Middle East crisis live: US attacks Iran missile sites as Tehran negotiators hold talks in Qatar | US-Israel war on Iran
Key events
Markets have remained mixed in Asia, after the US said it carried out strikes in southern Iran, with traders appearing to shrug off any suggestion that the attack could usher in a return to all out war.
Benchmark US crude oil declined more than 4%, to $91.59 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained $1.57 to $94.99 a barrel after falling nearly $5 on Monday.
With the status of peace talks with Iran unclear, markets have been swayed by various developments and comments made by Donald Trump.
“Markets are behaving as though a full Iran breakthrough already exists, even though the hardest parts of the negotiation remain unresolved,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary. “Washington continues to signal optimism, while Tehran insists no agreement is imminent.”
More here from Marco Rubio saying he anticipates that progress over a potential US-Iran deal will “take a few days” amid discussions over the language in the agreement.
“There were some talks going on in Qatar today, so we’ll see if we can make progress,” the US secretary of state was quoted as saying in India during an official visit.
double quotation mark I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days.The president’s expressed his desire to make it. He’s either going to make a good deal or no deal.”
As just mentioned Rubio also said the strait of Hormuz must opened.
double quotation mark The straits have to be open they’re going to be open one way or the other, so they need to be open.”
Opening summary
Welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines on Monday, US Central Command said, as top Iranian negotiators arrived in Doha for talks to end the war.
“US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” a Centcom spokesperson said. The statement gave no details of the attacks and said only that the targets included missile launch sites and boats trying to “emplace mines”.
The strikes threatened an already fragile ceasefire that began on 8 April and came as Iran’s top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar’s prime minister over the potential deal to end the war, Reuters quoted an official as saying.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump said talks with Iran were going “nicely” but warned of fresh attacks if they failed. It “will only be a Great Deal for all, or no Deal at all”, the US president said on social media.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who is in India, said on Tuesday that the strait of Hormuz had to be opened “one way or the other”.
“What’s happening there is unlawful, it’s illegal, it’s unsustainable for the world, it’s unacceptable,” he was quoted as telling reporters. Rubio said the negotiating language of the deal with Iran could “take a few days”.
In other developments:
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Trump said the enriched uranium held by Iran could be destroyed inside the country, in a process overseen by an international nuclear agency. Experts said his announcement could amount to a major concession to Tehran.
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Trump also said any deal to end the war with Iran should require certain countries in the region – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan – to sign up to the Abraham accords. The agreements aimed at normalising relations with Israel were brokered by the US during Trump’s first term.
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Hezbollah in Lebanon, dealing another blow to hopes for a US-Iran deal. Tehran has demanded that any peace accord apply to the fighting in Lebanon as well.
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Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi praised Hezbollah for the Tehran-backed militant group’s ongoing resistance in Lebanon against Israel.
