Middle East crisis live: Trump claims Iran ‘begging to make a deal’ and has let some tankers through strait as a ‘present’

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s defence ministry earlier said it had detected multiple incoming threats over the past 24 hours with no direct impact inside its designated “threat area”.

Officials said six ballistic missiles fell outside the threat zone while air defences also intercepted and destroyed a drone.

The United Arab Emirates engaged 15 ballistic missiles and 11 drones on Thursday, the country’s defence ministry has said.

“UAE air defences are dealing with Iranian ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” it said in a post on X.

Its air defences targeted 372 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,826 drones since Iranian attacks began, the ministry added.

• A day after Tehran dismissed Donald Trump’s 15-point ceasefire plan, the US president claimed that Iran was “begging to make a deal,” and that he wasn’t the one pushing for negotiations. Earlier, he told Tehran to “get serious soon” on negotiating a deal to end the war.

• Trump rejected reports that he was looking for an exit ramp, as oil prices soar and political pressure mounts to avoid the kind of drawn-out Middle East war he once spurned. “I read a story today that I’m desperate to make a deal,” Trump told reporters. “I’m the opposite of desperate. I don’t care.”

• A US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting is “one-sided and unfair”, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday.

• However, Trump said Iran is allowing some oil tankers through strait of Hormuz as a sign of good faith for talks. He said that Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic strait as a “present” to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.

• Meanwhile, Trump launched a fresh tirade against the UK for its stance on his war against Iran, saying Keir Starmer made “a big mistake” and denigrating UK warships as “toys”. The US president denied that the transatlantic tensions would affect the King’s planned visit to the US.

• The US Central Command (Centcom) has issued a statement confirming the death of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy commander Alireza Tangsiri, saying he was killed in an Israeli airstrike. A statement by Adm Brad Cooper said his death “makes the region safer”.

• The Pakistani foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, confirmed his country has been relaying messages between the US and Iran as part of mediation efforts, saying that “indirect talks are taking place” between the warring parties. It follows reports that Pakistan, a key intermediary in the current bout of diplomacy between the US and Iran, delivered Washington’s 15-point ceasefire plan to Tehran.

• Warplanes could be heard overhead in northern districts of Tehran on Thursday, shortly before three loud explosions rang out, an AFP correspondent in the Iranian capital said. The blasts were heard after dark, during rain, and it was not immediately possible to identify what had been hit.

• Iraq on Thursday condemned the targeting of the Gulf states and Jordan, a day after these countries issued a joint statement demanding Baghdad act to prevent attacks from its territory. The Iraqi foreign ministry “affirms the government’s categorical condemnation of any aggression or targeting of the Gulf countries and the Kingdom of Jordan”, it said in a statement, adding that it was prepared to “work jointly to address them [the attacks] responsibly and swiftly”.

• Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least five people on Thursday, Lebanese state media said, as Hezbollah militants claimed they had staged a new wave of attacks on Israel. The Israeli military announced, meanwhile, the killing of a soldier in fighting in south Lebanon, raising to three the total number of troops killed since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into war with Israel.

• Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement stands ready to strike the Red Sea again in solidarity with Tehran, one Houthi leader told Reuters, a move that would deepen a global oil and economic crisis brought on by the Middle East war. If the Houthis open a new front in the conflict, one obvious target would be the Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen, a key shipping chokepoint and narrow passageway that controls sea traffic towards the Suez Canal after Iran effectively shut the critical strait of Hormuz.

• The prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, said Iran has allowed Malaysian tankers to pass through the strait of Hormuz after talks with Iranian, Turkish and other regional leaders. “We’re now in the process of releasing the Malaysian oil tankers and the workers involved so that they can continue their journey home,” Anwar said in a televised address.

Threats to shipping have effectively closed the strait of Hormuz since the US-Israel war on Iran began four weeks ago – upending global oil and gas supplies and sending energy prices soaring.

In normal times, tankers carry about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies through the narrow channel and on to the rest of the world, while about a third of the global fertilisers necessary for half of the world’s food production pass through in dry bulk vessels.

Before the conflict, 138 ships a day were transiting the waterway on average, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center. That is about the number estimated to have made the journey in the whole month of March, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, after 100 exited the Gulf and 40 entered.

Here is a visual guide to how a trickle of ships still pass through the strait of Hormuz:

Warplanes could be heard overhead in northern districts of Tehran on Thursday, shortly before three loud explosions rang out, an AFP correspondent in the Iranian capital said.

