Israel-Iran war live: Trump floats regime change to ‘make Iran great again’ as region braces for Iranian response to US strikes

AFP reports that oil prices have surged while Asian markets traded lower on concerns of disruption to energy markets after US air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The dollar strengthened as traders assessed the weekend’s events, with Iran threatening US bases in the Middle East as fears grow of an escalating conflict in the volatile region. Iran is the world’s ninth-biggest oil-producing country, with output of about 3.3 million barrels per day. It exports just under half of that amount and keeps the rest for domestic consumption. If Tehran decides to retaliate, observers say one of its options would be to seek to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz - which carries one-fifth of global oil output. When trading opened on Monday, Brent and the main US crude contract WTI both jumped more than four percent to hit their highest price since January. They pared these gains however and later in the morning Brent was up 2.1% at $75.43 per barrel and WTI was 2.1% higher at $78.64. A total of 223 Filipino nationals in Israel and eight in Iran have requested repatriation after the US struck Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday night, according to local media. At least 30,742 Filipinos are living and working in Israel, many of them in the care sector, while 1,180 are living in Iran. The Philippines department for foreign affairs said on Sunday that it was “greatly concerned” by the developments in the Middle East and has called for diplomacy, adding that “the welfare and safety of Filipinos in the region are of primordial concern.” Earlier, the Philippines raised its alert level in both Israel and Iran to level 3, which encourages people to opt for voluntary repatriation. “All overseas Filipinos in Israel and Iran are enjoined to return to the Philippines. Travel by Filipinos to both these countries is highly discouraged, due to the ongoing crisis and the actual closure of their air space and seaports,” the DFA said. According to the Philippine embassy in Israel, 127 Filipinos have lost their homes following Iran’s retaliatory strikes, while one person remains in critical condition. A first group of Filipinos is to be repatriated, mainly from Israel, on Monday. Japan has stopped short of voicing support for the US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities at the weekend, calling instead for a de-escalation in the situation. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, said Japan was monitoring the situation with “grave concern”. But Ishiba declined an invitation to publicly support the US strikes, according to the Kyodo news agency, saying only that he would respond “when appropriate”. Instead, he emphasised the importance of lowering tensions in the region, adding that Iran’s development of nuclear weapons must be “blocked”. Japan’s dependence on Middle East oil means it has had traditionally friendly relations with Iran. While the recent exchange of missile attacks between Iran and Israel have not had an immediate impact on energy supplies, any disruption to shipments of crude oil could have serious consequences for Japan, which has few energy resources of its own. The world’s fifth-biggest economy relies on the Middle East for 90% of its crude oil imports. Ishiba said: We are gathering and analysing information and closely monitoring developments with grave concern. Japan’s response to Israeli airstrikes against Iran also put it at odds with other US allies. Earlier this month, Ishiba condemned Israel’s attacks on nuclear and military facilities in Iran, describing them as “absolutely unacceptable” while efforts were still being made to find a diplomatic solution to Tehran’s nuclear programme. “This is extremely regrettable and we strongly condemn it.” Japan did, though, sign a G7 statement last week that affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself. Japan has followed other countries in making preparations to evacuate its citizens from the region. At the weekend, two Self-Defence Force transport aircraft left for Djibouti to evacuate people from Israel and Iran. Twenty-one Japanese nationals and their family members arrived by bus in Azerbaijan from Iran on Sunday, the foreign ministry said. Last week 87 people left Iran and Israel. The ministry said about 200 Japanese remained in Iran and around 1,000 in Israel. One way Iran could retaliate to US strikes, analysts say, is to close off the strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route, through which over a fifth of the world’s oil supply, 20m barrels, and much of its liquified gas, passes each day. Iran has in the past threatened to close the strait, which would restrict trade and impact global oil prices, but has never followed through on the threat. About one-fifth of the world’s total oil consumption passes through the strait. Between the start of 2022 and last month, approximately 17.8 million to 20.8m barrels of crude, condensate, and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa. Read on below: Commercial airlines around the world are weighing how long to suspend Middle East flights after the US attack on Iran over the weekend. Reuters reports: Singapore Airlines, one of the highest-profile in Asia, had called the situation “fluid” on Sunday as it cancelled flights from Singapore to Dubai following a security assessment. The Middle East route has become more important for flights between Europe and Asia since