US-Iran war updates: Iran, Israel trade airstrikes as Trump pressures allies into Strait of Hormuz defence

The local sharemarket is down marginally as the US-Israeli war with Iran enters its third week and a number of central banks, including Australia’s, prepare their decisions on interest rates.

Near noon on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 4.4 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 8,612.7.

The broader All Ordinaries had dropped 12.1 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 8,827.0.

Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said there was little sign that the war in the Middle East was de-escalating.

“If anything, strikes intensified over the weekend and all sides are making overtures that the war could be more protracted.”

The Reserve Bank of Australia, meanwhile, is expected to become the only central bank amongst the eight global banks making monetary policy decisions this week to raise rates.

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Macho and cocky, the Trump administration has been cock-a-hoop since its snatch-and-grab raid of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in January.

The US President himself has been punch drunk ever since, proposing to invade Greenland, administered by NATO ally Denmark and then disparaging the contribution of allied troops who fought the US’s war in Afghanistan.

The Trump administration has spent most of its time berating allies for being freeloaders and urged them to take on more “burden sharing”.

For all his distasteful methods, there is much Mr Trump diagnoses correctly. This column has regularly agreed that allies, especially the Australian Government, should not wait for an Oval Office roasting to raise their defence spending and take on their fair share.

But approaching 14 months of the Trump administration, it must be acknowledged that the burden-sharing has been going both ways.

As it is now allies who are expected to prop up President Trump’s decision to start a war with Iran, even though his objectives and reasons are hazy and contradictory at best.

“You never like to say too ⁠early you won. We won,” Mr Trump told supporters at a rally in Hebron, Kentucky, last Wednesday. “In the first hour, it was over.”

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A drone strike hit near Dubai International Airport early Monday, igniting a fire in the area, according to the Dubai Media Office.

Footage shared on social media showed thick smoke rising from the airport precinct shortly after the reported strike. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether anyone was injured or how much damage was caused.

In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the defence ministry said its air defences intercepted 25 drones within the space of an hour in the kingdom’s eastern region, a sparsely populated area near Iran that also hosts major oil infrastructure. Officials said there have been no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the attempted attacks.

If you’re just joining us, welcome to our rolling coverage of the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the key developments:

• Australia has ruled out sending a warship to the region after US President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help form a multinational naval force to protect oil tankers travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also pushed back against rumours circulating online that he had died, posting a video of himself buying coffee and joking he was “dead crazy” for “coffee”.
• Meanwhile, five members of Iran’s women’s national football team have now withdrawn their asylum bids in Australia, reversing earlier decisions to remain in the country.

The US military’s Central Command has released a new video showing drones hitting a series of Iranian targets, including missile bunkers, air-defence systems and other military infrastructure.

The command said the strikes are part of an ongoing campaign aimed at weakening Iran’s military capabilities and claimed US forces are gaining the upper hand, saying they now hold dominance over “vast swaths of Iran”.

Is he dead or alive?

The fate of Iran’s newly promoted supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is the subject of intense speculation as he remains conspicuously absent as the war in Iran rolls into its third week.

The 56-year-old’s only public offering since his elevation to the top job, following the assassination of his father Ali Khamenei, has been a statement read on state television on Thursday, where he vowed to “avenge the blood of Iranians”.

Mojtaba Khamenei was injured during the first day of military strikes by Israel and the US on February 28 and much of his family, including his father, wife and children, were killed.

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US President Donald Trump has warned NATO could face a “very bad” future if allied nations fail to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as pressure grows on global powers to protect the key oil shipping route.

In an interview with the Financial Times published Sunday, Mr Trump said countries that benefit from the vital waterway should play a role in ensuring it remains secure. He also suggested he could delay an upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping as he pushes Beijing to help ease the blockade.

“It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.”

Speaking after a call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian following the Thursday evening strike, Mr Macron said he made clear France would not tolerate attacks against its forces or interests in the region.

“I called on him to put an immediate end to the unacceptable attacks that Iran is carrying out against countries in the region, whether directly or through proxies, as in Lebanon and Iraq,” Mr Macron said on X.

“I reminded him that France acts strictly in a defensive capacity to protect its interests and those of its regional partners, and to uphold freedom of navigation, and that it is unacceptable for our country to be targeted.”

Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson has doubted Australia has adequate navy vessels to answer any potential US calls to help in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US President Donald Trump has called on several other countries to send ships to protect vessels from Iranian attacks and help open the critical waterway to ease the global oil supply disruptions.

Senator Paterson told Nine’s Today show on Monday that recent history showed that Australia hadn’t been able to support similar threats to global shipping due to limits within its national fleet.

He referenced the 2023 Red Sea crisis, when commercial shipping vessels had suffered attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Australia had declined a formal request from the then-Biden administration to send ships as part of a US-led multinational coalition called Operation Prosperity Guardian.

“As I understand it, there’s been no request from the United States, and we’re not anticipating one,” Senator Paterson said.

“If one came, we’d have to very carefully consider it against our national interest and particularly whether we have the relevant naval vessels available that could safely do that mission.

“You would need to have a naval vessel that’s capable of protecting itself against drone and missile attacks.

“And in 2023, when a similar request from the United States came to help in the Red Sea against the Houthis terrorist organisation, we weren’t able to provide any naval vessels because we didn’t have ones that could protect themselves that were available for that mission.”

Australia has ruled out sending ships to the Middle East to help protect vessels from Iranian attacks while travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.

It comes after US President Donald Trump called on several other countries to send ships to help open the critical waterway to ease the global oil supply disruptions brought on by his war in Iran.

Australia wasn’t listed in Mr Trump’s call to arms on social media, but countries reportedly considering helping include the UK, Japan, China and South Korea.

Labor’s Transport Minister Catherine King and Foreign Affairs and Trade Assistant Minister Matt Thistlethwaite both shut down any suggestion Australia would be joining the assisting Coalition of nations during media appearances on Monday.

“We’ve been very clear about what our contribution is in relation to our requests, and so far that is to the UAE, obviously providing aircraft to assist with defence, particularly given the number of Australians that are in that area in particular,” Ms King told Radio National.

“But we won’t be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is. That’s not something that we’ve been asked, or we’re contributing.”