Iran-US war latest: US embassy in Iraq attacked while Trump lashes out at UK after Nato rejects Strait of Hormuz demandnewsline24

One person was killed by falling debris from an intercepted missile in the Bani Yas area of Abu Dhabi, the emirate’s media office said.

The victim was identified as a Pakistani national, the office added in a post on X.

Motorists in the UK could be hit by fuel rationing if the crisis in the Middle East continues to escalate, a former Downing Street adviser has warned.

Nick Butler, who was head of strategy at BP and a former adviser to Gordon Brown when he was prime minister, said ministers should be preparing now for a “significant shortfall of supply over the next two months”.

With the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for oil and gas, being blockaded as Iran fights back against US-Israeli strikes, the former senior government adviser warned that Sir Keir Starmer’s team needs to work now on a strategy for fuel shortages.

An unknown projectile ​struck a tanker ‌23 nautical miles east ​of Fujairah ​in the United Arab ⁠Emirates ​causing minor structural ​damage, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade ​Operations ​said today.

There were ‌no ⁠injuries reported to the crew, the ​agency ​said ⁠in an advisory, ​adding no ​environmental ⁠impact was reported.

The Israeli military has issued a fresh evacuation warning to residents of southern Lebanon as it continues to target Hezbollah.

“Urgent warning to residents of Lebanon, specifically in the Village of Arab al-Jal,” an Israeli military spokesperson said on X.

“The Defense Army will attack military infrastructure belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah in the near timeframe…

“We urge the residents of the building marked in red on the attached map and the adjacent buildings: You are located near a building used by the terrorist Hezbollah, so for your safety, you are required to evacuate it immediately and stay away from it by a distance of at least 300 meters,” it said.

US president Donald Trump said he is seeking to ​delay a highly anticipated trip to China in early April by about a month because of the Iran war.”We’ve requested that we ‌delay it a month or so,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House.

Mr Trump’s requested delay in his scheduled 31 March – 2 April visit to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping underscores how the Iran war has upended his foreign policy agenda.

It also risks magnifying tensions between Washington and Beijing, as the Mideast ​crisis has joined trade and Taiwan among the spectrum of issues separating the world’s two biggest economies.

“The president looks forward to visiting China,” spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

“The dates may be moved. As commander-in-chief, it’s his number-one priority right now to ensure the continued success of this operation, Epic Fury. So we’ll keep you posted on the dates as soon as we can.”

Iran’s football federation is in discussions with FIFA about moving its World Cup matches from the US to Mexico due to concerns about player safety, Iranian football president Mehdi Taj said.

US president Donald Trump said last week that Iran would be welcome to participate but suggested it might not be appropriate for them to play in the US “for their own life and safety”.

“When Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America,” Mr Taj said in a post on the Iranian embassy in Mexico’s X account.

“We are negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran’s World Cup matches in Mexico.”

There have been growing doubts about Iran’s participation in the tournament while it is at war with one of the co-hosts. The tournament is due to kick off on 11 June in the US, Canada and Mexico, with Iran scheduled to play two group matches in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.

Iran’s sports minister said last week it was not possible for Iranian players to participate in the tournament after the US launched airstrikes alongside Israel against Tehran, killing the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader.

At least six people were killed and four others injured in an airstrike in central Baghdad this morning, a home ministry source told Xinhua.

Two senior members of Iraq’s paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) were among those killed in the attack, according to the report.

The strike took place at dawn in Baghdad’s Jadriyah neighbourhood, where unidentified aircraft bombed and destroyed a house, the source told Xinhua.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a phone call with his South Korean counterpart that cooperation among countries to secure the Strait of Hormuz is more important than ever to stabilise the global economy and oil prices, Seoul said.

Foreign minister Cho Hyun later declined to say whether Washington had asked South Korea to deploy a naval ship to the strait, despite intense questioning by members of parliament, some of whom suggested such a move could breach domestic laws.

“The question of how we’re going to respond to an ally’s demand is a very important one,” Cho said. “As we make a decision, I assure you we will act according to the constitution and the law,” he told a parliamentary committee hearing.

US president Donald Trump has accused some Western allies of ingratitude after several countries rebuffed his demand to send warships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

The closure of the strait has spiked energy prices and sparked fears of inflation around the world.

South Korea has said it would carefully consider Mr Trump’s call for countries — including South Korea, Japan and China — to deploy naval ships to the Middle East as part of a coalition to ensure safe passage through the waterway.

Oil prices rose more than 2 per cent this morning, reversing some of the previous session’s losses, on worries about supply with the Strait of ‌Hormuz mostly shut and US allies rebuffing calls to send warships to help tankers move through the vital waterway.

Brent futures jumped $2.74, or 2.7 per cent, to $102.95 a barrel by 0357 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained $2.45, or 2.6 per cent, to $95.95.

The Strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint for about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and ⁠liquefied natural gas trade – has been largely disrupted by the US-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third ​week, raising concerns about supply shortages, higher energy costs and rising inflation.

“The risks remain stark: It only takes one Iranian militia ​to fire a missile or plant a mine on a passing tanker to reignite the entire situation,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.