As War Persists Trump Calls On Iran To Make A Deal Before It Is Too La

Kenji Sato

-Apr 6, 2026, 12:13 AM

as war persists trump calls on iran to make a deal before it is too la

Main Points - Former Iranian foreign minister seriously injured and wife killed in US-Israel strike on Tehran - US president Donald Trump used a prime-time address to the nation to declare the month-long war in Iran a success “nearing completion” - Taoiseach Micheál Martin has warned that if the conflict in the Middle East continues “for any length of time” it will have a “very significant impact” on the world economy and livelihoods - The price of oil jumped and stocks sank after Trump offered no timeline to end the war in his address - Explosions were heard in Dubai as air defences worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage - Lebanese prime minister said there was no end in sight to Israel’s war that had already displaced a million people in the country Key Reads - Emmanuel Macron accuses Trump of undermining Nato amid mixed messages over Iran war - Keith Duggan: Trump leaves world no wiser on Iran objectives in 19-minute prime-time address - Q&A: Could already booked flights see a surcharge or could they be cancelled due to fuel shortage?

Listen: David McWilliams on why war in Middle East could mean rationing and recession Death toll in strike on Iranian bridge rises to 8 with almost 100 injured The death toll from Thursday’s attack on the B1 bridge in Karaj, Iran, has risen to eight, up from two, and 95 others were injured, Iranian state media reports.

US striking civilian structures a sign of ‘moral collapse’, says Iranian foreign minister Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said that Washington’s recent strikes on civilian infrastructure will not force Tehran to back down, adding that such actions “convey the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray”. “Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender,” Araghchi said in a post on X. “It only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray. Every bridge and building will be built back stronger.

What will never recover: damage to America’s standing”. Iran preparing a proposal for Strait of Hormuz navigation protocol with Oman Iran said it was drafting a peacetime protocol that would supervise – but not restrict – maritime traffic through the strait of Hormuz with Oman, AFP reports, citing state media, with Tehran’s closure of the vital oil corridor roiling the global economy.

Deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi told Russia’s Sputnik state media that the protocol would apply after the ongoing war with the US and Israel had ended, setting basic rules to manage ship movements, the IRNA news agency said. “We are currently finalising the drafting of this protocol and, once it has been finalised internally, we will undoubtedly begin negotiations with the Omani side in order to reach a joint protocol,” he said. Oman has yet to report any such negotiations.

Its foreign minister said last month his country was “working intensively to put in place safe passage arrangements for the strait of Hormuz”. Pakistan raises consumer prices for diesel again Pakistan has again raised consumer prices for diesel to 520.35 rupees ($1.88) per litre and petrol prices to 458.40 rupees per litre amid rising global oil prices spurred by the conflict in the Middle East.

“It was inevitable to raise the prices due to the international market prices going out of control after the US-Iran war,” Pakistan’s petroleum minister said late on Thursday. The country’s finance minister also separately announced subsidies for intercity transportation of goods and travel, and for small farmers. Argentina expels Iranian embassy diplomat Argentina has expelled the Iranian embassy’s charge d’affaires, ordering them to leave the country within 48 hours, after Tehran criticised Argentina’s designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organisation”.

Argentina’s foreign ministry declared Mohsen Soltani Tehrani persona non grata and said Iran had made “false, offensive and unfounded accusations against the Argentinian Republic and its highest authorities”. In a statement released by its embassy in Uruguay on Wednesday, Iran criticised Argentina’s decision to declare the IRGC a terrorist organisation as “illegal and unfounded” and warned the move would damage bilateral relations.

UK foreign minister calls for ‘immediate’ reopening of Hormuz Iran could face further sanctions if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the UK’s foreign secretary Yvette Cooper has signalled, after holding talks with more than 40 nations from across the world. Cooper said collective action to increase pressure on Tehran was being discussed as she accused the country of trying to “hold the global economy hostage” with its stranglehold on the key shipping lane.

“Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz is a direct threat to global prosperity,” she said in a statement following the virtual meeting on Thursday. “Iran is trying to hold the global economy hostage in the Strait of Hormuz. They must not prevail. To that effect, partners today called for the immediate and unconditional reopening of the Strait and respect for the fundamental principles of freedom of navigation and the law of the sea”.

Talks focused on the prospect of increasing diplomatic pressure, including through the UN, to push Iran to allow unimpeded transit and to “comprehensively reject” tolls being imposed on vessels seeking to pass through, she said. Countries also discussed exploring “co-ordinated economic and political measures, such as sanctions, to bear down on Iran if the Strait remains closed”, according to the statement.

Drone attack targets US diplomatic and logistics centre in Baghdad A drone attack targeted the US diplomatic and logistics centre in Baghdad’s international airport complex on Thursday, two Iraqi security sources have told AFP. “Two drones targeted the logistics support centre, causing a fire but no injuries,” one security source said, adding that one of the drones was shot down “behind the airport”. A second source confirmed the incident. The airport complex houses an Iraqi military base as well as the US facility.

Trump urges Iran to make deal “before it is too late” Donald Trump has shared footage on his Truth Social platform of the bridge strike near Tehran and appeared to take responsibility for the attack. He warned there was “much more to follow” and urged Tehran to “make a deal before it is too late”. “The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again – Much more to follow!

IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!,” he wrote. Strikes hit the B1 bridge between Karaj and Tehran on Thursday, which had already been hit around an hour earlier, Iranian state TV reported. “The American-Zionist enemy once again targeted the B1 bridge in Karaj,” a city west of Tehran, state TV said earlier, adding that the first strike had caused two civilian casualties.

The Israel Defense Forces previously told the BBC that they were unaware of the strike. China repeats its calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East China repeated calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in conversations with western counterparts on Thursday.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi discussed the Middle East situation in separate phone calls with the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and Germany’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul, appealing for joint efforts to push for a prompt end to the war. A ceasefire is the key to safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Wang told Kallas, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. “All parties should work to build a broader consensus to this end and create the necessary conditions,” Wang was quoted as telling Kallas.

Separately, the Chinese diplomat told Wadephul that as responsible major countries, China and Germany should uphold an objective and impartial stance and play a constructive role in the process, according to another Chinese statement. China has called US-Israeli attacks on Iran a violation of international law and demanded an end to the military action, which triggered Iranian strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted an Amazon cloud computing centre in Bahrain in retaliation for attacks on Iran, according to a statement carried by state media. Iranian foreign minister seriously injured and wife killed in US-Israel strike on Tehran Former Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi has been gravely wounded, and his wife killed, in a targeted United States-Israeli strike on their Tehran home, reports Michael Jansen. As head of Iran’s foreign affairs council, Kharazi has been an influential figure in guiding his country’s policy.

He advised supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was assassinated on February 28th when the US-Israel war on Iran began. Kharazi was recently involved in Pakistani efforts to arrange a meeting between senior Iranian officials and US vice president JD Vance. For the full article, read here. Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to monitor traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the official IRNA news agency cited deputy foreign minister Kezem Gharibabadi as saying on Thursday.

Reuters Bahrain hopes for vote on its Hormuz resolution on Friday Bahrain’s foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani told the United Nations Security Council he hoped for a council vote on Friday on a resolution Bahrain has drafted to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz. - Reuters US-Israeli strikes hit Iranian bridge a second time US-Israeli strikes hit a bridge near Tehran on Thursday, which had already been hit around an hour earlier, Iranian state TV reported.

“A few minutes ago, the American-Zionist enemy once again targeted the B1 bridge in Karaj,” a city west of Tehran, state TV said, adding that the first strike had caused two civilian casualties. It said the later attack took place as emergency teams were deployed to the site to help victims of the first strike.

Guardian Polish prosecutors to investigate attack on Polish UN soldiers in Lebanon Polish prosecutors have opened an investigation into a bomb attack that wounded a Polish soldier who was part of a UN peacekeeping patrol in Lebanon, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw said on Thursday. The March 29th bombing was carried out in Bint Jubayl by an unidentified person using an improvised explosive device on the route of the Polish convoy, prosecutors said in a statement.

