Speaking to Axios on Thursday, Trump said he has not yet made a final decision on it but that such an attack would have consequences.

The Kuwaiti military said on Thursday that a new drone attack had been launched against one of its border crossings with Iraq.

"Al-Abdali border post was the repeated target this evening of enemy drone attacks that caused material damage but no casualties," army headquarters said in a statement posted on social media.

Britain said on Thursday its armed forces were ready to protect the country from any attack after Iran's Revolutionary Guards issued a warning over allowing US bombers to fly from UK bases.

"Our Armed Forces are ready to keep the United Kingdom safe from any kind of attacks, whether it's on our soil or from abroad. The UK stands ready 24/7 to defend itself," a government spokesperson said.

"This includes through operating a layered approach to air and missile defence, provided by Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force assets equipped with a range of advanced capabilities, working closely with our NATO allies," they added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday denounced what he called the United States' "irrational" and "domineering" approach in dealing with Tehran.

"The problem is the type of approach of America, and that is their irrational, excessive and domineering approach, which has been met with strong reactions from us," he told the state TV.

(AFP)

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei launched a scathing attack on the United States, accusing the American administration of intending to "sacrifice whatever remains of international humanitarian law and the foundations of human ethics and civilisation to its insatiable appetite for war and slaughter".

Criticising Washington's aggressive posture, Baghaei claimed that the US leadership is actively pursuing "a policy that calls for the destruction of bridges and power plants, which is manifestly unlawful and criminal".

Denouncing the strategy in sharp terms, the Iranian official stated that targeting civilian infrastructure amounts to grave violations under legal principles. "It constitutes reprisal and collective punishment, both of which are explicitly prohibited as war crimes under international humanitarian law," he added.

(ANI)

Britain said on Friday it had withdrawn remaining diplomatic staff from Iran as the conflict between Iran and the United States escalates.

"Due to the security situation, UK staff have been temporarily withdrawn from Iran. Our embassy continues to operate remotely," the Foreign Office said on its website.

Sirens sounded in Bahrain on Thursday, the interior ministry said, with AFP correspondents hearing the alerts in the capital Manama, as the country comes under daily Iranian attacks.

"The siren has been sounded... Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place," the ministry said in a statement.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said early Thursday they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, and the U.S. military conducted a 12th night of strikes against Iran as the two countries vie for control of vital shipping lanes.

The Houthi attack threatened to open a new front in a war that has roiled the global economy, sending prices for fuel and other goods surging across the world. With the standoff in the Gulf deepening, there were no signs of progress in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

U.S. Central Command said its strikes were designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” as the Americans push to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz and restore the flow of international shipping.

(AP)

Iran vowed on Thursday to keep striking the region so long as it remains under attack, as the Middle East war spread to new fronts with Tehran's Houthi allies attacking Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.

The war resumed following a ceasefire that lasted just a few weeks, throwing the region and global energy markets back into chaos as Iran and the United States battle for control of the vital Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis this week joined the conflict, claiming to have struck two Saudi oil tankers after declaring a blockade of Saudi ports.

(AFP)

The Iranian army said Thursday that it would continue its strikes around the region until the attacks on Iran stopped, state television reported.

"The armed forces' retaliatory attacks will continue as long as the US attacks on the country's infrastructure and coastal areas continue," said army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia according to state TV, adding that the country was ready for "every enemy scenario".

Two French diplomats in Iran suffered "an extremely serious act of intimidation" by Islamic republic security services, with one of them physically abused, France's foreign minister said Monday.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Wednesday (local time) said that it has completed another round of strikes against Iran, marking the 12th consecutive night of operations, as American forces targeted Iranian military infrastructure, including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites and air defence assets.

In a statement, CENTCOM said, "At 10:30 p.m. ET on July 22, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces completed another round of strikes against Iran for the 12th consecutive night."

"U.S. forces struck Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets. The strikes further degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels," the statement added.

CENTCOM said that US forces have targeted dozens of Iranian military sites on land this month while resuming the naval blockade against Iran after the collapse of the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed last month between the two sides.

Trump is now so annoyed with Netanyahu that he doesn't even want to meet him. What happened?

