Middle East crisis live: Trump claims Iran war will be over ‘very soon’ but Tehran says it will determine when | US-Israel war on Irannewsline24

Australia’s government confirmed earlier today that it has offered humanitarian visas to five Iranian football players who have been in the country for the Asian Cup.

Now protesters have briefly blocked a bus taking the Iranian women’s football team out of their hotel on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Andrew Messenger reports:

The group of a few dozen physically sat in front of the vehicle to block it. They chanted “save our girls” as the vehicle attempted to make its exit. Protesters say they believe the bus is heading to the Gold Coast airport.

A group of Queensland police officers moved them on.

The bus is now leaving.

The Guardian saw at least one of the football players through the window in tears.

A protester who was inside the Gold Coast hotel where the Iranian football players were staying said they saw one of the players being walked onto the bus by a minder who appeared to be holding her wrist.

Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and wider Middle East crisis. Here are the major developments.

• Donald Trump described the Iran war as a “short-term excursion” and said it would end “very soon”, as the assault on Tehran entered its second week. He said the war was “very complete, pretty much” and ahead of schedule, a significant shift from his previous suggestions it could last several weeks. But the US president also indicated he was not yet declaring the US mission accomplished. “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough.” The operation would only end once Tehran no longer had any capacity of weaponry against the US, Israel or any US allies in the region for a long time, he added later. Here’s our report, plus analysis on what our global affairs correspondent Andrew Roth called a vague and contradictory press conference by the president.

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has said Tehran will not allow “one litre of oil” to be exported from the region if US-Israeli attacks continue. Donald Trump then threatened to hit the Islamic republic far harder if it stopped the flow of oil in the vital strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement carried by state media that it would “determine the end of the war”, in comments after the US president earlier said the conflict would end “soon”.

• Oil prices surged by 20% to a four-year high before coming back down below $90 a barrel after Trump’s suggestion the war would end soon. Iran earlier mocked the US over the rocketing oil price, branding its campaign “Operation Epic Mistake”.

• Trump twice declined to say whether or not Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei had a target on his back, saying only that he was “disappointed” and thought he was “going to lead to just more of the same problem for the country”. It came after a day of Trump being dismissive of the late ayatollah’s son – saying his selection was a “big mistake” and he was “not happy” about it – and reiterating that Trump still wants to be involved in the selection of a leader. Israel, meanwhile, has openly vowed to target the new supreme leader.

• It comes as large crowds took to the streets in Tehran in a defiant show of support for Khamenei.

• Meanwhile, Israel launched its second wave of strikes today against Tehran. The IDF claimed it had started a broad wave of strikes against “terror targets” in the Iranian capital, but it has been hitting critical energy and fuel infrastructure that serves ordinary Iranians.

• Israel also pressed its offensive against Hezbollah with raids in southern Lebanon and airstrikes in Beirut. Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 486 people, including at least 83 children, since 2 March, Lebanese state news reported, citing the country’s health ministry. At least 600,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, sparking fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.

• Fresh Iranian missile and drone attacks also targeted Israel, US bases across the Middle East and energy infrastructure in the Gulf.

• British Typhoon jets intercepted drones heading towards Jordan and Bahrain, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.

• Turkey said Nato defences shot down a ballistic missile in its airspace, the second intercepted missile from Iran in a ​week.

• Five female Iranian footballers have been granted humanitarian visas by Australia following an appeal from Trump to prime minister Anthony Albanese. Our story is here.