The statement said the bomb attack failed due to the HMMWV, or Humvee, vehicle’s security measures. The wounded soldier suffered injuries to his face and head, the office said. - Reuters Middle East ceasefire key to ensuring safe navigation in Strait of Hormuz, China’s foreign minister says A ceasefire and an end to the fighting in the Middle East are fundamental to ensuring safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, the Chinese foreign minister said on Thursday.

Minister Wang Yi made the remarks during a call with the European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and called on all parties to rally consensus and create necessary conditions for it, according to a statement from his ministry. - Reuters Argentina expels Iran’s charge d’affaires Argentina’s government declared Iran’s charge d’affaires, Mohsen Tehrani, “persona non grata” and expelled him from the country, Argentina’s foreign minister said in a statement on Thursday. The measure orders Tehrani to leave the country within 48 hours.

Reuters US not engaged in any talks about new oil stocks release The United States is not engaged in any discussions to release additional crude oil from strategic stockpiles, an energy department official said on Thursday. The International Energy Agency has said it is considering another coordinated release to address supply disruptions stemming from the war in Iran, after its members in March agreed to release a record 400 million barrels.

Reuters UN chief calls for immediate halt to US-Israeli strikes and Iranian attacks UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that the Middle East conflict risked spiralling into a wider war, as he called for an immediate halt to US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Iranian attacks on its neighbours. “We are on the edge of a wider war that would engulf the Middle East with dramatic impacts around the globe,” the secretary-general told reporters in New York.

Guardian Hizbullah chief would pay ‘extraordinarily heavy price,’ says Israeli defence minister Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has warned that Hizbullah chief Naim Qassem would pay an “extraordinarily heavy price” for escalating attacks during the ongoing Jewish holidays. “I have a clear message for Naim Qassem... you and your associates will pay an extraordinarily heavy price for the intensified rocket fire directed at Israeli citizens as they gathered to celebrate Passover Seder,” Katz said in a video statement.

Lebanon’s prime minister says no end in sight to war Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday there was no end in sight to a war that had already displaced a million people over the last month, as families fleeing Israeli strikes said they were exhausted by repeated rounds of conflict. Lebanon is entering the second month of conflict between Iran-backed armed group Hizbullah and Israel, which has pledged to occupy swathes of southern Lebanon as part of a “security zone” to protect its own northern residents.

“Lebanon has become a victim of a war - one whose outcomes and end date no one can predict,” Salam told reporters on Thursday after a meeting of his cabinet. “The positions of Israeli officials, and the practices of their army, reveal far-reaching goals, including a significant expansion in the occupation of Lebanese territories, dangerous talk about establishing buffer zones or security belts, and the displacement of more than one million Lebanese,” Salam said.

Reuters Austria rejects US request for military overflights Austria has rejected US requests for military overflights of its territory since the start of the conflict in the Middle East in line with its policy of neutrality, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP on Thursday. “There have indeed been requests and they were refused from the outset,” Colonel Michael Bauer said, adding that every time a similar request “involves a country at war, it is refused”. Austria has been a neutral country since 1955.

It is surrounded to the north, south, and east by Nato members, with neutral Switzerland to the west. - Guardian Germany and China both want to restore the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and agree that individual states must not control sea lanes or levy tolls for passage, the foreign ministry in Berlin said on social media platform X. China can exert its influence on Iran to bring about a negotiated solution and an end to hostilities against the Gulf states, added the ministry.

Guardian Irish hauliers warn surging fuel prices are a ‘national emergency’ The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has described surging fuel prices as a national emergency and called for more government supports. They are meeting Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien on Friday morning to discuss the ongoing impact of escalating fuel prices on the haulage sector. Ger Hyland, the IRHA president said, “While existing supports were welcome, the continued increases in fuel prices have effectively eroded the benefit of those initial supports.

