News and politics live updates: US launches military strikes on Iran after Strait of Hormuz shipping attacks

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the agreements with Denmark, Estonia and the Netherlands on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey.

In announcing the deal with Denmark, Mr Zelenskiy said the agreement “opens up greater opportunities for joint defence production, the exchange of expertise, and transparency in weapons exports”.

Kyiv has now clinched nine such accords.

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US military strikes underway against targets in Iran are “not proportional,” a US official told CNN.

US Central Command says it has responded to recent Iranian attacks on cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz.

“This is punishment,” the official said.

“It won’t be over for a bit.”

More than 7000 users have reported problems with Telstra.

At 6.37am on Wednesday, website Downdetector indicated that 7649 users were having issues.

It appears that they were first reported around 4am and are mostly impacting mobile signal and internet.

However, some users have said broadband internet has been impacted too.

There have been reports of issues in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, and locations in Victoria.

One commenter on Downdetector said they were not able to contact triple zero.

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Explosions have reportedly been heard across southern Iran after the US ordered fresh strikes on Iranian targets, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Iranian state media said blasts were heard in the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik, as well as on Qeshm Island, after US Central Command accused Iran of firing on three commercial ships off the coast of Oman.

The United States has launched a series of military strikes against Iran after accusing Tehran of attacking three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, marking a sharp escalation in tensions across the Middle East.

In a statement, US Central Command said the strikes were intended to impose “heavy costs” on Iran following what it described as “unwarranted” attacks on civilian shipping in international waters.

Washington said the attacks violated the ceasefire and vowed to respond decisively, with further developments expected as the situation unfolds.

NATO leaders have unveiled arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars in Turkey, driving home the message that they are heeding US calls to spend more to defend Europe, even as President Donald Trump said he felt let down and renewed his push to control Greenland.

Leaders were convening for a summit in the capital Ankara on Tuesday, hoping to project unity after another bruising year, in which the Iran war once again exposed cracks in the alliance that has underpinned Western security since the end of World War Two.

In a meeting with President Tayyip Erdogan, Trump said he might have boycotted the NATO summit altogether had it not been for his warm relations with the Turkish leader, and did not rule out further troop withdrawals from Europe.

“Well, we’re going to see. I was very disappointed with NATO,” he said, singling out Britain, France, Germany and Italy for not doing enough to support the US war on Iran.

Trump added that “we weren’t treated well” by the allies, even as he reiterated that he did not want or need their help.

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