US, Iran war live updates: Donald Trump’s ‘obliteration’ threat looms after US demands Strait of Hormuz opens

Iran’s Defense Council threatened Monday to deploy naval mines across the “entire Persian Gulf” if a land invasion happens, AP reports.

The council issued the statement as concern in Tehran grows about the potential arrival of U.S. Marines to the region.

“Any attempt by the enemy to target Iran’s coasts or islands will, naturally and in accordance with established military practice, lead to the mining of all access routes ... in the Persian Gulf and along the coasts,” the council said.

Secretive testing of an advanced hypersonic weapon capable of travelling at five times the speed of sound is believed to be underway in remote South Australia, following the recent arrival of officials from the Pentagon’s Missile Defence Agency (MDA).

On Thursday an advanced intelligence and electronic warfare jet attached to the US MDA arrived at RAAF Base Edinburgh outside Adelaide, ahead of “sensitive” activity at the Woomera Range Complex, in the state’s remote north-west.

“This is a longstanding feature of Australia’s cooperation with the US, in accordance with well understood policies and procedures, and with full respect of Australia’s sovereignty,” a defence department spokesperson told The Nightly.

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Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz is due to expire shortly before midnight UK time, less than 17 hours away.

On Saturday the US president said that if the shipping channel was not opened “without threat” in 48 hours then the US would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants.

In the post, shared at 19:44 ET on Saturday, Trump said: “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 hours from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!

“Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

US President Donald Trump shared a short post on his Truth Social platform overnight.

In a message posted all in capital letters, he says: “PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, TO PUT IT MILDLY!!!”

The IDF says in its latest update that Iran has fired missiles towards Israel.

According to the IDF, air defence systems are intercepting the strikes.

Another wave of Iranian strikes, including cluster munitions, was shot down over Tel Aviv overnight.

The world’s energy watchman has warned the oil and gas crisis prompted by the US-Israel-Iran war is worse than the energy shocks of the 1970s “which led the world to recession.”

International Energy Agency boss Fatih Birol has labelled the scale of the situation as equivalent to “two oil crises and one gas crash put together.”

He highlighted that the 1973 and 1979 shocks combined only removed about 10 million barrels per day, whereas the current situation has now removed 11 million barrels per day.

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The Premier of WA, Roger Cook, has warned that WA’s fuel supply chains won’t be immune from the impact of the Middle East crisis, but says fuel supplies, so far, are still arriving.

The Premier said extra supplies have been released from the national reserve and approvals granted by the national competition watch-dog to fast-track fuel to the Goldfields and Great Southern.

“We’re looking at a range of scenarios but, ultimately, we live in uncertain times, and the situation is evolving every 24 hours or so,” the Premier told reporters in Perth.

“Donald Trump’s comments over the weekend is another change and another evolution of the situation that we have to deal with. Our focus at the moment is on securing our supply chains.”

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The energy minister has confirmed his department has conducted recent modelling on fuel rationing in Australia but insists the drastic measure is a “long way” off in the current crisis.

“Of course, I have engaged with my department in prudent contingency planning,” Chris Bowen said under questioning from the Opposition in Parliament.

Mr Bowen repeated his weekend comments that the declaration of a national fuel emergency would be a significant step and had never been done before in Australia.

“The Commonwealth and the states will continue to work together for prudent contingency planning in a very challenged international environment,” Mr Bowen told Parliament.

The World’s energy watchman says the Middle East war prompted energy crisis had eclipsed 1970s oil shocks with the world losing 11 million barrels of oil per day in the three weeks since the Strait of Hormuz was blocked.

International Energy Agency boss Fatih Birol described it as “two oil crises and one gas crash put together” with the 1973 and 1979 shocks combined only removing about 10 million barrels from the market.

“Many of us remember the two consecutive oil crisis in 1970s, 1973 and 1979. And at that time, in each of the crisis, the world has lost about 5 million barrels per day, both of them together 10 million barrels per day,” he said, in a wide-ranging National Press Club address.

“And after that we all know that there was major economic problems around the world … As of today, we lost 11 million barrels per day. So more than two major oil shocks put together,” he said.

“So the situation is, if we want to put in a context, this crisis as it stand now, is two oil crises and one gas crash put all together. And, if I may, not only oil and gas, (but also) some of the vital arteries of the global economy, such as petrochemical, such as fertilisers, such as sulphur.”

The Federal energy minister has confirmed hundreds of service stations across the country have run out of fuel but says the supply situation in Western Australia is improving.

During Question Time in Parliament, Chris Bowen has been asked by Opposition frontbencher Zoe McKenzie to detail the severity of the crisis.

In response Mr Bowen has confirmed 37 out of 2444 stations in New South Wales have run out of petrol, in Queensland 47 stations are without diesel and 32 have no petrol out of more than 1080 sites, while in Victoria 109 stations are without at least one or more types of fuel including 50 without diesel.

The Minister then noted supply constraints in Western Australia, particularly in remote and regional areas were coming down, but did not give specific details.

Mr Bowen declined an Opposition demand to reveal how many stations in Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory were without fuel, but said he would be participating in a discussion with the Tasmanian Government later today.

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