By Ted Regencia
Iran says it will completely shut the Strait of Hormuz and launch retaliatory attacks on regional energy and water infrastructure if the US attacks its power plants.
Israeli forces blow up the Qasimiyah Bridge in south Lebanon, in an attack President Joseph Aoun says is a “prelude to ground invasion”.
More Asian stocks down as Trump’s ultimatum on Iran nears
More Asian stocks have tumbled as US President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders traded threats of strikes and counter-strikes risking a prolonged war and closure of the key Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supplies transit.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down by 3.3 percent at 24,435.74, while the Shanghai Composite decreased by 2.3 percent at 3,867.51.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index is also down by 2.1 percent at 4,884.710 as of 0400 GMT on Monday. The Philippine Stock Exchange is also down by 3.17 percent while the Stock Exchange of Thailand is down 2.15 percent.
Earlier, we reported that Tokyo’s Nikkei average was down by 3.4 to 3.5 percentage points at 51,582.23.
The two countries say they have signed an agreement to ramp up coordination to ensure uninterrupted trade in key energy supplies amid the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.
In a statement, Australia and Singapore said the cooperation deal covers diesel and liquefied natural gas.
“We are committed to working together to strengthen energy supply chain resilience, including by deepening regional cooperation, accelerating renewable energy transition, addressing unjustified import and export restrictions, and maintaining open trade flows,” the statement said.
This comes as countries around the world are scrambling to secure enough energy supply amid a supply crunch resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil exports transit.
By Rob McBride
Reporting from Amman, Jordan
Israeli authorities have launched an investigation [into the strikes on Sunday]
Their explanation is that no matter how sophisticated your defences are, some missiles are going to get through. In Israel’s case, we know that after years of developing these defences, it has a multilayered defence system. It is very sophisticated.
The authorities claim that they have a 90 percent plus success rate in intercepting missiles, but they have accepted that these missiles – especially in Dimona, because of the nuclear facilities there – were particularly embarrassing.
These strikes have been widely celebrated by the Iranians, and they have been exploiting the propaganda value of this, warning that this is a precursor of what may come and that they’ve managed to find a way around Israeli missile defences.
That’s being treated with a great deal of scepticism in Israel.
But it does seem as though Iran is changing and changing its tactics. They have been deploying cluster warheads, which distribute smaller bomblets over a wider area and are harder to intercept. And instead of launching large waves of missiles, Iran is launching smaller waves, but at more frequent intervals, which sets the alarms going and sends people running to their shelters, in a bid to undermine the resilience of the civilian population.
Violence by Israeli troops and settlers is continuing in Gaza and the occupied West Bank as the war on Iran continues.
According to the Wafa news agency, at least nine Palestinians were injured late on Sunday as Israeli settlers rampaged through towns and villages in the occupied West Bank for a second night in a row. Among the victims was a 45-year-old man, who was shot in the foot during a confrontation with the settlers in Deir al-Hatab, just east of Nablus.
Six other Palestinians were also beaten, the report said.
The violence came after Israeli settlers set fire to homes and cars in two areas south of Jenin and vandalised property across the occupied West Bank overnight on Sunday.
Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia has accused Trump of “sending our sons and daughters to war” because he is still unable to accept that he lost the 2020 election.
Kaine referenced an article by the US outlet Just The News that claimed Iran had tried to interfere in the 2020 and 2024 elections to stop Trump from getting elected.
“Are congressional Republicans just fine with this ” he asked.
Earlier, Kaine also cautioned against the deployment of ground troops to Iran, warning that it could make “Trump’s unnecessary and unwise war…even worse”.
Kaine is one of the ranking members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has oversight authority over US foreign relations and military operations. He was the vice presidential running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
This content is unavailable due to your cookie settings.
We’ve been covering an attack on the city of Khorramabad, located west of Tehran.
Earlier, we reported that the air raid had destroyed at least one building. The Fars news agency is now reporting that at least one child was killed in the strike on the residential building.
A video clip posted by Fars shows frantic scenes as rescue workers and residents dig through the rubble to look for survivors. A woman told the agency that an elderly woman was living in one of the houses hit in the attack.
According to Fars, several people were wounded.
The exact number of dead and wounded is not yet clear.
More from the International Energy Agency (IEA) director, Fatih Birol.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, he compared the current energy crisis with those of the 1970s and the impact of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“This crisis, as things stand, is now two oil crises and one gas crash put all together,” Birol said.
“The global economy is facing a major, major threat today, and I very much hope that this issue will be resolved as soon as possible… No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction. So there is a need for global efforts,” he said.
Birol added that at least 40 energy assets across the region had been “severely or very severely damaged” in the conflict and said the IEA is consulting with governments in Asia and Europe about the release of more stockpiled oil.
