US-Iran War as it happened: Trump cancels planned mega strikes on Iran

Thank you for following our live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.

Here is a recap of today’s key developments:

- US President Donald Trump said he cancelled planned strikes on Iran as negotiations to end the war ramp up, suggesting a peace deal is close to completion.

- Soaring fuel prices and higher inflation triggered by the Iran war will deliver the weakest global economic growth since the pandemic, according to new World Bank research.

- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Donald Trump after the president’s announcement of an imminent deal, which caught the PM by surprise.

- The Indian government says three of its nationals were killed when the US military struck an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman this week.

- An Iranian state-run broadcaster has apologised to viewers after airing what appeared to be a simulated nuclear blast over an unidentified Iranian city.

Stock markets are surging after US President Donald Trump called off a third day of planned strikes against Iran.

The S&P 500, a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading publicly-listed companies in the US, saw its biggest single-day gain since April.

The Nasdaq Composite, a stock market index that includes almost all stocks listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, rose 2.5 per cent.

Gains were also seen across the Asia Pacific, including an eight per cent surge in South Korea’s KOSPI (Korea Composite Stock Price Index).

A hardline senior politician in Iran has reacted to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a “great settlement” to end the war.

Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, told his followers on X “the probability of deception by Trump is high”.

He claimed the US president “wants to keep the situation calm for now.”

Rezaei said Iran should instead “strike harder, destroy and annihilate the enemy’s infrastructure, economic centres, and artificial intelligence in the region so they feel more pain.

“The lawmaker also responded to Trump’s vow to take Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export hub, prior to his settlement announcement.

“If you come, you will not return alive,” Rezaei warned in another post.

An Iranian state-run broadcaster has apologised to viewers after airing what appeared to be a simulated nuclear blast over an unidentified Iranian city.

IRIB showed the segment on air, which portrayed a bright flash followed by a huge mushroom cloud, early this morning.

The vision rattled local residents, who were anticipating more strikes from the US after they were cancelled at the 11th hour by Donald Trump.

In a statement IRIB said “the airing of footage showing a nuclear explosion was the result of an editing error” and confirmed the network had not been hacked.

Despite the pressures of running the American war effort, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth appears to be maintaining his strict fitness regimen.

The Department of War has posted an online video showing him punching out 44 reps of the bench press weight training exercise, with the barbell loaded at an apparent 60 kilograms.

Hegseth was shown working out with US marines when he visited the US Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Text accompanying the video said Hegseth “CRUSHED 44 reps on the bench after a morning run with the troops.”

A top US senator has levelled a remarkable accusation against Donald Trump.

Yesterday the US president declared he would resume strikes against Iran, causing markets to drop around the world.

But Hawaii Democrat Brian Schatz was suspicious.

“I think the war hasn’t really stopped. I think he tries to manipulate markets, to say that a deal is imminent,” the senator said.

“And there’s no real evidence that a deal is imminent.”

And hours after declaring an attack on Iran was imminent, Trump overnight backed down.

FULL STORY HERE

Soaring fuel prices and higher inflation triggered by the Iran war will deliver the weakest global economic growth since the pandemic, according to new research.

The World Bank said overnight it expects the international economy to grow by 2.5 per cent in 2026, compared with 2.9 per cent last year.

This year’s growth outlook was revised by 0.1 per cent from an initial forecast in January due to shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz grinding to a halt.

Developing countries have been hit hardest, says the World Bank.

Growth forecast in those economies have been slashed by 0.4 per cent to a post-pandemic low of 3.6 per cent, largely due to the spike in fuel prices. 

Trump has been asked why his latest declaration a peace deal with Iran is imminent to earlier statements by him which failed to deliver.

“Because they’ve taken a pounding,” Trump replied when asked by reporters at the White House why he was confident.

But his answer was vague because he described it as a “very strong memorandum of understanding,” that he described as “a little conceptual”.

The president said of the Iranian regime, “They want to make the deal a lot more than I do”.

Trump keeps talking up the chances of an imminent peace deal.

He just declared the United States had “ended the war” with Iran overnight.

The president was speaking at a telerally supporting Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, who is running for governor, reports CNN.

“I don’t know if you heard, but we ended the war with Iran today,” said Trump.

“They have agreed never to have a nuclear weapon, something that we insisted on; that was the whole purpose. That was 95 per cent of it.” 

An explosion heard in southern Iran today was linked to its security forces challenging a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, according to state media.

Citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Force, the report says the ship was an oil tanker trying to transit the strait.

Earlier, Iranian officials said a tanker was halted from entering the waterway, claiming it lacked approval to pass.

Trump, speaking about a potential US-Iran peace deal, said the strait would be open “as soon as we sign.”