Main developments
Iran lashed out with waves of missiles and drones at Israel and America’s allies in the Gulf on Sunday to avenge the killing of its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the US and Israeli forces intensified their ferocious bombing campaign against the Islamic republic.
As the Middle East was thrust into its widest war in decades, the conflict has severely disrupted shipping in the oil-rich Gulf and is expected to drive up energy prices when markets reopen after the weekend.
Israel and Iran continued to trade fire on Sunday, with Iranian drone and missile barrages setting off sirens across Israel. The Israeli military said it was carrying out strikes on regime targets in Tehran.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global energy supplies, has slowed to a near standstill after insurers warned they would cancel policies and raise premiums.
At least 45 people have been reported killed on Sunday across the region.
The US military said three of its soldiers were killed and five seriously wounded, the first reported American casualties.
Donald Trump declared satisfaction with the progress, saying the campaign was ahead of schedule and dismissed concerns about any impact on energy prices.
Trump also said, “I will be talking” to new Iranian leadership, without giving more details, and that nine Iranian naval vessels had been sunk.
The US president said the military campaign against Iran could last “four weeks or so”
The leaders of France, Germany and the UK condemned the “indiscriminate” attacks by Iran across the Middle East and threatened “proportionate defensive action” to defend their interests.
The UK will allow the US to use British bases, including Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands, to launch attacks on Iran
Opec+ is to raise oil output in an attempt to calm markets after Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in joint US-Israeli air strikes.
Iran’s top Revolutionary Guards commander Major General Mohammad Pakpour was also killed, local media reported.
Ports in Dubai and Oman have been hit by drones as Iran has launched missile and drone barrages at Gulf states.
UK to allow US to use British bases to launch attacks on Iran
The UK will allow the US to use British military bases to launch attacks on Iranian missile depots and launchers.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Sunday said the move was “in line with international law” because it underscored the “collective self-defence of longstanding friends and allies” and would help protect British lives.
London has given permission for the Royal Air Force Fairford base in Gloucestershire and the joint UK-US base of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands to be used, according to officials. Use of the latter military facility requires UK approval.
In a video clip posted on X, Starmer said the only way to stop the threat from Iran was to destroy the missiles at source or their launchers. “The US has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose,” he said.
http://www.acphonor.com/interactive/e026b4a7-1115-493a-9b31-c8b0b5965491/https://x.com/keir_starmer/status/2028213832380826047?s=46&t=XQxwKFiSLRTsLoYGT5ZRhQLondon had been reluctant to allow Washington to use Diego Garcia or RAF Fairford to launch initial strikes against Tehran amid officials’ concern about compliance with international law.
Starmer stressed Britain was not joining the strikes against Iran but would continue with “defensive actions” in the region.
Trump says US military campaign against Iran is ‘ongoing’
US President Donald Trump has said the US military campaign against Iran is ongoing and vowed it would “continue until all of our objectives are achieved”.
It was likely that more US soldiers would be killed, Trump said in a six-minute video posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
He claimed Washington had killed the “entire” Iranian military command and argued he was using the military he commands “for good”, calling the campaign “right” and “necessary” to protect Americans.
He repeated his call for members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to “lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death”.
He also said he had fulfilled his promise to the Iranian people, and that the future of their country was now in their hands. During the regime’s brutal crackdown on protests throughout Iran in January, Trump had told Iranians in a post that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY”.
On Sunday, he told Iranians “who yearn for freedom to seize this moment, to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back to your country. America is with you. I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise. The rest will be up to you, but we’ll be there to help”.