LIVE: Tehran warns ‘we have not even begun’ after Hormuz battle

by Mark Duell, Deputy Chief Reporter (Digital)

Airlines have cut two million seats from their schedules for this month within the past two weeks as concerns intensify over jet fuel shortages caused by the Iran war.

The total number of seats available on all carriers in May has fallen from 132million to 130million between mid and late April, according to analytics firm Cirium.

Gulf airlines such as Qatar, Etihad and Emirates have been worst-hit by airspace closures and airport disruption in the Middle East along with rising fuel costs.

European operators such as Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and SAS have also reduced schedules – while US airline Spirit has gone out of business following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of global crude supply passes.

Lufthansa had the most seat cancellations after cutting 20,000 flights between May and October, with Air China second after axing internal services, reported the FT.

Sir Keir Starmer has said attempts by Iran or any other countries to incite antisemitism in Britain ‘will not be tolerated’.

Speaking at a roundtable in Downing Street, the UK Prime Minister listed a series of security measures put in place to protect the Jewish community, before adding:

Security is essential, but that is not enough. We must also deal with the forces that drive this hatred in the first place, so we’re confronting them directly.

One of the lines of inquiry is whether a foreign state has been behind some of these incidents. We’re investigating, of course, all the possibilities and we’re clear that these actions will have consequences if that proves to be the case.

Our message to Iran, or to any other country that might seek to foment violence, hatred or division in society, is that it will not be tolerated. That is why we passed legislation to tackle these malign threats.

Iraq is offering huge discounts to oil purchasers if their tankers are willing to transit the Strait of Hormuz to collect the barrels.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Iran is offering barrels of its flagship Basrah Medium crude for as much as $33.40.

In comparison, Brent North Sea Crude was valued at $113.71 a barrel earlier today.

But buyers will have to navigate the strait to collect the oil which witnessed an uptick in violence yesterday as the US and Iran traded attacks.

The US and Iran’s fragile truce is in jeopardy today as the nations wrestle for control of the Strait of Hormuz.

American military officials said six Iranian small boats were destroyed yesterday after Donald Trump sent the navy to escort stranded tankers through the strait in a campaign he called ‘Project Freedom’.

The strait is a vital thoroughfare for global supplies of oil, fertiliser and other commodities that has been virtually closed since the US and Israel began attacks on Iran on February 28, causing price rises around the world.

Several merchant ships in the Gulf reported explosions or fires on Monday, and an oil port in the United Arab Emirates, which hosts a large US military base, was set ablaze by Iranian missiles.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has effectively closed the narrow waterway under threat of mines, drones, missiles and gunboats. The US has responded with a blockade of Iranian ports.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Monday’s events showed there was no military solution to the crisis. He said peace talks were progressing with Pakistan’s mediation, and warned the US and the UAE against being drawn into a ‘quagmire’.

South Korea has said it will ‘review its position’ on joining US operations in the Strait of Hormuz following an apparent Iranian attack on one of its ships.

An explosion and fire were reported on a South Korean cargo vessel on Monday in the key waterway, which has been effectively blocked since the war erupted on February 28.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said Tuesday that all 24 crew members aboard the stricken HMM Namu – including six South Korean nationals – were unharmed.

Trump said the incident should prompt South Korea to join American efforts to guide stranded ships through the strait, a major artery for the fuel exports that Seoul relies on.

On Tuesday, South Korea’s defence ministry said it would ‘carefully review our position’, but did not commit to any change.

Donald Trump has said he’s now ‘torn’ on Iranians taking to the streets to topple the regime following the huge loss of life earlier this year and added they ‘have to have guns’.

Speaking on The Hugh Hewitt Show yesterday, the President said as soon as Iranian protesters are armed ‘they’ll fight as good as anybody there is’.

Asked by the host whether he wanted to see Iranians out on the streets like they were in January this year, Trump said:

You can’t have an unarmed population against people with AK-47s and stand there, even if you have 250,000 people.

So, you started it off by asking me would I like to see them? And I’m very torn on it, because they lost 42,000 people in the first two weeks. I don’t really want to see that.

He continued:

I don’t really want to see that. They have to have guns. And I think they’re getting some guns. As soon as they have guns, they’ll fight as good as anybody there is.

Trump later insisted the US holds ‘all the cards’ in the conflict.

Denmark’s freight giant Maersk has said one of its ships successfully sailed through the Strait of Hormuz under US escort.

The ship, US-flagged Alliance Fairfax, had been stuck in the Gulf since the war erupted in February and was ‘offered the opportunity’ to leave accompanied by the US military.

‘The vessel subsequently exited the Persian Gulf accompanied by US military assets’ on May 4, the company said in a statement.

‘The transit was completed without incident, and all crew members are safe and unharmed.’

Stock markets have fallen in Asia and Europe this morning amid fresh fears over Middle East tensions following attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the clashes showed there was ‘no military solution to a political crisis’ and pointed to Pakistan’s efforts to keep mediating.

Both main oil contracts slipped Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate shedding more than one percent. However, it was hovering just below $105, and Brent was slightly lower at a little more than $113.

Key figures at around 7:15am UK time:

• West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.9 per cent at $104.39 a barrel
• Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.6 per cent to $113.71 a barrel
• Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 per cent at 25,848.60
• London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 per cent at 10,268.52

by Andrew Jehring, Chief Foreign Correspondent

Donald Trump’s bid to reopen the Strait of Hormuz yesterday risked reigniting the war in the Middle East.

After he confirmed Iran had fired ‘shots’ at vessels, the US President warned Tehran it would be ‘blown off the face of the Earth’ should it target American ships in the Gulf.

And air raid sirens sounded in the region for the first time since the uneasy ceasefire came into force last month, with the mullahs launching a series of missile and drone attacks on the UAE.

Fifteen Iranian missiles were intercepted, while drones struck an empty crude tanker in the Strait and attacked the country’s oil fields once more – sending the price of a barrel of crude back up to £85.

‘Project Freedom’, as it has been dubbed by the White House, brought a day of claim and counter-claim.

The US said it had successfully escorted two ships through the vital waterway, something Tehran blasted as ‘lies’.

The Fujairah Oil Industry Zone was struck by Iranian drones

India has condemned a drone strike on an energy facility in Fujairah in which three Indians were injured.

‘We call for immediate cessation of these hostilities and the targeting of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians,’ India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said earlier today.

The South Asian nation is heavily dependent on imported energy, which has been disrupted since the Middle East war began in late February.

India, the world’s third-largest oil buyer, normally sources about half of its crude through the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Arab Emirates blamed Iran for the drone attack on an energy installation on Monday.

Iranian state TV said the Islamic republic had ‘no pre-planned programme’ to attack oil facilities in the UAE.

Good morning and welcome to the Daily Mail’s live coverage of the Iran war as Tehran and Washington remain embroiled in a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz.

A fragile and open-ending ceasefire agreement appeared to be in ruins yesterday as fire was traded in the waterway.

Donald Trump announced the US would help escort ships through the strait but some vessels came under attack.

This morning, Iran’s chief negotiator in talks with the United States has warned his country has ‘not even started’ in its standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.

‘We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; whilst we have not even started yet,’ Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest developments throughout the day.