Middle East crisis live: Trump teases another Iran attack and claims US ‘secret mission’ moved 100m oil barrels in Strait of Hormuz

The Lebanese health ministry said on Wednesday that 3,696 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the fighting began on 2 March, according to the state-run National News Agency.

In addition to the fatalities, 11,413 people have been injured, the health ministry said.

US Central Command (Centcom) posted on X that US forces fired upon a Palau-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that was “attempting to transport oil from Iran” in violation of the US blockade of the strait of Hormuz.

A US military aircraft fired munitions into the engine room of the ship M/T Settebello after “the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces” Centcom said.

According to Centcom, US forces have disabled a total of eight non-compliant vessels since the blockade began on 13 April, in addition to redirecting 134 ships that had complied and allowing 42 humanitarian aid vessels to pass.

The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, posted on X shortly after Donald Trump told reporters that the US was going to hit Iran hard again today that threats to target infrastructure are not a show of strength but “a sign of desperation”.

Pezeshkian added that Iran – relying on the knowledge and capabilities of its specialists, national unity and solidarity – will stand firm against any pressure or threat.

• US president Donald Trump has said that the United States is going to attack Iran “very hard” if no peace deal is finalised. “We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” Trump told reporters at the White House, citing Iran’s downing of an Apache helicopter in the strait of Hormuz.

• Trump said the US was “really close” to reaching a deal with Iran but accused the Middle Eastern country of “playing us for suckers”. Speaking to reporters, he said: “So we’ll see what happens. But we hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them again hard today.”

• United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has warned of the risk of return to “full war” in the Middle East after Iran and the United States traded strikes. “We should not minimise the risks of a lesser fire becoming full fire, or in another word – full war,” secretary-general Guterres said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in the region.

• Iran’s ambassador in Vienna on Wednesday called a new resolution passed by the UN nuclear watchdog demanding access to Tehran’s nuclear sites “counter-productive” and an obstacle to talks with Washington. Ambassador Reza Najafi told AFP the International Atomic Energy Agency resolution was “politically motivated” and “legally flawed”.

• A US attack on two water reservoirs in the Bemani area of Sirik in southern Iran, located on the shores of the strait of Hormuz, has left 20,000 people without drinking water, according to an Iranian water utility company. Hormozgan province water and wastewater company, or Abfa Hormozgan, said the reservoirs were “targeted and completely destroyed” this morning by US military fire, according to a statement on its website.

• India has summoned a top US diplomat in Delhi over a strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman where three Indians are missing, two Indian sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. India has lodged a “strong protest” with the US deputy chief of mission to the country, Jason Meeks, the sources said.

• Qatari negotiators travelled to Tehran to address remaining differences between the US and Iran, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday, as talks between the warring sides appeared stalled. “Following consultations with the US, Qatari negotiators travelled to Tehran this morning to meet with the Iranians in an effort to bridge the remaining gaps,” the diplomat with knowledge of the situation said on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks.

• The effective closure of the strait of Hormuz has led to global energy disruptions “never seen before”, said Wael Sawan, CEO of oil company Shell. Speaking at a summit of business leaders hosted by the Wall Street Journal, he said more than 10% of global oil production has been removed from the market since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

• The UN rights chief said he would send a mission to Lebanon to collect evidence on alleged rights abuses since the war began between Hezbollah and Israel. “I have agreed with the government of Lebanon to conduct an impartial and independent assessment mission in the country,” Volker Turk told journalists.

• The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and Syria have reached a point where they also pose a threat to Turkey, Reuters reports. Speaking to members of the Turkish parliament, he called for an end to Israel’s “aggression”, which he said is a threat to the entire world.

• More than 460 former European leaders and senior officials have called on the EU “to stop turning a blind eye” to Israel’s conduct in Palestine and impose sanctions. In an op-ed released to European newspapers, the group urge the EU to suspend preferential trade with Israel, prevent exports from the illegally occupied West Bank entering the bloc and impose sanctions on Israeli ministers

An Israeli drone strike in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon hit a car with two people inside it, killing them both, according to local media.

Footage shows multiple cars ablaze after the strike as firefighters battled to put out the flames.

India has summoned a top US diplomat in Delhi over a strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman where three Indians are missing, two Indian sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

India has lodged a “strong protest” with the US deputy chief of mission to the country, Jason Meeks, the sources said.