Russian and Ukrainian airspace closed due to war, but flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed empty space over Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel. Air France KLM said on Sunday that it cancelled flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh on Sunday and Monday. British Airways, owned by IAG ICAG.L, also cancelled flights to and from Dubai and Doha for Sunday. It was still reviewing the situation, it said in a statement on Sunday evening, when asked about later flights. Missile and drone barrages in a growing number of conflict zones represent a high risk to airline traffic, and an organization that monitors flight risks, Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, warned on Sunday that US attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites could heighten the threat to American operators in the region. In the days before the U.S. strikes, American Airlines suspended flights to Qatar and United Airlines did the same with flights to Dubai. Airlines are also concerned about a potential spike in oil prices following the U.S. attacks, which will increase the cost of jet fuel. Israel meanwhile is ramping up flights to help stranded travellers at home and abroad. The country’s Airports Authority says that so-called rescue flights to the country would expand on Monday with 24 a day, although each flight would be limited to 50 passengers. Israeli airline El Al on Sunday said it had received applications to leave the country from about 25,000 people in about a day. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed earlier that Israel is “very close” to achieving its goals in the war with Iran, adding that he is “genuine friends” with US President Donald Trump and knew in advance about the US strikes. Nine Palestinian civilians were killed late on Sunday by an Israeli artillery strike that targeted people waiting for food aid in the Al-Waha area, northwest of Gaza City, the Palestinian news agency Wafa has reported. It was not possible to independently verify the report as Israeli does not allow foreign journalists into the occupied territory. As we reported earlier, medical authorities in Gaza say about 450 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more have been injured over the past 12 days in Israeli attacks on people waiting to collect aid from food distribution sites recently opened by the US and Israeli-backed “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation”. NZ foreign minister looking for evidence that justified US strikes on Iran Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, has said he is looking for “evidence to do with” Iran’s nuclear program that was “way outside the negotiated position they’ve been taking all this time” to justify the US strikes on sites across the country. Peters told Radio NZ that Iran had “been marvellously good at negotiating their way out of things and the question is, have they kept to their commitments, have they breached their international obligations”. He said the world needed to “find that out before we rush to judgment”. Yesterday, Peters said he found the strikes “extremely worrying” and said it was “critical” further escalation was avoided. He said: New Zealand strongly supports efforts towards diplomacy. We urge all parties to return to talks. Diplomacy will deliver a more enduring resolution than further military action. The NZ prime minister, Christopher Luxon, said the right response “cannot be more military action” saying politics needed to take precedent, AAP reports. “Monumental damage” was done to “all Nuclear sites” in Iran during the US attack on the country at the weekend, Donald Trump has said in his latest comments, after officials said the extent of damage done remained unconfirmed. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social the US president wrote: Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term! The white structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame. The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!! The comments came after Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said the scale of the damage underground was not yet confirmed. He said it was not clear whether Iran retained some nuclear capability. Donald Trump when announcing the strikes on Saturday night said that the sites had been “completely and totally obliterated”. Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has said his government supports the US strikes on Iran, blaming Tehran for not coming “to the table” on nuclear diplomacy but adding that Canberra now wanted “diplomacy, dialogue and de-escalation”. Iran was holding talks on a nuclear agreement with Washington when Israel launched its shock attack on the country. International law experts have said the US and Israeli strikes are unlawful under the UN charter. Israel is the only Middle East state with nuclear weapons but has never formally acknowledged its arsenal. It has not signed the nuclear nuclear non-proliferation treaty, unlike Iran. Speaking to reporters in Canberra just now, Albanese said: The world has long agreed that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon and we support action to prevent that - that is what this is. The US action was directed at specific sites central to Iran’s nuclear program. We don’t want escalation and a full-scale war. We continue to call for dialogue and for diplomacy. As I have said for many days now, we are deeply concerned about any escalation in the region and we want to see diplomacy, dialogue and de-escalation. We have