Earlier this month, IEA member nations had agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles to combat the spike in global crude prices.
“If it is necessary, of course, we will do it. We look at the conditions, we will analyse, assess the markets, and discuss with our member countries,” he said.
Medics respond to air attack in Iran’s Urmia
The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) says emergency personnel are at the site of a residential area that was destroyed in an air attack in northwestern Urmia, near the borders of Turkiye and Iraq.
Footage posted by the group shows a building with its walls and windows blown out and rescue workers combing through the debris.
IRCS said relief workers were providing aid to “injured compatriots”.
It was not immediately clear how many people were wounded.
This content is unavailable due to your cookie settings.
Translation: Air strike on a residential area in Urmia and the efforts of Red Crescent relief workers to provide aid to the injured compatriots.
By Nicolas Haque
Reporting from Baghdad, Iraq
The Iraqis don’t want to be dragged into this war. That’s clear.
They’re caught between Iran, a country they share their largest land border with, and the US. So they are in a tough and difficult position with having so many Iran-backed (armed groups) inside the country and seeing this escalation of violence.
Now, there’s been five years of relative peace and economic boom, and then, just a few days ago, the Oil Ministry of Iraq announced a case of force majeure, which means that they’re not able to hold their oil exports obligations to the oil companies. Iraq relies on that revenue. That’s 90 percent of its revenues, so that’s going to have an impact on people.
So, they feel very vulnerable, caught in this war between the US, Israel, and Iran.
The UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority says the country’s air defences are “currently responding to incoming missile threat from Iran” and is urging citizens to remain in a safe place.
Iran’s Fars news agency is reporting that at least two locations near the Shahid Babaei Expressway in the capital, as well as the Garmdareh area in the eastern outskirts of the city, were among those hit.
It said that a “tremendous sound of explosion” was also heard at the intersection of Hafez and Jomhouri Streets, a densely populated area with a mix of government offices, commercial areas, and residential buildings.
We’ll bring you more on this breaking story soon.
The Saudi Ministry of Defence says the country’s air defences intercepted one missile, while the other fell in an open area.
It also says it intercepted another drone in the Eastern Province.
By Nicolas Haque
Reporting from Baghdad, Iraq
The Americans are responding [to attacks on the US sites], first by activating their air defence system known as C-RAM. They’ve intercepted the latest drone attack on Victory Base and are also pounding with air strikes the Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
Make no mistake, this is another battleground for the Americans.
On top of these measures, they are also temporarily evacuating American-NATO forces from the Victory Base, which is just 20km (12 miles) west of Baghdad. Now, they are still American positions in Iraq’s north, in the Kurdish regions.
Now, one of the Iran-backed (armed groups) in Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah, has issued an ultimatum to the Americans, saying they have five more days to evacuate the US embassy in the heart of the capital, or face attacks. That will have a greater impact on Iraqis because the embassy is in the Green Zone, in the heart of the capital, Baghdad.
Iranians have taken to the streets in several cities across the country to denounce the US-Israel war, according to Iranian state media.
A large crowd gathered late on Sunday in the southeastern city of Kerman, waving flags and carrying images of the country’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the Fars news agency reported.
Similar rallies took place in the capital Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz, as well as in the city of Urmia, in West Azerbaijan province near the borders with Turkiye and Iraq, and in Ardabil near the border with Azerbaijan, according to Fars and other agencies.
This content is unavailable due to your cookie settings.
Translation: The people of Urmia have been present in the square for twenty-two nights, never leaving Iran without support.
Suhaib al-Asa, Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent in Tehran, is reporting that the size and volume of the explosions in the Iranian capital is “unprecedented”, especially in the eastern side of the city.
He said the Iranian air defence systems have been activated in the eastern part of the city, which usually means they’re responding to US-Israeli drones hovering over that part of the city.
The Israeli military has issued a statement moments ago announcing a “wave of extensive strikes targeting” Iran government infrastructure in Tehran.
This came shortly after reports of powerful explosions across the Iranian capital.
We’ll bring you more information as soon as we know more.
The South Korean currency has dropped to its weakest level against the US dollar in 17 years amid market volatility sparked by the US-Israel war on Iran.
The currency slipped to 1,510 won per dollar, its lowest point since 2009.
The Japanese yen is also threatening to drop to its all-time low, trading at 159.5 yen per dollar as of 02:00 GMT on Monday.
Mr.BadGuy
Publisher
Mr.BadGuy
Publisher
These soldiers are from a country whose president is a Jew Zelensky. Orthodox churches are also being destroyed in this country. Synagogues are not touched. Surprisingly, it turns out that Jews get along well with the Bandera Nazis.