The blasts were heard after dark, during rain, and it was not immediately possible to identify what had been hit.

Israel, which earlier said it had killed a senior Iranian naval commander, has announced it plans more “wide-scale” strikes against targets in the Islamic republic.

Speaking earlier, Donald Trump said that taking control of Iran’s oil was an “option,” comparing it to the deal Washington made with Venezuela after toppling Nicolas Maduro.

“It’s an option,” Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting when asked if he was looking to take control of Iran’s oil, saying that the United States had done “very well” with Venezuela’s reserves.

Iraq on Thursday condemned the targeting of the Gulf states and Jordan, a day after these countries issued a joint statement demanding Baghdad act to prevent attacks from its territory.

The Iraqi foreign ministry “affirms the government’s categorical condemnation of any aggression or targeting of the Gulf countries and the Kingdom of Jordan”, it said in a statement, adding that it was prepared to “work jointly to address them [the attacks] responsibly and swiftly”.

At least one person was killed and several others were injured after an Israeli strike hit the Deir al-Balah camp.

Witnesses told the Associated Press that they had received warning calls from apparent Israeli military personnel before the strike, asking them to evacuate and move about 500 metres away from the tent camp.

Gaza’s health ministry says at least 680 people have been ⁠killed by Israeli fire since the October ceasefire. Israel says four soldiers were killed by militants in Gaza in the same period.

Meanwhile, Finland’s president Alexander Stubb – sometimes described as a Trump whisperer among the European leaders – has been speaking about Trump’s angry comments about Nato.

Here is his answer in full:

We’re very pragmatic with our transatlantic partnership. Part of it is value based, most of it is now interest based.

I have said from the beginning that the US foreign policy is different from what it used to be.

We should work on issues where there is a clear landing zone and [shared] interests – defence, Nato, [and] I guess in the Finnish case icebreakers – and then we should respectfully disagree on issues linked to international organisations or climate change or, say, the European Union.

As far as the war in Iran is concerned, it is not a Nato matter because Nato is a defence alliance. …

Of course, when the war is over, there will be probably countries that are willing to help to keep the strait of Hormuz open. That is one of the reasons that Finland, Norway … joined the declaration on the matter with 31 other countries.

So we’re taking it, you know, day by day, and continue to work with the Americans.

Speaking alongside him, Norway’s Jonas Gahr Støre added:

I have not no sympathy for this Iranian regime. It has been terrorising its own people, denying their human rights, their freedom, rights, [and] killing their people when they’ve been standing up for their freedoms. They have also been spreading conflict and misery in the region.

That being said, I will repeat what Norway has said from the start: this is not our war. It was initiated by the United States and Israel without consultation, [and] we believe this war, should end.

Trump says Iran is allowing some oil tankers through strait of Hormuz as a sign of good faith for talks.

He said that Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic strait as a “present” to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.

Trump told reporters:

[Iran said] we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil, eight boats, eight big boats of oil. This was two days ago. And they’ll sail up tomorrow. That was three days ago. And I didn’t think much about it.

And then I watched the news and they said, a very good anchor actually happened to be Fox. But I watched it and they said, something’s unusual happening. There are eight boats that are going right up the middle of the strait.

Eight big tankers are going loaded up with oil right through. And I said, well, I guess I guess they were right. And they were they were real. And I think they were Pakistani flagged. And, I said, well, I guess we’re dealing with the right people.

And actually they then apologized for something they said, and they said, we’re going to send two more boats. And we ended up being ten boats.

President Trump said that the US often diverts weapons from one region to another, responding to reports that the Pentagon might redirect weapons originally meant for Ukraine to the Middle East.

“We do that all the time,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting in the White House. “Sometimes we take from one, and we use for another.”

Speaking about earlier US-Iran negotiations, Steve Witkoff said “we were repeatedly rebuffed on everything we asked for’.

Addressing president Trump, he said:

I can report to you today that we have, along with your foreign policy team, presented a 15 point action list that forms the framework for a peace deal. This has been circulated through the Pakistani government, acting as the mediator, and this has resulted in strong and positive messaging and talks, as you just indicated to the press.

You have instructed us that your preference is always peace and that we should make that our priority. We have delivered that message, sir, along with the 15 points for peace. Finally, we have told Iran one last thing; don’t miscalculate again.