Main developments
US President Donald Trump hit out at UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for his initial reluctance to support the attacks on Iran as London considers deploying an aircraft carrier to the region.
Trump says he is not worried about soaring petrol prices, saying they will come down ‘very fast’ once the war is over.
Trump vowed to hit Iran hard as the war in the Middle East entered its second week and predicted the country would “completely collapse”.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised to the country’s Gulf neighbours for attacking them.
Trump claimed Pezeshkian’s remarks were a “surrender”. But just hours later, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Trump had misinterpreted his leader’s message of regional de-escalation.
Iran’s army said it would continue to target US and Israeli military sites across the region.
Israeli fighter jets pounded Iran and Lebanon. Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah launched multiple missile and drone salvos at Israel.
Israel warned Lebanon that it would “pay a very heavy price” if it did not disarm Hizbollah.
Hizbollah said it had engaged Israeli forces in the Bekaa Valley after four Israeli helicopters dropped troops into the area. Israel’s military said the incursion was an attempt to find the body of an airman who has been missing since 1986.
More than 28,000 Americans have returned to the US.
Iranian drones and missiles continue to target Gulf states
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted more than 30 drones, four ballistic missiles and one cruise missile on Saturday as the kingdom and its Gulf neighbours continue to face waves of attacks from Iran.
Riyadh said 21 of the drones targeted the Shaybah oilfield in the Empty Quarter desert. The field produces 1mn barrels of oil a day, and the attack marks the first attempt to hit the heart of Saudi Arabia’s energy production. Previous attacks targeted the Ras Tanura refinery on the Gulf coast.
Qatar said its air defence systems intercepted six ballistic missiles. Two other ballistic missiles fell in the country’s territorial water, while another two crashed in an uninhabited area without causing any casualties, the defence ministry said.
Meanwhile, Kuwait said it intercepted seven drones, with debris from the interceptions causing no injuries.
Trump says not worried about soaring petrol prices due to war
Donald Trump has said he is not worried about rising petrol prices, describing the war with Iran as a “short excursion”, and adding energy costs would “come down very fast” once the conflict was over.
Trump said the US had a “lot of oil”, adding he would “start filling up” the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve “at the appropriate time, which is basically a gut instinct”.
Oil prices have soared since the US and Israel first launched their attacks against Iran, with Goldman Sachs warning crude prices could top $100 a barrel next week “if no signs of solutions emerge by then”.
The SPR was drained by former president Joe Biden in 2022 in an attempt to lower crude prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. Trump pledged to refill the stockpile when he took office, but he has yet to take action.
US petrol prices are higher than at any time during either of Trump’s two terms and come as the country is facing an affordability crisis that is likely to be a defining issue in November midterm elections.
The president refused to say how long the conflict with Iran would last, but claimed US and Israeli strikes on the country “have decimated their whole evil empire”.
“It will continue, I’m sure, for a little while,” he said, later adding the war would go on for “whatever it takes”.