Trump once again sets out a timeline of ‘two to three weeks’, as he defends his decision to go to war
Donald Trump used his first address to the nation since the start of the war in Iran to justify the costs that it is imposing on America and the world, while continuing to claim that he is close to winding up the conflict.
Trump said on Wednesday evening that Iran had been decimated and that the hard part of the war was done. He however added that the US would hit Iran “extremely hard” for the next two to three weeks.
Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion … In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield – victories like few people have ever seen before.”
The president also once again called for countries that receive oil through the strait of Hormuz to show “courage” and seize the key waterway, while saying Washington will not allow its Middle East allies to be harmed.
“The countries of the world that … receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage,” Trump said. “Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves.”
He also thanked “our allies in the Middle East – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain,” saying: “They’ve been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form.”
Key events
Oil prices have spiked and stocks sank after Donald Trump, in an address from the White House, offered no timeline to the end of the war on Iran and no solution to the closure of the strait of Hormuz that has crippled global markets.
The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, jumped by over 6% this morning to $107.63 a barrel – yesterday, hopes of de-escalation in the Middle East had pushed it below the $100/barrel mark.
All the major stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region have fallen, after the US president used his primetime address to vow to hit Iran “extremely hard” for another two to three weeks.
The UK is reeling from the biggest shock to its mortgage market since Liz Truss’s mini-budget in 2022, after the Iran war drove up borrowing costs. New research from the data provider Moneyfacts shows how the cost of fixed-rate mortgages has surged over the last month, making it harder for new borrowers to get onto the housing ladder – and meaning those remortgaging face a surge in repayments.
For the latest news on the economic impact of the war, you can follow our business live blog here:
An Iranian military spokesperson said Tehran will continue with the war until the US and Israel face “permanent regret and surrender”, Reuters news agency reported.
Ebrahim Zolfaqari,, the spokesperson for the Iranian military’s operational command headquarters, Khatam al-Anbiya, said Iran would step up its military actions with “more crushing, broader and more destructive” attacks, according to a statement carried by state media.
Joe Kent, the former US counter-terrorism chief who resigned from Donald Trump’s administration over the US and Israel’s war against Iran, has urged the president to end the conflict “before we lose more lives”.
Responding to Trump’s address to the nation, he wrote on X:
We do not honor our fallen by getting more of our best men & women killed in the Middle East.
We honor our fallen by learning from our past & only shedding American blood in defense of our nation.
The best time to get out of a war of choice is now, before we lose more lives.
Kent, who resigned as national counter-terrorism center director on 17 March, previously said he could not continue in his role “in good conscience” due to the war in Iran that Trump started without congressional authorisation alongside Israel in late February.
New York-based think tank, the Soufan Center, has said that Donald Trump’s speech suggests he “is willing to leave the strait of Hormuz off the table, leaving other nations to deal with the consequences”.
Trump’s message was that the United States can sustain its own economic and energy ecosystem, while countries dependent on regional exports will either have to buy from the United States or manage the strait themselves.
While Trump explicitly thanked US allies in the Persian Gulf for their cooperation and allyship, an expedited US withdrawal without securing the strait will leave many of these countries, whose economies are dependent on energy exports, in the lurch.
Ajit Niranjan
Shrinking fuel stocks and soaring prices are leading countries around the world to burn coal, ration fuel, shorten work weeks and tell citizens to stay at home.
Here is how the world is responding as the Iran war oil crisis deepens.
The United States
The federal government has not moved to increase subsidies or support households struggling to pay bills, but it has continued its “drill, baby, drill” policy of expanding fossil fuel production while blocking renewable projects. Last week, the Trump administration announced it would pay the French company TotalEnergies $1bn of taxpayer money to kill plans to construct windfarms off the US east coast, and instead direct investments into oil and gas.
The UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada
The UK has encouraged people to stay calm as fuel prices rise, steering clear of calls to curb demand and limiting its action to financial support for people who use oil to heat their homes. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is considering plans to put extra cash into a council-run fund to help vulnerable people during financial crises, but has ruled out the universal support offered during the last energy crisis.
The IEA has warned governments against providing blanket subsidies in response to the crisis and advised them to instead target support to those who need it most. New Zealand has announced weekly cash payments to nearly 150,000 families “in the squeezed middle” as part of a fuel relief package.
Australia has introduced a 50% cut to the fuel excise for three months and released a national fuel security plan. At its current danger level, it encourages motorists to “only buy the fuel you need” and says voluntary choices will help avoid the impact of higher prices. Canada, meanwhile, has refrained from intervening to offset rising prices.
Asia
Coal is coming back across Asia, which has been hit hardest by the energy crisis. India has ordered coal-fired power plants to be run at full capacity and avoid planned outages, while Japan is allowing less-efficient coal plants back on to the electricity market. South Korea has lifted caps on electricity from coal and announced a delay to its planned phaseout. Bangladesh, Thailand and the Philippines are also increasing electricity output from the dirtiest fossil fuel.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, is less exposed to the crisis than its neighbours. In recent years, it has greatly increased energy production – from fossil, nuclear and renewable sources – and built up a vast strategic oil reserve. Its state-run refineries have avoided Iranian crude oil imports for fear of being cut off from international markets, but independent “teapot” refineries have continued to process it for domestic consumption.
South and south-east Asian countries have taken the greatest steps to reduce energy demand. Sri Lanka has introduced fuel rationing and a four-day working week. Vietnam has urged employers to let staff work from home. News anchors in Thailand took off their jackets on air, as the government called on people to use less air conditioning and told officials to wear short-sleeved shirts without neckties. It has also reduced temperatures in government offices to 26-27C and joined other countries in the region in calls to drive less, use more public transport and promote car-sharing.
