Iran will combat off enemy assaults ’till the final drop of blood’, defence chief warns after Trump vowed ‘robust motion’ if protesters are hanged: Live updates

Iran’s defence minister, Aziz Nasirzadeh, said amid an escalating war of words that his nation was prepared to defend itself fully if it is attacked.

He told local media: ‘If these threats are turned into action, we will defend the country with full force and until the last drop of blood, and our defence would be painful to them’.

Nasirzadeh added that any nation that provides assistance for any strikes on Iran will become ‘legitimate targets’.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir Starmer said he was working with allies to place more sanctions on Iran.

He said: ‘Can I start by condemning in the strongest possible terms the sickening repression and murder of protesters in Iran.

‘The contrast between the courage of the Iranian people and the brutality of their desperate regime has never been clearer.

‘We’ve called out this brutality face to face, we’re working with allies on further sanctions and doing all we can to protect UK nationals’.

Iran International reported that plainclothes security forces and members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have targeted the homes of families of people killed in recent protests in eastern Tehran.

Sources told the dissident outlet that security forces are intimidating people by firing shots and ransacking homes.

They added that families were told by officers they would be charged fees related to the use of live ammunition.

Several governments in the Middle East have pleaded with the US not to invade Iran.

Governments who spoke to the US include Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

An Arab Gulf diplomat told Reuters that these governments fear ‘unprecedented consequences’ if the US takes military action against Iran.

Speaking to Euronews, European Parliament chief Roberta Metsola said the Ayatollah regime is ‘on its last legs’, adding that the days of ‘dictators will end in 2026’.

In one of the continent’s strongest condemnations of Iran, she said: ‘We are horrified by what is happening in Iran and we cannot remain idle when we see the regime using violence, repression and abuse against what we believe to be fundamental freedoms’.

It comes after the EU parliament banned Iranian diplomats from entering its properties, amid the crackdown on protesters.

Tens of thousands of mourners thronged the streets near Tehran University for the funeral of more than 300 security forces and civilians on Wednesday.

Many held Iranian flags and identical photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and their relatives.

The caskets, covered in Iranian flags, were stacked at least three high in the backs of trucks and covered with red and white roses and framed photographs of people who were killed.

The crowd chanted and beat their chests in response to an emcee speaking from a stage.

One man in the crowd held up a photo of US President Donald Trump during the Pennsylvania assassination attempt, emblazoned with: ‘The arrow doesn’t always miss!’

The latest polling data from Reuters and Ipsos shows that 43% of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the Iran crisis.

Just 33% of those surveyed said they approved of what the Republican president is doing.