What you need to know
Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the war in the Middle East.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
- US President Donald Trump warned “a whole civilisation will die tonight” as the hours ticked down to his 8pm Tuesday (10am Wednesday AEST) deadline set for Iran to agree to a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
- If the deadline arrives without a deal, Trump said there would be a four-hour destructive blitz on Iranian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges.
- Israel attacked Iranian infrastructure ahead of the deadline, targeting train tracks and bridges that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said were used by the Revolutionary Guards.
- US Vice President JD Vance confirmed US strikes on military targets on Iran’s major oil terminal Kharg Island. He said the US has “got tools in our toolkit that we, so far, haven’t decided to use”, but that Trump will use them “if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct”.
- Pope Leo XIV said Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation was “truly unacceptable”.
- French President Emmanuel Macron announced two French citizens, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, had been freed and were returning to France after three-and-a-half years of detention in Iran, and thanked Omani authorities for their mediation efforts. Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist group in Iraq, also said it would release American journalist Shelly Kittleson, whom it kidnapped on a Baghdad street last week, on the condition she left Iraq immediately.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will dash to Singapore this week to lock in fuel imports.
Pope labels Trump’s civilisation threat ‘truly unacceptable’
Pope Leo XIV said President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation was “truly unacceptable” and said any attacks on civilian infrastructure violate international law.
In some of his strongest comments yet against the war, Leo urged Americans and other people of good will to contact their political leaders and congressional representatives to demand they reject war and work for peace.
“Today as we all know there was this threat against all the people of Iran. This is truly unacceptable,” he said on Tuesday.
AP
US strikes Kharg Island, has ‘tools’ it hasn’t used yet: Vance
US Vice President JD Vance said he hopes Iran “make the right response” by 8pm Tuesday (US time) as he confirmed fresh strikes on military targets on Iran’s major oil terminal Kharg Island.
“What we really want is we want a world where oil and gas is flowing freely, where people can afford to heat their homes and cool their homes, where people can afford to transport themselves to work. That’s not going to happen if the Iranians are engaged in acts of economic terrorism,” Vance said at a press conference in Budapest.
“So, they’ve got to know, we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we, so far, haven’t decided to use. The President of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct.”
Asked about reports of fresh strikes on Kharg Island, Vance said: “We were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island. I believe we have done so.”
Trump says ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight’
US President Donald Trump has issued an extraordinary threat on social media that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” unless the regime in Tehran co-operates, prompting widespread outrage and concern about the level of destruction that could be unleashed on Iran’s infrastructure and population.
Trump escalated his rhetoric with the post on Tuesday morning (US time) – about 12 hours before his declared 8pm Tuesday (10am Wednesday AEST) deadline for Iran to agree to his demands.
There were differing interpretations of Trump’s post, with most experts regarding it as a last-ditch attempt to scare the regime into submission, and many sceptical of whether the tactic would succeed.
Read more: Trump strikes Iran’s Kharg Island, says ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight’
What you need to know
Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the war in the Middle East.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
- US President Donald Trump warned “a whole civilisation will die tonight” as the hours ticked down to his 8pm Tuesday (10am Wednesday AEST) deadline set for Iran to agree to a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
- If the deadline arrives without a deal, Trump said there would be a four-hour destructive blitz on Iranian infrastructure such as power plants and bridges.
- Israel attacked Iranian infrastructure ahead of the deadline, targeting train tracks and bridges that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said were used by the Revolutionary Guards.
- US Vice President JD Vance confirmed US strikes on military targets on Iran’s major oil terminal Kharg Island. He said the US has “got tools in our toolkit that we, so far, haven’t decided to use”, but that Trump will use them “if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct”.
- Pope Leo XIV said Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation was “truly unacceptable”.
- French President Emmanuel Macron announced two French citizens, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, had been freed and were returning to France after three-and-a-half years of detention in Iran, and thanked Omani authorities for their mediation efforts. Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist group in Iraq, also said it would release American journalist Shelly Kittleson, whom it kidnapped on a Baghdad street last week, on the condition she left Iraq immediately.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will dash to Singapore this week to lock in fuel imports.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
