Iran-US war latest: UK not intimidated by ‘sabre-rattling’ as Tehran warns Britain could become target if it backs US

British defence secretary Wes Streeting has said the UK is not intimated by Tehran’s “sabre-rattling” after the IRGC warned the country could become a “definite and legitimate target” if it supports the US.

“We stand ready to respond to any attacks Iran wishes to wage against this country or our allies and we will continue to do that,” he told the BBC.

“I think we shouldn’t put too much stock in the sabre-rattling of Iran, and we certainly shouldn’t be intimidated by what the regime has said this week.”

While Saudi Arabia, a host nation for US forces, has not yet formally requested military assistance from Washington, Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that any Houthi obstruction of shipping in the Red Sea – a crucial corridor for global trade – could draw the United States into the conflict. “If something like that happens, we’ll take care of it. We’ve done that with the Houthis before,” he told reporters.

With the US-Iran ceasefire in tatters, Donald Trump has issued new threats against Tehran’s nuclear facilities in what would represent a significant escalation in the conflict.

Named Operation Midnight Hammer, the countries launched a series of attacks on several nuclear and military facilities more than one year ago. as part of a long-running ambition to thwart Tehran’s nuclear weapons programme.

A spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Britain would become a “definite and legitimate target” if it supported the US in any war with Tehran, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

The spokesperson said any country, including Britain and Gulf states, that backed the US in a conflict would be considered a legitimate target, adding that US bombers had recently used British airfields.

The Iran war broadened over the weekend despite a pause in US strikes, as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast and Iran accused Ukraine of targeting one of its vessels in the Caspian Sea.

The U.S. military said on Saturday its naval blockade against Iran “remains in full effect” but did not explain why it halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes.

There were also no weekend reports of attacks by Iran on neighbours, similar to its daily rejoinders to the US attacks.

Asked about the pause, a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration said Trump “has always been clear that his preference is diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they fail to come to the table in a serious way.”

The US military said it boarded a tanker in the Arabian Sea on Saturday as part of its naval blockade of Iranian ports, according to reports.

The US Central Command (Centcom) said US forces have so far redirected 12 commercial vessels attempting to bypass the blockade, disabled two vessels that failed to comply, and boarded two ships for verification.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said that Tehran has discussed operation of the Strait of Hormuz with Oman this weekend and that the talks were “productive”.

They added that “technical and political consultations between the two sides are ongoing”.

US vice president JD Vance and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Dan Caine, both raised concerns about escalating the war in Iran during a White House meeting on Friday, the CNN reported, quoting a source familiar with the matter and a US official.

Gen Caine raised concerns about the US munitions stockpile and other potential negative implications, according to CNN.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group struck sites belonging to Saudi state oil company Aramco in the cities of Jizan and Yanbu on Saturday.

A large column of smoke rose from the direction of the Aramco refinery in Jizan, near the Yemeni border, video on social media verified by Reuters showed.

The refinery can process up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Two Asia-based trading sources said they had been informed of potential damage to fuel and oil storage sites at Jizan. Aramco did not respond to requests for comment.

In Yanbu, two missiles aimed at oil installations were intercepted. Yanbu, Saudi Arabia’s main Red Sea oil port, has become a key route for Saudi oil skirting the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded.

In Yemen, officials said the air ​force of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, which has opposed the Houthis for more than a decade, struck Houthi sites in the ‌Marib and al-Jawf provinces.

The officials said both sides in Yemen’s civil war were mobilising forces along the front. Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition battling the Houthis since the Iran-aligned fighters captured Yemen’s capital, ⁠Sanaa.