Trump says new Iran bombing won’t last ‘too long’ but US prepared to attack ‘any time we want’ – Middle East crisis live

Speaking of Donald Trump, he’s currently speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he meets with US travel executives. He’ll likely be asked about Iran and I’ll bring you all the relevant lines here.

Donald Trump’s suggestion of renaming the strait of Hormuz after himself – which he has no authority to do – has prompted criticism from US Democrats.

“No need for more renaming bodies of water here. Americans already call this entire fiasco TRUMP’S WAR,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said on X. “Trump cares more about feeding his ego than helping the American people who are crying out for help. They want lower health care costs, lower gas prices and grocery bills, and for our troops to come home.”

Schumer’s post included a link to Trump’s Truth Social missive from earlier today where he said: “Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???”

Trump also said: “Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before!”

It comes after his efforts to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario to the Gulf of America and Lake America, respectively.

Iran has blacklisted more ships from sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.

According to reporting by Reuters, Tehran has deemed another 11 ships to be non-compliant with rules it has imposed on using the major shipping passage. Iranian authorities said the listed vessels could be subject to fines, confiscation or detention if they attempt to pass through the strait.

The update was made via the website of the Persian Gulf Strait ⁠Authority (PGSA), a body set up by Iran to manage the strait, increasing the total number of blacklisted vessels to 56.

The restrictions are likely ​to further ⁠constrain efforts to export oil via the strait, which before the war handled about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments but has since seen traffic ⁠reduced mostly ​to a trickle.

Iran’s currency, the rial, hit a record low on Wednesday.

Traders in the Tehran market exchanged 2.20 million rials for one US dollar. That was nearly 10% higher than last week’s record, set on August 25, when one dollar was sold at 2.02 million rials.

The currency had already been under pressure before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 as Iran battled double-digit inflation and negative growth.

The rial has repeatedly hit new lows since the conflict started more than six months ago. The troubled currency ​has lost about half of its value ⁠in a year ​of tightening ​US sanctions ​and American ​and ‌Israeli attacks.

The Latest, the evening edition of Today in Focus, features a conversation between host Lucy Hough and Middle East correspondent Will Christou about the conflict between the US and Iran.

During the eight-minute update, they talk about Tehran accusing Washington of a ‘war crime’ after a missile blast reportedly killed wedding guests, including a young child.

Christou talks about how the latest exchange of strikes are part of a “cycle of escalation” in the tension between the two nations.

Chinese president Xi Jinping urged Middle Eastern countries on Wednesday to oppose “external interference” and said Beijing was ready to work with regional states to safeguard maritime shipping, jeopardised by the US-Iran war.

Xi’s remarks to his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, on his first visit to Cairo in a decade, come as Beijing seeks a greater foothold in the region, expanding investment while managing fallout from the six-month conflict.

“We must uphold the principle that the people of the Middle East are the masters of their own affairs, oppose external interference (and) support regional countries in strengthening dialogue on peace and security,” Xi said in a meeting with Sisi, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

US president Donald Trump has suggested renaming the strait of Hormuz ‘Trump strait’.

In a post on his Truth Social network, he wrote:

Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be “hotter” than ever before!

Trump has in recent weeks repeatedly pressed a threat to claim sovereignty over the strait of Hormuz, even posting a map showing the waterway as a “new US territory.”

Iranians expressed regret at the return to hostilities including the deaths at the wedding.

Hossein Moazami, 50, who is self-employed, called the attacks “truly distressing”. “I hope they all return to the negotiating table, because the only people suffering from this are the Iranian people,” he said.

“The Americans are on the other side of the world, and nothing happens to them.”

A video shared by an Iranian government account showed debris and damage at what it said was the wedding site in Sirik after the US strike, with people heard screaming in the background.

“It is a very saddening incident … Thank God the casualties were not higher,” Ali Mallahi, father of the bride and owner of the building that was hit, said in a video carried by state TV.

Top diplomats in Egypt and Qatar have called for the US and Iran to return to the negotiating table in line with their collapsed ceasefire deal.

Foreign minister Badr Abdelatty of Egypt spoke by phone on Wednesday with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

The ministers warned that the ongoing escalation threatens “dire consequences on the region’s security and stability,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said.

Iranian border ⁠guards have seized a vessel with ⁠382,000 ⁠litres of ​smuggled fuel in the northern Gulf, ⁠and arrested its foreign crew ⁠of 11, the state broadcaster ​IRIB ‌reported ‌on Wednesday, without giving ‌the nationality of the detained.

Iran, which has some of the world’s lowest fuel ‌prices due to heavy subsidies and a ​sharp fall in the value of its national currency, ⁠has been seeking to ​curb ​widespread fuel ​smuggling by land to ​neighbouring ‌countries ​and ​by sea to Gulf states.

My colleague, William Christou, has the full report on the missile blast that killed at least four people and injured 68 at a wedding in a private home in southern Iran. You can read that here:

Donald Trump has picked acting navy secretary Hung Cao to take on the job permanently amid concerns that some sailors have been stretched to the limit during his Iran war.

“I am pleased to nominate a true WARRIOR,” Trump wrote on social media, pushing the Senate “to confirm this Warfighter, ASAP.”

Cao has been serving as acting navy secretary since John Phelan departed the job unexpectedly and without explanation in late April. Unlike Phelan, who had not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service, Cao spent 25 years in the navy as a special operations officer and went on to serve with Seal teams and special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cao on social media called it the “honor of a lifetime to lead the great warriors of the Navy and Marine Corps team”.

For more US politics news, my colleague Victoria Bekiempis has the latest updates on our live blog here:

Here is a video featuring clips shared by Iranian media of the reported US strike in Sirik in the south of the country that hit a wedding ceremony, killing four people and wounding dozens more. US central command (Centcom) denied targeting civilians and also released footage purportedly showing missile and drone strikes on Iranian military sites.