US-Iran war as it happened: Trump says Australia should join war; Iran threatens to target tourist sites worldwide; Fresh strikes in Tehran and Gulf states

More reports are coming in that US president Donald Trump is close to making a decision about putting American troops on the ground in Iran.

The Pentagon has drawn up plans that could involve seizing Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil terminal in the Persian Gulf. Trump’s top spokeswoman confirmed the details to The Telegraph, following earlier reports by unnamed officials in American media, but she cautioned that the president had not yet made a final decision.

“It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander in chief maximum optionality,” said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, in response to questions about boots on the ground.

The political stakes for Trump have risen in recent days as the war’s costs – on the ground and in Washington – add up.

Thousands of US marines are closing in on the Middle East and expected to arrive next week, raising the prospect of an amphibious assault on Iranian soil. The plans drawn up by the Pentagon are said to be detailed and include war gaming the possibility of capturing Iranian soldiers.

The Telegraph

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet the head of the global energy watchdog next week but has brushed off its stark warning that fuel use must be curbed as war continues in the Middle East.

The International Energy Agency issued a warning on Friday for all countries to slow fuel demand, saying workers should stay home, drivers should travel at slower speeds and air travel should be avoided.

According to the most recent data, Australia holds a 38-day supply of petrol, 30 days of diesel and 30 days of jet fuel. Stock of petrol and diesel are up since March 3, by two days and one day respectively. Diesel stocks have dropped by two days in the same period.

There were 112 NSW petrol stations reporting they were out of diesel fuel by Saturday, but that was down slightly compared with 122 on Friday. Forty-four stations were out of all fuel, also a slight decrease from 47 on Friday.

Speaking in Melbourne today, Albanese said the global agency’s recommendations to curb fuel use were for the world, not Australia. The federal government is not speaking publicly about its modelling on fuel conservation measures, but sources involved in high-level briefings say the government is aware more drastic measures may be required. Read more here.

Energy plants are increasingly coming under fire as the war with Iran continues. Since Israel hit Iran’s critical South Pars gasfield last week, the regime has lashed out in retaliation across the Gulf.

But one particular strike on Qatar’s major natural gas site, Ras Laffan, threatens to disrupt not just energy markets but global technology supply chains too. The helium it produces – while best known as the gas that makes party balloons float – is also crucial for tech such as computer chips, space rockets and medical imaging.

Qatar supplies about a third of the world’s helium, but the nation had to halt its production shortly after the war erupted three weeks ago. The latest Iranian strikes against the region’s energy infrastructure have added to supply worries, with Qatar’s state-owned gas company saying it would take years to repair and cut helium exports by 14 per cent.

At least 39 oil refineries, natural gasfields and other energy sites across nine countries have been damaged since the war began in late February, according to analysis by The New York Times. Meanwhile, experts are worried that Iran’s nuclear facilities may be damaged if the US attempt to seize them as part of efforts to neuter Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

With AP

The Trump administration is strategising how to seize Iran’s nuclear stockpiles, senior officials have told American media, as the global economic fallout of the war puts pressure on the White House to end its offensive.

CBS reports that officials are now war gaming how to secure or extract Iran’s nuclear materials, citing multiple White House sources. Earlier today, US President Donald Trump posted online that the US was considering winding down its military efforts in Iran as it was “getting very close to meeting our objectives” against the regime.

According to CBS, an operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities would probably draw on troops from the elite and secretive Joint Special Operations Command, which is often tasked with the most sensitive counter-proliferation missions. A White House spokeswoman said it was the Pentagon’s job to make preparations, and the Pentagon did not comment.

The war – which Israel and the US claimed was intended to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons – has so far been waged mostly from the sky. But heavy airstrikes have not stopped Iran retaliating with strikes of its own across the region, including on tourism hotspots in the Gulf, nor has it stopped the regime choking much of the world’s oil supply by blockading the crucial shipping route the Strait of Hormaz.

Despite Trump’s talk of “winding down” the war today, the US also announced it was deploying more weapons and troops to the Middle East, and officials are reportedly also considering a ground offensive to seize Iran’s main oil processing hub on Kharg Island as “leverage”.

Switzerland has banned weapon exports to the United States, citing its policy of strict neutrality, as war wages in the Middle East.

The US is the second-largest market for Swiss arms after Germany, and the ban will apply at least in part to popular gunmaker SIG Sauer, which is based in Switzerland and Germany and is heavily used by America’s military and law enforcement.

Switzerland said it had not issued any new licences for arms exports to the US since the war broke out in late February, but sales under existing licences could continue. Switzerland has not licensed arms exports to Israel or Iran for a number of years. It imposed weapon sale bans as well as flyover bans over its airspace following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Last week, the Swiss government said it had rejected two flyover requests from the US related to the war on Iran on neutrality grounds, though it had permitted three others.

With Reuters

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected a claim from US President Donald Trump that Australia failed to act on requests for support in the Middle East, telling journalists in Melbourne today that the government has “done what we have been asked to do”.

Earlier today, Trump told journalists that Australia should get involved and that he was “a little bit surprised that they said no because we always say yes to them”. Trump was not specific about what request for support in the Middle East Australia had denied.

Asked about the US president’s remarks, Albanese said Trump hadn’t asked for support, and that he would not “go through hypotheticals” but he was not conscious of a denied request.

“We have done what we have asked been asked to do,” Albanese said during a press conference at the opening of a medical facility in Coburg. “The truth is that we have said yes to the request [from] the UAE for the E-7 Wedgetail aircraft that is operating there with personnel operating as well. In addition to that, we’ve sent AMRAAM [interceptor missiles]. That’s making a difference as well, to intercept missiles or drones aimed at the UAE. So we continue to provide the support that we have been asked to provide.”