Iran war live: Iran’s FM says Strait of Hormuz ‘closed to our enemies’

Our colleagues on the ground report rockets have been fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel.

The Israeli Home Front Command said sirens sounded in the western part of the border area after projectile fire.

Meanwhile, Israel has ordered evacuations on an unprecedented scale across vast areas of Lebanon since the war began, and Defence Minister Israel Katz said the displaced “will not return” until northern Israel is no longer threatened.

The European Union has imposed sanctions on 16 individuals and three entities it said were responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.

“The new listings target a variety of individuals and entities that played a key role in the suppression of street protests in January 2026, which has led to thousands of civilian casualties,” the Council of the EU said in a statement.

To date, the EU has sanctioned a total of 263 individuals and 53 entities in Iran.

The Iranian armed forces spokesperson, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, has issued a message in English directed at President Trump as he prepares for an impromptu press conference at the White House.

Trump’s briefing comes amid tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, where the US has pressed NATO, Asian nations, and other allies to help escort shipping through the effectively closed waterway.

The Trump administration’s timeline for restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains unclear to both the American public and US allies, many of whom have already said they will not be sending ships.

In a social media post, the US president pressured seven countries – including the UK, France, and even China.

But so far, there have been firm “no’s” from Japan and Australia, hesitation from others, and complete disregard from China. The upcoming press conference may be used to escalate this pressure campaign further, with the president suggesting those relying on the strait for oil imports should take responsibility for defending it.

Oil prices have slid on expectations more vessels could pass through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

The main US oil contract, WTI, slumped by more than 5 percent to $93.37 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent North Sea crude fell more than 2 percent to $100.28 per barrel.

Monitor Marine Traffic said a Pakistani oil tanker transited on Monday through the strait with its automatic transponder system activated.

About 20 percent of the world’s oil passes through the strategic waterway, which has been brought to a near standstill by the US-Israel war on Iran.

Civil defence teams have confirmed the end of the fire in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport saying cooling operations are currently underway.

Dubai authorities brought the fire caused by a drone attack under control earlier.

The incident forced a brief suspension of flights, which have gradually resumed.

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that missile fragments have fallen in four separate locations in the Jordanian city of Irbid.

One child is reported to have sustained minor injuries.

Jordan’s official news agency, Petra, said authorities have dealt with 356 of falls of missile fragments throughout the country since the start of the war on February 28.

All 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency could release more emergency oil stocks later “as and if needed”, Executive Director Fatih Birol has said.

According to Birol, the countries will still be over 1.4 billion barrels remaining in their emergency oil stocks despite the largest release of reserves in history already agreed.

“We still have a lot of stocks left. This current stock release, once it is completed, will reduce the emergency stocks in IEA countries only by around 20 percent,” Birol said in a video statement.

Individual countries have also pledged to release reserves, including the US and Japan.

European countries have collectively pledged to release 107.5 million barrels.

Iran’s blockade on the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices soaring, risking a global economic crisis.

A strike near Iraq’s western border with Syria has killed at least four Iran-backed fighters.

The fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF)  “were killed and three others were wounded” in the attack on a checkpoint at the entrance to the city of al-Qaim, a local security official was quoted by news agencies as saying.

Pope Leo has called on journalists to report on war through the eyes of its victims, pointing out the responsibility of the press to ensure information does not become a source of false narratives.

“In the dramatic circumstances of war, information must guard against the risk of turning into propaganda,” the head of the Catholic churtch wrote on X.

The pope added that journalists have a duty to verify information carefully so as not to become a mouthpiece for those in power. “They must show the suffering that war always brings to populations, which entails showing the face of war and recounting it through the eyes of victims,” he said.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed sharply, with dozens, possibly hundreds, of vessels waiting near its entrances as tensions disrupt one of the world’s most vital energy routes.

Journalist Inzamam Rashid, reporting from near the strait, said the waterway, which normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil supply, is seeing only a fraction of its usual traffic.

“What we have seen, in fact, is boats and vessels being targeted by Iran, those who attempt to pass through, but also those that are not affiliated with the US and its allies,” Rashid said.

