The US has started carrying out further strikes on Iran tonight.

Central Command confirmed the attacks on social media, saying “forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”

It comes after Donald Trump told a Nato summit that he did not think a full-fledged conflict in Iran would erupt in the wake of renewed clashes overnight.

At the same press conference, the US president also issued several threats to Tehran.

The president’s instinct is now to wrong-foot allies and enemies alike, but by pulling focus away from Nato he is showing there is at least some method to his childishness, says Anchal Vohra:

Mark Rutte was challenged on his “self-respect” by a reporter who accused him of failing to come to the defence of Nato nations threatened by Donald Trump.

The US president has reignited his calls to annex Greenland – an autonomous territory of Denmark – at the outset of the military alliance’s annual summit on Wednesday (8 July).

“I’m not happy with Nato because of what they did in Greenland,” Mr Trump said in Turkey, Ankara, as the Nato general secretary remained silent and appeared to smile.

A Danish journalist went on to grill Mr Rutte, who he said sits by as Mr Trump “talks about conquering Greenland, talks about lashing out at allies like Spain, starting trade wars”.

“Does this have any effect on your self-respect when you sit like that and say nothing?”

Donald Trump has taken yet another swipe at the UK over its lack of involvement in the Iran war.

“The UK gave an answer that was sort of weirder than that that…I said ‘would you like to help?’ They said ‘we do, but we want to wait until the war is over’.

“This was not in the spirit of Winston Churchill,” he added.

In a different tune to earlier comments made about Nato, the US president said the alliance “just had a bad moment.

“They didn’t help us. We didn’t need their help.”

He also told off Spain, saying they had been “very bad”.

His comments came as he celebrated “unification” at the Nato meeting.

“If there’s one word that comes out of today, it’s unification. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“Every one of those countries, they love us, they love each other. That was tremendous unification. It was a nice thing to say,” Trump said.

The global economic body’s latest World Economic Outlook indicates a significant easing of price rises across the UK over the next year. This more optimistic assessment comes as the IMF noted that the worldwide economic impact of the Middle East conflict has been “better than feared”.

The fund specifically forecasts that inflation will drop back to the 2 per cent target, set by the Government and the Bank of England, by mid-2027.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister has lashed out at “criminal and murderous” Donald Trump after the US president threatened further attacks today.

Kazem Gharibabadi has warned of further strikes, saying the US understood “the language of force better”.

He wrote on X: “Trump’s statements today, from insulting the Iranian nation to threatening further attacks, are not a sign of strength, but rather an admission of the failure of a policy built on brute force, sanctions, and threats for years, which could not bring the Iranian nation to its knees.

“With the criminal and murderous Trump, one must speak in his own language; apparently, he understands the language of force better!”

An Iranian lawmaker has warned the US that no American soldier “will return alive” if Donald Trump attempts to seize Kharg Island.

His comments follow an remark by the US president at the Nato summit, in which he said: “We attacked Kharg Island last night, knocked out a piece. I said, ‘Don’t touch the oil, because maybe we’ll take over Kharg Island’.”

Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s national security and foreign policy commission, said: “Trump has once again spoken of occupying Kharg Island.

“Come on, we’re waiting for you and we promise that not even a single American soldier will return alive.