LIVE: Iran blitzes Gulf as Trump says US will leave war ‘very soon’

A major Kuwait bank is closing its HQ in the capital Kuwait City for two days as Iran launches daily strikes on the Gulf.

‘National Bank of Kuwait will close its headquarters and Subhan branch today, Wednesday, and tomorrow, due to current developments and in the interest of everyone’s safety and business continuity,’ the bank said in a statement carried by state news agency Kuna.

NBK, one of Kuwait’s largest banks, also closed a branch in the industrial area of Subhan, home to security and government facilities and close to the airport, which has been targeted repeatedly by Iran.

Earlier today, Kuwait’s civil aviation authority said the airport had been targeted in an Iranian drone attack that led to ‘a large fire’ at its fuel tanks.

A British oil company has reportedly been attacked by drones in Iraq.

Local media outlets are reporting an enormous fire has broken out at a Castrol warehouse in Erbil after it was struck earlier today.

Footage from the apparent strike shows plumes of smoke billowing from the building which is also engulfed by flames.

According to Shafaq News, a drone fell inside the warehouses which ignited large quantities of oil and other materials.

A source told the outlet the damage was extensive and added no staff at the site were injured.

by Imogen Garfinkel, Senior Foreign News Reporter

The US will ‘re-examine’ its relationship with Nato once the Iran war has ended, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned.

It comes after US President Donald Trump appeared to wash his hands with reopening the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, telling his allies they will ‘have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore’ after calling Nato nations ‘cowards’ days before.

‘I think there’s no doubt, unfortunately, after this conflict is concluded, we are going to have to re-examine that relationship. We’re going to have to reexamine the value of Nato in that alliance for our country,’ Rubio said on Fox News, adding that ‘ultimately’ it would be a decision for President Trump to make.

‘I’ve been one of the strongest defenders of Nato during my time as a United States senator because I found great value in it,’ he said. ‘And it wasn’t just about defending Europe. I said it also allowed us to have military bases in Europe that allowed us to project power into different parts of the world when our national security was threatened.

‘If now we have reached a point where the Nato alliance means that we can’t use those bases, that in fact – that we can no longer use those bases to defend America’s interests, then Nato is a one-way street,’ he concluded.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said there are ‘no grounds’ for negotiations with the US.

‘We receive messages from the American side, some direct and some through our friends in the region, and whenever necessary we respond to these messages,’ Araghchi said in an interview with Al Jazeera aired today.

‘There are no grounds for negotiations,’ he said, adding however that some messages had been exchanged directly with US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Iran has been at war with the US and Israel since February 28, when strikes killed the country’s supreme leader and triggered a conflict across the region.

Diplomatic efforts involving Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan have recently been launched to try to end the war.

Last week, two senior Pakistani officials said Islamabad had conveyed to Iran a 15-point plan containing US proposals.

Qatar has said an oil tanker leased to its state-owned energy company was struck by an Iranian missile in its waters.

‘Qatar was targeted… by three cruise missiles launched from Iran,’ the Gulf state’s defence ministry said in a statement.

Qatar’s military said two missiles were intercepted but a third struck the tanker.

QatarEnergy said in a statement the Aqua 1, a fuel oil tanker, had been ‘the subject of a missile attack in the northern territorial waters of the State of Qatar in the early morning hours of Wednesday’.

It confirmed no crew members had been injured and there was no impact on the environment.

Earlier, a British maritime security agency said a tanker had been hit by a projectile in the Gulf, off the coast of Qatar’s capital Doha,

Stock markets rallied and oil prices tumbled today as Donald Trump indicated the war will be over in up to three weeks.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office the US would be leaving Iran ‘very soon’, perhaps within ‘two weeks, maybe three’.

His remarks came as the economic impact of the conflict worsens.

Average US gas prices topped $4 a gallon for the first time in four years this week, while European inflation is spiking.

But stock markets have responded positively today.

In Asia, Seoul – the standout before the war but among the worst-hit since it started – soared more than eight per cent, while Tokyo piled on more than five per cent and Taipei more than four per cent.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta were also sharply higher.

In Europe, London, Paris and Frankfurt all opened sharply higher.

Key figures at around 7:15 GMT:

• West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 4.5 per cent at $96.81 a barrel
• Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 5.4 per cent at $98.35 a barrel
• Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 5.2 per cent at 53,739.68 (close)
• Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.4 per cent at 25,382.33
• Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.5 per cent at 3,948.55 (close)
• London – FTSE 100: UP 1.8 per cent at 10,361.12

Israel’s emergency medical service said 14 people including an 11-year-old girl were injured during a missile attack.

Israeli military has blamed Iran for the attack which caused damage at several sites in the country.

‘EMTs and paramedics are providing medical treatment and evacuating to hospitals 14 casualties’, Israel Magen David Adom emergency medical service said in a statement, including an 11-year-old girl in a serious condition with shrapnel injuries.

It said a 13-year-old boy and 36-year-old woman, also with shrapnel injuries, were in moderate condition and a further 11 casualties in ‘mild condition’.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed a missile attack against Israel – the third strike since they entered the war at the weekend.

Israel’s military said its air defences had responded to a missile launched from Yemen which had been intercepted with no reports of any casualties or damage.

The Houthis ‘carried out the third military operation… targeting sensitive Israeli enemy targets… with a barrage of ballistic missiles’, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.

‘This operation was conducted jointly with our mujahideen brothers in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon,’ he added.

The Houthis joined the war by firing drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend.

Israeli military also intercepted two drones launched from Yemen on Monday.

Dubai-based airline Emirates’ website has said Iranian nationals are not allowed to enter or transit the United Arab Emirates.

The website of another carrier, Flydubai, said Iranian nationals holding a UAE ‘Golden Visa’ were exempt and permitted to enter and transit the country.

The restrictions come amid heightened tensions between Iran and Gulf states.

Yesterday it was reported the UAE is preparing to help the US and other allies open the key Strait of Hormuz waterway by force, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing Arab officials.

A Bangladeshi national was killed by falling shrapnel after a drone interception in the United Arab Emirates, the official WAM news agency said on Wednesday.

‘Shrapnel falling from the interception of a drone… resulted in the killing of a person of Bangladeshi nationality,’ WAM posted on X, adding that the incident happened in Fujairah, which is close to the Strait of Hormuz.

Kuwait’s international airport has been attacked with drones earlier today which has led to a ‘large fire’ after its fuel tanks were targeted.

‘Kuwait International Airport has been subjected to blatant attacks by drones launched by Iran and the armed factions it supports,’ the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) quoted the spokesman of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation as saying.

The spokesman, Abdullah Al-Rajhi, said fuel tanks at the airport were struck which resulted in the blaze, adding there had been no casualties.

The latest attack on Kuwait’s airport comes after a drone attack caused ‘significant’ damage to its radar system on Saturday.

by Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent

Donald Trump will give an ‘Address to the Nation’ on Iran on Wednesday night.

The speech was announced Tuesday night by press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who teased an ‘important update on Iran.’

The address will take place during primetime at 9 p.m. ET (1am UK time)

The White House did not immediately reveal additional details on the speech, though it will likely take place in the Oval Office.

Trump hasn’t made a major address on the Iran war since it began late last month.

During a back-and-forth with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Trump said he planned to leave Iran ‘very soon,’ with the original military operation expected to go on no longer than six weeks.