Iran-US war latest: Tehran threatens to deploy sea mines across entire Gulf if Trump launches ground invasion

Mojtaba Khamenei was named the new Ayatollah of Iran after his father, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on 28 February, the first day of the war.

Citing an unnamed source, CNN reported on 11 March that Mojtaba suffered a fractured foot and other minor injuries on the first day of the war. An Iranian official also told Reuters he had been lightly injured.

On 13 March, a first public statement attributed to Mojtaba was aired on Iranian TV as a written statement, fueling speculation about his condition.

The Washington Post today reported on social media Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “injured, isolated, and not responding to messages directed to him.”

The U.S.’s exit ramp from the ongoing war with Iran seemed much further away on Sunday as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. proclaimed that the war would continue in the wake of a new round of devastating attacks in Israel.

Keir Starmer and Donald Trump spoke on Sunday about the pressing need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Ahead of the US president’s deadline for Iran to open the waterway or face “obliteration”, the two leaders discussed the pressing need to reopen the waterway responsible for a fifth of global oil and LNG.

A Downing Street spokesperson told the BBC: “The leaders discussed the current situation in the Middle East, and in particular, the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to resume global shipping.

“They agreed that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was essential to ensure stability in the global energy market. They agreed to speak again soon.”

Stocks in China and Hong Kong are on track for their worst day in nearly a year as the escalating Iran war fans stagflation fears and roils global financial markets.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slumped 2.5 per cent at lunchtime, heading for its biggest one-day drop since April 2025, while the blue-chip CSI300 lost 2.4 per cent to a four-month low. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 3.5 per cent.

Investors dumped stocks in tech, travel and agriculture on fears of soaring energy costs and weaker demand. Coal, oil and electric vehicle makers were the only sectors to attract inflows, as investors bet on growing energy security concerns.

Goldman Sachs warned that the impact on China hinged on “both the demand and supply situation outside of China,” adding that the path of oil prices depended on “how long the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, which is highly uncertain.” Economists warned the war could spark “bad inflation” in China, squeezing already thin corporate profit margins and putting pressure on jobs and wages.

Beginning on Monday, the US embassy in Jerusalem is offering chartered buses out of Israel, the Guardian is reporting.

The buses to Amman, Jordan, will be offered to US citizens looking to leave Israel.

”Departures are currently available from the Jerusalem area and the Tel Aviv area,” the embassy said. “Travelers are responsible for booking their onward travel, including flights from the Amman airport.”

Rocket trails are seen over the Israeli coastal city of Netanya during a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks in the early hours.

Earlier, Israel also launched a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure in Tehran.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said they will target Israel’s power plants and those supplying US military bases if Iran’s electricity infrastructure is attacked — appearing to walk back earlier threats to strike Gulf desalination plants.

“If you hit electricity, we hit electricity,” the Guards said in a statement today. “We are determined to respond to any threat at the same level as it creates in terms of deterrence.”

The statement accused US president Donald Trump of misrepresenting Iran’s intentions, saying Mr Trump had “claimed that the Revolutionary Guards intends to attack the water desalination plants and cause hardship to the people of the countries in the region.”

Mr Trump set a Monday evening deadline on Saturday, warning the US would strike Iranian power plants if Tehran failed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

The top commander of US Central Command has said the military campaign against Iran is “ahead or on plan,” as Israel launched what it called a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure in Tehran this morning.

US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper, speaking to Farsi-language network Iran International, said Iran’s rate of fire had slowed significantly since the war began. “At the beginning of the conflict, you saw large volumes in the dozens of drones and missiles. You no longer see that. It’s all one or two at a time,” he said, describing Iran as acting “in a sign of desperation.”

Kuwait and the UAE said their air defences were dealing with Iranian missile and drone attacks early on Monday, while air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed drones in the Eastern Province. An Indian national in Abu Dhabi was injured by shrapnel after a ballistic missile was intercepted near Al Dhafra Air Base.

The war’s death toll has risen to more than 1,500 in Iran, more than 1,000 in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 US military members. Millions have been displaced in Lebanon and Iran.

The International Energy Agency is consulting governments in Asia and Europe on releasing more stockpiled oil “if necessary,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said this morning, as he began a world tour starting in Australia.

“If it is necessary, of course, we will do it. We look at the conditions, we will analyse, assess the markets and discuss with our member countries,” Mr Birol told Australia’s National Press Club in Canberra.

IEA member nations agreed on 11 March to release a record 400 million barrels — 20 per cent of overall stocks. Mr Birol said there would be no specific price trigger for a further release, cautioning that stockpile drawdowns were not a solution in themselves.

“A stock release will help to comfort the markets, but this is not the solution. It will only help to reduce the pain in the economy.”

The war on Iran had removed 11 million barrels a day from global supply — more than the two 1970s oil shocks combined.

“The single most important solution to this problem is opening the Hormuz Strait,” he said.