What you need to know
Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
- The Trump administration is putting the world on notice that it is prepared to exit its war against Iran without a clear resolution in the Strait of Hormuz.
- US President Donald Trump has launched another tirade against the UK and other countries to “build up some delayed courage” and “go get your own oil” from the critical passage.
- US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said he had visited troops in the Middle East, held a Pentagon briefing on the war in which he said “the upcoming days will be decisive”.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it will target US companies in the region from 8pm on April 1 (3.30am Thursday AEDT) in retaliation for attacks on Iran, state media reported. The 18 companies listed in the threat included Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.
- Starting today until June 30, the fuel excise has been halved to deliver a 26¢ cut to a litre of petrol.
US has ’15 different ways’ to attack Iran with ground troops: Hegseth
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to tell reporters on Tuesday whether or not the US military will deploy ground troops against Iran.
“You can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do or what you are not willing to do to include boots on the ground,” he said.
Hegseth added: “Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground. And guess what? There are.”
Hegseth also said talks with Iran to end the conflict are ongoing.
“We don’t want to have to do more militarily than we have to,” he said. “But I didn’t mean it flippantly when I said, in the meantime, we’ll negotiate with bombs.”
AP
‘The next few days will be decisive,’ says Hegseth
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday the next few days in the war against Iran would be decisive and warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal.
Hegseth, who said he visited US troops in the Middle East on Saturday, said Trump was willing to make a deal and talks were ongoing and gaining strength, but that the US was prepared to continue the war if Iran did not comply.
“We have more and more options, and they have less … in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days will be decisive,” Hegseth said in Washington. “Iran knows that, and there’s almost nothing they can militarily do about it.”
with Reuters
‘Expect destruction’: Iran threatens US companies in the Middle East including big tech
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Tuesday they will target US companies in the region as of April 1 in retaliation for attacks on Iran, state media reported.
The 18 companies listed in the IRGC’s threat included Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.
“These companies should expect the destruction of their respective units in exchange for each terror act in Iran, starting from 8pm Tehran time on Wednesday, April 1st,” the IRGC statement said.
Earlier this month, Iran threatened attacks against “enemy technology infrastructure”.
Reuters
What you need to know
Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
- The Trump administration is putting the world on notice that it is prepared to exit its war against Iran without a clear resolution in the Strait of Hormuz.
- US President Donald Trump has launched another tirade against the UK and other countries to “build up some delayed courage” and “go get your own oil” from the critical passage.
- US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said he had visited troops in the Middle East, held a Pentagon briefing on the war in which he said “the upcoming days will be decisive”.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it will target US companies in the region from 8pm on April 1 (3.30am Thursday AEDT) in retaliation for attacks on Iran, state media reported. The 18 companies listed in the threat included Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.
- Starting today until June 30, the fuel excise has been halved to deliver a 26¢ cut to a litre of petrol.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
