Iran rejects Trump’s ultimatum and launches new strikes as F-15 fighter jet crashes over Kuwait and explosions rock Dubai, Doha and Cyprus – dwell updates

Iran has vowed it will never surrender as it rejected an ultimatum from Donald Trump to lay down its weapons.

Trump told Iran’s leaders to give up the fight which has exploded across the Middle East, with missiles raining down on Israel, Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, and on American military bases in the region

But Iranian national security official Ali Larijani confirmed the country will not negotiate with the US.

His post on X referenced a Wall Street Journal report, citing US and Arab officials, said he had made a fresh attempt to resume nuclear talks with Washington.

Here’s what you need to know as the US-Israeli war with Iran enters its third day:

Stick with us as we bring you the latest developments

A total of 555 people have been killed across Iran in US and Israeli strikes that began two days ago, the Iranian Red Crescent said Monday.

‘Following the Zionist-American terrorist attacks carried out in various regions of our country, 131 cities have been affected to date and, regrettably, 555 of our compatriots have been killed,’ the humanitarian group said in a post on Telegram.

Smoke rises from Kuwait City where the US embassy is based

Iran’s army has confirmed it targeted the American Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait as well as vessels in the Indian ocean in retaliation of US and Israeli strikes.

‘Missile units of the army’s ground and naval forces operating from various locations targeted the US Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait as well as enemy vessels in the northern Indian Ocean over the past hours,’ the army said in a statement.

It added that ’15 cruise missiles’ were used in the attacks.

Several American warplanes crashed in Kuwait earlier today but their crew survived, Kuwait’s defence ministry said

‘Several US warplanes crashed this morning. Confirming that all crew members survived,’ a defence ministry spokesman said in a statement, adding that the cause was under investigation.

‘Authorities immediately initiated search and rescue operations, evacuating the crews and transporting them to a hospital for medical evaluation and treatment. He noted that their condition is stable,’ the statement added.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said today there are around 300,000 British citizens in Gulf countries targeted by Iran, who have targeted hotels with their attack drones.

And 94,000 of those have already registered with the Foreign Office as Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers are understood to be drawing up contingency plans to evacuate them over land from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar to Saudi Arabia.

British nationals are being told to register their location but stay put, for now.

Ms Cooper said:

We are setting up the support systems because as well as the 94,000 people who have been in touch when we set up the “register your presence” system, there’s an estimated 300,000 British citizens in Gulf countries that have now been targeted by Iran, including countries where now airspace is closed as a result of those attacks.

That is, of course, extremely stressful for people who include holidaymakers and transit passengers at airports, people who have gone there for business trips, as well as those who live in the region as well.

So we’re saying to people, the most important thing at the moment is to follow the local advice, which in most places is around sheltering in place, and we are sending out rapid deployment teams to the region to work with the travel industry, to work with local governments as well, to make sure that citizens can get support. Of course, we want people to get safely home as swiftly as possible.

Oil tankers operating in the Strait of Hormuz

The US-Israeli military operation against Iran and Tehran’s retaliation are disrupting global maritime traffic, including oil tanker transports.

The grounding of ships around the Gulf and the paralysis of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical narrow waterway bordered by Iran and Oman, represent a significant upheaval for a wide range of sectors beyond hydrocarbons.

Here is how shipping could be impacted:

• Fertilisers

About 33 percent of the world’s fertilizers, including sulfur and ammonia, transit through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the trade analysis firm Kpler.

Loaded onto cargo ships in Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, these fertilizers have diverse destinations ranging from India and China to Brazil and African countries.

The conflict in the Middle East also threatens a major polymer export hub in the United Arab Emirates, according to an analysis published Monday by the consulting firm Argus Media.

The firm said the region produces up to 23 million tons of polyethylene – one of the most widely used plastics in the world – annually, representing 15 percent of global production.

The shipping conditions also disrupt the arrival of cargo to the Middle East, a region that relies in part on food imports.

Many transports pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

During a June 2015 US military operation in Iran, for example, entire shipments of rice destined for the region were blocked in India.

The US embassy in Bahrain has issued a chilling warning that ‘terrorist groups’ are planning to attack American citizens in the Gulf state.

In a statement, officials have warned Americans in the country to avoid hotels in Manama as they could be targeted.

It reads: ‘Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Bahrain. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning’.

Several US warplanes have crashed in Kuwait but their crews have survived, according to officials.

Video shared on social media showed one US fighter jet crashing in Kuwait, with the plane on fire and an ejected pilot parachuting to the ground.

The crash today happened within 6.2miles of the US Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait, as the Kuwait Defence Ministry confirmed that several US warplanes crashed but their crew have survived.

The jet caught on video had twin engines consistent with an F-15E or F/A-18 fighter jet.

Here is our latest map showing all strikes carried out by US/Israel and Iran as the conflict continues to explode over the Middle East.

Explosions have been heard across the Gulf states and Cyprus with the violence fast spreading across the region.

Explosions have been reported across the UAE since the war broke out

Loud explosions were heard across the Gulf cities of Dubai, Doha and Manama on Monday as Tehran pressed into a third day of strikes against Gulf neighbours in response to US-Israeli strikes.

Blasts were also heard in Jerusalem, with the IDF saying defence systems were operating to intercept missiles.

This comes as Brits trapped in the UAE’s most populous city are awaiting evacuation, after 94,000 British citizens vacationing in the hotspot registered their contact details with the foreign office.

A host of celebrities who have moved to Dubai have shared terrified updates after getting caught up in the air attacks.

Branding it the ‘scariest, worst nights of our lives’, many spoke of how scared they were hearing the constant bangs overhead, while sheltering in their homes as the strikes rage on across the UAE.

Officials are planning to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Britons as fires raged across the Gulf last night.

After the US air strikes on Tehran, and Iran’s suicide-drone revenge attacks on tourist hot-spots including Dubai, 94,000 British citizens have registered their contact details with the Foreign Office – many of them holiday-makers visiting the region or transiting through it.

It came as Keir Starmer agreed to a US request to use British military bases to hit Iranian missile sites.

The Prime Minister said: ‘Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them, and it’s my duty to protect British lives. This is in line with international law and we are publishing a summary of our legal advice.’

Sir Keir added: ‘We all remember the mistakes of Iraq and we have learned those lessons. We were not involved in the initial strikes on Iran and we will not join offensive action now. But Iran is pursuing a scorched-earth strategy so we are supporting the collective self-defence of our allies and our people in the region.’

Cyprus’s President Nikos Christodoulides said an Iranian drone had crashed into a British base on the Mediterranean island on Monday, as the Israeli-American war with Iran spread across the region.

Minutes after midnight (10pm UK time), ‘a Shahed unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into the military facilities of the British Bases in Akrotiri, causing minor material damage’, he said.

‘We are in a region of particular geopolitical instability with many challenges and problems, which is going through an unprecedented crisis.

Our homeland does not participate in any way and does not intend to be part of any military operation.’

Donald Trump was warned that America’s stockpile of missiles and interceptors could run dry if his war in Iran is prolonged, sources say.

Military insiders said Trump was cautioned that an extensive, resource-draining war in Iran could put US targets at risk if Iranian missile and drone capabilities are not destroyed quickly, per the Wall Street Journal.

The outlet cited current and former military officials who said the US missile stockpile – including air defense interceptors and Tomahawk cruise missiles – has been eaten away by conflicts with Iran and its proxies in the Middle East.

The strikes launched on Saturday started a race against time to destroy Iran’s missile force before the US runs out of interceptors to fend off retaliatory strikes, insiders warned.

The precise size of the US missile and interceptors stockpile is classified, however the warnings over their numbers comes after the US launched a huge barrage of strikes on targets in Tehran and other Iranian cities.