LIVE: Iran hit out at Trump ‘lies’ over Strait of Hormuz

Here are the latest developments in the US-Israel war with Iran:

• Donald Trump has pushed back a deadline not to strike Iranian power plants by 10 days and claimed talks are going ‘very well’ with Tehran
• Iranian hardliners are ramping up calls to build a nuclear bomb as the regime claims it has one million fighters on standby for a US ground invasion
• US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed Iranian missiles could strike London
• Iran’s military has warned that hotels housing US soldiers across the region would be targets in the war
• Israel has said it has struck the Iranian regime’s main facility for producing sea mines and missiles launched to attack ships
• Saudi Arabia said six missiles have been launched towards Riyadh while a maintenance facility for US air defence system Patriot was targeted in Bahrain
• The UAE is pushing countries to join an international force to reopen and defend the Strait of Hormuz
• Kuwait said its main commercial port has been attacked by ‘hostile’ drones

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

Oil prices rose and stocks mostly fell today as initial optimism over US President Donald Trump’s decision to again delay his deadline for strikes on Iran’s energy assets faded.

The cautious response came as governments around the world looked to shore up their economies against surging energy costs, which are adding to inflationary pressures.

Trump has extended a deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy assets, pushing it from Friday to April 6.

The announcement largely failed to lift the mood for markets, with European stocks falling and oil prices up around 2.5 percent.

Frankfurt and Paris stock markets each shed more than one percent, while London was down 0.7 percent around midday.

That contrasted with the sharp plunge in oil prices and gains for stocks after Trump first delayed the deadline earlier this week.

Key figures at around 11:15am:

• Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.5 per cent at $104.40 a barrel
• West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.7 per cent at $97.01 a barrel
• London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 per cent at 9,905.18 points
• Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.0 per cent at 7,761.88
• Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.5 per cent at 22,275.15

Golestan Palace in Tehran is among the cultural sites damaged

US and Israeli strikes on Iran have damaged at least 120 culturally or historically significant sites across the country since the start of the war, it has emerged

‘At least 120 museums, historical buildings and cultural sites across various provinces were directly targeted and sustained serious structural damage,’ said Ahmad Alavi, the head of Tehran city council’s heritage committee.

He was quoted by state TV as naming UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace – sometimes likened to Versailles – as well as Tehran’s Marble Palace, Teymourtash house and Saadabad Palace.

One of the capital’s most visited sites, the Saadabad Palace complex includes an extensive park and museums dedicated to Iranian history.

In addition to the cultural institutions, it also houses the residences of the Iranian president and governor of Tehran province, with judicial and Revolutionary Guards facilities located nearby.

According to the UN, at least four of the country’s 29 UNESCO-listed sites have been damaged in the war: Golestan Palace, Chehel Sotoun Palace in Isfahan, the Masjed-e Jame mosque in the same city, and the prehistoric sites of the Khorramabad Valley.

Ukraine is close to finalising security deals with the UAE and Qatar to help them tackle Iranian attacks, its foreign minister has said.

Andrii Sybiha added that Kyiv believes Moscow is also providing intelligence and weaponry to Tehran.

Sybiha told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the G7 in France that China could play an important role in future negotiations given its influence on Moscow.

Sibiha said he had received an invitation to visit Beijing and hoped to do so in the short-term.

It comes after Volodymyr Zelensky visited Saudi Arabia to sign a new defence pact.

Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same kind of Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz has said strikes will be stepped up against Iran as a result of its repeated missile launches.

‘Despite the warnings, the firing continues – consequently, IDF strikes in Iran will intensify and expand to other targets in sectors that help the regime develop and use military means against Israeli civilians.

‘They will pay a heavy price, an increasingly heavy one, for this war crime,’ Katz said in a video released by his office.

More than 1,900 people have been killed and at least 20,000 injured in Iran since the start of US and Israeli attacks, said Maria Martinez of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), citing figures provided by the Iranian Red Crescent.

Martinez said the Iranian Red Crescent continues to serve as the only nationwide humanitarian organisation operating across Iran amidst the escalating conflict.

The United States and Iran are preparing for direct talks ‘very soon’, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said.

‘According to my information, there have been indirect contacts. And they have also prepared for a direct meeting,’ Wadephul told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

He added that such a meeting was ‘expected to take place in Pakistan very soon’, without revealing the source of the information.