been upfront about the challenge facing the international community - that is, dealing with the threat posed by any Iranian nuclear weapons program and dealing with the risk of regional escalation. That’s why Australia called upon Iran to come to the table and abandon any nuclear weapons program. Iran didn’t come to the table just as it has repeatedly failed to comply with its international obligations. Israeli forces have bombed tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in al-Buraq camp near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera has reported. The broadcaster said it had verified footage circulating online that showed a deep crater resulting from the bombing and people searching for those trapped. It is not possible to independently verify reports from Gaza as Israel does not allow foreign journalists into the occupied territory. Just after midnight on Thursday morning, Abdullah Ahmed left his sleeping wife and children in their small and crowded home in the battered al-Bureij camp in central Gaza and headed north. The 31-year-old vegetable seller had heard that the nearby food distribution site recently opened by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive Israeli- and US-backed private organisation that began operations in the territory last month, would be handing out food at 2am. To get there early and maximise his chance of grabbing a box of flour, oil, beans and other basics, Ahmed and some friends set out across the dangerous rubble-strewn roads. Just reaching the vicinity of the centre, one of four run by the GHF, was dangerous. “All the time we could hear the sound of shells and stray bullets flying over us. We kept taking cover behind the ruins of houses. Whoever doesn’t take cover is exposed to death,” he said. All last week, every night and most mornings, there were similar scenes across Gaza, as tens of thousands of hungry, desperate people converged on the GHF sites or waited at points where trucks loaded with UN flour were expected. Every day, somewhere in the devastated territory, these gatherings had a similarly lethal conclusion when Israeli forces open fire. The exact toll over the last 12 days is unclear. Medical authorities in Gaza say about 450 have died and thousands more have been injured. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admit that some have been hurt by their fire but have not admitted any deaths in shootings, which they say are directed at “suspects” who have posed a threat to their forces and only ever follow warning shots. More than $10bn has been wiped from the Australian share market on opening after the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, as traders react to worsening economic growth prospects. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell below 8,460 points, back to near where it was at the start of June after holding above 8,500 points on Friday. It had closed at an all-time high of 8,592 on 11 June, days before Israel began its military strikes on Iran, but has fallen in six of the subsequent seven trading days. Energy companies including Woodside, Origin and Santos rose in value after predictions the widening conflict in the Middle East would drive up global oil and gas prices. But those higher prices would restrict economic activity in Australia, which saw traders sell down the big banks as well as consumer-facing companies from Flight Centre and Qantas to Breville and gambling company Tabcorp. Furniture retailer Temple and Webster shed more than $100m in value. Worsening prospects for global economic growth mean a poorer outlook for Australian commodity prices, pushing down share prices for Mineral Resources, Pilbara Minerals and Champion Iron. Earlier, Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told an emergency meeting of the UN security council that the US had “decided to destroy diplomacy” with its strikes on Iran. Israel has made a “grave mistake” and “must be punished”, a social media account associated with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said in what would be his first comments since the US joined Israel’s war on his country. The post on X read: The Zionist enemy has made a grave mistake, committed a great crime; it must be punished and is being punished; it is being punished right now. The post was accompanied by a picture of a skull with the star of David on it sitting on top a darkened city with missiles raining down. The US State Department has issued a “worldwide caution” for Americans, saying the conflict between Israel and Iran could put those travelling or living abroad at an increased security risk. In a post on its website it wrote: The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East. There is the potential for demonstrations against US citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises US citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution. The statement made no mention of the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend which Tehran has warned will have “irreparable consequences.” Iran on Sunday warned that US forces could be attacked in retaliation for the unprecedented air strikes, which were condemned by international law experts as illegal. “Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces,” Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a message carried by the official Irna news agency. The US on Saturday began evacuation flights from Israel for American citizens and permanent US residents living in Israel or the West Bank. It also ordered staff at its diplomatic missions