Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that the ⁠UN nuclear watchdog should avoid turning technical reports into “tools ⁠of political pressure” ​if ⁠it wanted to contribute ⁠to a diplomatic ​solution.

He ⁠said that ‌the loss of the agency’s oversight ‌at some facilities resulted ‌from the attacks rather than a ⁠lack of cooperation by Iran, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency was using the consequences ‌of US and ​Israeli strikes ‌on Iranian nuclear ⁠sites to create “ambiguity” ⁠about Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Donald Trump has said he is “moving fast” on Iran and claimed its military is “totally destroyed” – but declined to say how many missiles he believes Tehran has.

In a preview clip of an NBC interview, the US president claimed he knows “exactly” how many missiles Iran has left, but refused to give a figure.

“I’m moving very fast, I’m into three months,” he said. “Vietnam lasted 19 years, I’m into my third month. We have totally destroyed their military.”

He added Iran has “maybe 21 or 22 per cent” of their missiles left, saying it is “a lot of missiles, but not what it was when we first attacked”.

When asked to give a ballpark figure, he declines.

Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin has said US energy companies are benefitting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and accused Washington of trying to change the fundamental contours of the global energy markets to suit US interests.

Iran blockaded the Strait, the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods including fertilisers, after the United States and ⁠Israel attacked Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah ​Ali ⁠Khamenei in February. The US has blockaded Iranian ports.

The closues of the Strait has rattled global markets, sending oil prices to multi-year highs, stoking global inflation and undermining ⁠economic growth world-wide.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Mr Sechin, a long-standing ally ​of ⁠President Vladimir Putin, also said that the ‌OPEC+ group of leading oil producers has lost some of its potential with the withdrawal of the United Arab Emirates from the alliance.

“The closure of the Strait of Hormuz ‌is an attempt to reshape global energy market regulations to ‌benefit the United States. The measures taken to block the strait were aimed at Iran, but backfired on the entire world. The strategic risks were underestimated,” Mr Sechin said.

“The main beneficiaries, of course, were American companies, who gained non-competitive ⁠advantages and the ability to secure high-cost supplies,” he added.

He warned that following Strait of Hormuz closure, other major global routes, such as Malacca, Bad El Mandeb and Gibraltar straits could also be under the risk of disruption.

Iran’s World Cup soccer players have received visas to enter the United ⁠States, a US official said days before their first match, but Iranian media said on Saturday that some administrative staff had not gotten their visas.

The White House official told Reuters on Friday, 10 days before Iran plays in Los Angeles, that the players had received their visas, after Iran’s ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said on Thursday that they had not received them.

A spokesman for Iran’s ⁠World Cup federation could not immediately be reached for comment.

US forces intercepted the sanctioned stateless oil tanker Davina overnight on Thursday in the Indian Ocean, the military’s Indo-Pacific Command announced on Friday.

It comes as part of Washington’s blockade on Iran’s sea trade, after Tehran fired on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and follows multiple US interdictions of commercial and oil tankers in the region recently.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the Indo-Pacific Command wrote in an X post.

Negotiations between the US and Iran over an end to the war on the country have been languishing in a stalemate for weeks as both sides remain intransigent about key issues including nuclear development and the situation in Lebanon.

The US is insistent that Tehran surrender its right to ever develop highly enriched uranium and appears to have been manoeuvring to install a government more sympathetic to Western interests.

Meanwhile, Iran has said that it will never agree to a deal that does not ensure the sovereignty of Lebanon and its borders from Israel – with Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon continuing – and has insisted on its ability to hold on to some nuclear development capabilities.

This has likely not been helped by Iran’s particular “bazaar style” negotiation strategy, which aims to wear down its opponents.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has hit back at Lebanon’s president’s claims his country is being used as a “bargaining chip” in Tehran’s negotiations with Washington.

In a post on X, Mr Araghchi wrote the countries would have had a deal “long ago” had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran.

“Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President,” he added.

Several Lebanese soldiers, including an officer, ⁠were killed in an Israeli ⁠strike ​targeting ⁠their military vehicle on ⁠the ​Khardali-Nabatieh road ⁠in ‌south Lebanon, the Lebanese army ‌said on ‌Saturday.

The Lebanese army ⁠has historically avoided involvement in confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel and ‌has ​not engaged Israel ‌in ⁠the current ⁠conflict.

It comes as fighting continues between Hezbollah and Israel in the south of the country.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know after the US said it downed six ballistic missiles aimed at Gulf states:

• The US military says it has downed six Iranian ballistic missiles launched towards its Gulf allies, while a seventh missile failed to reach its target

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted US bases and assets in Kuwait and Bahrain

• US forces later struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island along the strait “to defend against further attacks”

• No injuries have currently been reported