US-Iran war live updates: US expects to end operation in ‘weeks, not months’, says Rubio; G7 call for attacks on civilians to stop; Israel attacks Iranian nuclear facilities

Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East as it enters a fifth week.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking after he met with G7 foreign ministers in France, said the US expects its operation in Iran to conclude in “weeks, not months”. He said the US could “achieve all our objectives without deploying ground troops” in Iran.
• In a joint statement, the G7 ministers called for an end to attacks on civilians and reiterated the “absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz.
• US President Donald Trump said the US was “doing really well in Iran” after his 10-day extension to possible strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure.
• The Israeli military confirmed it had struck the Arak heavy-water plant in central Iran, describing it as a “key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons”, after threatening to “escalate and expand” attacks on Iran.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pushed back on Trump’s second swipe about Australia’s lack of involvement in the war, noting Canberra was not consulted before the conflict began.

Two Chinese container ships turned back after trying to exit the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, ship-tracking data showed, despite assurances from Iran that Chinese vessels could pass.

The operator, China’s COSCO, had said in a March 25 client advisory that it had resumed bookings for general cargo containers for shipments from Asia to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq.

The CSCL Indian Ocean and CSCL Arctic Ocean, both Hong Kong-flagged, have been stuck in the Gulf since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28.

They attempted to pass through the strait on Friday but then turned back, analysis from the Kpler data platform showed.

While this was the first crossing attempted by a major shipping group since the start of the war, Friday’s incident showed “safe passage could not be guaranteed”, Kpler analyst Rebecca Gerdes said.

More than 370,000 children have been forced from their homes in Lebanon in just three weeks, as intensified Israeli strikes and mass evacuation orders trigger one of the fastest and largest population displacements in the country’s history, UN officials said on Friday.

Israel has launched heavy air strikes and a ground assault on Lebanon in parallel with the war in Iran, after Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militia fired into Israel in solidarity with Tehran on March 2. Israeli forces have told Lebanese to leave their homes across around 15 per cent of the country including the entire south.

UNICEF’s country representative Marcoluigi Corsi said the scale of displacement was “staggering”, with 19,000 children uprooted daily, many for the second or third time since previous escalations just 15 months ago.

“The mental and emotional exhaustion weighing on the children of Lebanon is just devastating,” Corsi said remotely from Beirut. “There is no safe place for people to go.”

Reuters

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has claimed Israeli strikes on Iranian steel factories and nuclear sites contradict US President Donald Trump’s decision to postpone possible strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure for 10 days.

“Israel has hit 2 of Iran’s largest steel factories, a power plant and civilian nuclear sites among other infrastructure,” Araghchi said in a post on X.

“Israel claims it acted in coordination with the US. Attack contradicts POTUS extended deadline for diplomacy. Iran will exact HEAVY price for Israeli crimes.”

US President Donald Trump has briefly addressed the conflict in the Middle East while speaking to a gathering of farmers at the White House.

“By the way, we’re doing really well in Iran,” Trump said.

“How good is our military?”

In a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday afternoon, Washington time (Saturday morning AEDT), Trump added: “Going to make a big speech on economics in Miami. Our Military Operation in Iran is going GREAT!”

Iran state media said its nuclear facilities were attacked on Friday, just hours after Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran.

IRNA reported that a heavy-water plant and a yellowcake production plant were struck. Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore.

The Israeli military confirmed it had struck the Arak heavy-water plant in central Iran, describing it as a “key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons”.

Earlier, air raid sirens sounded in Israel and the military said it has been intercepting Iranian missiles on a daily basis.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US expects its operation in Iran to conclude in “weeks, not months” after he met with G7 foreign ministers in France on Friday.

He said the US could “achieve all our objectives without deploying ground troops” in Iran.

Rubio also said Iran may decide to set up a tolling system for the Strait of Hormuz, an act that he said could cause significant economic damage to many nations around the globe.

He said the US would seek international cooperation on a plan to keep the strait open after hostilities end.

The foreign ministers of the G7 group of nations called on Friday for an immediate stop to attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Iran war.

In a joint statement agreed on the second day of a G7 meeting in France – this year’s host country – the ministers said they had underscored the importance of minimising the impact of the conflict on regional partners, civilian populations and critical infrastructure.

“We focused on the value of diverse partnerships, coordination, and supporting initiatives, including to mitigate global economic shocks such as disruptions to economic, energy, fertiliser and commercial supply chains, which have direct impacts on our citizens,” they said in the statement.

The ministers also reiterated the “absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz.

The G7 members are the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, along with the European Union.

Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East as it enters a fifth week.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking after he met with G7 foreign ministers in France, said the US expects its operation in Iran to conclude in “weeks, not months”. He said the US could “achieve all our objectives without deploying ground troops” in Iran.
• In a joint statement, the G7 ministers called for an end to attacks on civilians and reiterated the “absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz.
• US President Donald Trump said the US was “doing really well in Iran” after his 10-day extension to possible strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure.
• The Israeli military confirmed it had struck the Arak heavy-water plant in central Iran, describing it as a “key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons”, after threatening to “escalate and expand” attacks on Iran.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pushed back on Trump’s second swipe about Australia’s lack of involvement in the war, noting Canberra was not consulted before the conflict began.