Trump ‘holds crisis meeting with energy execs’ – Live updates

US president Donald Trump met with oil and gas executives at the White House yesterday, Axios reported.

Among the attendees was Chevron CEO Mike Wirth. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were also at the meeting.

A White House official told the media outlet: ‘The president meets with energy executives frequently to get their feedback on domestic and international energy markets.’

They added that domestic production, progress in Venezuela, oil futures, natural gas and shipping were all discussed.

In a bizarre post to Truth Social, Trump shared an apparently AI-generated photo of himself carrying a large gun while surrounded by explosions.

The photo is captioned: ‘No more MR. Nice Guy!’

He shared it with the following: ‘Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!’

Donald Trump has told his team to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran in order to drain the regime’s coffers.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US president believes that hurting Tehran’s wallet will weaken its leverage in negotiations, forcing it to submit to the US’ demands.

US officials told the newspaper that the blockade is crushing Iran’s economy, as the regime struggles to store the surplus of unsold oil it has.

Friedrich Merz has claimed his relationship with the US President is still good, after Donald Trump hit back at his criticism of the war in Iran.

‘From my perspective, my personal relationship with the US President remains good. I simply had doubts from the start about what was begun with the war in Iran. That is why I have made that clear,’ said Merz.

On Tuesday, Trump criticised Merz over the war in Iran, saying in a social media post that the German chancellor didn’t know what he was talking about.

Iran’s national rial currency hit a record hit Wednesday of 1.8million to $1 as a shaky ceasefire with the US and Israel still holds.

The rial had remained stable for weeks during the war, which began February 28, in part because there was little trading or imports coming into the country.

The rial began to slide two days ago, hitting the record low Wednesday.

Experts warn the fall of the rial is likely to further fuel inflation in a country where many imported goods, from food and medicine to electronics and raw materials, are affected by the dollar rate.

The war is now in a ceasefire, but a US blockade has continued to increase pressure on Iran’s already-battered economy, cutting into a key source of government revenue and hard currency by stopping or intercepting oil shipments.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN has today accused Israel of being a ‘serious threat to regional and international peace.’

In a letter to the UN Security Council, Amir-Saeid Iravani accused the IDF of ‘persistent violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon.’

He asked the UN to ‘compel Israel to fully uphold the ceasefire’, additionally accusing Israel of ‘aggression’ in Palestine and Syria.

Iravani added: ‘Security in our region is indivisible and deeply interdependent. Achieving genuine collective security requires a unified response that directly addresses the main source of instability: the occupying regime of Israel.

‘This outlaw and terrorist regime remains a persistent and serious threat to regional and international peace and security.’

Israel’s Air Force has announced it has ‘successfully intercepted an unmanned aircraft’ sent from Lebanon.

It said the suspected Hezbollah attack was taken out before it got into Israeli airspace.

The IDF said: ‘An interceptor was launched towards a suspicious aerial target identified in the airspace where IDF forces are operating in southern Lebanon; the results of the interception are under review.

‘The target did not cross into the country’s territory.’

The UN has today said that Iran has executed at least 21 and arrested over 4,000 people since war broke out in late February.

The UN’s human rights office said today: ‘At least nine people have been executed in connection with the January 2026 protests, ten for alleged membership in opposition groups, and two on espionage charges.’

It added: ‘Since 28 February, more than 4,000 individuals are estimated to have been arrested on national security related charges in Iran.’

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has claimed Iran will lose an additional $170million (£126million) in oil revenues every day when Kharg Island reaches its maximum storage capacity.

Bessent said US intervention was causing ‘permanent damage to Iran’s oil infrastructure’, including Kharg Island.

The island is responsibly for roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports.

He also claimed inflation has doubled in Iran, writing on social media: ‘The Treasury Department, through Economic Fury, has targeted Iran’s international shadow banking infrastructure, access to crypto, shadow fleet, weapons procurement networks, funding for terrorist proxies in the region, and independent Chinese ‘teapot’ refineries that support Iran’s oil trade.

‘These actions have disrupted tens of billions of dollars in revenue that would be used to fund terrorism. Under the president’s maximum pressure campaign, Tehran’s inflation has doubled and its currency has rapidly depreciated.

‘Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export terminal, is soon nearing storage capacity, which will force the regime to reduce oil production, resulting in an additional approximately $170m per day in lost revenue, and causing permanent damage to Iran’s oil infrastructure.’

The price of Brent Crude – the international benchmark for oil – has risen to $115 per barrel.

Since the early hours of the morning, oil has risen more than 3%.

West Texas Intermediate – the US benchmark – has risen to more than $103.