US-Israel Iran War Live Updates

Authorities in Abu Dhabi have confirmed a response to an incident near the Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD) after local air defence systems successfully intercepted a missile.

A vocal critic of the US president’s Iran strategy has come forward with a scathing assessment of Trump’s recent address.
Seth Moulton, a decorated Marine Corps veteran, expressed his deep concern to MSNBC that Trump’s misguided approach to Iran has placed American troops in a precarious situation, while simultaneously failing to achieve its intended objectives.
Moulton’s biting critique of Trump’s speech described the president as woefully inept, lacking the mental acuity to effectively navigate the complexities of international diplomacy. He characterised the address as a lacklustre performance that only served to underscore the president’s ineptitude.
The congressman pointed out the glaring inconsistency in Trump’s stance on Iran, noting that the president boasted about dismantling the Obama-era deal while simultaneously seeking a new agreement. Furthermore, Trump claimed that regime change was never a goal, yet his actions suggest otherwise.
Moulton observed that Trump’s actions have inadvertently led to a regime change, replacing an ailing 86-year-old leader with a younger, more hardline individual. This outcome is antithetical to the US’s desired outcome, he argued.
The congressman also took issue with Trump’s assertion that the US had already successfully dismantled Iran’s nuclear programme, only to require further military action to achieve the same goal. Moulton expressed his bewilderment at the president’s apparent lack of understanding, stating that he is not qualified to offer a psychological analysis of Trump’s thought process.

At dawn, Hezbollah militants claimed responsibility for a coordinated strike against Israeli forces stationed in the Al Malikiyah and Yeroun settlements, with a barrage of rockets launched at 6:10am local time.
Additionally, the group reported deploying a swarm of attack drones to target the Even Menachem settlement at 6am.

A sudden shift in investor sentiment has sent Asian stocks plummeting, as President Trump’s ominous warning of a potential military strike against Iran has effectively extinguished the fragile optimism that had been building in the region. The MSCI’s comprehensive index of Asian Pacific shares dropped by roughly three-quarters of a percent in early trading, following Trump’s provocative statement about taking Iran back to the “Stone Age”.

Just hours earlier, Iran had taken an unprecedented step by directly addressing the US, releasing a letter that explicitly stated its intentions of no hostility towards the American people and its actions being solely in self-defence. This unexpected overture had provided a glimmer of hope for a possible resolution, which in turn had helped to boost Wall Street stocks overnight.

However, with Trump’s remarks now casting a dark cloud over the situation, investors are once again retreating from risk and uncertainty is creeping back into the markets. Notably, energy prices are on the rise, with Brent Crude currently trading at approximately $104 a barrel, after previously dipping below the psychologically significant threshold of $100 a barrel.

It’s worth noting that the recent surge in Asian markets, which saw a record rise for the year just yesterday, suggests that if a resolution to the crisis is reached, markets are likely to rebound swiftly and decisively.

Indonesia has become the latest nation to express outrage over Israel’s draconian law, which metes out capital punishment to Palestinians but spares Jewish Israelis accused of identical crimes. The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a scathing rebuke, decrying the policy as an affront to the principles of justice and universal humanitarian values.

“The law constitutes a flagrant breach of international human rights and humanitarian law, specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the ministry stated, highlighting the egregious disregard for the fundamental rights to life and a fair trial.

Trita Parsi, the executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, observed that Trump’s high-profile address failed to introduce any fresh ideas, instead relying heavily on previously stated positions.
Parsi noted that the speech closely mirrored the content of Trump’s recent tweets, presented in a roughly chronological sequence.
However, it is precisely the absence of new information that suggests Trump’s approach lacks a clear strategic plan.

Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), has sharply criticized Trump’s assertion that the US has successfully engineered a regime change in Iran, labeling it a gross misrepresentation of reality.
According to Abdi, Trump’s claim is nothing short of an admission of failure, as it has instead served to fortify the Iranian regime, rendering it more resilient than ever. Abdi expressed his skepticism to Al Jazeera, questioning the significance of Trump’s assertion, which he believes is a desperate attempt to salvage a failed policy.
In his recent speech, Trump attempted to downplay the US’s original intentions, suggesting that regime change was never a primary objective, but rather an unintended consequence of the deaths of key Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking officials. However, Abdi pointed out that despite these losses, the Iranian ruling system has shown no signs of instability, with Khamenei’s son Mojtaba taking his place and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowing to continue the fight against the US and Israel.

Following a significant decline to below $100 a barrel on Wednesday, Brent crude has seen a substantial rebound, climbing by as much as 5 percent to reach $106.29, with West Texas Intermediate also experiencing a notable increase of over 4 percent, peaking at $104.29.

According to Channel 12, a barrage of rockets originating from Lebanon triggered air raid sirens in the Upper Galilee area, prompting the Israeli military to confirm the rocket fire.

In a flurry of social media posts, Democratic lawmakers have unleashed scathing criticism of Trump’s televised address, using words like ‘heinous’ and ‘horrifying’ to describe his remarks.