LIVE: Gulf states under attack as Kuwait power station worker killed

Here are the latest developments as the US-Israel war with Iran enters its fifth week:

• Donald Trump said in an interview with The Financial Times that he could ‘take Iran’s oil’ and added Kharg Island could be overtaken ‘very easily’
• A power station worker in Kuwait was killed following an Iranian strike which caused significant damage at the energy site.
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirm the death of navy commander Alireza Tangsiri after he was targeted in an Israeli airstrike last week
• Iran has restored electricity across Tehran and nearby areas after strikes damaged power grids and briefly disrupted supply, the deputy energy minister said
• Indonesia has confirmed that one of its peacekeepers was killed in Lebanon where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah
• Attacks are continuing on Gulf states as Saudi Arabia intercepts five ballistic missiles while air defences have also been operating in Dubai
• Pakistan has said it is ready to broker and host ‘meaningful talks’ between the US and and Iran to bring an end to the war

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

by James Gordon, US News Reporter and Laura Parnaby, Senior US News Reporter

A vital US plane needed to hunt deadly drones has been destroyed in a missile strike which also left at least five American troops seriously injured.

Photographs taken at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia show the ravaged remains of an E-3 Sentry aircraft after it was struck on Friday amid the Iran conflict.

The control system aircraft is a critical eye in the sky which helps track drones, missiles and planes from hundreds of miles away.

Air Force Colonel John ‘JV’ Venable told the outlet the downing of the plane is ‘a huge deal’ because there are a limited number of E-3s and they cannot be replaced.

‘It hurts the US’s ability to see what’s happening in the Gulf and maintain situational awareness,’ he told the Wall Street Journal.

The Air Force only has 16 E-3 Sentry planes left in the fleet, as production of the aircraft ended in 1992. The Pentagon is in the process of replacing them with Boeing E-7 Wedgetails, at a cost of $700 million each.

Iran has confirmed the death of Alireza Tangsiri, the Revolutionary Guards Navy Commander, following an Israeli airstrike.

On Thursday, Israel’s defence minister said Tangsiri, who it was said was responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz, was killed in a ‘precise and lethal operation’.

A statement carried by the Guards’ Sepah News website said Tangsiri ‘succumbed to severe injuries’ from the attack.

Oil prices increased and stock markets largely fell this morning as the Iran war escalated with the entry of the Houthi rebels.

Investors are also growing increasingly concerned the US will send in ground troops as the conflict moves into its fifth week

Oil prices rose with both main contracts jumping more than three percent at one point, with Brent hitting close to $117 a barrel, before easing back.

Meanwhile Asian stock markets slid with Tokyo down more than four per cent and Seoul more than three per cent before paring the losses. Hong Kong, Sydney, Mumbai, Bangkok, Wellington, Taipei, Jakarta and Manila were also down.

In Europe, London, Paris and Frankfurt opened slightly lower.

Key figures at around 7:15am:

• West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 per cent at $101.01 a barrel
• Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.6 per cent at $115.44 a barrel
• Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.8 per cent at 51,885.85 (close)
• Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7 per cent at 24,771.32
• Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 per cent at 3,923.29 (close)
• London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 per cent at 9,960.50

Jeffrey Sachs, the American economist, has warned Dubai and Abu Dhabi ‘could be blown up’ if the UAE joins the war against Iran.

Speaking to Asian News International, Sachs says the UAE continues to ‘double down’ on its mistakes by aligning itself with the US and Israel.

‘Basically, Dubai and Abu Dhabi could be blown up if the UAE gets into the war. These are resort areas. These are tourist destinations. These are not fortified missile defence areas.

‘These are places where rich people are going to party and put their money. And to enter a war zone is to defeat the entire purpose of a place like Dubai. The Emirates got itself into an absurd mess with its eyes open. And it keeps doubling down, by the way,’ he said.

It comes after the UAE signalled it wanted to see an international force created to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz following the Iranian blockade.

The United Nations said one of its peacekeepers has been killed in southern Lebanon where Israeli forces are fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

An Indonesian national died when a missile exploded near a United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon position yesterday.

