Iran vows not a ‘single drop’ of oil or gas will pass strait of Hormuz as US carries out ninth night of strikes – Middle East crisis live | US-Israel war on Iran
UKMTO: Vessel on fire in strait of Hormuz had been struck by unknown projectile
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency is reporting that the vessel on fire off the Omani coast in the strait of Hormuz had been struck by an unknown projectile.
The crew has safely abandoned the vessel and were rescued by a tug boat, UKMTO said. The fire has not been extinguished and the vessel is currently adrift.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had earlier claimed that two oil tankers were blown up after attempting to transit through the southern route of the strait, but there has been no independent confirmation of this and it is unclear if the IRGC was referring to this vessel.
Key events
Iran urges IAEA action on US strike of under-construction nuclear site
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday called on the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency to condemn the overnight US strikes on a nuclear power plant under construction in Darkhovin.
“Iran… expects the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) board of dovernors and the director general of the IAEA, who from time to time makes political statements regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, to clearly state their position on this matter in condemning the US crime,” Baghaei said at a press conference attended by AFP.
The IAEA had previously said that the watchdog agency was looking into reports of the strike, but noted that the facility was “in the very early stages of construction and contained no nuclear material when last visited by the IAEA”.
The watchdog added that director general Rafael Grossi “reiterates call for military restraint in the vicinity of all nuclear-related sites”.
Iran foreign ministery: Diplomatic exchanges between US and Iran are onging
Diplomatic exchanges between the US and Iran are ongoing via mediators, even amid US strikes on Iran and the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claiming to have targeted US military infrastructure in other Gulf nations, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told the AFP at a press conference on Monday.
“We have been informed by mediators, we have received messages – without going into details – but the main point is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators,” Baghaei said.
However, Baghaei said that Iran would not allow the strait of Hormuz to be used to threaten the country’s security, adding that the country was “determined to take the necessary measures” to safeguard its sovereignty.
UKMTO: Vessel on fire in strait of Hormuz had been struck by unknown projectile
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency is reporting that the vessel on fire off the Omani coast in the strait of Hormuz had been struck by an unknown projectile.
The crew has safely abandoned the vessel and were rescued by a tug boat, UKMTO said. The fire has not been extinguished and the vessel is currently adrift.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had earlier claimed that two oil tankers were blown up after attempting to transit through the southern route of the strait, but there has been no independent confirmation of this and it is unclear if the IRGC was referring to this vessel.
State news agency IRNA reports that overnight US strikes hit several locations in Bushehr, a southern port city in Iran and the home to the country’s only civilian nuclear plant, according to AFP.
There were no details on casualties or damages.
State news agency IRNA is reporting that US strikes in northwestern Iran killed at least one person on Monday and wounded several more, according to AFP.
The attack took place in an area southwest of Tabriz, Majid Farshi, head of crisis management of East Azerbaijan province, told IRNA.
Interim summary
In case you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of the latest events as US-Iran hostilities continue and fuel concerns of a slide towards all-out war. It’s 9.30am in Tehran and 2am in Washington DC.
US forces launched a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran on Monday as the number of confirmed American military deaths in the renewed fighting rose to three. The strikes were aimed at “degrading” Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels in the strait of Hormuz, the US military’s Central Command said.
US missiles struck several Iranian cities early on Monday, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency. Explosions were heard in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini, it said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it hit US military targets in Kuwait and targeted US aircraft in Jordan’s Aqaba airport with ballistic missiles, while sirens sounded in Bahrain on Monday and the Guard also announced a surprise strike against “the enemy’s special operations headquarters in Syria’s Al-Tanf area”.
Donald Trump said the latest American strikes were being carried out in honour of the US service members killed in recent days. “We hit them [Iran] very hard again tonight, and we did that in honour of the probably three, it’s probably three great patriots,” the president told reporters as he returned to Washington after the World Cup final.
The US military had said a service member was killed on Saturday in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation on a downed Iranian drone, and that a day earlier two of its service personnel were killed in Jordan in an Iranian attack. It brought the total number of US military personnel killed since the war began to 17, with more than 420 others wounded. Iran’s health ministry said on Saturday that 50 people had been killed and more than 500 injured in US strikes on the country over the past three weeks.
The Royal Navy’s United Kingdom Maritime Operations Centre said late Sunday it received a report that a vessel was on fire off the Omani coast. The Revolutionary Guard later claimed two oil tankers were blown up after attempting to transit through the southern route of the strait. There was no independent confirmation.
The Guard said the strait would remain unsafe as long as what it called US “aggression” in the region continued, warning that “this passage will not be safe for the transit of petrochemical products, nor even a single drop of oil and gas”. It also warned the US military to prepare for a “punitive operation”.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Iran was using the strait of Hormuz as leverage “against the world” and urged other countries to step up pressure to protect global shipping.
