Tehran has hit back after Donald Trump claimed Iran’s military has been “totally destroyed” by three months of conflict in the region.
In a preview clip of a NBC interview, the US president also claimed he knows “exactly” how many missiles Iran has left, but refused to give a figure.
“I’m moving very fast, I’m into three months,” he said. “Vietnam lasted 19 years, I’m into my third month. We have totally destroyed their military.”
On Saturday, Iran’s foreign ministry warned the US will be responsible for any consequences that emerge from its “illegal actions” in the current conflict.
It comes after the US military said it downed six Iranian ballistic missiles launched towards its Gulf allies, while a seventh missile failed to reach its target.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted a US airbase in Kuwait and the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, according to Iranian state media.
The attack came on Friday just hours after the US military also shot down four Iranian attack drones headed towards the Strait of Hormuz, with US Central Command saying they “posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic”.
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Tehran says US will be responsible for any consequences of its 'illegal actions'
Tehran has said the US will be responsible for any consequences that emerge from its “illegal actions” in the current conflict.
On Saturday, the country’s foreign ministry said “repeated” ceasefire violations show the country has no intention of reducing tensions.
It comes after the US military said it downed six Iranian ballistic missiles launched towards its Gulf allies, while a seventh missile failed to reach its target.
The US later said it had attacked Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island along the strait “to defend against further attacks”.
Recap: Two men guilty of stabbing Iranian journalist in London
Two Romanian men have been convicted in a London court over the stabbing of a journalist from a Persian-language television station, an attack prosecutors say was carried out at the behest of authorities in Tehran.
A jury at Woolwich Crown Court found Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Pouria Zeraati, a presenter at London-based Iran International, was stabbed in the leg in March 2024 outside his home in the Wimbledon area of London.
He recovered from the attack and returned to work.
Police said former professional soccer player Badea and another man attacked Zeraati before fleeing in a getaway car driven by Stana and then flying out of the country from Heathrow Airport.
Badea and Stana were arrested in Romania in December 2024 and extradited to the UK.
The third suspect, David Andrei, is the subject of criminal proceedings in Romania.
“This was a targeted and violent attack and it was the prosecution’s case during the trial that it was carried out on behalf of the Iranian regime,” said Chief Superintendent Kris Wright of Counter Terrorism Policing London.
The jury’s verdict does not conclude that the attack was conducted on behalf of Iran, though prosecutors said the judge may determine that when the defendants are sentenced on July 3.
Iran’s senior diplomat in the UK has denied Tehran was behind the attack.
Trump’s ‘crazy’ call dents Netanyahu’s image at key time of Israel’s election
Benjamin Netanyahu has long portrayed himself to the Israeli public as being uniquely adept in dealing with Donald Trump, capable of winning and sustaining the president's backing.
But an acrimonious phone call this week where the president called the prime minister "f***ing crazy", first leaked to the media and later publicly confirmed by Trump himself, laid bare the strains that have at times emerged between the two leaders.
Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the call was among the most heated the premier has had with Trump. One of the officials said the leak had damaged Netanyahu politically ahead of this year's national election.
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Peace deal hinges on US agreeing to $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, official says
A potential peace deal between the United States and Iran is dependent on the Trump administration agreeing to release $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, a top Iranian official told CNN on Friday.
Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN “the ball is in Trump’s court” as he warned negotiations are in a “deadlock”.
He said the release of assets would act as a trust-building measure that could open a path to peace for Tehran.
Pope Leo says his message of peace is welcomed by people not 'shut off' by ideology
Pope Leo said on Saturday that the world is crying "from its depths" for peace in a forceful speech opening a week-long tour of Spain and the Canary Islands.
Leo, who has attracted the ire of US President Donald Trump after criticizing the Iran war, said his message of peace is being welcomed by people not "shut off" by ideology.
"Today, the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarization seems to have grown rather than diminished, and human dignity continues to be violated," Leo said in a speech before King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace in Madrid.
"I invite everyone to set aside the divisive and polarising narratives of your societal reality and history, so as to overcome sterile simplifications through the fruitful appreciation of complexity," he added.
Technology was partly to blame for creating an environment which magnifies prejudices and weakens critical thinking, Leo said. The world was crying "from its depths for peace," he said.
He drew on Spain's history as an example of peaceful co-habitation between religions and cultures, making reference to how Christians, Muslims and Jews cooperated during medieval times to enhance human knowledge by translating Arabic texts into Latin, Spanish and Hebrew at the School of Translators in Toledo.
"Your own history suggests that a culture of encounter, not confrontation, is what fosters stability and prosperity. In reality, the message of peace, which at present unfortunately strikes some as naïve and others as confrontational, is welcomed by those who do not shut themselves off in preconceived ideologies, but are rather open to the truth," he said.
Iran says IAEA is politicising oversight of Tehran's nuclear programme
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that the UN nuclear watchdog should avoid turning technical reports into "tools of political pressure" if it wanted to contribute to a diplomatic solution.
He said that the loss of the agency's oversight at some facilities resulted from the attacks rather than a lack of cooperation by Iran, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency was using the consequences of US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites to create "ambiguity" about Tehran's nuclear programme.
Trump says he is 'moving fast' on Iran but declines to say how many missiles are elft
Donald Trump has said he is “moving fast” on Iran and claimed its military is “totally destroyed” – but declined to say how many missiles he believes Tehran has.
In a preview clip of an NBC interview, the US president claimed he knows “exactly” how many missiles Iran has left, but refused to give a figure.
“I’m moving very fast, I’m into three months,” he said. “Vietnam lasted 19 years, I’m into my third month. We have totally destroyed their military.”
He added Iran has “maybe 21 or 22 per cent” of their missiles left, saying it is “a lot of missiles, but not what it was when we first attacked”.
When asked to give a ballpark figure, he declines.
Russia's Sechin accuses US companies of benefitting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz
Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin has said US energy companies are benefitting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and accused Washington of trying to change the fundamental contours of the global energy markets to suit US interests.
Iran blockaded the Strait, the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital goods including fertilisers, after the United States and Israel attacked Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in February. The US has blockaded Iranian ports.
The closues of the Strait has rattled global markets, sending oil prices to multi-year highs, stoking global inflation and undermining economic growth world-wide.
Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Mr Sechin, a long-standing ally of President Vladimir Putin, also said that the OPEC+ group of leading oil producers has lost some of its potential with the withdrawal of the United Arab Emirates from the alliance.
"The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is an attempt to reshape global energy market regulations to benefit the United States. The measures taken to block the strait were aimed at Iran, but backfired on the entire world. The strategic risks were underestimated," Mr Sechin said.
"The main beneficiaries, of course, were American companies, who gained non-competitive advantages and the ability to secure high-cost supplies," he added.
He warned that following Strait of Hormuz closure, other major global routes, such as Malacca, Bad El Mandeb and Gibraltar straits could also be under the risk of disruption.
