Middle East crisis live: Trump teases another Iran attack and claims US ‘secret mission’ moved 100m oil barrels in Strait of Hormuz

The leaders of roughly seven defence companies have been preparing to meet with Donald Trump at the White House later this week in what is expected to be a contentious discussion amid mounting concerns over the dwindling US supply of missiles, NBC News reports citing two people familiar with details of the meeting.

Trump is expected to press the companies to find ways to swiftly increase their production of weaponry for the Pentagon, the people and one other person familiar with the upcoming meeting told NBC News. Deputy defence secretary Stephen Feinberg is also expected to attend, two of the people said.

In public, Trump has boasted that the US has a “virtually unlimited supply” of weapons, but the president has expressed anger and frustration to aides and allies over thinning American stockpiles, the people added. One of the people told NBC News they anticipate the meeting is “going to be ugly”.

Indeed, as Trump threatened to resume bombing Iran again today, the US military has already burned through missiles and interceptors at a rate that has alarmed some defense officials.

Last month, the Associated Press reported that US military contractors will need at least three years to replenish stockpiles of three key weapons systems used heavily in Trump’s war against Iran – a timeframe that has become a major concern.

Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s ministry of foreign affairs, on Wednesday accused the US of “deliberately targeting the lifeblood of the Iranian people” when it struck two reservoirs in the Bemani area of Sirik in southern Iran.

The attack has left 20,000 people without drinking water.

“This is not collateral damage — it is a calculated war crime and a flagrant violation of human rights and international humanitarian law,” Baghaei said in a post on X. “The US must be held accountable for committing such systematic brutal attacks on civilian life-sustaining infrastructure.”

An Iranian missile attack this week caused some damage to Ramat David airbase in northern Israel, an Israeli military official told AFP on Wednesday.

The official did not say what exactly was damaged or if the base took a direct hit.

“We confirm that there was an impact at the base but at a non-critical area,” the official told AFP.

“We are investigating whether it was caused by a shrapnel or it was a direct impact. It was most likely a large piece of shrapnel but there was no damage caused to equipment or personnel.”

The ministry of foreign affairs of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday condemned Iran for targeting US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, calling the attacks “flagrant violations” of territorial sovereignty.

In a post on X, the ministry of foreign affairs reiterated its solidarity with Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain and said that Iran’s continued strikes threaten “regional and international security and undermine efforts aimed at de-escalation and the restoration of security and stability in the region”.

Here are some images coming out of Lebanon today:

The US military carried out a “secret mission” last month to “support oil tankers and other commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to Donald Trump.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said that the effort, which he said he directed, “resulted in more than 100 million barrels of oil” moving through the crucial chokepoint and “into the open market.”

Trump described the effort as “wildly successful,” adding that the “United States of America controls the Strait of Hormuz, not Iran.”

Trump’s latest comments mark a pivot away from his words last month in which he repeatedly said during a cabinet meeting: “Nobody’s going to control” the Strait of Hormuz. He added that “it’s international waters.”

In that same meeting, Trump threatened to bomb Oman upon being asked whether he would accept a short term deal that would allow Iran and Oman to control the strait, saying: “It’s international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up.”

The Lebanese health ministry said on Wednesday that 3,696 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the fighting began on 2 March, according to the state-run National News Agency.

In addition to the fatalities, 11,413 people have been injured, the health ministry said.

US Central Command (Centcom) posted on X that US forces fired upon a Palau-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that was “attempting to transport oil from Iran” in violation of the US blockade of the strait of Hormuz.

A US military aircraft fired munitions into the engine room of the ship M/T Settebello after “the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces” Centcom said.

According to Centcom, US forces have disabled a total of eight non-compliant vessels since the blockade began on 13 April, in addition to redirecting 134 ships that had complied and allowing 42 humanitarian aid vessels to pass.

The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, posted on X shortly after Donald Trump told reporters that the US was going to hit Iran hard again today that threats to target infrastructure are not a show of strength but “a sign of desperation”.

Pezeshkian added that Iran – relying on the knowledge and capabilities of its specialists, national unity and solidarity – will stand firm against any pressure or threat.

• US president Donald Trump has said that the United States is going to attack Iran “very hard” if no peace deal is finalised. “We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” Trump told reporters at the White House, citing Iran’s downing of an Apache helicopter in the strait of Hormuz.

• Trump said the US was “really close” to reaching a deal with Iran but accused the Middle Eastern country of “playing us for suckers”. Speaking to reporters, he said: “So we’ll see what happens. But we hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them again hard today.”

• United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has warned of the risk of return to “full war” in the Middle East after Iran and the United States traded strikes. “We should not minimise the risks of a lesser fire becoming full fire, or in another word – full war,” secretary-general Guterres said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in the region.

• Iran’s ambassador in Vienna on Wednesday called a new resolution passed by the UN nuclear watchdog demanding access to Tehran’s nuclear sites “counter-productive” and an obstacle to talks with Washington. Ambassador Reza Najafi told AFP the International Atomic Energy Agency resolution was “politically motivated” and “legally flawed”.

• A US attack on two water reservoirs in the Bemani area of Sirik in southern Iran, located on the shores of the strait of Hormuz, has left 20,000 people without drinking water, according to an Iranian water utility company. Hormozgan province water and wastewater company, or Abfa Hormozgan, said the reservoirs were “targeted and completely destroyed” this morning by US military fire, according to a statement on its website.

• India has summoned a top US diplomat in Delhi over a strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman where three Indians are missing, two Indian sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. India has lodged a “strong protest” with the US deputy chief of mission to the country, Jason Meeks, the sources said.

• Qatari negotiators travelled to Tehran to address remaining differences between the US and Iran, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday, as talks between the warring sides appeared stalled. “Following consultations with the US, Qatari negotiators travelled to Tehran this morning to meet with the Iranians in an effort to bridge the remaining gaps,” the diplomat with knowledge of the situation said on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks.

• The effective closure of the strait of Hormuz has led to global energy disruptions “never seen before”, said Wael Sawan, CEO of oil company Shell. Speaking at a summit of business leaders hosted by the Wall Street Journal, he said more than 10% of global oil production has been removed from the market since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

• The UN rights chief said he would send a mission to Lebanon to collect evidence on alleged rights abuses since the war began between Hezbollah and Israel. “I have agreed with the government of Lebanon to conduct an impartial and independent assessment mission in the country,” Volker Turk told journalists.

• The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and Syria have reached a point where they also pose a threat to Turkey, Reuters reports. Speaking to members of the Turkish parliament, he called for an end to Israel’s “aggression”, which he said is a threat to the entire world.

• More than 460 former European leaders and senior officials have called on the EU “to stop turning a blind eye” to Israel’s conduct in Palestine and impose sanctions. In an op-ed released to European newspapers, the group urge the EU to suspend preferential trade with Israel, prevent exports from the illegally occupied West Bank entering the bloc and impose sanctions on Israeli ministers

An Israeli drone strike in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon hit a car with two people inside it, killing them both, according to local media.

Footage shows multiple cars ablaze after the strike as firefighters battled to put out the flames.

India has summoned a top US diplomat in Delhi over a strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman where three Indians are missing, two Indian sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

India has lodged a “strong protest” with the US deputy chief of mission to the country, Jason Meeks, the sources said.