Iran-US war latest: Trump says strikes ‘obliterated’ targets on Kharg Island oil hub – UK Times

Protesters gathered in Times Square in New York City on Friday for an Al Quds Day rally, expressing support for Palestinians and condemning the ongoing bombing of Iran by the United States and Israel amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Al Quds Day – also known as Jerusalem Day – is an annual international day of demonstrations held on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians. Similar rallies were reported in cities around the world this year as tensions remain high following the ongoing war involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

Participants in New York carried banners and placards, including one that read: “No blood for oil – from the Middle East to Latin America.”

European leaders have reacted sharply to a US decision to temporarily ease sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil.

The waiver will allow countries to buy Russian oil already on vessels at sea but unsold due to sanctions.

European Council President Antonio Costa said the decision was “very concerning” as it “impacts European security”.

“Weakening sanctions increases Russian resources to wage the war of aggression against Ukraine,” he wrote in a post on X.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said at a news conference the move could allow Russia to gain about $10bn, adding: “It certainly does not help peace.”

French president Emmanuel Macron, speaking alongside Zelensky, said the reported shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz “in no way” justified lifting sanctions.

Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney said earlier that Canada’s position was to “maintain sanctions on Russia”.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz also criticised the decision, calling it “wrong” at a separate news conference.

White House AI czar David Sacks said on Friday the US should “declare victory and get out” of its war with Iran, a rare instance of a prominent figure in Donald Trump’s administration calling for an exit from the conflict.

“This is a good time to declare victory and get out,” Sacks, Trump’s crypto and AI tsar, said in an appearance on the “All-In Podcast.”Sacks said the US had degraded Iran’s military capabilities.

“I agree that we should try to find the off-ramp,” he added.

“If escalation doesn’t lead anywhere good, then you have to think about, well, how do you de-escalate? De-escalation, I think, involves reaching some sort of ceasefire agreement or some sort of negotiated settlement with Iran,” he said.

Iran’s UN ambassador says more than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran in US and Israeli attacks.

Israel says 12 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian attacks.

The US military says seven of its members have been killed.

A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad, two Iraqi security officials said.

Footage seen by AP showed a column of smoke rising Saturday morning over the embassy compound.

The sprawling embassy complex, one of the largest US diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.

There was no immediate comment from the US Embassy in Baghdad.

On Friday, the embassy renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against US citizens, interests and infrastructure, and “may continue to target them.”

Former US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, has said Americans didn’t vote for the Iran war in President Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory.

When asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Friday night local time, about the 13 US service members who have been killed so far in the US-Israeli military effort against Iran, Greene said it was “absolutely heartbreaking”.

“These are 13 lives that I believe should not have been lost. This war is not something that Americans voted for in 2024. As a matter of fact, we voted for the opposite. We voted for no more foreign wars, no more regime change”, the Trump supporter-turned-critic said.

“This was an unprovoked war and Israel pulled us into it, pulled America into it, and so those are 13 lives that should not have been lost”, she added.

When Trump won the 2024 election, he said in his victory speech, “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars”.

Trump has claimed the US needed to attack Iran because the Middle Eastern country posed an “imminent” threat to the American people due to its “nuclear ambitions” and pursuit of “developing the long range missiles”.

He has insisted Israel did not force America’s hand to launch military strikes, which began nearly two weeks ago, telling reporters, “I might of forced their hand”.

The Israeli military on Saturday issued an evacuation warning for a designated industrial area in Iran’s northwestern city of Tabriz, urging civilians to leave the area immediately.

US President Donald Trump told reporters Friday evening local time the Iran war is “going very well”.

“The situation in Iran is going very well. A lot of big hits today, a lot of big wins today, as you probably have heard, militarily, and I think it’s going very well and very good control. We’ll see what’s happening with the straits”, Trump said, referring to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.

“They continue to try and sabotage their own country in the Middle East, but it’s been very, very strong militarily”, the president said at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, before departing to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

President Donald Trump was asked about seizing Kharg Island a day before he announced the US military “totally obliterated” the Iranian oil export port.

Speaking to Fox News Radio in an interview taped Thursday night local time and aired the next morning, Trump said seizing the island was “not high on the list”.

He said the island was “one of so many different things, and I can change my mind in seconds”.

Friday night, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island.”

US Vice President JD Vance has shared his prayers for the six American service members killed in a plane crash over Iraq.

“Please join me in praying for the six service members who lost their lives in a plane crash over the skies of Iraq”, Vance wrote on X Friday night local time. “Three were Ohioans serving with the 121st Air Refueling Wing, a unit I was honored to visit as a senator. A grateful nation mourns their loss”.

US Central Command announced Thursday evening local time that a KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in western Iraq.

“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing”, the military wrote on X, referring to the name of the US military campaign against Iran.