesn’t fundamentally change oil market dynamics, it’s important from a sentiment perspective. It heightens the risk of a breakdown in the temporary deal between the U.S. and Iran,” ING commodity strategists said.

“The current conflagration is a reminder to the market of how fragile passage through the Strait still is,” said Saul Kavonic, head of research at MST Marquee.

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Tehran also highlights the legal obligations of all states, particularly the neighbouring Gulf countries, to “prevent aggressor parties from using their territory and facilities to carry out acts of aggression” against Iran.

The foreign ministry stressed that any “cooperation in the commission of the crime of aggression against Iran constitutes complicity”.

Iran warned that its armed forces, under Article 51 of the UN Charter, would “target the very source and origin of the aggression”.

Iran says US “military aggression against several monitoring and surveillance centres” along its southern coast constituted a “gross violation” of Paragraph 1 of the Islamabad MoU.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said the recurrence of attacks against Iran, the US decision to revoke the licence for Iranian oil sales, violations of arrangements regarding the Strait of Hormuz and the continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon “rendered key and fundamental elements of the war-ending agreement ineffective”.

“The US regime, having reneged on its commitments, bears responsibility for the dangerous consequences of this escalation,” it said.

Strongly condemning the “repeated treaty violations by the United States”, the foreign ministry asserted that its armed forces “will not hesitate to defend Iran’s territorial integrity, national sovereignty, and national security against US military aggression” in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Several Israeli media outlets, as well as CNN and Axios, are reporting that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is due to arrive in Israel today and meet with PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz, according to Al Jazeera.

The reports say the trip is meant to placate Israel in light of the news that F-35 stealth fighters could potentially be sold to Turkiye.

Several explosions have been heard in the southern port city of Bushehr and its surrounding areas this morning, Al Jazeera reports, citing Mehr news agency.

The agency also denied reports of an attack on Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz, citing its correspondent based there.

Fresh explosions have been heard in Bahrain after air-raid sirens sounded for the third time, warning of attacks, an AFP correspondent said.

The latest blasts rang out after Iran said it struck Bahrain in retaliation for the United States bombing Iranian targets.

Kuwait condemned Iranian attacks on its soil, which it said undermined efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region, as Tehran claimed attacks on US bases in the country and in Bahrain, AFP reports.

Kuwait’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it expresses its “strongest condemnation and denunciation of the repeated, illicit Iranian attacks,” adding that “the continuation of these brazen attacks — at a time when regional and international efforts toward de-escalation are underway — systematically undermines efforts to lower tensions”.

Iran’s Deputy FM Kazem Gharibabadi has slammed the US’s decision to revoke the sanctions waiver permitting the sale of Iranian oil as a flagrant violation of the Islamabad MoU signed between Tehran and Washington, Tasnim reports.

The Indian rupee is trading slightly weaker as renewed hostilities in the Middle East lifted oil prices and sapped risk sentiment, while traders pointed to modest portfolio inflows that helped limit downward pressure, Reuters reports.

The rupee was at 95.16 as of 11:05am IST, down slightly from its close at 94.9675 in the previous session.

The US-Iran hostilities lifted oil prices by nearly 3pc, while bond yields ticked higher and Asia Pacific stocks fell. India’s benchmark equity index, the Nifty 50, declined by 0.5pc.

Elevated oil prices present a risk to net energy importers like India and a sustained rise can lead to both slower growth and higher inflation.

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