US-Iran war live updates: Trump says Australia should join war; Iran threatens to target tourist sites worldwide; Fresh strikes in Tehran and Gulf states

Welcome to our continuing coverage of the conflict in the Middle East. Here’s what you need to know.

• US President Donald Trump said he was considering winding down military efforts in the Middle East as the US gets close to meeting its objectives.
• The comments came despite the US moving to send three more warships and 2500 troops to the region, and Trump seeking an additional $US200 billion ($284 billion) from Congress to fund the war.
• When asked what he’d like Australia to do, Trump told Canberra to get involved in the conflict and claimed Australia had declined his request for help.
• The president also slammed NATO allies as “cowards” for not sending troops to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil trade.
• People have been urged to work from home, drive at lower speeds, and avoid air travel to offset the risk of a severe oil shortage if the Strait of Hormuz remains shut.
• New strikes were reported in Tehran, fresh evacuation orders issued for Beirut, and missile and drone attacks reported in Kuwait, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s spokesman Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naini warned that “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” would not be safe for its enemies. The Guards later said Naini had been killed in a Friday Israeli strike.
• Falling missile debris struck Jerusalem’s Old City during an Iranian attack this morning.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has repeated a statement that the Australian government did not receive a request from the US to support its efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump said he was surprised Australia had not got involved in the Iran war.

“The United States has requested support from Australia in terms of providing defence to the states of the Gulf,” Marles told a press conference in Sydney. “We are very much engaged in the effort of defending the states of the Gulf. That was the context in which there had been a request from other countries, including the United States. In respect of the Straits of Hormuz, we do not have a request from the United States in respect of that.”

This morning, Trump told journalists that Australia “should get involved” and that he was “a little bit surprised that they said ‘no’ because we always say yes to them”. Trump was not specific about what request Australia had denied.

Marles reiterated that Australia had acted to support the Gulf by providing military assistance to the UAE in the form of air-to-air missiles, a surveillance aircraft and Australian personnel. “It is a very significant commitment, and it is making a significant contribution in respect of the defence of the gulf states,” he said.

In the arid heart of the Arabian Peninsula, where scorching temperatures and negligible rainfall define the landscape, water is not merely a resource; it is the linchpin of survival.

The six member states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman – rely overwhelmingly on desalination plants converting seawater to quench their thirst. Yet, as the conflict with Iran escalates, this infrastructure emerges as a glaring strategic vulnerability, potentially more important than the region’s oil and gas fields, refineries and export terminals.

Iran’s ability to strike the GCC’s desalination plants, whether with missiles, drones, small boat swarms or cyberattacks, poses an existential threat to these six Arab states. Iran draws most of its water from rivers, reservoirs and aquifers, and so could endure disruptions to its limited desalination operations. But the GCC states could face rapid societal collapse without theirs.

Key US ally Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, best exemplifies the stakes. Estimates suggest the country could survive only seven to 14 days on supplies if its main plant in Riyadh was destroyed.

A sizable number of US Patriot air defence missiles have been moved from Europe towards the Middle East as Washington diverts resources to help its war on Iran, leaving concerning gaps in Europe’s air defences against Russia, US defence officials told The Associated Press.

Two Patriot missile systems were sent from Germany to Turkey as several ballistic missiles were fired towards Turkey from Iran, according to the Turkish Defence Ministry and three US officials speaking anonymously to discuss sensitive military matters.

The Patriot is a surface-to-air guided missile system that was first deployed in the 1980s and can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles. One of the officials said stocks of Patriot missiles were “absolutely” dwindling in Europe and elsewhere because of the war in Iran, and added the situation was “pretty concerning”.

But asked to comment on the missiles being moved, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to AP: “The US military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and weapons stockpiles to achieve the goals of Operation Epic Fury laid out by President [Donald] Trump – and beyond.”

The war in Ukraine has shown how effective the Patriot system is against a wide range of threats including manoeuvrable hypersonic missiles such as Russia’s Kinzhal, one of the officials said.

AP

The Australian government will send $5 million of aid to civilians impacted by the conflict in Lebanon, delivered through the World Food Program and UNICEF – the United Nations children’s organisation.