“The situation facing hauliers has intensified in recent days, with operators now under renewed financial pressure as diesel prices show no signs of stabilisation. This is a national emergency” “The margin for operators, many of whom are small family-run businesses, is being squeezed to unsustainable levels. Most of our members are operating at a loss and cannot continue to do so indefinitely. This will lead to job losses, higher prices and a fast emerging crisis in Ireland’s transport sector,” he said.

The IRHA are calling for further, immediate intervention from Government and for priority status in the event that the Government introduces fuel rationing. The association said it remains committed to engaging constructively with Government but warned that failure to address the current cost crisis adequately will leave the sector with “limited options”.

Iran’s two largest steel plants have been hit by US and Israeli attacks “Our initial estimate is that restarting these units will take at least six months and up to one year,” Mehran Pakbin, deputy head of operations at the Khuzestan Steel Company, was quoted as saying by the Mizan Online website. Mobarakeh Steel Company in the central province of Isfahan said that its “production lines have completely shut down following the high volume of attacks”. Both plants have suffered repeated strikes since last week.

Guardian UK foreign minister condemns ‘Iranian recklessness’ The UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, is chairing a meeting of almost three dozen nations to discuss measures to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. She condemned “Iranian recklessness” for “hitting global economic security”, adding that the UK is seeking to lead a diplomatic initiative to restore access to the maritime route being targeted by Iran in retaliation for the US-Israeli campaign against it.

She said there were more than 25 attacks on vessels in the strait and 20,000 seafarers trapped on 2,000 ships. “Iranian recklessness towards countries who were never involved in this conflict… is not just hitting mortgage rates and petrol prices and the cost of living here in the UK and in many different countries across the world, it is hitting our global economic security,” she said.

Speaking ahead of the virtual meeting, she said military planners are being convened to look at how to de-mine the strait as past of efforts to secure the vital sea passage, the Press Association news agency reported. “Alongside today’s discussions, we are also convening military planners to look at how we marshal our collective defensive military capabilities, including looking at issues such as de-mining or reassurance once the conflict eases,” she said.

Guardian The Philippines said Iran has pledged to allow safe passage of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz Officials said a “productive phone conversation” between the Philippine foreign secretary, Theresa Lazaro, and her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, had opened the door to crucial oil shipments. “The Iranian foreign minister assured the secretary that Iran will allow the safe, unhindered, and expeditious passage through the Strait of Hormuz of Philippine-flagged vessels, energy sources, and all Filipino seafarers,” the Philippine foreign affairs department said in a statement.

The Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos, declared a state of “national energy emergency” last week as a result of the Middle East war, which his administration said posed “an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply”. China blames US and Israeli attacks on Iran for Hormuz strait closure China has blamed US and Israeli strikes on Iran for the effective shutdown of the strait of Hormuz, which has been at a near halt for a month, saying these attacks were the “root cause” of the problem.

In a national address last night, US president Donald Trump said countries that receive oil through the major shipping route, which carries about a fifth of the world’s oil, “must take care of that passage” themselves.

When asked by reporters to comment on the US president’s remarks, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said: “The root cause of interruptions to navigation through the strait of Hormuz is the United States and Israel’s illegal military operations against Iran.” - Guardian Ireland finds itself in a global situation worse than ever before, Minister of State Seán Canney has said.

Andrew Hamilton reports: Speaking at a road safety event in Loughrea, Co Galway, on Thursday morning, Canney said the “entire extent” of the war in the Middle East is “not with us yet”. “Right now, geopolitically, we are in a global situation worse than we ever have [been in] before. The entire extent of it is not with us yet,” he said. Canney added that Ireland has reserves which are “greater than other countries in terms of fuel to keep the economy going”. “But we need to conserve energy.

We need to make sure that we are doing things in a smarter way. Don’t be wasting electricity. “There is information that will be coming out from Government in the next week to advise consumers how to save [energy]. Think about it, carpool, use public transport. Take stock, maybe cycle to work, maybe walk. All options should be looked at,” he said.

