LIVE: Ayatollah warns ‘only place’ for US is ‘at bottom of waters’

Mojtaba Khamenei has said the only place for Americans in the Persian Gulf ‘is at the bottom of its waters’, according to state television.

In his statement, which has now been published on Telegram, he said:

We are ‘fellow-destined’ with our neighbors in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and the foreigners who wreak their greedy havoc from thousands of miles away have no place there, except at the bottom of its waters.

Khamenei, who hasn’t been seen or heard since he was appointed the supreme leader following the death of his father Ali, also claimed Tehran’s ‘new management’ of the Strait of Hormuz would bring ‘progress’ and economic benefits

Khamenei said Iran would eliminate ‘the enemy’s abuses of the waterway’.

US Central Command is pushing to deploy Dark Eagle hypersonic missiles to the Middle East, a source told Bloomberg.

They want a long-range option capable of striking Iranian ballistic missile launchers located deep within the country.

The Dark Eagle, has a reported range of 1,725 miles and is deliberately made for ‘long range conventional precision strike capability’ against ‘time-sensitive and heavily defended targets.’

If greenlit, this would be the first time the US has deployed a Dark Eagle hypersonic missile of which there are no more than eight, according to the source.

Trump is expected to receive a briefing later today on new plans for potential military action in Iran from Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, two sources with knowledge told Axios.

A high-ranking Iranian Revolutionary Guard has insisted the US will be hit with ‘painful and prolonged’ strikes if new attacks are waged on Tehran, state media is reporting.

Brigadier General Seyed Majid Mousavi, IRGC aerospace commander, said Tehran is ready to respond to its ‘enemy’s operations’ amid reports Trump is considering a fresh offensive.

In comments carried by the IRGC’s Sepah News website, Mousavi said: ‘With painful, prolonged, and far-reaching strikes, we will respond to the enemy’s operations, even if they are punitive and short-lived, by the grace of God. We have seen the fate of your flimsy bases in the region; we will see your warships too.’

by Perkin Amalaraj, Foreign News Reporter

This is the harrowing moment British troops were forced to take cover as they came under attack during a deployment to the Middle East.

Soldiers belonging to RAF Counter Uncrewed Aerial System teams were seen lying flat on the ground as sirens blared overhead in a video shared by the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

One soldier told the others: ‘Make sure you’re ready to brace.’

Another was heard saying: ‘Boys, get ready to brace!’

As the troops prepared for the attack, a roar of missiles could be heard from outside. A voice over the tannoy was heard saying: ‘Incoming, incoming, incoming.’

Israeli strikes on three south Lebanon villages killed nine people, among them two children and five women, Lebanon’s health ministry has said.

The latest deaths come nearly two weeks into a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

‘Israeli enemy strikes on south Lebanon led, in an initial toll, to nine martyrs, among them two children and five women, and 23 wounded, among them eight children and seven women,’ the ministry said shortly after Lebanon’s president condemned ‘continuing Israeli violations’ of the ceasefire.

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 3.75 per cent but warned that the Middle East energy shock could drive up inflation and lead to a hike in rates.

It said that in a worst-case scenario where oil and gas prices stay higher for a longer amount of time, UK inflation could rise to as much as 6.2 per cent.

The Bank considered several ways that events could unfold but a worst-case scenario could lead to multiple rate rises and an increased risk of recession.

Eight members of the Bank’s nine-person Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to hold interest rates steady, while one member opted for a hike to 4 per cent.

Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor, said he felt borrowing costs were at a “reasonable place given the situation of the economy and the unpredictability of events in the Middle East”.

by Erin Deborah Waks, Travel Writer

As summer holiday chaos looms, and the Iran war continues to dry up jet fuel supplies and send flight prices soaring, the UK’s aviation industry is being decimated.

The Prime Minister even warned Brits may need to change their summer holiday plans because of the jet fuel crisis.

And now, in a string of closures, another British airline has gone bust – and it has blamed the ongoing Middle East war and increase in jet fuel prices for the situation.

Ascend Airways, which operated flights from major UK hubs such as Gatwick Airport and Stansted Airport, has cancelled all its flights effective immediately – with 161 jobs affected.

The ‘wet-lease’ carrier, a British ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) and charter airline, previously provided aircraft for other organisations.

This includes carriers such as Tui Airways, Oman Air and Air Sierra Leone.

The EU has said the deployment of US troops in Europe was in Washington’s interest, after Donald Trump threatened to reduce force numbers in Germany.

‘The deployment of US troops in Europe is also in the US interest in support of its global role,’ European Union spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said.

Meanwhile German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has stressed the importance of a ‘reliable transatlantic partnership’, amid a row with Trump over the Iran war.

‘In these particularly turbulent times, we are following a clear compass,’ Merz said during a visit to an army training ground.

‘This compass remains oriented toward a united NATO and a reliable transatlantic partnership.’

In his statement, Khamenei has also blamed American military presence in the Middle East for insecurity.

He said:

It has been proven … that the presence of American foreigners and their nesting and nesting in the lands of the Persian Gulf is the most important factor in insecurity in the region.

America’s puppet bases do not even have the strength and capacity to ensure their own security, let alone that there is any hope that America will provide security to its dependents and American-loving people in the region.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said a new chapter for the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz has been taking shape following the US’s ‘shameful failure’ over the waterway.

In a published written message to commemorate National Persian Gulf Day, which celebrates the expulsion of Portuguese forces form the island of Hormuz in 1622, Khamenei said:

Today, two months after the world’s biggest campaign and aggression in the region and America’s shameful failure in its own plan, a new chapter is emerging in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Smoke rises from the southern Lebanese area of Marjeyoun

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has condemned what he described as Israel’s continued violations of the ceasefire.

Speaking today, Aoun is calling for international pressure on Israel to stop strikes on civilians and paramedics.

He slammed the ‘continuing Israeli violations’ in south Lebanon, saying they were occurring ‘despite the ceasefire, as do demolitions of homes and places of worship, while the number of killed and wounded rises day after day’.

‘Pressure must be exerted on Israel to ensure it respects international laws and conventions and ceases targeting civilians, paramedics, civil defence, and humanitarian health and relief organisations,’ he added in a statement, as the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah nears the two-week mark.

CNN is reporting a revised peace proposal put forward by Iran could arrive tomorrow.

Sources close to mediators working on the plan say the new plan could come after a previous one was dismissed.

Top US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, twice turned back last week from trips to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran with Washington claiming they do not know who is speaking for the country

On Wednesday, Trump said negotiations to end the war are taking place ‘telephonically’ because ‘we’re not flying anymore’.