Oil prices rose to a six-week high on Wednesday as the U.S. and Iran traded strikes, further threatening energy shipping in the Middle East, while U.S. equities were flat ahead of key Big Tech earnings.

Brent crude prices settled up 3.3% to $94 per barrel, reaching levels not seen since early June. A brief détente between the U.S. and Iran ended this month, once again restricting tanker movement in the key Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened more attacks on Iran's infrastructure.

Nearly five months of war have depleted global stockpiles and stoked inflation worldwide. Shipping disruptions could worsen following threats of attack from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on shipping in the Red Sea, another chokepoint in the Middle East. 

Four oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait following the Houthi threat.

The closure of both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb would disrupt shipping routes for more than a quarter of the world's oil and gas. Clearing both of those logjams would strain the U.S. military, analysts said.

If approved, the facility could bolster Pakistan's reserves, ease pressure on the rupee, and reduce its reliance on multilateral financing, even as Islamabad undertakes tighter fiscal and monetary policies in line with its International Monetary Fund program.

Trump had warned on Tuesday that the US would hit the site, known as Pickaxe Mountain in English.

President Donald Trump renewed his threats to attack Iranian infrastructure on Wednesday, saying the US would attack a bridge or power plant each time Tehran targets a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The US and Iran have intensified attacks as an interim ceasefire agreement signed last month has unravelled and a struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz has deepened, raising the risk of a return to all-out hostilities. under

Some international law experts and world leaders have criticized Trump's threats to target Iranian bridges and power plants as illegal under international law that prohibits attacks on civilian targets. 

Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold their next round of U.S.-brokered talks on August 4 in Italy, a Lebanese official told Reuters on Wednesday, as the two countries begin implementing a plan for Israeli withdrawals and Lebanese army deployments in southern Lebanon.

The two longtime foes have held more than three months of face-to-face talks, billed as a way to put a permanent end to hostilities since a new war erupted on March 2 between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, triggered by the wider regional conflict.

The ambassador-level direct meetings are unusual for countries that remain formally at war and have had no normal diplomatic relations through decades of invasion, military occupation and cross-border conflict.

Five meetings hosted by the United States produced a framework deal late last month which foresees the disarmament of Hezbollah, the progressive withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and the deployment of Lebanese troops.

The agreement leaves out two safeguards Washington has traditionally insisted on. First, a ban on uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing, along with an "additional protocol" that provides tougher international inspections.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Iran would respond in kind to any attack on its infrastructure, after Washington threatened to bomb a bridge or power plant for every ship targeted in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf have prompted US intelligence analysts to investigate whether Russia assisted by providing targeting information or advanced drone technology, said four people familiar with US intelligence.

Oil prices rose more than 1.5% to their highest in more than six weeks on Thursday, with the United States launching a new round of strikes on Iran and Yemen's Houthis targeting oil tankers in the Red Sea. 

Brent crude futures rose $1.93, or 2% to $96 by 0011 GMT, the highest since June 8. It had settled over $3 higher at $94.07 in the previous session, just shy of a six-week high. 

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.44, or 1.7%, to $88.27 after rising nearly 3% on Wednesday.

The U.S. military said it carried out a 12th consecutive night of attacks on Iran hours after U.S. President Donald Trump's vowed to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes in the war with Iran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that an oil tanker had caught fire after an explosion while attempting to pass through what they described as a mined route south of the Strait of Hormuz, and that the two other tankers had turned back.

The dollar largely stabilised on Thursday as renewed U.S.-Iran tensions kept investors on edge and underpinned demand for the safe-haven currency, while the yen languished near a 40-year low with little sign of a turnaround.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, eased 0.06% to 101.05. The greenback has gained as the worsening flare-up between Washington and Tehran triggered a rebound in oil prices and fanned inflation fears.

Oil prices rose, with Brent crude futures up by more than 1.3% to $95.31 a barrel on Thursday after the U.S. military said it launched a new round of strikes on Iran and the Iranian-aligned Houthis claimed military strikes on two Saudi oil tankers as part of a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, raising the risk of further disruptions to global oil flows. 

The remarks came after US President Donald Trump warned that American forces will destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US House of Representatives approved a $95 billion budget framework on Wednesday, with most of the funding earmarked for the Pentagon to fund the war against Iran.