Oil prices jumped in early Asian trade on Monday after the latest US strikes and Hormuz strait tensions, with brent crude for September delivery rising 2.72% to $90.50 a barrel by about 0100 GMT. It earlier briefly crossed $91 – its highest price since June.
Iran war in spotlight at Asean talks
South-east Asia’s top diplomats will express alarm over renewed hostilities in the Middle East when they gather in the Philippine capital on Tuesday for talks to be joined by western and Asian counterparts, including from the US, China, Russia and the EU.
Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will first meet among themselves in Manila on Tuesday to discuss – among other main concerns – the US-Iran hostilities that have triggered fears of a return to a full-blown war. They plan to issue a joint statement expressing alarm over the developments and urge both sides to resume talks, two south-east Asian diplomats told the Associated Press.
The fighting has again threatened shipping traffic in the strait of Hormuz, the waterway where about 20% of global oil supplies transited before the war.
South-east Asia – a region of more than 680 million people – relies heavily on Middle East oil and gas and was severely hit by the global supply and price shocks sparked by the Iran war.
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr declared a national energy emergency in March to ensure the availability of fuel, food and other basic goods and prevent hoarding and profiteering.
Washington’s preoccupation with the war in Iran and the diversion of its military firepower to the Middle East has sparked concerns over its focus on Asia-Pacific concerns, including China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea and against Taiwan.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov are among those attending the talks.
Bahrain is again saying air raid warning sirens have sounded there – the third time it has issued the alert in about the past eight hours.
The interior ministry’s latest post on X again urged people to shelter in the nearest safe place.
The alert came as Iran has continued retaliatory strikes in the region after another round of US attacks.
During the ninth night of US attacks on Iran, the country’s state media has said explosions were reported in Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini.
There was no immediate word from Iran on any casualties or damage from the attacks.
An attack on Tabriz, in north-west Iran, would mark a widening in US targets, which over recent days have largely been confined to the south and the area around the strait of Hormuz.
Kuwait’s army has said that the country’s air defences are actively “confronting attacks” from Iranian drones.
In a post on social media, the General Staff of the Army ordered citizens to “adhere to the security and safety instructions issued by the competent authorities.”
The statement comes soon after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed to have hit US military targets in the country.
Rubio says other countries need to ‘step up’ to protect Hormuz strait shipping
The US secretary of state has said Iran is using the strait of Hormuz as leverage in the ongoing Middle East conflict and that other countries need to step up pressure to protect global shipping.
“It’s clear that Iran – at least some people in Iran – want to control the straits and hold that as leverage against the world,” Marco Rubio told reporters ahead of travelling to the Philippines for a meeting of foreign ministers with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
The United States will do and continue to do what it needs to, to protect global shipping, but other countries need to begin to step up and provide – whether it’s hardware or finances – to help carry that burden.
When asked if there was still a diplomatic solution to the escalating conflict, Rubio said, quoted by AFP:
I think we’re always open to diplomacy. It has to be real. It has to be a deal that they’re willing to live by.
Iran attacks US military targets in Kuwait – reports
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has reportedly said it hit US military targets in Kuwait, with the Fars news agency cited as saying the Ali Al Salem air base was targeted.
The Kuwaiti army earlier said its air defences were responding to hostile drones from Iran.
The Islamic republic has continued launching strikes around the Gulf region in response to waves of US attacks as the two countries edge closer to a return to full-scale war after the collapse of their interim peace agreement signed last month.
Bahrain has just said air raid sirens have sounded there again.
The interior ministry urged people to stay calm and head to the nearest safe location.
About six hours earlier it said in another post on X that its alarm siren had been activated.
The alerts came as Iran has continued to retaliate against US strikes by targeting US-allied countries around the Middle East.
The latest US-Iran hostilities come as the two countries have inched closer to all-out war since last month’s interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the strait of Hormuz has largely stalled.
Iran has continued to retaliate against US strikes by hitting American-allied countries throughout the Middle East, with sirens heard in Bahrain early on Monday and Kuwait army later saying its air defences were responding to hostile drones from Iran.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also claimed to have launched a “surprise attack” on an enemy command centre in the Al-Tanf region of Syria, in a statement reported by Iranian state news agency Irna.
After Iran targeted sites in Jordan on Sunday, Israel warned of the danger of the strikes spilling across its borders, reigniting a direct regional conflict that had been restrained even as tensions between the Trump administration and Iran have soared again.
“If Iran fires missiles at Israel, we will attack them with full force,” Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Sunday.
The US is expected to send dozens of additional refuelling planes to Israel as part of a reinforcement of its force posture in the region, a US official told Reuters.
There’s more in our latest full report: