Pakistan sends in navy to escort tankers by way of Gulf as Trump threatens Iran with ‘Death, Fire and Fury’ if oil exports are lower off: Live updates

Pakistan has deployed warships to the Gulf to counter threats to its shipping and trade amid increasing fears over fuel imports.

Last night the military said navy ships were escorting merchant vessels ‘to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national energy supplies’.

Pakistan, which shares a border with Iran in the southwest, depends on oil and gas from the Gulf and last Friday hiked prices at the pump by about 20 percent, triggering long lines at petrol stations across the country.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday evening unveiled a raft of austerity measures to save fuel, including shutting government offices for one day a week and ordering 50 percent of staff to work from home.

Schools were also told to close for two weeks.

Here are the latest developments on the US-Israel war with Iran after Donald Trump indicated the conflict was ‘ahead of schedule’ and would end ‘very soon’:

• Pakistan has deployed its navy to escort tankers through the Gulf amid increasing threats between the US and Iran surrounding the Strait of Hormuz
• Trump threatened to bring ‘death, fire and fury’ down on Iran if it were to cut off the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz
• Massive airstrikes hit Tehran with explosions last night as Trump promised the world the war would end ‘very soon’ and claimed the US has ‘already won’
• Oil prices dipped following Trump’s announcement as the President indicated he will waive some sanctions on oil due to market turmoil
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guard forces said Tehran will not allow the export of oil from the region to US and Israeli allies as long as the war continues
• Australia has granted asylum to some of Iran’s visiting women’s football team over fears they faced persecution at home for not singing the national anthem before a match.
• Turkey said a US-made Patriot missile defence system would be deployed a day after NATO shot down a second ballistic missile fired from Iran

Stick with us throughout the day as we bring you the latest developments.

A tearful Iranian footballer appeared to be dragged onto a bus in chaotic scenes as protesters in Australia tried to stop the women’s team from being forced home by the cruel regime.

Protesters ‘rammed’ the bus and temporarily prevented the squad from leaving their hotel on the Gold Coast on Tuesday afternoon after five members were granted humanitarian visas following an intervention by Donald Trump.

Players were seen making what appeared to be an ‘SOS’ hand signal, a closed fist with the thumb underneath the fingers, on their team bus after their Asian Cup campaign ended on Sunday night.

A group of players then escaped from their hotel on Monday night in a desperate bid to avoid returning to their war-torn country, where they faced persecution over their refusal to sing the Iranian national anthem.

Extra police will reportedly be stationed at Gold Coast Airport ready to assist any other team members who wish to seek asylum.

Sirens sounded in Jerusalem and central Israel today as the military warns of incoming missiles from Iran.

‘Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,’ the military said in a statement, shortly before AFP journalists heard at least one blast from Jerusalem.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services reported no immediate injuries following the missile fire, but said its teams were treating ‘a small number of people who were injured on their way to protected areas, as well as individuals suffering from anxiety.’

First responders say 11 people had been killed and dozens injured in Israel since Iran began firing missiles at the country in retaliation for joint US-Israeli strikes.

Shrapnel killed one man and seriously wounded another in Israel on Monday as blasts rocked the area after the military said missiles were fired from Iran.

Turkey has declared a Patriot missile defence system is being deployed in the country after NATO intercepted a second ballistic missile fired from Iran.

‘Necessary measures are being taken for the security of our borders and airspace, and consultations are being held with NATO and our allies.

‘In addition to the measures we have taken at the national level, NATO has strengthened its air and missile defence measures,’ a defence ministry statement said.

‘Within this scope, a Patriot system assigned to support the protection of our airspace is being deployed in Malatya.’

Located in central Turkey, Malatya is known as the location of the Kurecik air base, a key facility manned by US troops which houses a NATO early-warning radar system that can detect Iranian missile launches.

The deployment comes a day after NATO shot down a second missile from Iran, prompting Washington to shut down its consulate in the southern city of Adana and urge all American citizens to leave southeastern Turkey.

European stock markets rebounded this morning as energy prices eased after Donald Trump signalled the US-Israel war on Iran could end sooner than expected.

Frankfurt’s DAX index of top German companies jumped 2.1 percent, the Paris CAC 40 rose 1.7 percent and London’s FTSE 100 advanced 1.4 percent.

World oil prices dropped by around eight percent and European natural gas prices plunged after Trump said the war was ‘going to be ended soon’.

Earlier today Asian stock markets rallied, with Seoul up more than five percent and Tokyo 2.9 percent. There were also advances in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Mumbai, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta.

That came after all three main indexes on Wall Street ended sharply higher, having reversed early heavy selling, though futures slipped Tuesday.

The Ministry of Defence has announced RAF Typhoon jets destroyed an ‘uncrewed aerial system’ while defending Jordan and intercepted a drone heading for Bahrain.

Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Israel’s military offensive against Iran was ‘not done yet’ as he described the conflict as ‘breaking the bones’ of Tehran’s leadership.

Speaking last night, the Israeli Prime Minister said: ‘Our aspiration is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, it depends on them.

‘But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones – and we are not done yet.’

Donald Trump has previously said he and Netanyahu will make a ‘mutual’ decision on when to end the war.

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, the world’s top oil exporter, has warned there would be ‘catastrophic consequences’ for global oil markets if the Iran war continues to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The disruption has not only upended the shipping and insurance sectors but also promises to have drastic domino effects on aviation, agriculture, automotive and other industries, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told reporters on an earnings call.

Nasser noted global inventories of oil were at a five-year low and said the crisis will lead to drawdowns at a faster rate, adding that it was critical that shipping in the strait resumed.

‘There would be catastrophic consequences for the world’s oil markets and the longer the disruption goes on, and the more drastic the consequences for the global economy,’ he said.

The Iranian foreign minister has declared Tehran will continue to fight for ‘as long as it takes’ as Donald Trump indicated the war would be over ‘very soon’.

Abbas Araghchi told US broadcaster PBS News that his country was prepared to continue missile attacks and that negotiations with the United States were no longer on the agenda.

Araghchi said: ‘Well, if they have all rights to take all necessary measures to protect their facilities, I think we are even — we have more rights to take all necessary measures to defend ourselves, to protect our people,’ he said.

He added Iran is ‘well prepared to continue attacking them with our missiles as long as needed and as long as it takes.’

by Mark Nicol and Sam Lawley

Massive airstrikes hit Tehran with explosions last night as Donald Trump promised the world the war would end ‘very soon’ and claimed the US has ‘already won’.

The sky above the Iranian capital glowed amid the latest wave of US-Israeli attacks proving the US President’s vow to ‘go further’ in the conflict was serious.

Mr Trump had earlier insisted war in the Middle East was ‘pretty much’ over and claimed the operation launched 10 days ago was ‘very far’ ahead of schedule.

The American President even described the massive US and Israeli onslaught as a ‘short-term excursion’ which will be ‘finished pretty quickly’.

But further remarks betrayed Mr Trump’s willingness to keep the war with Iran going, as he added: ‘We’ve already won in many ways but we haven’t won enough…we’re going to go further.’

He said: ‘We could call it a tremendous success right now… or we could go further, and we’re going to go further. We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.’

Iran continued its attacks on Gulf countries on Tuesday, with incoming missile sirens heard early in the morning in Dubai and Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia announced that it destroyed two drones over its oil-rich eastern region and Kuwait’s National Guard said it has taken down six drones.

Israeli strikes also hit southern and eastern Lebanon overnight as forces continue to target Hezbollah.