US war in Iran LIVE: US President Donald Trump said on Friday he was unhappy with Iran’s latest proposal for talks on the ongoing conflict, while Iran’s foreign minister indicated Tehran was open to diplomacy if Washington changed its stance.
US Iran War LIVE: what happened in the last few hours?
- US President Donald J Trump said: “… You can’t give Iran a nuclear weapon… Because they would very quickly use it in a place called Israel and they would use it in the Middle East and they would use it in Europe. And I think we would be next and that’s not going to happen… They have 159 ships. Every single ship is at the bottom of the sea right now…”
- According to the Reuters report, Iran has activated its air defenses and is planning a large-scale response if attacked after assessing that there would be a short, intense attack by the US, possibly followed by an Israeli strike, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
- Oil prices fell on news of the latest draft of Iran talks, but both West Texas Intermediate and another major US benchmark, Brent, bounced back to trade comfortably above the symbolic $100 a barrel mark.
- The US Treasury has imposed new sanctions on three Iranian foreign exchange firms to try to stem the flow of Tehran’s “financial lifelines”.
- Brent crude was around $108 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was down about 3% to around $101 by early afternoon in New York. Trading activity remained muted as investors trimmed positions and were cautious about potential developments over the weekend.
- At the center of the standoff is the Strait of Hormuz, a key route that used to provide nearly a fifth of global oil and LNG supplies. Both Iran and the United States appear to be stalling, each waiting for the other to take the first step toward easing restrictions on maritime traffic.
Get live US Iran War updates here on Mint!