In a statement announcing the funding, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: “We know this is a distressing time for Australians in Lebanon and for the Australian-Lebanese community here at home thinking of their family members and loved ones. We are gravely concerned by the expansion of the conflict into Lebanon, the loss of life and the displacement of more than one million civilians.

“Australia condemns Hezbollah for its ongoing strikes on Israel and for dragging Lebanon into conflict. Australia calls for all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and for the protection of civilians and aid workers. A major Israeli ground offensive into Lebanon will only exacerbate the worsening humanitarian situation in the country.”

Israel has been targeting southern Lebanon and the southern districts of Beirut since Hezbollah launched strikes on Israel in support of Iran, shortly after the US and Israel began the current war on the Islamic Republic.

This round of funding brings Australia’s humanitarian assistance to those affected by the war in Gaza and Lebanon to more than $150 million since October 2023.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran is prepared to temporarily lift its de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to allow Japanese-related ships to pass through, according to Kyodo News.

Araghchi made the comments in an interview with the Japanese news agency, flagging that discussions with Japan on the move had already begun, Kyodo reported.

Japan relies heavily on the Middle East for its oil needs, and has come under particular pressure from US President Donald Trump to help secure the crucial shipping strait in the Gulf.

At an in-person meeting with the president earlier this week in Washington, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi explained to him the legal limits to Japan’s involvement in such efforts but pledged to import more oil from the US and to cooperate on missile development.

The Trump administration is considering plans to seize Iran’s oil export hub on Kharg Island, US officials have told media, even as President Donald Trump talks publicly of “winding down” the conflict.

A ground operation to take over the tiny island, which is responsible for virtually all of Iran’s oil exports, could be used as leverage to pressure the regime to reopen the crucial shipping channel in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz.

But experts warn the move could also drag out the Iran war, and put American troops more directly in the line of fire.

“He wants Hormuz open,” a senior White House official told Axios. “If he has to take Kharg Island to make it happen, that’s going to happen. If he decides to have a coastal invasion, that’s going to happen. But that decision hasn’t been made” yet.

In recent days, the president has spoken more and more of “knocking out [Iran’s] oil” by striking Kharg Island and railed against NATO allies for not joining US efforts to end Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia but did not hit the US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing multiple US officials.

One of the missiles failed in flight, while a US warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other, although it could not be determined if the interception succeeded, the newspaper said. The Journal did not specify when the missiles were fired.

The White House and the British embassy in Washington and Ministry of Defence did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Earlier today the British government gave authorisation for the US to use military bases in Britain to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Reuters

The Israeli military said it is launching strikes on Beirut, shortly after issuing new evacuation orders for parts of the Lebanese capital.

“The IDF is currently attacking targets of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah in Beirut,” the military posted on X.

About three hours before the strikes, IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee urged residents in a range of southern neighbourhoods to evacuate.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 1000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million.

The air strikes put Khalil Moussawi on high alert before the helicopters arrived and the Israeli soldiers blasted the main square. He was at home on his lounge when the first strike came, and he sat quietly listening as about 40 others hit his town into the night.

Then he heard the helicopters, and a neighbour told him enemy troops were in their streets.

Over the next few hours, Moussawi was caught in a firefight that left dozens dead and wounded from a secretive Israel Defence Forces (IDF) operation in Nabi Chit, a town in eastern Lebanon that is a stronghold for Hezbollah fighters locked in conflict with Israel. Moussawi, one of the older men of the town, prayed in his apartment when black smoke spread through his building and explosions shook the square.

“The soldiers threw smoke bombs and blinded our view so that you couldn’t see your own finger,” he says. “The drones were hovering over the people and shooting at them. It was carnage.”

Read the full story from correspondent David Crowe and photojournalist Kate Geraghty, who are on the ground in Lebanon.

The Trump administration will lift sanctions on Iranian oil stranded at sea for a month as the White House tries to bring down soaring oil prices.

The pause applies to Iranian oil loaded on ships as of Friday and is set to end on April 19.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously suggested the move as a way to prevent China from being the sole beneficiary of Iranian oil.

The Trump administration also eased sanctions on Russian oil shipments already at sea for 30 days as it looks for ways to boost global oil supplies during the Iran war.

The licence has limits including a restriction on sales involving anyone in North Korea or Cuba.

AP