Almost three dozen countries are set to meet in an effort to exert diplomatic and political pressure to reopen the strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping route that has been choked off by the US-Israeli war against Iran.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer said the virtual meeting chaired by British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper “will assess all viable diplomatic and political measures we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and to resume the movement of vital commodities.”
Iranian attacks on commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world’s oceans, shutting a critical path for the world’s flow of oil and sending petroleum prices soaring.
The US is not among the countries attending Thursday’s meeting. Trump has said securing the waterway is not America’s job, and told US allies to “go get your own oil.”
US embassy in Iraq warns of attacks from ‘Iran-aligned militias’ in Baghdad within 24 to 48 hours
The US embassy in Baghdad has urged Americans to leave Iraq, warning that “Iran-aligned militias” may carry out attacks in central Baghdad within 24-48 hours.
These actors may target U.S. citizens, companies, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports, and other sites believed to be associated with the United States, in addition to Iraqi institutions and civilian targets.”
The embassy goes on to say that routine consular services are suspended and urges US citizens to “leave Iraq now.”
Democrats are continuing to criticise Donald Trump’s primetime address to the American people on the war in Iran as “incoherent” and as doing little to answer “the most basic questions the American people,” according to statements from two Democratic lawmakers.
Senator Mark Warner, noted that Trump owed Americans more answers about a conflict that has driven up prices on gas “alongside rising prices for diesel, fertilizer, aluminum, and other essentials, with consequences that will continue to ripple through the economy for a long time to come.”
Senator Chris Murphy, released a statement that said the “speech was grounded in a reality that only exists in Donald Trump’s mind.”
Murphy went on to add that “no one in America, after listening to that speech, knows whether we are escalating or deescalating.”
Authorities in Abu Dhabi have responded to an incident near Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD) after air defence systems intercepted a missile, officials have announced, adding that there was minor damage and no injuries.
Israel’s military has said air defences are responding on to a fourth Iranian missile attack within six hours, as sirens sounded in parts of northern Israel.
A military statement said Israeli forces had “identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel”, adding that “defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat”.
Hezbollah has said its fighters launched drones and rockets at northern Israel on Thursday, with the Israeli military’s Home Front Command saying air raid sirens were activated across the border from Lebanon.
In separate statements, the Iran-backed group claimed rocket fire targeting Israeli troops in border areas and a drone attack targeting a village.
Sirens were activated in those areas, according to the Israeli Home Front Command, with no reports of any casualties or damage.
Rationale for Iran war questioned after Trump says ‘I don’t care’ about regime’s uranium stockpiles
Julian Borger
Donald Trump has said he does not care about Iran’s stock of highly enriched uranium (HEU), arguing it was deep underground and could be monitored by satellite, raising questions about one of the key US justifications for the war.
In his address to the nation from the White House on Wednesday night, Trump elaborated: “If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we will hit them with missiles very hard again.”
Unless they were intended as a ruse to put Tehran off its guard, the president’s remarks appeared to rule out a risky military mission to retrieve the HEU stockpile, which Iran is believed to have hidden down deep underground shafts.
The apparent decision to leave the HEU, which is roughly enough for about a dozen warheads, in Iran appeared to conflict with Trump’s assertions that one of the principal war aims was to ensure it could never make a nuclear bomb.
Nuclear proliferation experts say that if the HEU stock remains under Iranian control at the end of hostilities, it would leave Tehran significantly closer to the capability of making nuclear bombs than the proposed settlement being negotiated in Geneva on 26 February, two days before the war began.
Some more reaction to Donald Trump’s address this evening:
Republican senator Ted Cruz said Trump “was exactly right tonight.”
Operation Epic Fury is an investment in the future of our children and our grandchildren. We are on the cusp of ending Iran’s nuclear blackmail — that makes America much, much safer.”
Former congresswoman and devoted Maga acolyte Marjorie Taylor Green said all she heard from his speech was “WAR WAR WAR.”
Nothing to lower the cost of insurance. Nothing to address jobs for Americans. Nothing about education for our children. Nothing about our children’s future. Nothing for America’s future. I’m so beyond done.”
Michael McFaul, a professor of political science and former US ambassador to Russia under Barack Obama, said Trump failed to mention his “plans for complete denuclearization of Iran.”
His war so far has not achieved that objective. Is he just giving up?
If so, that means we lost a dozen soldiers, hundreds more injured, and spent a 100 billion to destroy boats, planes, and missiles that had no capability to attack the American homeland.”
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has given his verdict on Donald Trump’s address, asking whether here has ever been a “more rambling, disjointed, and pathetic presidential war speech?”
Donald Trump’s actions in Iran will be considered one of the greatest policy blunders in the history of our country, failing to articulate objectives, alienating allies, and ignoring the kitchen table problems Americans are facing.”
Israel’s military said air defences responded to three waves of Iranian missile fire early Thursday, with media reporting several light injuries in the Tel Aviv area.
The third reported salvo came shortly after Donald Trump delivered an address to the American public about the Middle East war.
After the first attack, police said officers were called to “several” impact sites in central Israel, with media reports putting the number at nine.
Four people were lightly wounded, the reports said, citing medics.
Israeli media attributed the damage across a relatively wide area to the use of cluster munitions, which explode mid-air and scatter bomblets. Iran and Israel have previously accused each other of using cluster bombs.
Within just over three hours of the first attack, the military announced it had again “identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel”, triggering air raid sirens across much of northern and central Israel.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage as a result of the second and third reported attacks.
