Iran-US war latest: Trump says ‘Iran has lost everything’ and rules out ground invasion as ‘waste of time’ – UK Times

The flight finally departed late on Thursday night local time from Oman’s capital Muscat, almost 24 hours behind schedule, and landed at Stansted at 00.53GMT on Friday.

More than 140,000 British nationals in the Gulf registered with the UK government for assistance, with over 4,000 already returning via commercial flights from the UAE.

Israeli military pounded capitals of Iran and Lebanon with intense airstrikes on Friday, with the US apparently striking an Iranian drone carrier at sea, intensifying its campaign targeting the Islamic Republic’s fleet of warships.

Iran launched new retaliatory attacks in the Middle East at the end of a full week of bombardment, which US defence secretary Pete Hegseth warned was “about to surge dramatically”.

Israel’s military said on Friday morning it had begun “a broad-scale wave of strikes” on Tehran, Iran’s capital.

Witnesses described the Israeli airstrikes as particularly intense, shaking homes in the area. Others reported explosions around the Iranian city of Kermanshah in an area that is home to multiple missile bases.

The Israeli military said strikes have already destroyed most of Iran’s air defences and missile launchers.

Early on Friday, Iran fired missile and drone attacks into Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, all countries that host US forces. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The first UK government-chartered flight evacuating British nationals stranded in the Middle East landed at London’s Stansted airport after departing Oman nearly a day late due to technical issues.

The flight finally departed late on Thursday night local time from Oman’s capital Muscat, almost 24 hours behind schedule, and landed at Stansted at 00.53GMT on Friday.

The evacuation effort comes amid escalating regional tensions after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered retaliatory attacks, grounding or restricting flights across several Middle Eastern countries.

President Donald Trump has said he wants Iran to have a “good leader” after U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“We want them to have a good leader. We have some people who I think would do a good job”, Trump told NBC News.

Trump has criticized the reported frontrunner in the selection of a new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the late Khamenei’s son.

“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran”, Trump told Axios.

Japan has confirmed that a second national has been detained in Iran and has requested the early release of its citizens.

Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi said two Japanese nationals had been detained but were currently safe.

“The government strongly calls for their early release and will provide as much support as possible while staying in touch with them, their families and related parties,” Motegi said.

One of the detainees is believed to be the Tehran bureau chief of public broadcaster NHK, who was detained on 20 January.

Details about the other detainee remain unknown.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has insisted that the United States is “not at war” with Iran.

“We’re not at war, we have no intention at being at war. The president and the Department of Defense have made this very clear…this is a limited operation,” Johnson told reporters after the US House of Representatives blocked a War Powers Resolution to curb Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran.

Hezbollah has warned Israeli residents to evacuate from villages and towns within 5km of the border with Lebanon.

The group sent the message on its Telegram channel in Hebrew early today.

“Your military’s aggression against Lebanese sovereignty and safe citizens, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the expulsion campaign it is carrying out will not go unchallenged,” it wrote.

Israeli lauche strokes on Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah after telling people to leave the southern suburbs of Beirut, which remains a stronghold of Hezbollah.

It has come as just a short while ago, the IDF also said it had begun “a broad-scale wave of strikes against Iranian terror regime infrastructure in Tehran”.

Donald Trump has said that Iran has lost everything in US-Israel attacks and ruled out the need for ground invasion for now.

Speaking to NBC News, he said American forces leading a ground invasion of Iran would be a waste of time and suggested it is not something he is currently thinking about.

It was his response to the Iranian foreign minister’s comments about Iran being ready for a ground invasion.

“It’s a waste of time. They’ve lost everything. They’ve lost their navy. They’ve lost everything they can lose.”

He added that the US forces have sustained resourses to continue their strikes.

“We have massive ammunition, which people didn’t understand. We have the most we’ve ever had. We have a lot in other countries.”

Speaking about new leadership in Iran after Ali Khamenei was killed by US-Israeli attacks, Trump said they want a “good leader”.

“We want to go in and clean out everything. We don’t want someone who would rebuild over a ten year period, they’ve been hit harder than anyone has been hit, but we don’t want someone who would rebuild it in ten years. That’s what it would take.”

“We want them to have a good leader. We have some people who I think would do a good job.”

The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution Thursday to halt President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran.

It was the second vote in as many days, after the Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines on Wednesday.

While the tally in the House, 212-219, was expected to be tight, the outcome provided a clarifying snapshot of political support for, and opposition to, the U.S.-Israel military operation and Trump’s rationale for bypassing Congress, which alone has the power to declare war.

Earlier today, Etihad Airways reported that it would resume some flights between 6 and 19 March.

These were to key popular destinations including Cairo, Delhi, London, Frankfurt, New York, Paris, Moscow, Toronto and Zurich.