US president Donald Trump said Iran has “taken too long to negotiate a deal”. that it will “have to pay the price” as a result.
He did not clarify what action he intended to take, but the US military has been striking Iranian targets, including air defences. radar sites, near the Gulf. It is also not clear what this means for the ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war. with Trump previously insisting that a deal could be reached.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said:
double quotation mark Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess. Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore - They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them. now they will have to pay the price!!!
The future of peace talks in the Middle East have been thrown into question after Iran’s foreign ministry said it needed to “reassess” its participation. while Donald Trump said Iran would have to “pay the price” after the two countries traded fire overnight, drawing neighbouring states back into an on-and-off war that has consumed the region since late February.
The US launched strikes against Iran in the early hours of Wednesday morning in retaliation for what it said was Iran’s downing of a US army helicopter near the strait of Hormuz. Iran then launched a wave of retaliatory airstrikes claiming hits on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
The tit-for-tat attacks were the most severe escalation since a ceasefire was established in early April. Talks to turn the ceasefire into a durable peace have been stalling for weeks, with periodic flare-ups as both sides launched limited strikes. traded blame for violating the truce.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said US strikes jeopardised ongoing ceasefire negotiations. He accused the US of undermining diplomacy with its attacks and contradictory messages. He said that Israel was also harming the diplomatic process by continuing to violate the ceasefire in Lebanon.
“Following overnight events, we need to reassess … Any diplomatic process requires a minimum stable environment,” Baqaei said.
Trump, for his part, said Iran had taken “too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them”. would now pay a price.
The UN rights chief said he would send a mission to Lebanon to collect evidence on alleged rights abuses since the war began between Hezbollah. Israel.
“I have agreed with the government of Lebanon to conduct an impartial. independent assessment mission in the country,” Volker Turk told journalists, adding:
double quotation mark I will soon be deploying a team to collect information. evidence on alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law, and violations of international humanitarian law and related law committed by the parties to the armed conflict in the country since 2 March.
Fox News, citing a phone interview with the US president, reported Trump is “getting close to ordering new strikes against Iranian power plants. bridges” in response to Iran reportedly dragging its feet on the negotiating table.
Bombing civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime. As Peter Beaumont writes in his analysis on the issue:
double quotation mark Under article 52 of the first additional protocol to the Geneva conventions of 1977, “civilian objects”, such as infrastructure, are defined not in themselves. by what they are not: military objectives whose destruction offers no definite military advantage.
At the heart of the question of what may – or may not – be attacked is the overarching principle of distinction between civilians. combatants. Rule 10 of the customary rules of international humanitarian law – relating to both international. internal armed conflicts – explicitly states: “Civilian objects are protected against attack, unless and for such time as they are military objectives.
That places a requirement on all parties: attackers must avoid targeting civilian objects. the party under attack must avoid “mingling” the military and civilians.
Codified in international law. the statute of the international criminal court makes it explicit that it is a war crime to intentionally direct attacks against civilian objects if they “are not military objectives”.
You can read more of that analysis here:
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also posted a message on social media around the same time as Trump, again insisting that Iran could never have a nuclear weapon. defending Israel’s decisions to attack the country.
In a separate post on X. Netanyahu took aim at the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling him an “antisemitic tyrant”. This is likely a response to Erdoğan’s earlier remarks condemning Israel’s “aggression” (see post at 11:52 ).
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Tehran. Washington must move beyond “this state of neither war nor peace”, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency.
His statement came after the US. Iran traded fire last night in the biggest escalation since a ceasefire was agreed on 8 April. The back-and-forth strikes have raised questions over whether the truce remains intact,. threatens to derails diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war.
Pezeshkian said the Iranian former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a bombing on the first day of the war, had “repeatedly said that the situation was neither war nor peace,. the issue had to be resolved”, suggesting that the only way to move forward is to negotiate.
double quotation mark At that time. we discussed with him that if we wanted to resolve the situation of neither war nor peace, what should we do? What should we do if we did not negotiate? And it was on this basis that the leader allowed the talks to continue.
We must come out of this situation with neither war nor peace. War is definitely not in the country’s interest, but it is not the case that if they want to violate our dignity, our soil,. our land, we will surrender or back down. They dream of such a thing. This is not something we want to back down from.
US president Donald Trump said Iran has “taken too long to negotiate a deal”. that it will “have to pay the price” as a result.
He did not clarify what action he intended to take, but the US military has been striking Iranian targets, including air defences. radar sites, near the Gulf. It is also not clear what this means for the ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war. with Trump previously insisting that a deal could be reached.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said:
double quotation mark Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess. Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore - They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!! They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them. now they will have to pay the price!!!
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. Syria have reached a point where they also pose a threat to Turkey, Reuters reports.
