Pope Leo XIV has condemned the killing of protesters in Iran, after the US president, Donald Trump, criticised the Catholic leader last week for not doing so. The pontiff, during a press conference after his Africa trip, also urged the US and Iran to return to talks to end the war Continue reading...
Donald Trump has said the Duke of Sussex 'is not speaking for the UK' after Prince Harry told the US to honour its obligations in the Ukrainian conflict. 'I think I am speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry … but I appreciate his advice very much,' the US president said, responding to the duke’s lengthy, impassioned speech at the Kyiv Security Forum on Thursday during a surprise visit to show support for Ukraine after four years of war with Russia. Harry, an ex-serviceman, did not claim to be speaking for the UK Continue reading...
Message on Telegram account has sparked alarm among diaspora groups, with one calling for the embassy to be closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Tehran’s embassy in Canberra is promoting a recruitment drive for a paramilitary campaign to defend Iran from US forces, with the Australian federal police now looking into the matter. As the war approaches the two-month mark, the embassy’s website and Telegram channel this week posted a message that instructed people on how to register for a voluntary drive to fight for their country , known as the “Janfada” – or “sacrificing life” – program. Continue reading...
US president claims ‘total control’ of strait of Hormuz despite Iranian seizure of two ships and report warning it could take months to clear waterway of mines Trump claims US has total control over strait of Hormuz after Iran seizes two container ships Analysis: Trump may talk of regime infighting, but Iran seems united by strategy born of war Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East. Donald Trump has ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the strait of Hormuz and claimed that US minesweepers “are clearing the strait right now” amid the standoff over the key waterway. Trump said the US had “hit about 75% of our targets” in Iran and that a deal had not yet been reached because Iran was “in turmoil”.
Tensions around US negotiations may reflect mistake of assassinating more pragmatic and experienced figures Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump has claimed that the infighting between moderates and hardliners in Iran’s leadership is so intense that the country has “no idea who their leader is”, but many Iranian experts questioned his analysis, saying that – given the mass assassinations of senior commanders – the country has shown remarkable institutional cohesion. Trump’s allegations of “CRAZY” splits in the Iranian leadership – the second outing for this argument in three days – is remarkable since he has previously said either he has little knowledge of the new Iranian leadership or that there has already been regime change. Continue reading...
Proposal at heart of offer made during a 30-country two-day meeting jointly organised by France Middle East crisis – live updates Britain is prepared to deploy a squadron of RAF Typhoons based in Qatar to patrol over the strait of Hormuz as part of a multinational mission to keep open the strategic waterway once the Iran war comes to an end. The UK military also offered to deploy mine-hunting drones and specialist divers to help clear the strait mined by Iran – but no decision has been made on whether HMS Dragon or another warship would also be deployed. Continue reading...
Battle of the blockades may still have more time to run as both the US and Iran try to assert control over the strait of Hormuz Donald Trump’s decision to extend the naval blockade of Iran indefinitely may do nothing to reduce world oil prices – but it could amount to a recognition that further US military escalation in breach of the nominal ceasefire comes with greater risk against a regime disinclined to surrender. In theory, Trump’s military options are increasing. A third US carrier strike group, the George HW Bush, is due to arrive in the Middle East within days after rounding South Africa.
US president says Tehran hobbled by infighting as Pentagon reportedly briefs mine clearance may take six months Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump has again said that the US has “total control over the strait of Hormuz,” adding that Iran’s leadership was so hobbled by infighting that it was unclear who was in charge. But the US president’s claim seemed questionable in the face of the seizure of two container ships by Iranian commandos and a US report warning it could take six months to clear the strait of mines. Continue reading...
Jim Taiclet spoke in earnings call as company expands contracts with the US government amid the Iran war Lockheed Martin’s CEO has called the Trump administration a “golden opportunity” for the company as it expands its contracting work for the federal government amid the conflict in the Middle East. In an earnings call on Thursday covering the first quarter of 2026, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet told investors that the company is well positioned “based on more available resources for us”. Continue reading...