On Thursday US envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed that Pakistan had passed a 15-point American peace plan to Iran.

Wadephul was speaking before a meeting of G7 foreign ministers near Paris which will also be attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Germany’s top diplomat said he hoped Rubio would tell his counterparts more about ‘the approach and the interests of the US’ in relation to the conflict.

Here are key facts and figures about the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route virtually paralysed by the Middle East war.

Around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the waterway in peacetime.

• 26 ships approved by Iran

On Wednesday, shipping journal Lloyd’s List said it had tracked more than 26 ships using the corridor overall, most Greek- and Chinese-owned, as well as others Indian-, Pakistani- and Syrian-owned.

No ships tracked using transponder data had crossed the Strait of Hormuz using the regular route outside that corridor since March 15, according to the journal.

• 95% shipping drop

From March 1 to 26, commodities carriers made just 158 crossings, according to analytics firm Kpler – a decrease of 95 percent.

Of these, 100 were by oil tankers and gas carriers and most were travelling east out of the strait.

• No reported incidents since March 22

Since March 1, 2026, 24 commercial vessels, including 11 tankers, have been attacked or reported incidents in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz or the Gulf of Oman, according to the British naval maritime security agency UKMTO.

No incidents have been reported since Sunday, when the bulk carrier Phoenix reported an explosion next to the ship in Emirati waters, according to the UKMTO.

• Eight sea workers killed

Since the conflict began, at least eight seafarers or dock workers have died in incidents in the region, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

A further four remained missing and 10 were injured. Around 20,000 seafarers are affected in the region, according to the IMO.

The US military has fired over 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles during the Iran war which has caused alarm in the Pentagon, The Washington Post is reporting.

Some defence officials are said to be concerned at the rate at which the precision weapons are being deployed.

The newspaper is reporting it has also prompted internal discussions about how to make more available.

The US Department of Defense and the White House have not responded to requests for comment.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say three container ships have been turned back from the Strait of Hormuz following ‘lies’ from Donald Trump the waterway is open.

The IRGC’s navy has said the strait remains ‘prohibited’ to allies and supporters of Israel and the US and warned any attempts to transit will be met with a ‘harsh response’, military officials said on the Sepah news website.

The statement reads: ‘This morning, following the lies of the corrupt American president that the Strait of Hormuz is open, three container ships of different nationalities attempted to move toward the designated corridor for authorized vessels, but were turned back by a warning from the IRGC Navy’.

Yesterday Donald Trump said Iran allowed 10 ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a goodwill gesture as part of ongoing talks via intermediaries.

by Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter

Donald Trump told a Fox News host she is getting ‘better looking’ with age when she asked him if Iranians are starving because of the war.

Mr Trump joked with Dana Perino that his comments on her looks ‘will end my political career’ because ‘you are not allowed to say a woman is beautiful anymore’.

She grinned and said the station’s hair and make-up team deserve the credit during a wide-ranging and at times bizarre interview with the US President last night.

Mr Trump had called in to Fox News’ The Five Show and Ms Perino asked him if he knew whether Iran’s population were starving.

While admonishing the Iranian regime for their treatment of their own people, the married former White House press secretary to George W. Bush, asked Trump: ‘Do you have any insight as to how they are doing? Do they have drinking water? Do they have food? It’s upsetting’.

The President replied: ‘I do’, before appearing to flirt with Ms Perino.

Ukraine and Saudi Arabia have signed an air defence agreement Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the Gulf nation.

It comes as Saudi Arabia has faced repeated attacks from Iranian drones and missiles.

Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same kind of Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.

‘The point of the agreement is that Ukraine will support them in developing all the necessary components of air defence, which they currently lack,’ one official said of the document which, according to another was signed on Thursday.

Zelensky confirmed on social media that both countries had ‘reached an important arrangement’ on defence cooperation and that he had met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit.

Smoke rising from an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon earlier today

The mothers of Israeli soldiers have called for a stop to the war in Lebanon.

In a letter to the Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, mothers of soldiers called for an end to the further ground offensive into Lebanon.

The group, Parents of Combat Soldiers, includes 600 military parents.

The letter said the military was receiving orders from politicians who are ready to ‘sacrifice’ its children, and urged Zamir to focus on a political solution.

‘Four soldiers have already been killed in Lebanon, how many more will sacrifice their lives in vain?!’ said the letter.