Iran-US war latest: Tehran vows to fight ‘until complete victory’ after rejecting Trump’s peace talk claims 

A spokesperson for Iran’s top military command said on Tuesday that armed forces will fight “until complete victory”, pouring cold water over Trump’s statements about a reported “five-day ceasefire”.

The Pentagon is weighing sending in about 3,000 troops to support the Iran war effort, which may include seizing Kharg Island, the Middle Eastern country’s main oil export hub, according to a new report.

Senior Pentagon officials may deploy the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division’s “Immediate Response Force,” a combat brigade of about 3,000 soldiers that can deploy paratroopers and equipment anywhere in the world within 18 hours, The New York Times reported, citing defence officials.

The spokesman of Iran’s top military command vows that Iran will fight “until complete victory”.

Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, said: “Iran’s powerful armed forces are proud, victorious and steadfast in defending Iran’s integrity, and this path will continue until complete victory.”

He did not say what “complete victory” would look like in comments quoted on Iranian state TV Aliabadi.

There is no direct Qatari mediation between the United States and Iran, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al Ansari, said in a media briefing on Tuesday.

British forces shot down 14 one-way assault drones in Iraq overnight, as Iran and its militia allies ramped up attacks, according to a report.

A defence source told The Standard that UK forces saw an onslaught at the allied base in Erbil into Tuesday.

While drone and missile attacks have been falling in recent days, Monday’s attack represented a significant uptick, according to the report.

The 14 represented the “largest number [British forces] have shot down in a single night.”

Donald Trump’s claims that the US and Iran were already in talks to end the war were pounced upon by the regime in Tehran, which said the US president was only trying to soothe damaged markets and denied any such conversations had taken place.

Trump said yesterday that negotiators spoke on Sunday and could speak again on Monday, sparking a flurry of market activity and hopes of de-escalation just hours from Trump’s deadline to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face ‘obliteration’.

Iranian officials cited in local media soon said there were no such discussions, before a spokesperson for the foreign ministry put out a statement claiming that while the US had tried to get in touch, Iran had not responded.

Trump did say in his comments to reporters that he was speaking to a “top person” in Iran and did not acknowledge new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei as leader, indicating the US might not be going through the official channels.

An Israeli official told Axios that Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was negotiating with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, before Trump administration officials told Politico that Ghalibaf was being eyed for a future leadership role, supported by the US.

A social media account in Ghalibaf’s name on Monday afternoon said that no negotiations have been held with the US, claiming “fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets”.

Lebanon has withdrawn accreditation from the Iranian ambassador and declared him persona non grata, demanding his departure from Lebanon by Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

The ministry also summoned the Lebanese ambassador to Iran for consultations, citing what it described as Tehran’s violation of diplomatic norms and established practices between the two countries.

Emma Wall, chief investment strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown, says oil markets followed Donald Trump’s reassurances for diplomacy yesterday – but have since been weakened by Iran’s denial.

“According to President Donald Trump, preliminary truce talks have begun with Iran. According to Iran, he’s living in la-la-land and the talks never happened. But the markets love hope, and the prospect of a ceasefire was enough to push Brent crude oil down below $100 a barrel for the first time in weeks,” she explains.

“But the Iran denial, and a report that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are considering entering the war, has sent oil back up.”

She adds: “In other positive news, a few tankers are trickling through the Hormuz Strait, Japan and India have confirmed safe passage of oil and liquified gas shipments. A few ships posts more hope, but is out by some magnitude to the 100 tankers that usually pass through the 21-mile-wide waterway on a daily basis.”