Tehran has shown that its grip over the strait of Hormuz is its most potent deterrent – arguably more consequential than its now defunct nuclear programme Fawaz Gerges is professor of international relations at the London School of Economics Donald Trump’s decision to go to war against Iran will be remembered as a grave strategic miscalculation – one that has reshaped the region in unintended and destabilising ways. With the ceasefire now extended indefinitely , we can see more clearly how the war has undermined the US’s standing in the world and failed to achieve its core objectives: it has neither brought about regime change in Tehran, nor forced Iran to submit to American demands. Far from it.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards released footage purportedly showing its forces seizing two vessels in the strait of Hormuz and escorting them to Iranian shores. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said the two ships attempted 'to exit the strait of Hormuz covertly'. The White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump did not consider the capture of the ships to be a violation of the US-Iran ceasefire because the vessels were not American or Israeli • Middle East crisis – live updates Continue reading...
Iran’s plan to extract a $2m payment from tankers using the strait of Hormuz could raise costs for years to come A second round of peace talks between the US and Iran has begun amid renewed attacks on oil tankers in the strait of Hormuz and a US blockade on Iranian vessels through the crucial trade route. The future of this narrow waterway – and curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme – are at the centre of the talks after Tehran’s de facto blockade on oil and gas tankers via the strait pushed up energy prices. Continue reading...
Iranian intelligence services apparently recruiting via intermediaries to mount attacks aimed at sowing chaos Iranian intelligence services and Revolutionary Guards operatives are recruiting teenagers through criminal intermediaries to launch a wave of low-level “hybrid warfare” attacks in Europe and the UK, according to investigators, security officials, analysts and police documents. A first wave of attacks was launched in early March, 10 days after the US and Israel began strikes on Iran, and targeted Jewish community sites in Belgium, the Netherlands and US banks. A second wave has focused on the UK, with a series of arson and attempted arson attacks on synagogues, a Jewish charity and the offices of an Iranian opposition TV network in London.
White House says Tehran in ‘very weak position’; Iran says two seized ships transferred to its coast; US navy secretary exiting post ‘effective immediately’, says Pentagon ‘Impossible’ to reopen strait of Hormuz amid ‘flagrant’ ceasefire breaches, Iran says Welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East. Iran has seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz a day after Donald Trump announced he was indefinitely calling off US attacks, while there is no sign of peace talks restarting. Trump was “satisfied” with the US naval blockade and “understands Iran is in a very weak position”, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
City in pandemic-style limbo as people are told to work from home, public transport is closed and businesses shut Middle East crisis – live updates Across Islamabad, there is lockdown. The streets of the Pakistani capital have been empty for days, shops have been shuttered and public transport closed down. Officials and office workers have been told to work from home, while labourers have found themselves deprived of work.
Up Against It and The Worm That Turned | War-readiness v human survival | White liberal response | A northern insult The Two Ronnies weren’t the first to write about a dystopian world run by women when they came up with the sketch series The Worm That Turned ( Is Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike’s new gender swap comedy inspired by The Two Ronnies? , 20 April ). This was all covered much earlier by Joe Orton’s screenplay Up Against It, written for the Beatles in 1967, but rejected by them before the playwright’s death later that year.
Standoff between Iran and US continues as both impose blockades of critical shipping waterway Iranian forces have seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz, as the US and Iran doubled down on imposing separate blockades of the critical shipping waterway that have choked global energy markets. The standoff over the narrow waterway – through which about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through during peacetime – raised doubts about whether stalled peace negotiations would resume. Continue reading...
Donald Trump has indefinitely extended the US ceasefire with Iran after talks looked increasingly uncertain between both sides. Trump said he would ‘extend the ceasefire until such time as [Iran’s] proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other’. The US blockade remains, as does the closure of the strait of Hormuz by Iran, which seized two ships on Wednesday.
Iran’s goal is to maintain chokehold on global economy even as some say it could run out of oil storage by Sunday Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump’s indefinite shelving of the plan to bomb Iran’s bridges and power stations on Tuesday night is being widely described as leaving the conflict in limbo, but that is anything but the truth. Pakistan insists the prospect of talks in Islamabad has not evaporated, and positive messages are still being exchanged, but in the meantime the site of kinetic activity has switched from land to sea. Continue reading...
Donald Trump has indefinitely extended the US ceasefire with Iran after talks looked increasingly uncertain between both sides. Trump said he would ‘extend the ceasefire until such time as [Iran’s] proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other’. The US blockade remains, as does the closure of the strait of Hormuz by Iran, which seized two ships on Wednesday.