Trump’s comments ‘neither elegant nor appropriate’, Macron says Speaking to reporters during his trip to South Korea, French president Emmanuel Macron dismissed Trump’s comments, saying they were “neither elegant nor appropriate” and “they do not warrant a response”.

Instead, he pointed to the continuing impact of the war, including rising energy prices, saying that “what needs to be done is the word towards de-escalation, a ceasefire and a resumption of negotiations, which are the only way to truly resolve what is happening in the region.” - The Guardian Trump’s ‘mocking’ of Macron during private lunch ‘unacceptable’ Remarks made by US president Donald Trump about French president Emmanuel Macron during a private lunch on Wednesday have been described as “unacceptable”.

In a video posted on the White House YouTube channel, which was subsequently removed, Trump imitated Macron’s accent and claimed he only wanted to help “after the war is won”. During the private lunch on Wednesday, Trump was also heard claiming Macron’s wife “treats him extremely badly”. Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France’s lower house of parliament, said Trump is “mocking others” while the war in Iran is having “consequences for the lives of millions of people”.

Manuel Bompard, co-ordinator of the hard-left France Unbowed party, noted his “disagreements” with Macron, saying: “But for Donald Trump to speak (about) him like that and to speak of his wife in such a manner – I find that absolutely unacceptable.” – The Guardian Iran executes man arrested over January protests A man convicted of participating in an attack on a classified military facility during recent unrest in Iran was executed on Thursday, the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan said, after his appeal was rejected and the supreme court upheld his sentence.

The judiciary said Amirhossein Hatami was found guilty of entering a restricted military site in Tehran, damaging and setting fire to the facility, and trying to seize weapons and ammunition, charges he admitted during interrogation, Mizan reported. The first deputy chief of the judiciary, Hamzeh Khalili, said last month that cases linked to January protests, a nationwide anti-government movement repressed in the biggest crackdown in the history of the Islamic Republic, were finalised and sentences were being implemented.

Reuters Russia says it’s ready to help resolve Iran conflict Russia is ready to contribute to resolving the Iran conflict and president Vladimir Putin is continuing to talk to regional leaders, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. “The president is continuing these contacts, and if our services are somehow required, we are, of course, ready to make our contribution to ensuring that the military situation transitions to a peaceful course as soon as possible,” Peskov told reporters.

Peskov was responding to a question about US president Donald Trump’s speech about the Iran war and his separate comment that he was considering pulling the United States out of Nato. Russia views Nato as a hostile alliance, Peskov said. - Reuters Add us as a preferred source in Google search A spokesman for Iran’s health ministry has called on global health bodies to support reconstruction of a century-old medical research facility in Tehran.

The Pasteur Institute of Iran is one of the oldest research and public health centres in Iran. It was established in the 1920s following an agreement between the Institute Pasteur of Paris and the Iranian government. Hossein Kermanpour called on the World Health Organisation and global health bodies to condemn the attack and support reconstruction, calling it a “direct assault on international health security”.

Dozens of countries to discuss reopening Strait of Hormuz in UK-led talks The UK plans to hold a call on Thursday with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Britain is seeking to lead a diplomatic initiative, understood to include 35 countries such as France, Germany and some Gulf nations, to restore access to the waterway, though British prime minister Keir Starmer has admitted it will not be easy.

The 35 countries, including all G7 industrialised democracies except the US, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait. The call will discuss “diplomatic and political measures” that could restore shipping once the fighting is over.

Following the UK-led meeting, military planners will consider how to make the strait “accessible and safe” after the fighting has stopped, although this is not expected to involve the deployment of British warships to police the waterway Washington has insisted that Iran should allow ships to freely transit the Strait of Hormuz, but Trump this week has said it is not up to the US to force it, and in his address encouraged countries that receive oil through the passage to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it”.