Trump said the US was “really close” to reaching a deal with Iran but accused the Middle Eastern country of “playing us for suckers”.

Speaking to reporters, he said:

So we’ll see what happens. But we hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them again hard today.

In case you missed it, in case you don’t turn on your television set and… we’ll see what happens with the deal.

We were we were really close to a deal. But they keep tapping us along. They keep playing us for suckers.

He added:

I’ve been working with Iran for a number of months, and they should sign that deal. It’s a good deal.

It doesn’t give them the right to have a nuclear weapon. In fact, it totally prohibits them from ever having a nuclear weapon.

US president Donald Trump has said that the United States is going to attack Iran “very hard” if no peace deal is finalised.

“We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” Trump told reporters at the White House, citing Iran’s downing of an Apache helicopter in the strait of Hormuz.

He added:

I guess we have the right to do that. You know, they shot down a very, very incredible, actually an incredible machine. And, at first they said they didn’t do it. Then they admitted they did it.

Iran’s ambassador in Vienna on Wednesday called a new resolution passed by the UN nuclear watchdog demanding access to Tehran’s nuclear sites “counter-productive” and an obstacle to talks with Washington.

Ambassador Reza Najafi told AFP the International Atomic Energy Agency resolution was “politically motivated” and “legally flawed”.

The vote “cannot help and, would be indeed counterproductive to the current situation,” he added. “It further complicates, the volatile, situation, volatile ceasefire, and the unfinished negotiations between Iran and the US.”

The UN nuclear watchdog’s governing board on Wednesday approved a western resolution demanding that Iran immediately provide information on its uranium stockpile and production facilities.

Iran’s nuclear sites have been targeted in US-Israel attacks and Iran has suspended access for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.

The resolution, drawn up by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, said it is “essential and urgent” that Iran “without delay” provides the IAEA with “complete information on nuclear material inventories and design information for facilities”.

The resolution – passed by 21 votes to three with 10 abstentions – also demanded that Iran “grant the agency all access it requires to verify this information”, said diplomats. One country on the 35-member board did not vote.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has warned of the risk of return to “full war” in the Middle East after Iran and the United States traded strikes.

“We should not minimise the risks of a lesser fire becoming full fire, or in another word – full war,” secretary-general Guterres said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in the region.

Smoke rises in southern Lebanon following an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel today.

The effective closure of the strait of Hormuz has led to global energy disruptions “never seen before”, said Wael Sawan, CEO of oil company Shell.

Speaking at a summit of business leaders hosted by the Wall Street Journal, he said more than 10% of global oil production has been removed from the market since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran. He added that about 20% of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) production is offline.

When asked for his thoughts on the prospect of reopening the strait of Hormuz, he replied: “It’s very difficult to call. What is clear is that the nature of the disruption to the global energy system is something like we have never seen before.”

He added that the blockade has been “particularly acute in Asia”, with countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand resorting to rationing fuel while Pakistan and the Philippines have implemented four-day working weeks.

“It has been disproportionately painful in Asia,” Sawan said.

Here are some of the latest images from southern Lebanon and northern Israel, as the Israeli military said it would continue its military campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported an airstrike on a village east of Tyre killed at least six people, while an Israeli drone strike on a car in the southern city of Sidon killed two others.

Here is a video released by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) purporting to show missiles being fired at US military bases in the Gulf:

The Jordanian military said it had intercepted five Iranian missiles after the IRGC claimed to have targeted the Muwaffaq Salti airbase, which is known to host US F-35 fighter jets and other aircraft. Bahrain’s armed forces said it had shot down several Iranian drones and missiles, while the Kuwait army reported its air defences intercepted hostile targets.

In a subsequent post on Truth Social, Trump denounced “The Fake News Media” for refusing to report “how EFFECTIVE the US Naval BLOCKADE is”, describing it as “the most successful Blockade in the history of Naval Warfare”.

He wrote:

NOTHING GETS THROUGH unless we want it to. IT IS A STEEL WALL! Iran is doing ZERO business, not paying their military, or any of their bills, and quickly becoming a FAILED NATION! Lots of oil is getting out. Praise be to Allah!

It is a notable shift in tone after Trump expressed optimism yesterday that a deal could be reached with Iran in “two or three days” and that the strait of Hormuz would reopen “immediately” after.