Speaking to members of the Turkish parliament. he called for an end to Israel’s “aggression”, which he said is a threat to the entire world.
Erdoğan also claimed that there are initiatives, led by Israel, to destabilise the Mediterranean region. He vowed a “clear. forceful” response from Ankara to any action that violates the rights of Turks and Turkish Cypriots.
Asian stocks have fallen sharply after Iran. the US exchanged their biggest round of fire since a ceasefire was agreed in April.
Japan’s Nikkei index dropped 2%. while the tech-heavy South Korean Kospi slumped by about 6% – although it is still up by more than 70% in the year to date.
However. oil prices have actually fallen a bit this morning, with Brent crude – the international benchmark – down 0.2% to $91.28 a barrel.
Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank suggests that while investors are preoccupied with the conflict in the Middle East, “markets are also swinging between 1999-style AI exuberance. 2000-type tech crash fears”.
double quotation mark On the former. Brent briefly fell below $90 for the first time since April 17th yesterday before partially rebounding after Trump vowed retaliation following Iran shooting down a US helicopter. On the latter. the Philly Semiconductor Index fell by as much as -8.62% intra-day before recovering to -1.93% by the close.
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The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it has received a report of a fire on a tanker off the coast of Oman, with one crew member injured. two others missing.
The incident happened this morning 20 nautical miles northeast of the Omani port city of Sohar, according to the agency. It did not say what caused the fire.
double quotation mark Local authorities have reported a tanker has experienced a fire in their engine room. are on the scene assisting with the evacuation of the crew. The vessel is reporting 1 casualty and 2 crew members missing. No environment impact reported.
Authorities continue investigating.
The future of talks between the US. Iran are under review in the wake of the exchange of fire between Iran and the US overnight, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said.
His remarks suggest discussions are under way at senior level whether to continue the military exchanges.
Iran seemed to regard it as significant that Donald Trump reportedly initially did not want to respond militarily to the downing of the US Apache helicopter since that response was taken as a sign that Trump is eager for a peace deal,. does not want to disturb the diplomatic climate so close to a possible agreement.
Iran claims it hit 70% of its targets in Jordan. Bahrain, including the F35 fighter jet hangars at the airbase and the command and control centre of the US base in Al-Azraq, Jordan.
Iran has given various accounts of why the Apache helicopter was downed, but settled on an accidental collision between the helicopter. an Iranian drone.
A tweet by a senior Iranian parliamentarian praising the attack has caused some consternation within Iran since it suggests the helicopter was downed deliberately.
Ebrahim Rezaei, who is the spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s national security. foreign policy commission, tweeted in Persian and English sentences that indicate approval of Iran’s military action.
He wrote: “We kiss the hand of the fighter who dealt another slap to the devil by shooting down an American helicopter in the strait of Hormuz (like martyr Nader Mahdavi). we will celebrate him as a hero.”
He later asked how the US took less than two days to conclude that the attack on the helicopter had been carried out by Iran,. after three months of investigation was still unable to say if the US was responsible for an attack on a school in Minab at the start of the war that led to the death of more than 156 people, including 120 schoolchildren.
Overall, the tone of Iranian official remarks in the wake of the overnight exchange of fire was to project a firmness of purpose,. without enthusiasm to escalate.
A US attack on two water reservoirs in the Bemani area of Sirik in southern Iran. located on the shores of the strait of Hormuz, has left 20,000 people without drinking water, according to an Iranian water utility company.
Hormozgan province water. wastewater company, or Abfa Hormozgan, said the reservoirs were “targeted and completely destroyed” this morning by US military fire, according to a statement on its website.
The company’s CEO, Abdolhamid Hamzehpour, said the reservoirs provided drinking water to the city of Kohstak and 10 surrounding villages. There are not enough groundwater resources for immediate replacement in this area, Hamzehpour said in a statement carried by the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency, adding that conditions for residents have become “difficult. critical” as temperatures exceed 45C (113F).
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, accused the US of “harming” diplomatic efforts to end the war through repeated ceasefire violations, shifting positions. contradictory messages, while also blaming Israel of the same with its military operations in Lebanon.
The biggest exchange of fire between the US. Iran since a ceasefire was announced on 8 April has cast doubt on efforts to bring an end to the war and Donald Trump’s claims that a deal can be reached.
In a statement carried by Iranian media, Baghaei said:
double quotation mark The diplomatic process does not happen in a vacuum. To advance any negotiation or diplomatic process. you need a minimal space to be able to advance the work of diplomacy. Unfortunately, the United States is harming this process with contradictory messages, frequent changes in positions. demands, and frequent violations of the ceasefire. The Zionist regime is also harming this process with frequent violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon.