– PA Iran fires missiles at Israel and Gulf states Iran has responded to US president Donald Trump’s address to Americans on the Middle East war with new missile attacks targeting Israel and Gulf states. The move underlines Tehran’s insistence that it rejects Washington’s moves toward a ceasefire while maintaining its grip on the Strait of Hormuz. Just before Trump began his address on Wednesday, explosions were heard in Dubai as air defences worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.

Less than a half hour after the president had ended his address, Israel said its military was working to intercept incoming missiles. Sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, immediately after the speech. - PA Tehran has hidden stockpiles of arms and munitions, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s operational command headquarters has claimed.

Reacting to Donald Trump’s address last night, Ebrahim Zolfaqari said: “The centres you think you have targeted are insignificant, and our strategic military productions take place in locations of which you have no knowledge and will never reach.” In his statement, carried by Press TV, the Iranian state broadcaster’s English-language outlet, Zolfaqari said the US and Israel “know nothing about [Iran’s] vast and strategic capabilities”.

– The Guardian Middle East war will have ‘very significant impact’ on world economy and livelihoods - Taoiseach Taoiseach Micheál Martin has warned that if the conflict in the Middle East continues “for any length of time” it will have a “very significant impact” on the world economy and livelihoods. Vivienne Clarke reports: Speaking on Newstalk’s Breakfast show with Anton Savage, Martin said such impacts would include increased inflation and higher costs for products derived from oil such as fertiliser, plastics and helium for semiconductors.

The aviation sector will also come under threat, he said. Martin said “we’ve had one shock after the other” in recent years, including Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all of which created an energy disruption of a “significant kind”. “Then we had the tariffs coming from the US, and now we have this war, and it’s been endless. Cumulatively, all of those will have impact,” he said.

The Government had taken measures to ease the pressure, “but no government can compensate for a crisis of this kind in terms of every sector or every person’s livelihood. “So we have to try and target it at those who need it the most and also try and ease the pressure of people generally at the fuel pump. But also then, we have to focus on protecting those that are key to the productive side of the economy.

“Hauliers are key to trade, hauliers are key to getting food on our shelves ... and so that’s why we took specific measures to help hauliers. “We’ll have to look at the whole area of food production as well in terms of the fertiliser issue and costs there, just like we did in Covid.” “If this continues at length, we have to maintain that sort of support for hauliers. We’d have to look at food production more generally.

But we hope this comes to an end sooner.” The Taoiseach said the Government was not considering rationing fuel at this stage. Trump remarks ‘unacceptable’ - Taoiseach Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the threat from US president Donald Trump to bomb Iran “back to the stone age” was “unacceptable”. Speaking on Newstalk on Thursday morning, Martin said the citizens of Iran have “no act or part” in the war and must be protected. “That’s unacceptable. Every person involved in war has to prioritise civilian protection and innocent civilians,” he said.

“We all know that the Iranian regime was a very oppressive one. But this war is creating death, destruction to people in Iran who had no act or part in the regime.” Martin said threatening civilians was “wrong” but said it was “not clear” whether the threats were directed at Iran’s civilian population and infrastructure.

“(We) could be forever trying to interpret president Trump in terms of what he said and what actually gets done, and that’s always been the feature,” he said, adding the US had stopped bombing of oil infrastructure. - PA Trump leaves world no wiser on Iran objectives in 19-minute prime-time address “Official presidential addresses are an exercise in nostalgia in their own right; a throwback to the analogue age and the idiot box as the family-gathering point.

But it still serves the purpose of the signalling to Americans that its leader has something vital and important to announce. “Monday night’s speech was simply a more formal version of Trump’s daily riffs in which the reasons for joining Israel in obliterating Iran became more obscure and the time line for an ending less certain,” Washington Correspondent Keith Duggan writes. Read his analysis of Trump’s address here.

Message from the Editor Iran’s military warns of ‘more destructive’ attacks until adversaries ‘surrender’ Tehran will press on with the Middle East war until the United States and Israel face “permanent regret and surrender”, the spokesperson of its armed forces’ unified command said on Thursday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. The threat followed comments by US president Donald Trump that Washington would hit Iran “extremely hard” within weeks, although Iran was “essentially decimated” with the United States on track to achieve its military objectives.

Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson of the Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters, responded that US and Israeli assessments of Iran’s military capabilities were “incomplete”. Iran would step up its military actions, with “more crushing, broader and more destructive” attacks in store for its adversaries, he added. - Reuters Will the supply shock to jet fuel drive up air fares this summer?

Jet fuel prices have roughly doubled in major markets since the onset of the war, driven by an effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 per cent of the world’s traded jet fuel supply normally passes. When demand outstrips supply, prices tend to rise, but it isn’t as simple as that in this case because of a practice called “hedging”, which is when airlines buy large quantities of fuel at set prices to avoid volatility like that which we’re seeing now.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) chief Willie Walsh, whose organisation represents 85 per cent of the world’s airlines, said Irish and European travellers have a “little bit more time” because of hedging. But fuel accounts for 26 to 27 per cent of airlines’ costs, and, as margins are already tight, Walsh said airlines would have no choice but to increase fares. “It’s happening now,” he added. Read more here.

US citizens urged to leave Iraq ahead of expected attacks from ‘terrorist militias’ US citizens have been urged to leave Iraq “immediately” in advance of expected attacks from “Iran-aligned Iraqi terrorist militias”. The US embassy in Baghdad warned these attacks could be carried out in central Baghdad within the next 24 to 48 hours, and may target US citizens. “Iran and its aligned terrorist militias have carried out widespread attacks against US citizens and US-associated targets throughout Iraq, including in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

“These actors may target US citizens, companies, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports and other sites believed to be associated with the United States, in addition to Iraqi institutions and civilian targets,” the embassy said. “Terrorist militias have targeted Americans for kidnapping, and US citizens should leave Iraq immediately,” it said. It added that the Iraqi government has “not been able to prevent terrorist attacks that occur within Iraqi territory or launch from it”.

Donald Trump’s threat to bomb Iran back to the stone age has sharply raised stakes in a war now in its fifth week and crushed investors’ hopes for a swift end to a conflict that is squeezing oil supplies and fanning inflation. Global markets recoiled on Thursday as war jitters over Iran deepened, with stocks and bonds sliding, oil surging and the dollar firming after Trump dashed hopes for clarity on when the Middle East conflict might end.

Reuters Trump says countries reliant on Strait of Hormuz should ‘just grab it’ During his Wednesday night address, Donald Trump said countries that rely on the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane for oil should “build up some delayed courage” and “just grab it”. The US president also said after the Iran conflict was over, the critical waterway would “just open up naturally”.

Despite soaring fuel prices in the US causing a headache for motorists, as in other countries, Trump insisted America did not need oil going through the maritime pinch point. He said countries that receive oil through the Strait of Hormuz “must take care of that passage”. “They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it. They can do it easily. “We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on,” he said. He continued: “I have a suggestion.

Number one, buy oil from the United States of America. We have plenty. We have so much, and number two, build up some delayed courage. Should have done it before. Should have done it with us as we asked, go to the strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves. “Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done, so it should be easy. “When this conflict is over, the strait will open up naturally. It’ll just open up naturally.

They’re going to want to be able to sell oil, because that’s all they have to try and rebuild. It will resume the flowing and the gas prices will rapidly come back down.” - PA Ahead of Donald Trump’s televised address on the Iran war this morning, media speculation focused on whether he would declare victory or announce an escalation. In the end he did both, declaring that the military operation was almost complete but saying that it could continue for another two or three weeks, writes Denis Staunton.

The second part of the message is the more important because it signals an escalation that could easily slip out of Washington’s control as Iran retaliates. Promising to bring Iran “back to the stone ages” over the next two or three weeks, Trump explicitly threatened to destroy the country’s critical infrastructure. “If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously.

We have not hit their oil, even though that’s the easiest target of all, because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding. But we could hit it and it would be gone. And there’s not a thing they could do about it,” he said. Read more here.

