US-Israel-Iran War News LIVE: US And Israel Press Attacks On Iran As Tehran Rejects Ceasefire Terms

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry has announced the interception and destruction of a drone in the Eastern Province.

Oil prices have moved higher as optimism for an end to the conflict diminishes after Iran rejected Trump’s assertion that the two sides are engaged in negotiations to resolve the war.

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, gained almost 2 percent on Thursday and briefly surpassed $104 per barrel.

The increase follows a dip in prices on Wednesday after reports emerged that Trump had presented a 15-point proposal aimed at ending the war with Iran.

Oil prices have surged more than 40 percent since the conflict began, mainly because of the sharp drop in shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz.

Asian stock markets opened in negative territory on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225, South Korea’s KOSPI, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index all recording declines.

Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Kung Ming-hsin, stated that the island’s liquid natural gas (LNG) supplies are secured through mid-June, easing concerns over its limited energy reserves.

Taiwan normally obtains roughly one-third of its LNG from Qatar, but those deliveries have been interrupted since early March due to attacks on Qatari energy facilities. Although LNG accounts for about half of Taiwan’s power generation, the country maintains only an 11-day reserve of the fuel.

Kung indicated that alternative supplies have been arranged to cover the remainder of March, as well as April, May, and the first half of June. However, this has come at a significant extra cost. According to the Commercial Times, Taiwan’s state-owned CPC corporation is paying an NTD 1 billion ($31.3 million) premium per ship for spot LNG purchases. The newspaper further estimated that, factoring in both spot prices and related price stabilisation measures, CPC’s additional costs through June will total NTD 26.5 billion ($829 million).

Sultan Al Jaber, ADNOC’s chief executive, has labeled any Iranian attempt to block shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as “economic terrorism”.

“When Iran holds Hormuz hostage, every nation pays the ransom, at the gas pump, at the grocery store, at the pharmacy,” Al Jaber said in a speech in the US.

“No country can be allowed to destabilize the global economy in this way. Not now. Not ever,” he added.

The ADNOC boss earlier told US Vice President JD Vance that ensuring unrestricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz represents the only lasting way to stabilise global markets.

An Israeli attack has injured eight people in the Arab Salim area of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, the Public Health Ministry’s emergency operations centre has reported, according to NNA.

The Emirati Ministry of Defence says the country is once again “responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran”.

“The sounds heard are the result of the Air Defence Systems intercepting missiles and drones,” the ministry added in a short statement on X.

This announcement comes four hours after the ministry issued a similar statement.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held talks with his Egyptian and Turkish counterparts regarding the US-Israel war on Iran, urging worldwide efforts to encourage dialogue between the parties involved, according to statements from his office.

In his discussion with Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty, Wang noted that both the US and Iran were “signalling a willingness to negotiate”, offering “a glimmer of hope for peace”. He added that the “international community should actively promote dialogue among the conflicting parties” and that “as long as talks begin, there is hope for peace”.

Wang repeated the same message in his conversation with Turkiye’s Hakan Fidan. He told both diplomats that China backs the mediation efforts by Cairo and Ankara aimed at bringing the warring parties together and stopping the war.

A Japanese official has informed the AFP news agency that the country has begun releasing another portion of its strategic oil reserves in an effort to ease the effects of rising prices triggered by the war on Iran.

“The release [of the national stockpile] started at 10:59 am [01:59 GMT] to oil refiners,” said Kaname Morimoto, an official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The step follows Tokyo’s announcement that it would release a month’s worth of government stockpiles, after officials had already begun releasing 15 days’ worth of private-sector petroleum reserves.

Japan ranks as the fifth-biggest importer of oil, with more than 90 percent of it coming from the Middle East.

Top government spokesman Minoru Kihara told AFP he was aware that the “transfer of oil from half of the reserve stations to four oil refining companies is scheduled to start” today.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of six individuals — five Kuwaiti citizens and one other national — while dismantling a Hezbollah-linked “terrorist” group.

According to Al Jazeera, authorities also identified 14 other people connected to the cell, including five Kuwaiti citizens, two Iranians, two Lebanese, and five others who have already fled the country.

Following questioning, the six arrested suspects confessed to planning assassination operations targeting state symbols and leaders, as well as recruiting individuals to carry out these tasks.

Authorities stressed that security in Kuwait is a red line, declaring they take such threats very seriously and will show no mercy, severely punishing anyone involved in these kinds of activities.

This marks the third sleeper cell dismantled by Kuwaiti authorities since the fighting began. Last week, the UAE also arrested a similar cell, reflecting a broader determination among Gulf states to take regional security seriously, reported Al Jazeera.

Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has described the war on Iran as a “catastrophe for the world’s economies” and called for a diplomatic solution to the US-Israeli conflict.

Speaking to reporters at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Pistorius stated that Germany stands ready to help secure any peace agreement.

“To make it crystal clear, this war is a catastrophe for the world’s economies. The impact is absolutely evident already now, after a little bit more than two weeks,” he said.

“From the beginning on, we have not been consulted before. Nobody asked us before. It’s not our war and therefore we don’t want to get sucked into that war,” he added.

He urged the US and Iran to stop the shooting and killing, and indicated that Germany would be willing to discuss operations aimed at securing freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz once a ceasefire takes effect.

“But the time has not yet come, and therefore we appeal for a ceasefire as soon as possible,” he said.

Heavy strikes were reported early Thursday near Isfahan, a city located about 330 kilometers (205 miles) south of Tehran, according to activists in Iran.

The pro-reform outlet Ham Mihan said online that strikes had taken place in the area.

Isfahan hosts a significant Iranian air base along with other military facilities, and it is also the site of one of the nuclear locations targeted by the United States during the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran in June.

The semiofficial Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said the attacks hit “two residential areas,” but did not provide further details.

Earlier, Israel’s military announced it had carried out “a wide-scale wave of strikes” across Iran, including in Isfahan.