The US defence secretary has repeated a claim made by Donald Trump, threatening to obliterate Iran.

Pete Hegseth wrote “Back to the Stone Age” on X, shortly after Trump finished his address to the nation on Iran war. During his speech, Trump said: “We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks”

.”We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”

Donald Trump has reportedly told aides that he would be willing to end the war in Iran without securing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

In his first address to the nation since the start of the war, Trump claimed that the U.S. had decimated Iran and would strike the Islamic Republic “extremely hard” for the next two to three weeks. He claimed that almost all of the American military’s objectives in Iran had been met.

The U.S. President claimed that “tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion … In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield – victories like few people have ever seen before”.

Fuel prices in Thailand soared again on Thursday after the government further cut subsidies, sending diesel price to over 44 baht ($1.35) per litre, roughly a 12 per cent increase.

The hike is the second in a week, after a majority of fuel prices rose by 6 baht ($0.18) per litre last Thursday.

Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced AU$1bn ($689m) in interest-free loans available to businesses involved in fuel, fertiliser and other critical supply chains.

The loans would help keep Australian trucks, trains and planes moving despite fuel disruptions created by the Iran war, Albanese said.“We will make available AU$1bn ($689m) in interest-free loans for manufacturing and fuel businesses dealing with the economic costs of this conflict: Truckies (truck drivers), freight companies and fuel and fertiliser producers,” Albanese told the National Press Club.

“These firms are not just being affected by this global crisis, they are essential to Australia getting through this crisis as well,” he added.

China has said it will stay in “close communication with Pakistan and relevant parties” on the Iran war and “play a constructive role in promoting the end of hostilities”.

It comes a day after China’s foreign minister met Pakistan’s top diplomat in Beijing and said China supported efforts to de-escalate tensions.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi told his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar that it would not be an easy task and that China would be “willing to work with Pakistan” to end the “flames of war” as soon as possible and open the “window to peace talks.”

Wang said Pakistan’s efforts were in the interest of all sides, including averting spillover effects, preventing further casualties, stabilising international energy security and protecting supply chains.

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian earlier issued his own message to the American people, warning that Iran can endure any aggression from the US.”Today, the world stands at crossroads.

Continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before. The choice between confrontation and engagement is both real and consequential; its outcome will shape the future for generations to come,” Pezeshkian said.

“Throughout its millennia of proud history, Iran has outlasted many aggressors. All that remains of them are tarnished names in history, while Iran endures – resilient, dignified, and proud.”

Pezeshkian did not mention a ceasefire offer made last week by Donald Trump, as he accused Israel of dragging the US into its war against Iran.”Is it not also the case that America has entered this aggression as a proxy for Israel, influenced and manipulated by that regime?” asked Pezeshkian.

Majid Ali, who commutes 22km every day for work, has to stand in a queue for two hours to get the fuel he needs for his bike.

He is one of millions of people in Bangladesh who have been lining up outside petrol stations day and night amid concerns over the country’s declining fuel reserves triggered by Donald Trump’s month-long war on Iran.

“This motorcycle is the only convenient way for me to commute, but without the octane, how will I continue,” the 33-year-old private sector employee tells The Independent.

“I was lucky, I got the fuel. Dozens of motorists behind me were forced to return as the station ran out of fuel,” he adds. These days there are fewer vehicles spotted on the capital Dhaka’s otherwise overcrowded streets.

The Israeli military said it was working to intercept a missile launch from Iran, less than half an hour after Donald Trump’s address to the nation.

Sirens went off across northern Israel, from the city of Haifa on the Mediterranean coast to the Sea of Galilee.

Democrats have criticised Donald Trump’s prime-time address to the American people on the war in Iran as “incoherent” and as doing little to answer “the most basic questions”.

Senator Mark Warner noted that Trump owed Americans more answers about a conflict that has driven up prices on gas “alongside rising prices for diesel, fertiliser, aluminium, and other essentials, with consequences that will continue to ripple through the economy for a long time to come” in his statement.

Senator Chris Murphy released a statement that said the “speech was grounded in a reality that only exists in Donald Trump’s mind”.

Murphy said that “no one in America, after listening to that speech, knows whether we are escalating or de-escalating.”