LIVE: Trump willing to end war ‘without reopening Strait of Hormuz’

Israel’s military says it is prepared for ‘weeks’ more of fighting in Iran.

It comes after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview the war was ‘beyond the halfway point.’

Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters the decision is up to political leaders but that the military was ready for further weeks of conflict.

‘We are prepared to keep operating for weeks to come.

‘We have the targets for that, the munition for that, the manpower for that, and it’s up to the leadership to decide,’ he said.

Airstrikes have damaged a desalination plant Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media is reporting.

Health authorities in Iran say the plant has been completely shut down as a result.

‘One of the desalination plants on Qeshm Island was targeted… and is now completely out of service, as it is not possible to repair it in the short term,’ the ISNA news agency reported, quoting health ministry official Mohsen Farhadi.

It was not immediately clear when the attack took place.

Earlier this month, Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi accused the US of attacking a freshwater plant on Qeshm Island which impacted water supplies to 30 villages.

People accused of spying or cooperating with ‘hostile states’ could face the death penalty under a recently enhanced law, an Iranian judiciary spokesperson said.

Even sharing photos or videos that could aid enemy targeting may be treated as intelligence cooperation, the spokesman added.

Iranian media have reported more than 1,000 arrests over the course of the month, related to individuals accused of filming sensitive locations, sharing anti-government content online, or ‘cooperating with the enemy’.

The judiciary spokesman said the legislation, passed last year, applies to operational, intelligence and certain media activities deemed to support hostile governments, notably the United States and Israel.

He warned those creating ‘fear’ through misinformation could face prison terms, with penalties increased in wartime.

A drone interception has left two people injured in Saudi Arabia, authorities have said.

Saudi Arabia’s civil defence officials say the incident took place in a region southeast of the capital Riyadh.

‘Falling debris from the interception of a drone in Al-Kharj province caused two minor injuries and limited material damage to three homes and several vehicles,’ said a statement carried by Saudi Arabia’s official SPA news agency.

Al-Kharj province is home to Prince Sultan air base.

Damage to Dubai hotel after an Iranian attack

by Perkin Amalaraj, Foreign News Reporter

A human rights activist has claimed that paranoid residents in Dubai have started reporting members of group chats who share pictures of Iranian drone and missile attacks to authorities.

The war in the Middle East has seen Iran launch dozens of strikes at its Gulf neighbours for more than a month.

Harrowing footage and pictures of these attacks have made their way around the world, thanks in large part to residents in cities like Dubai who take them and share them on social media.

But the dissemination of these pictures and videos purportedly undermines the ‘national security and stability’ of Gulf nations, which have long sought to uphold their ‘carefully constructed brand’ as safe and glamorous travel destination.

As a result, tourists, expats and cabin crew who have dared share clips of these attacks have been detained in overcrowded police cells and prisons – and in some cases denied sleep, food and medicine – as they fall foul of draconian laws that purport to protect ‘national security and stability’.

Italy denied US bombers access to its Sigonella air base in Sicily last week, Italian media is reporting.

Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto is said to have made the decision when he learned some US warplanes planned to land in Sigonella without authorisation from the military, according to the Ansa news agency.

According to Italian media outlets, the US only communicated the plan while the planes were in flight.

After initial checks established the flights were not ‘normal or logistical’ ones it was determined they would be denied access. It does not clarify where the planes landed instead.

The incident is said to have happened ‘a few nights’ ago but has only been reported today.

China has declared its ‘gratitude’ after its ships were allowed passage of the blocked Strait of Hormuz.

Two vessels which were initially turned away from the waterway on Friday managed to transit and exit the gulf yesterday.

The CSCL Indian Ocean crossed the strait at around 0914 GMT on Monday, followed by the CSCL Arctic Ocean 27 minutes later, according to data from MarineTraffic.

‘Following coordination with relevant parties, three Chinese vessels recently transited the Strait of Hormuz; we express our gratitude to the relevant parties for the assistance provided,’ foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a press briefing.

She did not details about the third ship or mention Iran in her remarks.

by Mark Duell, Deputy Chief Reporter (Digital)

The last known shipment of jet fuel to Britain from the Middle East is due to arrive within 48 hours amid concerns that a shortage could be ‘less than a week away’.

The consignment on the Libyan-flagged Maetiga vessel is expected to reach the UK from Saudi Arabia on Thursday, according to data providers Kpler and Vortexa.

The blockage of the Strait of Hormuz due to the ongoing conflict means no other cargoes heading to the UK from the region can be seen on the water, they added.

The UK is currently sourcing at least half its jet fuel from the Middle East amid a fall in domestic refining and a halt on Russian imports since the Ukraine invasion in 2022.

About 40 per cent of Europe’s jet fuel comes via the Strait of Hormuz, which is nearly completely closed. The UK receives supplies direct from the Middle East while additional supplies come in indirectly, especially via Belgium and the Netherlands.

Industry experts now fear the supply issues could have a major impact on airlines from the end of next month if the Iran war continues, reported the Financial Times.

Multiple cars have been set on fire after a Iranian missile strike in central Israel.

Israel’s emergency services Magen David Adom has said eight people have been injured in the attack which Israeli media reports contained cluster munitions.

Six of the injured were treated in the city of Bnei Brak, which is largely populated by ultra-Orthodox Jews. None were said to be seriously hurt by the blast.

The military’s Home Front Command said it had received ‘reports of damage’ in the central parts of the country. Footage captured cars engulfed in flames in Petah Tikva.

Earlier on Tuesday, at least 10 blasts were heard in the Jerusalem area after missile launches from Iran were detected though no injuries were subsequently reported.

Oil prices sank and most stocks rose today after it was reported Donald Trump is willing to end the Iran war even if the key Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

But investors remain wary as the report came just hours after Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s key oil export hub and desalination plants unless it accepts a deal to immediately reopen the waterway.

Both main oil contracts fell Tuesday, though West Texas Intermediate and Brent were still sitting well above $100 a barrel.

And most equity markets rose. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington and Jakarta were all up, while Tokyo fluctuated.

Key figures at around 2:30am UK time:

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.3 per cent at $106.04 a barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 per cent at $102.22 a barrel

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 per cent at 51,820.30 (break)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 per cent at 24,869.71

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 per cent at 3,935.05

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the war on Iran had achieved more than half its aims, without putting a timeline on when it would end.

‘It’s definitely beyond the halfway point. But I don’t want to put a schedule on it,’ Netanyahu told the conservative US broadcaster Newsmax.

He added that he meant the war was more than halfway ‘in terms of missions, not necessarily in terms of time.’

President Donald Trump, who launched the war with Netanyahu on February 28, initially said the operation would last for four to six weeks.

While Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday the war would last ‘weeks’ further instead of months.

Netanyahu said the war had achieved goals including killing “thousands” of members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, adding Israel and the US are also ‘close to finishing their arms industry’.

Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were killed in Israeli strikes.

Two peacekeepers were killed yesterdat after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said in a statement.

Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.

Another Indonesian soldier was killed overnight Sunday into Monday when a projectile exploded near one of the group’s positions close to the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr.

Another peacekeeper was critically injured at the time.

The death on Sunday was the first among the UN’s peacekeeping force in the war between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah which erupted on March 2.