LIVE- Iran threatens to target a second major oil route

Iran has warned it will strike USS Abraham Lincoln, one of the world’s biggest aircraft carriers, if it falls within range of its missiles.

The threat comes after a large-scale missile attack failed to hit the vessel.

Footage has emerged of the moment Iran launched a series of shore-to-sea cruise missiles at the Lincoln carrier, which was deployed to the Middle East to support Operation Epic Fury.

Speaking in the White House yesterday, Donald Trump said: ‘They shot 100 missiles at one of our aircraft carriers, one of the biggest ships in the world, actually. And of 101 missiles shot, every single one of them was knocked down.’

But Iranian Navy commander Shahram Irani warned the warship was under constant surveillance ahead of another possible attack.

‘The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier is under constant Iranian monitoring and will be targeted as soon as it comes within range of missile systems,’ he said, according to the SNN news agency.

Israel’s defence minister and the IDF’s chief of staff today confirmed that the nation has dropped over 15,000 bombs on Iran since the start of the war.

The IDF said this is over four times the number of munitions dropped across Iran during its major military action last June.

Several Gulf countries, as well as Jordan, demanded in a joint statement that Iraq act immediately to stop attacks from its territory by armed pro-Iran groups.

The statement was signed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

Some groups in Iraq belonging to the pro-Tehran movement the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claim daily to have carried out ‘dozens’ of drone and rocket attacks against ‘the enemy’ in Iraq and the Middle East, without naming their targets.

The IDF today said that it destroyed a missile launcher that Hezbollah used to launch a barrage of 10 projectiles at Haifa.

The Israeli military said it bombed the launched shortly after the attack took place.

Leavitt today reiterated that the timeline for the war with Iran is still four to six weeks.

She said: ‘Again, as I’ve said, we’ve always estimated approximately four to six weeks. So, you could do the math on that’.

Karoline Leavitt denied that talks with Iran had stalled, after Iranian media reported that the regime had rejected the US’s 15-point proposal.

She said at the White House: ‘Talks continue… They are productive… and they continue’.

She went on to play down reports of the details of these plans, claiming: ‘There are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual’.

Karoline Leavitt declined to promise that the White House would seek congress’ approval before deploying troops in Iran.

Instead, she said: ‘At this moment, it’s unnecessary.

‘The formal authorization from Congress is not necessary because we’re currently in major combat operations in Iran.’

When asked about reports of around 1,000 soldiers from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division preparing to be sent to the Middle East in the coming days, she said: ‘The president likes to maintain options at his disposal’.

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, has said the last few minutes that he has been given information indicating that ‘Iran’s enemies’ are preparing to occupy of its islands ‘with the support of one of the regional countries’.

He warned in a post to X: ‘All enemy movements are under the full surveillance of our armed forces.

‘If they step out of line, all the vital infrastructure of that regional country will, without restriction, become the target of relentless attacks’.

Earlier, he said Iran was ‘closely monitoring all US movements in the region.’

He added: ‘What the generals have broke, the soldiers can’t fix; instead, they will fall victim to Netanyahu’s delusions. Do not test our resolve to defend our land.’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: ‘The president’s preference is always peace. There does not need to be any more death and destruction.

‘But if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, president Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before.

She added: ‘President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again. Their last miscalculation cost them their senior leadership, their navy, their air force and their air defence systems.

‘Any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime refuses to understand they have already been defeated and refuse to come to a deal.’

Speaking at a press briefing at the White House, Karoline Leavitt said the US ‘continues to decimate the terrorist Iranian regime’.

She said: ‘Just over three weeks in, it’s abundantly clear that Operation Epic Fury has been a resounding military triumph.

‘More than 9,000 enemy targets have been struck to date. Compared to the start of the operation, Iran’s ballistic missile attacks and drone attacks are down by roughly 90%.

‘The United States is also annihilating the Iranian regime’s navy. We have destroyed more than 140 of their vessels, including almost 50 minelayers.

‘This is the largest elimination of a navy in a three-week period since WW2. We are systematically eliminating Iran’s defence-industrial base, which will prevent future threats to the region.’

Russia today said it is ‘deeply outraged’ by a strike on the ground of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Overnight, the plant – which Russia partially constructed and helps operate – was hit by a strike. Iran accused the US of being responsible.

It is the second time within a week the plant was struck.

Russia’s foreign ministry said: ‘We are extremely outraged by this reckless, irresponsible manifestation of a disastrous course.’