Iran-US war latest Trump claims world’s ‘most active terrorist’ has been killed and sets out new nuclear demand – UK Times

Basim Mohammed, has said the country exported 10 million barrels of oil via the Strait of Hormuz last month – down from 93 million – according to reports from Reuters.

Oil exports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq have been curtailed due to the closure of the key waterway during the war.

“We export 200,000 barrels through Ceyhan port, and we ⁠have a plan to increase ​it to 500,000 barrels,” ​Mohammed said.

Iraq’s crude exports through the Kirkuk–Ceyhan ​oil pipeline resumed in March, after Baghdad and ‌the ⁠Kurdistan Regional Government agreed on restarting flows.

Iraq plans to engage ​with the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to boost the ⁠its production and export capacity, the minister said, adding that Baghdad aims ⁠to reach a production ​capacity of five million barrels per ​day.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of Isis globally, was killed in an operation conducted by U.S. and Nigerian forces.

“Tonight, at my direction, brave ​American ⁠forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the ⁠most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield.

“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second ​in ⁠command of ISIS globally, ‌thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he ‌was doing,” Trump said on Truth ‌Social.

Trump did not disclose in his post the exact location of the operation.

Al-Minuki, a Nigerian national, was designated as a “specially designated global terrorist” by the ⁠former Biden administration in 2023, according to the U.S. Federal Register.

FIFA officials are set to meet the Iranian FA in Istanbul to offer “reassurance” over the country’s participation in the World Cup, according to reports from Reuters.

A source familiar with the talks told Reuters that FIFA was working with the relevant authorities to ensure all teams at the World Cup, which is set to be held in the US, were able to compete.

Iran is set to play three World Cup matches, but its participation has been in question since the onset of the US-Israel war with Iran in February.

The main demand of senior Iranian officials seems to be guarantees against future US-Israeli attacks as a precondition for negotiations.

Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said yesterday that the US must satisfy Iranian “confidence-building” before starting negotiations.

The Iranian regime seeks that the US recognise its control over the Strait of Hormuz as one such guarantee.

The UN states who co-sponsor Donald Trump’s draft resolution for the Strait of Hormuz will share responsibility for any military escalation, Iranian officials have warned.

The statement published on the social media site X accused the US of seeking to “exploit” supportive member states to engineer a false image of “broad international support.”

Iran’s key export hub, Kharg Island, has paused shipments likely due to an oil spill in the area, satellite images suggest.

Reports from TankerTrackers, a firm that uses satellite imagery to monitor vessels, point to a multi-day pause in the loading of big ships at the island.

This follows a large oil spill reported around the site on 9 May by the New York Times.

Iran remained one country easily moving oil through the Strait of Hormuz, but the oil spill seems to have disrupted its dominance in the area as well.

Nearly two months after US president Donald Trump announced a government programme to provide insurance to ships seeking to transit the Strait of Hormuz, not even a single user has used the scheme, a new report suggests.

In March, Trump announced that the US would provide insurance to ships seeking to pass through the Strait “at a very reasonable price”, with insurers Chubb and AIG roped in to help provide cover.

He posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, that the US Development Finance Corporation would provide “at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade, especially Energy, travelling through the Gulf”.

But the $40bn programme has not been used at all till now, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the scheme’s operations.

This comes even as reports suggest at least 38 ships have been attacked or struck since the conflict began, and 11 seafarers killed while transiting through the Strait.

The US energy secretary Chris Wright said yesterday that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen “sometime this summer at the latest”.

“Traffic will be flowing through the Straits of Hormuz, you know, as soon as we can, but certainly sometime this summer at the latest,” Wright said, later adding that a deal could be struck “in the next few days” at the earliest.

“We’ve done the early steps on that, but [what’s] better is to get a deal and not have to use military force,” he said.

The UAE foreign ministry said earlier today that all ‌of its actions were defensive measures to protect its citizens and its ​sovereignty.

The statement comes as the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that the UAE carried out ​military operations ​against Iran in early April.

UAE’s attacks signalled a more aggressive stance by Gulf monarchies against Iran.

The US officials cited by the WSJ report declined to reveal the exact targets or timing of the strikes.

In its latest statement, the UAE foreign ​ministry ⁠did not refer particularly to the ⁠reported ​strikes on ​Iran.