“Just the other day, we saw a Thai-flagged carrier being targeted by an Iranian ballistic missile. That meant that 20 of the crew members there had to be rescued, and three of them are still missing at sea.”

Trump claims that the US is trying to avoid causing extensive damage to Iran’s infrastructure.

“I left a lot of infrastructure in Tehran because if you did it, it’s years of building,” Trump said during a phone interview with PBS.

“I could knock out the electric plants in one hour … but if I do that, that’s years of rebuilding and it’s trauma. So I’m trying to hold off on that kind of thing.”

Iran had threatened to plunge the entire region into darkness if its electric grid is attacked.

Trump also said that US forces did not strike oil pipes when it attacked Kharg island a few days ago.

“Kharg Island is out of commission except for the pipes, which I left. I didn’t want to hit the pipes because, you know, it’s years of work to put them together,” said Trump.

Iranian authorities say US and Israeli strikes are causing extensive damage to civilian sites, including residential buildings, schools and hospitals.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has targeted on the Israeli military’s Southern Command and facilities of Israeli arms company Rafael as part of the 56th wave of attacks in the ongoing war.

The IRGC added that it hit the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and its drone unit also struck positions of armed opposition groups in Erbil in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Israel’s Channel 12 reports that an Israeli man in the southern town of Kiryat Gat was seriously injured after being struck by a vehicle while heading to the shelter after an Iranian missile launch.

Separately another person was lightly injured from missile shrapnel in the Jerusalem area.

Clashes are taking place between Hezbollah and invading Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, reports Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

An NNA correspondent said the clashes are taking place on the Odaisseh-Taybeh axis, a strategic area that has seen significant military activity during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

“The enemy is attempting to enter Lebanese territory under a barrage shelling and gunfire,” reported NNA.

“A number of hostile military vehicles were also observed advancing near the southern border towns of Yaroun and Maroun al-Ras.”

Authorities in Qatar have just sent out an alert saying a “security threat has been eliminated and the situation has returned to normal”.

This follows a second “elevated” security threat alert that was sent out a short while ago.

Qatar’s Defence Ministry says its armed forces “successfully intercepted a second wave of missiles attack, which targeted the State of Qatar”.

Iran is employing a two-part strategy against the US and Israel: Wear the military superpowers out, and export the cost of war.

But is it working?

Watch our video below:

Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani has told reporters there are detailed operational plans for the war with Iran for the next three weeks along with additional plans extending further.

The military has framed its aims as limited to weakening Iran’s capacity to threaten Israel by striking its ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities and security apparatus.

“We want to make sure that they are as weak as possible, this regime, and that we degrade all their capabilities, all parts and all wings of their security establishment,” Lieutenant Colonel Shoshani said.

The military said it still has thousands of targets to hit inside Iran.

Last week, Trump said there was “practically nothing left” to target in Iran.

The Lebanese group says it has targeted the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona for the second time today, using rockets and drones.

In a statement, the group said it had carried out what it described as a qualitative strike without providing any information on the results of the attack.

Separately, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic reported that an Israeli air strike targeted the heights of the town of Sajd in southern Lebanon.

The US is allowing Iranian oil tankers to transit through the Strait of Hormuz to help maintain global supplies, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says.

Speaking to the CNBC broadcaster, Bessent said: “The Iranian ships have been getting out already, and we’ve let that happen to supply the rest of the world.”

He added that more vessels were now passing through the waterway, including ships from India and China, and said traffic should begin to increase.

Bessent also said Trump has made clear that Washington’s goal was to degrade and destroy Iran’s military capabilities, including its navy and its ability to project power beyond its borders.

The Israeli military describes “a significant strike in the heart of Tehran” as destroying a compound “used to develop satellite attack capabilities in space”.

It said its air force, acting on “precise” military intelligence, “dismantled” the compound that posed a “threat to Israel’s satellites and to space assets of other countries around the world”.

“The compound was used to develop military space programs, including the development of the ‘Chamran-1’ satellite, which was built by the Iranian Ministry of Defence’s electronics industries and launched into space in September 2024 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

It said the latest attack followed a “strike carried out last week (Friday) against another space-related research compound belonging to the Iranian Space Organisation in Tehran”.