More than 460 former European leaders. senior officials have called on the EU “to stop turning a blind eye” to Israel’s conduct in Palestine and impose sanctions.
In an op-ed released to European newspapers, the group urge the EU to suspend preferential trade with Israel, prevent exports from the illegally occupied West Bank entering the bloc. impose sanctions on Israeli ministers
The op ed is signed by 18 former senior politicians, including former prime ministers Leo Varadkar of Ireland, Robert Golob of Slovenia. Stefan Löfven of Sweden.
Notably it is also backed by leaders from countries that have hitherto declined to support trade sanctions against Israel, such as the former Italian prime ministers, Romano Prodi. Massimo d’Alema, and German former vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel.
In an implicit rebuke to EU leaders – Ursula von der Leyen at the European Commission. foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas – the group calls on the EU to show leadership.
double quotation mark Alarmingly, today, the EU’s credibility in the eyes of its own citizens. voters – and most of the world – is being undermined by its failure to show moral and political leadership in upholding international law.
The letter highlights that Israel’s onslaught on Gaza has killed at least 73,000 people. including more than 21,500 children, since the “heinous” Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 that ignited the conflict. More than 900 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since Donald Trump declared a ceasefire last October. conditions in the strip remain catastrophic, with the UN agency UNRWA and NGOs having warned that vital supplies are impeded by Israel.
Also in the spotlight are state-backed attacks by violent settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank, despite an opinion from the International Court of Justice in July 2024 stating that all settlements were illegal. should be dismantled.
The demands to suspend Israel’s preferential trade. expand sanctions on Israeli government ministers raise pressure days before EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels for talks on the Middle East.
EU officials insist that there is no majority to suspend preferential trade with Israel or take other measures. while saying the proposals remain on the table. In the absence of a majority, the Commission has declined to prepare a proposal to ban trade with occupied territories.
Russia and China, both allies of Iran, have urged restraint after violence broke out anew in the Middle East
“Various relevant parties should maintain calm. exercise restraint, stop intensifying the conflict and escalating the situation, take concrete measures to ease and cool down tensions,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova later weighed in. saying: “We are extremely concerned about the new round of US-Iranian armed confrontation, which began with the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“We call on both sides to exercise restraint and to immediately cease military attacks.”
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported explosions near Qeshm, an Iranian island in the strait of Hormuz.
The news agency said: “The exact nature of these sounds is still unknown. given the volume of the sound, the source of the explosion may have been a relatively large distance from the city of Qeshm or related to movements in the strait of Hormuz.”
State media, citing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported US attacks on Qeshm island earlier this morning.
Thirty-two charities in England. Wales have donated at least £28m to Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law, an MP has said.
Labour’s Melanie Ward said that if gift aid were claimed against the donations in the usual way. it would mean taxpayers had subsidised illegal settlements to the tune of £5.6m, a situation she described as deplorable. The foreign secretary. Yvette Cooper, announced on Tuesday that the Charity Commission has been tasked with investigating UK charities’ links to settlements.
Ward, formerly the chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians, set out the details of their recent activities in a letter to the commission in which she urges the regulator to take action by investigating them. removing them from the charity register.
She writes: “The existence. growth of Israeli settlements in the state of Palestine is globally recognised as one of the major impediments to peace. Any activity which supports the maintenance. the expansion of Israeli settlements – such as that funded by these 32 ‘charities’ – is extremist and not of benefit to the UK public.”
Meanwhile in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued several warnings this morning urging people in three southern Lebanese towns. villages to flee their homes ahead of strikes.
The forced evacuation orders were issued for Ansariyeh, Ghassaniyah. Houmine el-Faouqa, warning people to stay away from the towns and villages and move north of the Zahrani River.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it had launched several strikes in the city of Tyre. other areas in southern Lebanon over the past day, claiming to target Hezbollah infrastructure.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it has received a report of a cargo ship exchanging fire with gunmen on a small boat off the coast of Yemen.
The guards on the cargo ship were able to fend them off, according to UKMTO. The incident occurred 88 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port town of Balhaf this morning, the agency added.
In its warning, the UKMTO said:
double quotation mark A cargo vessel has reported being approached by one craft with 6 armed persons onboard. There was an exchange of fire between the small craft. the cargo vessels Armed Security Team resulting in the small craft turning away.
Authorities are investigating.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack,. the Associated Press reported that the Houthi rebels in Yemen have said they will resume their attacks against Israeli-affiliated ships passing the Red Sea.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has held calls with his counterparts in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Iranian media is reporting.
According to state media, Araghchi used the call to condemn the overnight attacks on Iran as a “violation of sovereignty. affirmed Iran’s right to respond in legitimate defense”.
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