Moments after US President Donald Trump claimed Iran’s missile programme had been destroyed following US-Israeli military action, Iranian forces launched missiles targeting Israel’s northern port city of Haifa, Iranian state media Press TV reported.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the launches on Telegram, saying defensive systems were operating to intercept the threat. “A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the IDF said.
Almost three dozen countries will meet Thursday to exert diplomatic and political pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route effectively choked off by the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the virtual meeting, chaired by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, “will assess all viable diplomatic and political measures we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and to resume the movement of vital commodities.”
The United States is not among the countries attending the meeting. Trump has said securing the waterway is not America’s job and told US allies to “go get your own oil.”
Oil rose more than 4% and Asian stocks fell after Trump’s address, in which he said the US will keep hitting Iran and would “finish the job.” Tokyo’s Nikkei fell about 1.4%, South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped. Brent crude jumped roughly 5% to about $106 a barrel, and US crude rose over 4%.
Democrats criticised Trump’s primetime address as “incoherent” and said it failed to answer basic questions about the conflict and its economic impacts. Sen. Mark Warner said Trump owed Americans more clarity about a war that has raised fuel and commodity prices with long-term economic consequences.
In Thailand, fuel prices surged again after the government cut subsidies, sending diesel above 44 baht ($1.35) per litre, roughly a 12% increase in recent days.
A New York-based think tank, the Soufan Center, said Trump’s speech suggests he is “willing to leave the Strait of Hormuz off the table,” potentially leaving Gulf Arab allies to manage the consequences. The centre warned that an expedited US withdrawal without securing the strait could leave energy-dependent regional economies in the lurch.
Diplomatic status remains unclear. The US has presented Iran with a 15-point ceasefire plan that demands reopening the strait and rolling back parts of Iran’s nuclear programme; Iran maintains its programme is peaceful and has its own conditions, including retaining sovereignty over the strait. Iranian deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from US envoy Steve Witkoff but said there were no direct negotiations and that “the trust level is at zero.”
Humanitarian operations are being affected. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) says more than $100,000 worth of lifesaving aid is trapped in its Dubai hub because of the strait’s chokehold. IRC president David Miliband warned of potential food-security crises in vulnerable countries, noting that about 30% of the world’s fertiliser transits the Hormuz route and urging safe passage for goods.
Earlier Thursday, Israel’s military reported Iran had launched its first missile barrage of the day, prompting sirens in Tel Aviv, central Israel, and parts of the occupied West Bank.