in Iraq and Lebanon to leave those countries. Israel and Iran have exchanged another round of missiles in the past hour. In Iran, explosions were heard in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iranian news agencies reported. In an update last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Israeli strikes had destroyed two buildings in Karaj where different centrifuge components were manufactured. Iranian outlet Nour news also reported early on Monday that airstrikes had hit Parchin, a military complex south-east of Tehran. In Israel, sirens were sounded after 3am when the military said that Iran had launched a missile attack, but no direct impacts or injuries were reported. On Sunday at least three people were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an ambulance in central Iran, local media reported, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). The ISNA news agency reported, quoting Hamidreza Mohammadi Fesharaki, the governor of Najafabad county in the central Isfahan province: The ambulance … was en route to transfer a patient when it was severely damaged by a drone strike. All occupants of the ambulance – including the driver, the patient, and the patient’s companion – were martyred. The impact of the drone caused the ambulance to veer off course and collide with a passing vehicle. Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the US and Israeli war on Iran. US president Donald Trump has brought up the possibility of regime change in Iran following US military strikes against key Iran military sites over the weekend, even as top members of his administration insisted the US was not seeking to topple the Iranian leadership. “It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. Earlier, vice-president JD Vance had insisted the US was “not at war with Iran, we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear programme” while US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that that the US was “not looking for war in Iran”. The world was meanwhile braced for Iran’s response after to the US attacks, which saw it joining Israel in the biggest western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. Speaking in Istanbul, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said his country would consider all possible responses. There would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated, he said. “The US showed they have no respect for international law. They only understand the language of threat and force,” he said. He later flew to Moscow to discuss “common threats” with President Vladimir Putin. In other key developments: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is very close to meeting its goals in Iran of removing the threats of ballistic missiles and the nuclear programme. Speaking to Israeli reporters, he said: “We won’t pursue our actions beyond what is needed to achieve them, but we also won’t finish too soon. When the objectives are achieved, then the operation is complete and the fighting will stop.” The UK, France and Germany have released a joint statement following American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying that they call upon Iran to engage in negotiations leading to agreement that addresses all concerns associated with its nuclear program. The three countries also urged Iran “not to take any further action that could destabilize the region”, adding: “We have consistently been clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security.” Iran’s health ministry said that the US strikes on its nuclear facilities had wounded an unspecified number of people but that none “showed any signs of radioactive contamination”. “For years, the ministry of health has set up nuclear emergency units in the nearest medical facilities to nuclear sites,” ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said on X. Israel said that its fighter jets had struck “dozens” of targets across Iran on Sunday, including a long-range missile site in Yazd in the centre of the country for the first time, Agence France Presse reports. A military statement said that “approximately 30 IAF (air force) fighter jets struck dozens of military targets throughout Iran” - including “the ‘Imam Hussein’ Strategic Missile Command Center in the Yazd area, where long-range Khorramshahr missiles were stored”. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that “there are no planned military operations right now against Iran.” In a new interview with CBS, Rubio added that “no one will know for days” whether Iran had moved some of its nuclear materials prior to the strikes. Iran’s parliament has reportedly approved the closing of the key strait of Hormuz shipping lane. Reuters reported Iran’s supreme national security council will make the final decision on the move, which could hamstring global trade by shutting the narrow passage between Iran and Oman. Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defence, said the impact of the air strikes was still being assessed, but that the bombing had hit the areas that had been identified in the planning of the operation. Hegseth said: “The battle damage assessment is ongoing, but our initial assessment as the chairman said is that all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike, and had the desired effect.” Pete Hegseth praised Donald Trump’s leadership, and said he had overseen the “obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Hegseth said: “Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear program, and none could until President Trump.”