Middle East war updates: Trump says Iran will ‘pay the price’ after nation hits back after US strikes

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US President Donald Trump says Iran will “pay the price” after taking “too long” in negotiations with the US in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

“Iran is all talk and no action. The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!,” Trump said.

“They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!”

It is unclear what “the price” details, but comes hours after the US carried out extensive airstrikes across Iran early on Wednesday morning.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says the US and Iran need to move “beyond this state of war or peace” through negotiation, despite claims from the Foreign Ministry that diplomacy cannot continue after US air strikes.

“If we do not engage in dialogue, then what is the alternative?” Pezeshkian said.

“It was on that basis that [former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] permitted the talks to continue, and in the final stages his instruction was: ‘Go and resolve the issue.’”

One casualty has been reported and two others missing after a fire in an oil tanker’s engine room off the coast of Oman.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations say the tanker is located 20 nautical miles off the city of Sohar.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry says diplomatic talks with the United States cannot continue, after it says the US violated ceasefire conditions with airstrikes overnight.

“Unfortunately, the United States is undermining this process through contradictory messages, frequent shifts in its positions and demands, as well as repeated ceasefire violations,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.

“We need to re-assess. . . any diplomatic process requires a minimum stable environment.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has released a statement claiming the United States is violating international law after it conducted strikes in southern Iran on Wednesday.

“In the early minutes of Wednesday morning … the US regime launched brutal attacks against areas in the south of the country,” the statement said.

“These attacks constitute a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter, particularly Article 2, Paragraph 4, and the fundamental principle prohibiting the use of force in international relations.”

Australia and its allies will co-ordinate on targeted sanctions “and other measures” as attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the Occupied West Bank surge.

A United Nations report has alleged that at least seven Palestinians had been killed and more than 800 injured in the past year, a 130 per cent rise on 2024.

Violence in the territories, which are bisected by areas of Israeli and nominal Palestinian civilian control, has risen exponentially since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel that left more than 1200 Israelis dead and as Israel’s government approves a rapid expansion of settlements, which are illegal according to international law.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Norway, and the UK pledged to respond to the “deteriorating situation in the West Bank” through “co-ordinated action to introduce sanctions and other measures to hold extremist settlers accountable for the horrific levels of settler violence against Palestinian civilians”.

“Extremist violent settlers, with the backing of their supporters, continue to attack Palestinians and abuse their human rights,” the statement said.

“They use violence to displace Palestinians, destroy property and perpetuate the illegal settlement enterprise, undermining the viability of the State of Palestine and the prospects for peaceful coexistence.”

“They use violence to displace Palestinians, destroy property and perpetuate the illegal settlement enterprise, undermining the viability of the State of Palestine and the prospects for peaceful coexistence.”

The Bahrain Defence Force says it has intercepted Iranian drones which it says were part of a “treacherous” air attack.

“The General Command clarifies that, with strong will and high combat readiness, the air defense systems attacked Bahrain’s defense force, intercepted and destroyed a number of treacherous Iranian air strikes,” a statement said.

“The General Command assures that all its weapons and units are at the highest readiness and on defensive readiness to protect the kingdom.

“The General Command insists that the deliberate use of missiles and marching aircraft to target civilians and private property is a blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law.”

The Reserve Bank won’t be able to cut interest rates even if Australia falls into a recession and house prices plunge, a leading economist fears.

The futures market sees no prospect of a rate rise on Tuesday next week, with unemployment already at a four-year high of 4.5 per cent in April.

Among the big four banks, NAB on Tuesday became the first to signal the next move from the RBA would be a cut to the existing 4.35 per cent cash rate.

But HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said the Reserve Bank would be unable to cut rates, even if the economy went backwards in the June quarter and possibly too in the September quarter, which would mark Australia’s first technical recession since 1991 caused by higher interest rates.

“I don’t think the RBA’s going to be able to sweep in and cut interest rates any time soon like often they do in the face of a downturn,” he told The Nightly.

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The Israeli military has hit Hezbollah rocket launcher sites and infrastructure for launching attack drones in southern Lebanon’s Tyre region and several other locations.

Six sites were attacked by the military in Tyre while “loaded and ready-to-launch launchers” were struck elsewhere in the south, it said.

The IDF has also claimed two members of Hamas’ “funds transfer network” were killed in Gaza.