Iran-US war latest: Missile sirens sound across Middle East after Trump resumes strikes on Iran

The coffin of Iran’s slain supreme leader is being transported from the Iraqi city of Najaf to Mashhad in northeastern Iran ahead of his burial later today, according to the Mehr news agency.

The transfer marks the final stage of six days of funeral ceremonies held across Iran and Iraq, including in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of Khamenei’s office, said the late leader had requested to be buried in Mashhad, near the shrine of Imam Reza.

The US military said its latest strikes were aimed at protecting commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after recent attacks on vessels.

US Central Command said the operation was intended to “further degrade Tehran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation” and “further degrade Tehran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation” in the vital waterway.

In a statement, it said: “The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”

Donald Trump claimed that Iran had reached out seeking a deal but questioned whether Tehran could be trusted to uphold any agreement.

He told reporters: “I don’t want to deal with them anymore, they’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people.”

Later, he said: “I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal – I don’t know that they’re going to honour the deal, that’s the problem.”

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, hit back and dismissed further negotiations. “We do not answer vulgarity with vulgarity, but with action: fearlessly and with great valour,” Araghchi wrote on X.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned Washington that any further attacks would draw a response after the US launched fresh strikes overnight.

“Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you’ll get hit,” he wrote on X, adding that the Strait of Hormuz would only operate under Iranian arrangements and not “American threats”.

Donald Trump has warned that Washington would respond even more forcefully if Iran targeted shipping again, while US Central Command said the operation was aimed at protecting freedom of navigation through one of the world’s busiest oil transit routes.

The renewed conflict has raised fears of a wider regional crisis and sent shockwaves through global markets.

Brent crude climbed more than 5 per cent to nearly $80 a barrel as investors worried about disruptions to oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, while US stock markets fell.

The fresh strikes have also dealt a blow to hopes that last month’s interim truce between Washington and Tehran could be turned into a lasting peace agreement.

The US launched a second wave of strikes on Iran on Wednesday, hours after president Donald Trump declared that an interim agreement to end the conflict was “over”.

Iranian state media reported explosions in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the coastal city of Sirik and Bushehr province, while the US military said the attacks were intended to weaken Iran’s ability to threaten shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The latest escalation came after three commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz were attacked, prompting the US to carry out what it described as retaliatory strikes.

With the US and Iran once again trading strikes, traders across Wall Street are racing to factor in more potential disruptions to the global economy.

“We always expected it to be a rocky road to resolution, but this is a pretty big rock,” Tyler Rosenlicht, head of natural resource equities at Cohen & Steers, told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s really tough to be confident in anything.”

On Wednesday, Brent crude oil futures rose 5.2 per cent and US oil futures were up 4.4 per cent.

The potential unraveling of a fragile truce between Iran and the United States renewed anxiety Wednesday over whether fuel prices would go back up if sustained fighting kept oil tankers from traveling through the Persian Gulf.

Oil prices rose to their highest point in weeks after President Donald Trump declared the U.S. ceasefire with Iran over, responding to Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and on American military sites in other Gulf nations. Costlier crude oil could lead to costlier gas station fill-ups as drivers in many countries were getting a break from elevated prices brought on by the war.

“Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has essentially stopped, which tells you more about risk perception right now than any statement from Washington or Tehran,” said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, in an email. “Oil markets reacted quickly to the renewed geopolitical risk.”

U.S. gasoline prices increased slightly Wednesday to an average of $3.80 for a gallon of regular, up from $3.79 the day before, but still well below the month-ago average of $4.16, according to motor club federation AAA.

Crude oil makes up the bulk of the price of gasoline, so when oil prices rise, gasoline eventually follows. But it can take weeks for consumers to feel the full impacts. That’s because refiners make gasoline with oil purchased in advance. The finished product then has to travel through a system of pipelines and trucks to reach gas station pumps.

More details in the full story.