Iran-US war live: Trump announces Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extension and says ‘clock ticking’ for Tehran – UK Times

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is reported to be expected to undergo facial reconstructive surgery and be fitted with a prosthetic leg after surviving a bomb attack.

The New York Times reported that Khamenei is still capable of comprehending communications and making decisions, but he’s already been subject to a surgery on his hand and has severe facial burns.

The report comes a month after US defence secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that the leader was “wounded” and likely “disfigured” following the attack.

The report added that Khamenei has had very little contact with Iranian generals amid negotiations to end the war.

The youngest son of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei was chosen as Iran’s top leader following the killing of his father in US-Israeli strikes.

An internal Pentagon email reportedly outlines options for the US to punish Nato allies it believes failed to support US operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance.

The mail also called for a review of the US position on Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands, a US official told Reuters.

The policy options are detailed in a note expressing frustration ⁠at some allies’ perceived reluctance or refusal to grant the US access, basing and overflight rights – known as ABO – for the Iran war, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the email.

The email stated that ABO is “just the absolute baseline for Nato,” according to the official, who added that the options were circulating at high levels in the Pentagon.

One option in the email envisions suspending “difficult” countries from important or prestigious positions at Nato, the official said

President Donald Trump has harshly criticised Nato allies for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which was ⁠closed to global shipping following the start of the air war on 28 February.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said the Iran-backed group wanted the ceasefire to continue but “on the basis of ​full compliance by the Israeli enemy”.

At a televised press conference, he reiterated Hezbollah’s objections to face-to-face talks between Lebanon and Israel. and urged the government to cancel all forms of direct contact.

Hostilities ‌between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on 2 March, when the group opened fire in support ⁠of Iran in the regional war.

The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included ⁠in any broader truce.

Donald Trump has ordered the US Navy to “shoot to kill” Iranian boats laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran continues to tighten its grip on the channel with the capture of commercial vessels.

The president posted on Truth Social that the military had been told to shoot “any boat, small boats though they may be … that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz”, as the military said it had boarded another tanker, Majestic X, in the Indian Ocean.

He said he had ordered US minesweepers to continue de-mining the area “at a tripled up level”, but made no mention of the other means Iran has used to disrupt shipping along the route, with speedboats, missiles and drones.

Mike Huckabee, the US envoy to Israel, who was on hand for the White House talks, said the “people of Lebanon, the people of Israel are neighbours and they want to get along”.

“They can get along,” he said.

“But it’s like neighbours who have a rough little kid living in the neighbourhood who keeps throwing rocks at everybody’s window.

“And if the kid will quit throwing rocks, the neighbours can get along and start actually working together.”

The US has placed a $10m bounty on the leader of an Iranian-backed Shia militia in Iraq.

The US state department’s Rewards for Justice program issued a notice it sought the leader of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.

It said Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji led the group, whose members “killed Iraqi civilians and attacked US diplomatic facilities in Iraq”.

It also said Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada attacked US military bases and personnel in Iraq and Syria.

The South American nation of Guyana said on Thursday that a tanker seized by the US in Asia for allegedly carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil was “fraudulently flying the Guyana flag.”Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department made the announcement in a statement to journalists.

It noted the vessel had previously been named Phonix, which the US treasury noted when it previously sanctioned the vessel.

“This ship is not registered in Guyana; thus, the registration is false and fraudulent,” its statement said.“

While the name of the vessel has changed, the (International Maritime Organization) number remains recorded in the international database as PHONIX. There is no record of this vessel or name in Guyana’s registry.”

Oil prices rose this morning over fears of renewed military escalation in the Middle East after Iran released footage of commandos boarding ​a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures rose $1.23, or 1.17 per cent, to $106.3 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.07, or 1.12 per cent, at $96.92.

Both benchmark contracts settled up more than 3 per cent yesterday ​and jumped $5 a barrel after reports that air defences were engaging targets over Tehran ​and of a power struggle between Iran’s hardliners and moderates.

Donald Trump has reiterated that the US continues to demand that Iran stop its backing of proxy groups in the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, as part of any deal between Washington and Tehran to end the US war on Iran.

“Yeah, they’ll have to cut that,” Trump said to a reporter’s question about aiding the militant group. “That’s a must.”Lebanon and Israel extended their ceasefire for three weeks after a high-level meeting at the White House, Trump said last night.