Middle East crisis live: Israel bombs Tehran and Beirut as Iran warns Europe to stay out of conflict or face ‘retaliation’ | US-Israel war on Iran

• Iran’s deputy foreign minister warned European nations that they will become legitimate targets if they become involved in the US and Israel’s war on Tehran. If any country “joins America and Israel in the aggression against Iran, they will be also legitimate targets for Iran’s retaliation,” Majid Takht-Ravanchi told France 24. He said Iranian officials had been “negotiating in good faith” with the US before Washington decided to attack with Israel on Saturday. “We do not trust the Americans. Not only did they betray us, but they betrayed diplomacy.”

• Iran’s UN ambassador said that at least 1,332 Iranian civilians have been killed so far in the US-Israeli war on Tehran, with thousands more injured, and accused the US and Israel of war crimes. Amir Saeid Iravani told reporters at the UN’s headquarters in New York that the US and Israel “have demonstrated that they recognise no red line in committing their crimes”. He accused the two countries of “indiscriminate” attacks that were “deliberately” targeting “densely populated” civilian areas and infrastructure, including schools, medical, recreational and sports facilities. “These acts constitute clear war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he said.

• Meanwhile, the US military campaign against Iran may take as long as four to six weeks, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, adding that the US is “well on its way” toward controlling Iranian airspace. It comes as Trump met with leading US weapons manufacturers at the White House and said they had agreed to “quadruple Production of ‘Exquisite Class’ Weaponry”.

• Leavitt added that the US would consider Iran in a state of “unconditional surrender” once Donald Trump determines the country no longer “poses a threat” to the United States. Trump said on Friday that only Tehran’s “unconditional surrender” will bring an end to the joint US-Israeli offensive launched seven days ago.

• The Russian and Iranian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian, held a phone call today in which they agreed to continue contacts, the Kremlin said. It comes amid reports that Moscow has been providing Tehran with the locations of US military assets, including warships and aircraft, in the region. The White House earlier declined to confirm those reports.

• The UN secretary-general called on nations to “stop the fighting and get to serious diplomatic negotiations”, warning that the situation “could spiral beyond anyone’s control”. “The stakes could not be higher,” António Guterres wrote in a post on X.

• Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Iranian military told Iranian state tv that Tehran does not plan to close the strait of Hormuz, but will target any ship belonging to Israel or the United States. It comes as the US-Israeli war on Iran has driven the oil price past $90 a barrel to its highest weekly gains since the Covid-19 pandemic six years ago, threatening a fresh rise in global inflation.

• French president Macron condemned an Israeli strike that directly hit a United Nations site in Lebanon earlier today, critically injuring two Ghanaian soldiers serving with the UN’s peacekeeping mission there.

• Qatar’s defence ministry said that the country’s air defence systems were “subjected to waves of attacks” from Iranian drones on Friday, starting at dawn and continuing until evening. It said that of the 10 drones that were launched towards Qatar, nine were intercepted while the tenth hit an uninhabited area, causing no injuries.

French president Emmanuel Macron has held phone conversations with Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, amid growing fears that the US-Israeli war on Iran is fast expanding to other parts of the Middle East.

In a post on X, Macron said:

France is working with its partners to prevent the conflict from spreading further in the region. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and Lebanon must be respected, as must the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every country in the region. The ongoing acts of destabilization must leave no room for terrorism. France will ensure that this is the case.

Macron also condemned an Israeli strike that directly hit a United Nations site in Lebanon earlier today, critically injuring two Ghanaian soldiers serving with the UN’s peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

As the United Nations force in Lebanon plays a fundamental role in achieving stability in southern Lebanon, I strongly condemn the unacceptable attack today that targeted members of its unit. France will remain committed there.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister earlier warned European nations that they will become legitimate targets if they become involved in the US and Israel’s war on Tehran.

If any country “joins America and Israel in the aggression against Iran, they will be also legitimate targets for Iran’s retaliation,” Majid Takht-Ravanchi told France 24.

He said Iranian officials had been “negotiating in good faith” with the US before Washington decided to attack with Israel on Saturday.

We do not trust the Americans. Not only did they betray us, but they betrayed diplomacy.

He described Tehran’s latest moves as defensive, saying that “this war was imposed on us” by the US and Israel.

We now have more on that phone call between Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian and Vladimir Putin.

The Russian president expressed his condolences for the deaths of Iran’s supreme leader, other government officials and civilians around the country, the Kremlin said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Putin also reiterated Russia’s stance that the hostilities must end immediately, and that a diplomatic resolution must be found.

Pezeshkian, meanwhile, expressed gratitude for Russia’s support, and provided a detailed report of Iran’s developments.

“It was agreed that contacts with the Iranian side will continue via various channels,” the Kremlin said.

It comes amid reports that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence to target US forces in the region (see my earlier post).

My colleague Shrai Popat reported earlier that, asked whether Russia’s involvement in the Iran conflict affects US efforts to broker an end to the war in Ukraine, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House still believes peace is “an achievable objective,” but declined to confirm whether Moscow has supplied information to Tehran.

Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani has said that at least 1,332 Iranian civilians have lost their lives so far in the US-Israeli war on Iran, with thousands more injured.

He told the reporters at the UN’s headquarters in New York that the US and Israel “have demonstrated that they recognise no red line in committing their crimes”.

He accused the two countries of “indiscriminate” attacks that were “deliberately” targeting “densely populated” civilian areas and infrastructure, including schools, medical, recreational and sports facilities.

These acts constitute clear war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Concluding his remarks, he warned the UN Security Council to “act now, without delay”.

Failure to act will have catastrophic consequences. Today, it is Iran. Tomorrow it could be any (UN) member state.

You can watch the clip here.

Donald Trump, who met with leading US weapons manufacturers earlier today, has said the defence companies have agreed to “quadruple Production of ‘Exquisite Class’ Weaponry”.

The US president wrote on his Truth Social platform:

We have a virtually unlimited supply of Medium and Upper Medium Grade Munitions, which we are using, as an example, in Iran, and recently used in Venezuela. Regardless, however, we have also increased Orders at these levels.

The companies in attendance for the White House meeting included the CEOs of “BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell Aerospace, L3Harris Missile Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon”, Trump said.

A spokesperson for the Iranian military has told Iranian state tv that Iran does not plan to close the strait of Hormuz, but will target any ship belonging to Israel or the United States.

We will not prevent any ship wishing to cross the strait of Hormuz, but the responsibility for its security lies with the ship itself.
We will target any ship belonging to the Zionist entity (Israel) and America if it attempts to cross the strait of Hormuz.

Traffic has drastically dried up in the strait, effectively closing one of the world’s most vital shipping routes, since the US-Israeli war on Iran began. Amid the ongoing threat of attack, tankers remain stuck on either side of the key waterway, which runs between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and through which a fifth of the world’s oil and a significant amount of natural gas typically passes.

According to an analysis by the New York Times, five tankers have been struck since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran began on Saturday. The resulting drastic reduction in traffic through the strait has cut the supply of energy products and driven oil prices past $90 a barrel – its biggest weekly gain since the Covid pandemic.

We have a story on that here:

Qatar’s defence ministry has said that the country’s air defence systems were “subjected to waves of attacks” from Iranian drones on Friday, starting at dawn and continuing until evening.

In a statement on social media, it said that of the 10 drones that were launched towards Qatar, nine were intercepted while the tenth hit an uninhabited area, causing no injuries.