LIVE: Iran issues threat to any US troops who set foot on their soil

Here are the latest developments in the US-Israel war with Iran:

• Donald Trump has pushed back a deadline not to strike Iranian power plants by 10 days and claimed talks are going ‘very well’ with Tehran
• Iranian hardliners are ramping up calls to build a nuclear bomb as the regime claims it has one million fighters on standby for a US ground invasion
• US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed Iranian missiles could strike London
• Iran’s military has warned that hotels housing US soldiers across the region would be targets in the war
• Israel has said it has struck the Iranian regime’s main facility for producing sea mines and missiles launched to attack ships
• Saudi Arabia said six missiles have been launched towards Riyadh while a maintenance facility for US air defence system Patriot was targeted in Bahrain
• The UAE is pushing countries to join an international force to reopen and defend the Strait of Hormuz
• Kuwait said its main commercial port has been attacked by ‘hostile’ drones

Stick with us throughout the day as we bring you the latest updates

by Stephen M. Lepore, US Senior Reporter

Donald Trump is reportedly considering the deployment of 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give Washington more military options as ​the president seeks peace talks with ‌Tehran.

The president has repeatedly insisted on a strategy of ‘peace through strength’ in his foreign policy while giving Iran 10 additional days before his threat to destroy their energy hubs unless Tehran reopens the Strait of Hormuz.

The additional troops would likely be sent to a US military base within striking distance of Iran’s Kharg Island. Trump has threatened to seize its energy assets.

Department of Defense officials with knowledge of the planning told The Wall Street Journal the deployment would likely include infantry and armored vehicles.

Already, about 5,000 Marines and several thousand paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division have been sent to the Middle East to bolster defenses.

Marco Rubio says the US can still achieve its objectives in Iran without deploying ground troops to the Middle East.

Asked about the possibility of a potential invasion, he says:

We can achieve all of our objectives with our ground troops. But we are always going to be prepared to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust to contingencies, should they emerge.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Iran may decide to set up a tolling system on the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking to reporters following a G7 meeting in France, Rubio says the US expects the Iran war to conclude within weeks, not months.

‘We have objectives and we are very confident we are on the verge of achieving them,’ he says.

Iran’s foreign minister has claimed Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu ‘gambled with American lives’ in a new statement on X

Sharing a story in the Financial Times about the economic shock of the conflict, Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the blame lays with the Israeli Prime Minister.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have warned employees and people leaving within 1km of American industrial companies should leave immediately following Israeli strikes earlier today.

In a statement on its Sepah news website, the Guards said: ‘The American-Zionist enemy, despite previous warnings to refrain from attacking Iranian industries, launched multiple attacks on Iranian industrial centers today. Our fighters are conducting retaliatory strikes.

‘Therefore, we warn all employees of industrial companies in the region with American shareholders, as well as allied heavy industries of the Zionist regime, to immediately leave your workplaces so that your lives will not be endangered!’

It comes after Israel attacked two of Iran’s main steel plants earlier today.

Iran’s counter offer to Donald Trump’s peace proposal is expected to arrive in the White House today, sources have said.

Iran had been reviewing a 15 point proposal, sent via Pakistan, that included demands ranging from dismantling Iran’s nuclear program to curbing its missile development and effectively handing over control of the Strait of Hormuz, according to sources and reports.

An Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday that senior officials had reviewed the proposal and felt it served only US and Israeli interests.

But the official said diplomacy had not ended.

G7 foreign ministers today urged an ‘immediate cessation’ of attacks against civilians in the Iran war.

The leaders also called on Iran to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

A joint statement, released in the name of all G7 members including the United States, called for ‘an immediate cessation of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure’.

‘We reiterated the absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,’ it added.

The reactor was attacked by Israel last year

Heavy-water reactors such as Khondab pose a nuclear proliferation risk because they can easily produce plutonium which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.

Under the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, construction was halted, the reactor’s core was removed and filled with concrete to make it unusable.

The reactor was to be redesigned ‘to minimise the production of plutonium and not to produce weapon-grade plutonium in normal operation’.

Iran informed the IAEA that it plans to start operating the reactor in 2026 after the US withdrew from the deal in 2018 during Donald Trump’s first presidency.

The site was previously attacked in Israel last year during the 12-day war.

More than 300 US troops have been wounded since the start of the Iran war on February 28, US Central Command has said.

‘Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, approximately 303 US service members have been wounded.

‘The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 273 troops have returned to duty,’ US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins said.

A US official who asked not to be identified said 10 US troops remain seriously wounded.

Iran’s Khondab heavy water reactor has been struck 10 times in an airstrike, it is being reported.

Black smoke is said to be billowing from the plant in the Iranian city of Arak.

The office of Iran’s Markazi Province governor said the Khondab heavy water complex was targeted in two separate attacks.

‘The Khondab Heavy Water Complex was targeted in two stages by aggression from the American and Zionist enemy,’ said Fars news agency, citing Hassan Ghamari, an official in the central Markazi province.

Officials say there are no casualties and the strikes posed no danger to nearby residents.

Iran would be ‘well advised’ to negotiate with the US after almost a month of conflict in the Middle East, Germany’s foreign minister has said

‘The Iranian regime would be well advised to enter into serious negotiations with the United States now,’ Johann Wadephul said, after meeting G7 counterparts in France, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

‘There are initial indications that such talks should be taking place,’ he added, without giving further details.

Wadephul also told reporters there is no disagreement with the US over Iran, adding that Tehran must not acquire nuclear weapons or pose a regional threat.