Death toll: More than 3,000 people killed since war began According to estimates from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, at least 1,900 people have been killed and 20,000 injured in Iran since the war began, though precise figures are difficult to verify. In Lebanon, more than 1,300 people have been killed, according to the country’s health ministry. Most of those who have died have been Lebanese civilians, but Hizbullah estimates about 400 have been its fighters.

And a total of 19 people have been killed and 515 injured in Israel since the war began. At least 13 American service members have been killed, with hundreds more troops wounded. US forces have struck more than 12,300 targets inside Iran since the start of Operation Epic Fury, according to a statement released by US Central Command on Wednesday.

The Guardian Trump says war is ‘nearing completion’ Donald Trump used a prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday evening in Washington to declare the month-long war in Iran a success “nearing completion”, despite a spiralling conflict that has caused economic turmoil across the globe, fractured transatlantic alliances and an erosion of the president’s approval ratings.

In remarks from the White House, Trump argued that the US’s “little journey” to Iran had nearly accomplished “all of America’s military objectives”, but offered little clarity on how he planned to wind down the conflict over the next “two to three weeks”. “We are on the cusp of ending Iran’s sinister threat to America and the world,” Trump said in the 19-minute speech, delivered from Cross Hall of the White House. “We have all the cards.

They have none.” Acknowledging the economic pain caused by the conflict, he blamed a “short-term” rise in gas prices on Iran’s actions, and insisted the US had become energy independent. Oil prices rose and Asian stocks traded lower immediately after Trump’s address, which did little to soothe investor concerns over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The US president reiterated his call for other nations to help secure the global oil chokepoint: “Grab it and cherish it.” Ticking through a list of claimed achievements, Trump said Iran’s navy and air force had been decimated, leaving the country weak and “no longer a threat” to the US and the world. He, however, said the US would continue to hit Iran “extremely hard” for next several weeks.

“We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong,” he said, even as he said “discussions were ongoing”. Democrats criticised Trump’s address as “incoherent” and doing little to answer “the most basic questions the American people”. In his speech, the president also took pains to distinguish the current conflict from America’s often lengthy past wars, calling the 32-day military campaign “so powerful, so brilliant”.

The Guardian Oil prices jump and stocks sink The price of oil jumped and stocks sank after president Donald Trump, in an address from the White House in the early hours of Thursday morning (Irish time), offered no timeline to end the war against Iran even after he said the conflict was “nearing completion”. Trump, in remarks that lasted 19 minutes, said US forces would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks”.

The price of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark for oil, was about $106 a barrel, up almost 5 per cent. West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, was around $104 a barrel, up 4 per cent. Investors and analysts have remained focused on the Strait of Hormuz since the fighting began over a month ago. The narrow waterway between Iran and Oman is a vital trading route for oil and natural gas that normally carries as much as one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

Shipping traffic exiting the Gulf through the strait has been effectively halted since the war began. Stocks in Asia, where countries import vast quantities of oil and gas, were broadly lower Thursday, reversing the prior day’s rally. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was down 1.5 per cent. Stocks in South Korea were the worst performers, falling 2.6 per cent. Futures on the S&P 500 pointed to a 1 per cent decline when stocks resume trading in the United States on Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent Wednesday.

US gasoline prices rose again Wednesday, jumping to a national average of $4.06 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club. The cost for drivers has risen by 36 per cent since the war began. Diesel prices have increased even more quickly, rising to $5.49 on Wednesday, up 46 per cent since the start of the war. - New York Times

As War Persists Trump Calls On Iran To Make A Deal Before It Is Too La

People Also Asked

Trump tells Iran to make a deal 'before it is too late' - USA TODAY?

As War Persists, Trump Calls On Iran To 'Make A Deal Before It Is Too Late'?

Trump Seeks Deal With Iran to End War | Arms Control Association?

Trump urges Iran to make deal 'before it is too late'; China repeats ...?

As Iran war rages on and oil prices rise, Trump says U.S. "hasn't even ...?