Iranians form human chains over bridges after Trump’s menacing threat | News World

Axios is reporting that progress has been made in negotiations between the US and Iran previously 24 hours.

A US official said the pondering within the White House has shifted from ‘can we get there?’ to ‘can we get there by 8 o’clock tonight?’

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said Iran is ‘conducting terrorist activity’ against shipping within the Strait of Hormuz as a deadline set by Donald Trump for Tehran to finish its chokehold on the vital waterway looms.

Because the UK urged ‘de-escalation’ within the face of dire warnings by the US president, Mr Rubio said: ‘The entire world’s been impacted unfortunately because Iran is violating every law known by striking business vessels within the Straits of Hormuz, and it’s an enormous problem for the world.

‘I mean, this can be a regime that doesn’t consider in laws, rules or anything like that.

‘It’s a state sponsor of terrorism, so it’s not surprising that they’re now conducting terrorist activity against business vessels.’

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘HMS Dragon is undertaking a routine logistics stop and a brief maintenance period within the Eastern Mediterranean, allowing the ship to take onboard provisions, optimise systems, and conduct maintenance.

‘HMS Dragon will remain at a really high level of readiness during this era, capable of sail at short notice if required.

‘The UK continues to take care of a strong and layered defensive presence within the Eastern Mediterranean, working in coordination with allies. This includes Typhoon and F-35 jets, Wildcat and Merlin helicopters, and advanced counter-drone and air defence systems’.

The Ministry of Defence was forced to disclaim claims a British warship was hit by a Hezbollah missile on Sunday after speculation exploded on social media.

The Government insists HMS Dragon was at all times due for a logistics stop at this stage in deployment but a ‘minor technical issue’ with the onboard water systems shall be fixed as a part of it.

US President Donald Trump said his 8pm (EST) deadline stays in place and warned Iran of a possible attack ‘like they’ve not seen,’ in response to remarks made in a phone interview with Bret Baier on Fox News.

‘I just got off the phone with the president… I said, listen, in case you were to place odds on it, what were the chances that that is going to find yourself being a negotiated deal? He said he wasn’t going to place odds on it. But he said, ‘8pm is going on,’ Baier said, recounting the decision.

‘He said, ‘it’s—if we get to that time—there’s going to be an attack like they’ve not seen.’ Now he’s sticking to that at this point… it’s moving forward with the plans that we now have. That’s an enormous deal,’ he added.

Iraqi militia, Kataib Hezbollah snatched American Journalist Shelley Kittleson off the streets of Baghdad.

In exchange, the group demanded that Iraq free several of its detained members.

The group have just announced they may release the freelance reporter so long as she leaves Iraq.

Iran’s first vice chairman Mohammad Reza Aref has hit back at Trump’s threats to annihilate Iran.

He says that Iran’s civilisation has overcome the ‘delusions’ of its enemies for hundreds of years.

Iran ‘is not going to be intimidated by Trump’s threats’, he said.

‘Our response to the enemy’s brutality is to face firm and depend on the interior strength of the Iranian nation.’

The clock is quickly approaching the deadline Donald Trump set for Iran, and neighbouring Gulf Countries seem like preparing for the worst.

The US Department of State Consular Affairs issued a press release this afternoon reading: ‘The U.S. Embassy in Manama has directed all U.S. government employees to shelter in place. 

‘We recommend that each one Americans in Bahrain do the identical until further notice. To the extent possible, remain in a secure structure and steer clear of windows.

‘Have a supply of food, water, medications, and other essential items.’

The IDF has revealed it was behind the strikes on eight bridge segments, which it claimed were used to ‘transport weapons and military equipment’.

‘The crossings were attacked as a way to prevent the regime’s forces from using them to transfer equipment and weapons,’ the IDF said on X.

‘Prior to the strike, steps were taken to scale back the possibility of harm to civilians, including advance warnings, the usage of precision munitions, and aerial observations. The IDF will proceed to act against any infrastructure utilized by the regime’s armed forces for military purposes in addition to to advance terror operations against the State of Israel and countries of the world.’

The value of US crude oil has skyrocketed greater than 3% today, reaching $116 per barrel – in comparison with just $69 per barrel at the moment last yr.

Mounting uncertainty within the Middle East previously sent barrel prices up, however the chaos of today has sent them even further.

Trump’s recent commentary shows that he sees the whole thing of Iran – and its 90,000,000 residents – as ‘expendable’, Dr Katayoun Shahandeh, Lecturer and Senior Teaching Fellow at SOAS, University of London, told Metro.

Still, Dr Shahandeh doubts the President would go for nuclear weapons to ‘wipe out a civilisation’, as Trump warned earlier today.

Dr Simon A Bennett, of the University of Leicester, told Metro the possibility of Trump using nuclear weapons is slim, even along with his apocalyptic post. 

To read more of Dr Bennett and Dr Shahandeh’s evaluation, read our article here.

The Tehran Times has reported that Iran has closed all diplomatic and indirect channels of communication with the USA.

This includes all message exchanges.

It comes after Trump’s fiery post earlier, where he threatened to annihilate the country.

A railway bridge within the village of Amin Abad, in Zanjan, Iran, was targeted in an airstrike today.

The village is just 3 kilometres from an ammunition and missile depot, local media have said.

US-Israeli strikes have now reportedly struck a historic railway between two major Iranian cities.

Targets hit on Kharg Island in US strikes today included bunkers, radar stations, and ammunition storage, a senior US official told Fox News.

As strikes on rail infrastructure and bridges proceed to grow today, the Israeli military issued a warning to locals to avoid any trains today.

They stressed that happening trains today could ‘endanger your life’.

Railway services in Mashhad, Iran, have since been cancelled after the warning.

Reports from local media have reported that railway transport in town of Qazvin has been targeted in strikes.

The strikes come after Trump threatened to bomb all of Iran’s power plants and bridges in the event that they didn’t comply with his 8pm deadline today.

It’s still several hours before the deadline will come to pass.