‘A peacekeeper was tragically killed last night when a projectile exploded in a UNIFIL position near Adchit al Qusayr,” said a statement, adding another was ‘critically injured’.

The town of Adchit al Qusayr lies near Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, where Israeli forces have been battling Hezbollah fighters for nearly a month.

Indonesia confirmed that one of its peacekeepers was killed and three others were wounded due to ‘indirect artillery fire’. The UNIFIL statement said they did not know the origin of the projectile but had launched an investigation.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he wanted more certainty from Donald Trump on the objectives of the ongoing war in Iran.

‘I want to see more certainty in what the objectives of the war are and I want to see a de-escalation,’ Albanese said, responding to a question about his view on how Trump was prosecuting the war.

Australia has so far provided aircraft to assist with the defence of the United Arab Emirates after a request from the country, but has ruled out sending naval ships to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Smoke rises from buildings in Tehran following Israeli strikes last night

Iran has restored electricity across Tehran and nearby areas after strikes damaged power grids and briefly disrupted supply, the deputy energy minister has said.

Israel’s military said it had launched over 140 air strikes on central and western Iran, including Tehran, over the 24 hours to Sunday evening, hitting ballistic missile launch sites and storage facilities, among other targets.

Iranian state media reported strikes had hit Mehrabad airport and a petrochemical plant in the northern city of Tabriz.

‘Following last night’s enemy attack, the power grid in the provinces of Alborz and Tehran sustained damage and was affected,’ said Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi in an interview with state television.

‘The power network across Iran’s national electricity grid is stable; in Tehran and Alborz the problems have also been resolved,’ he added.

A chemical plant in Beersheba, Israel, has come under attack

Israel’s military has said Iran has launched multiple waves of missiles at Tel Aviv, while an attack has also been fired from Yemen for only the second time since the war began.

It said two drones from Yemen were intercepted early Monday but gave no further details. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia entered the war on Saturday, firing missiles at Israel, escalating a conflict that has engulfed the Middle East.

Israel’s military also said the Air Force was carrying out strikes on Tehran on Monday, targeting what it described as military infrastructure.

On Sunday, a chemical plant near the city of southern Israeli city Beersheba was hit by a missile or missile debris as Israel fended off multiple salvos from Iran.

Donald Trump once again claimed there had been ‘regime change’ in Iran as he insisted a peace deal could be struck soon.

Trump, citing the number of Iranian leaders who have been killed in the month-long US-Israeli war against Iran, said the new leadership was ‘much more reasonable’.

‘We’ve had regime change,’ he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

‘We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change.’

Asked whether there could be a deal with Iran this coming week, Trump said: ‘I do see a deal in Iran. Could be soon.’

by Imogen Garfinkel, Senior Foreign News Reporter

Donald Trump has said that he could ‘take the oil in Iran’ and boasted that he can invade Kharg Island ‘easily’.

It comes as the number of US troops in the Middle East swelled to 50,000, roughly 10,000 more than usual.

Tehran has promised to set American soldiers on fire should the US President order a ground invasion of the country, after the Pentagon drew up plans for potential raids on Kharg Island – the Islamic Republic’s main oil export hub – and attacks on coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump said his ‘preference would be to take the oil’, comparing the potential operation to Venezuela where Washington intends to control the oil industry ‘indefinitely’ following its seizure of strongman leader Nicolás Maduro in January.

His comments came as the US-Israeli war on Iran stretched into its fifth week, deepening the crisis in the Middle East with the price of oil soaring more than 50 per cent in a month.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Iran war which enters its fifth week today.

An Iranian strike on a power station in Kuwait killed one Indian worker and damaged a building at the site, the Gulf state’s electricity ministry said this morning.

‘A service building at a power and water desalination plant was attacked as part of the Iranian aggression against the State of Kuwait, resulting in the death of an Indian worker and significant material damage to the building,’ said Fatima Abbas Jawhar Hayat, a spokesperson for the ministry.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said its forces detected and intercepted five ballistic missiles aimed at the kingdom’s Eastern Province.

And authorities in Dubai said reports of explosions across parts of the city were the result of successful air defence operations.

Stick with us for the latest developments throughout the day.