US strikes targets across Iran: As it happened

US President Donald Trump has posted on his Truth Social platform, promising more strikes on Iran and reviving his threat to capture Tehran’s key energy export hub on Kharg Island.

Gamal Abdel Nasser Jr., the grandson and namesake of the Egyptian president who nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956, has told RT that geography can become an effective tool for smaller countries in their struggle against global powers.

He also suggested that Israel was the reason for the US and Iran being unable to agree peace and restore traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian has said that Beijing “strongly urges” Washington and Tehran “to immediately cease military operations, return to dialogue and negotiation, respond to the mediation efforts of relevant countries and achieve a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire as soon as possible.”

Russia is concerned about a new spike in tensions in the Middle East, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, urging the US and Iran to show restraint.

“We are still calling for a return to the negotiation process because another round of escalation is fraught with new additional negative consequences for the situation in the region and the international economy as a whole,” Peskov said.

Russia “for years, stood for bringing the Gulf states and Iran together for a regional security concept,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has told Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani during their meeting in Moscow.

“Two weeks ago, we updated this concept and sent it to all capitals. We hope it will ensure stability and safety,” Lavrov stressed.

The Bahraini authorities “attach great significance to international efforts aimed at de-escalation and guaranteeing and respecting the sovereignty of the states [in the region],” Al Zayani replied.

The latest US strikes on Iran have rendered the two-month ceasefire between Tehran and Washington “practically meaningless,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry has said in a statement.

The responsibility for the “extremely serious consequences of this criminal act lies with the leaders of the US,” the statement read.

The ministry insisted that it is “a legal and moral obligation” of the Gulf states to prevent the “American terrorist army” from using their bases to target Iran.

Tehran is determined to neutralize the sources of aggression against it in line with its right to self-defense, it stressed.

A 150-ton cargo barge, carrying essential goods from Oman to Iran across the Strait of Hormuz, has been attacked by the US, the governor of the Iranian Sirik province, Reza Shahidian, has said.

It “was struck by an enemy projectile five nautical miles off [the Omani port of] Khasab,” Shahidian told IRIB news agency.

Indirect negotiations to reach a deal between the US and Iran are still on track despite the latest exchange of fire between the sides, CNN has reported, citing a diplomatic source.

AFP reported later that an unnamed diplomat told it that “the Qatari delegation departed from Tehran this morning following talks with Iranian officials… that lasted into the early hours of this morning.” The discussions were “conducted in coordination with the US,” according to the source.

A giant banner depicting the Strait of Hormuz displayed at Vali-e Asr Square in Tehran. © Getty Images / Fatemeh Bahrami

At least three people have been wounded in the province of Tehran by “brutal” US airstrikes overnight, the head of the local emergency services, Mohammad Esmail Tavakoli, has told Fars news agency.

The province is located in the north and hosts the Iranian capital. According to the Iranian military, the latest American bombardment mainly focused on the southern part of the country, but areas around the capital were also hit.

Three Indian seafarers reported missing after a US strike on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman have been confirmed dead, New Delhi’s shipping minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, has said. Their bodies have been located and identified, he added.

“This is a profound loss to our maritime community,” the minister wrote in a post on X.

The Palau-flagged vessel, the Settebello, had 28 crew members aboard, including 24 Indian nationals, two Pakistanis, a Ukrainian, and a Russian, when it was hit on Wednesday.

US Central Command earlier confirmed carrying out a “precision” strike on the tanker, which it claimed was transporting Iranian oil in violation of the American blockade.