Donald Trump says "Iran's New Regime President" has asked the US for a ceasefire.

In a statement on Truth Social, he does not mention the top official by name, but describes the individual is "much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors".

He adds: "We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!"

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) says five ballistics have been launched from Iran today.

There have also been 35 drone attacks, says the update by the country's ministry of defence.

This brings the total number of ballistic missiles launched from Iran to 438, and drone attacks to 2,012, it adds.

Iran's retaliatory attacks against US allies in the Gulf have continued unabated since the beginning of the US and Israeli strikes on 28 Februry.

In the UAE alone, two members of the country's armed forces have been killed since then, in addition to one military contractor and nine civilians, the latest briefing says.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, EPA

In his latest written message, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei reaffirms support to the leader of Lebanon's Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, Naim Qassem.

The message also expresses "appreciation for Hezbollah’s condolences" following the killing of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei’s father, on 28 February - the first day of US and Israeli strikes.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public or featured in Iranian media since succeeding his father on 8 March.

Israel, however, had previously vowed, both before and after his succession, that he would be a target.

US President Donald Trump said that Mojtaba Khamenei was "either dead or in very bad shape, because no one has heard from him".

Meanwhile, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said that Khamenei’s absence from public view was due to "security considerations".

Image source, Reuters

"We are heading towards a major, major disruption." That's what Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), is warning.

He tells the In Good Company podcast that shortages of jet fuel and diesel will soon be felt in Europe.

"April will be much worse than March", he says, because there were still be some cargoes of oil and gas arriving at ports around the world that had been loaded up before war broke out.

"In April, there is nothing," he says, estimating that the loss of oil "will be twice the loss of oil in March".

Describing shortages of jet fuel and diesel as "the biggest problem today", Birol says that "we are seeing [the shortages] already in Asia", but this supply issue will "soon" be felt in Europe.

• Earlier, the trade body representing airlines in the UK said they "are currently not seeing disruption to jet fuel supply"

In the UK, some MPs believe there should be greater European leadership of Natopublished at 13:18 BST

13:18 BST

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Donald Trump's latest warning that he might be thinking of pulling out of Nato clearly stems from a major fit of piqueover the reluctance of members to play a more active role in the war with Iran.

Put aside for a moment the fact that joining wars of choice beyond Europe was never the purpose of the alliance, and that the US attacked Iran, not the other way around.

The president’s disenchantment with Nato has been well known for a decade.

Angry over the failure of members to spend 2% of their GDP on defence, Donald Trump came close to pulling out in 2019, according to Nato's former chief Jens Stoltenberg.

Trump’s ambivalence and occasional outright hostility towards Nato have already led to calls for Europe to take a more leading role.

In a report published last week, the MPs and peers that make up the parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, said this should be an increasingly urgent priority.

"The UK and its European allies," they wrote, "must develop a clear plan for a transition towards greater European leadership of Nato."

During his first term, President Trump criticised Nato members for failing to spend more on defence, claiming the US was spending more than its European allies. BBC Verify has previously looked at the figures in more detail - read that here.

Then in January of this year, Trump questioned the transatlantic alliance's loyalty at a time when he was threatening to take control of Greenland.

Asked at the time by the BBC whether the possible break-up of Nato was a price he was willing to pay to acquire the territory, Trump responded: "Nobody has done more for Nato than I have, in every way."

It came after he had questioned whether Nato would come to the aid of the US, should it be required: "I know we'll come to [Nato's] rescue, but I just really do question whether or not they'll come to ours."

That same month, he was also highly critical of Nato and British troops in Afghanistan, claiming the alliance had sent "some troops" but "stayed a little back, a little off the front lines", sparking outrage from veterans and their families.

Trump's threatened to leave Nato before - but this time he's angrier at alliance memberspublished at 12:40 BST

12:40 BST

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Of all the warnings in President Trump’s arsenal, leaving the Nato military alliance is among those he’s wielded the most. He almost did it in his first term.

Nato's former chief Jens Stoltenberg said "we saw clear signs that Trump was preparing to act on his threat", in his recent memoir On My Watch.

Stoltenberg recounted how he went on Fox News and credited Trump with pressuring Nato allies to increase their military spending.

Trump didn’t make the speech the White House had reportedly drafted for a US withdrawal.

This time, in his second term, Trump is even angrier as Nato members hold back from joining a war they weren’t consulted on, and still don’t understand its goals.

But some, including the UK, know they need to engage on some fronts, including the defence of Arab allies, as well as to help open the vital Strait of Hormuz.

This new crisis will again strengthen the resolve of European countries and Canada to bolster their own defences.

But there’s still that cold hard fact that the might of the US military matters - immensely. Nato's current chief Mark Rutte is also called the "Trump whisperer and has to do his utmost to keep the US president on side.

Markets have been volatile throughout the war, with the price of oil in particular sliding up and down due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels.

Earlier, comments that seemed to hint at an end to the conflict - from US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian - resulted in oil prices falling back to below $100 a barrel (£75).

The below graphic shows Brent crude's fluctuating price from since before the war started until now.

Trump's adept at changing rhetoric, so what does 'very soon' actually mean?published at 12:05 BST

12:05 BST

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

As always, with Donald Trump, it's important to remember that deadlines are constantly changing and that timelines are not always what they seem.

As the president himself said last week, "in Trump time, a day is an eternity."

As this war began, Trump suggested it might last "four to five weeks". White House officials have repeatedly used this formulation, with the Defence Secretary and others regularly saying Operation Epic Fury is ahead of schedule.

We’re halfway through week five now, so the president's suggestion last night that the war will end "very soon" but might take another two to three weeks already feels like an admission that this is taking longer than anticipated.

But deliberately or otherwise, the president paints a constantly shifting picture, talking one minute of negotiations proceeding rapidly and the next of threats to obliterate Iran’s energy infrastructure.

As Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday, "the point is to be unpredictable".

The president is adept at changing his rhetoric to suit altered circumstances. When he gives his "important update" later tonight, it will be interesting to see if he’s any clearer on the definition of "very soon" and what he expects to have achieved by then.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump and his top officials appear to want a speedy exit from Iran as the US president signalled on Tuesday the country would exit the conflict soon. Let's take a look back at what he and others have said about when the war will end.

• On 9 March, Trump told CBS that the war was “very complete, pretty much” - and later said the war would be over “pretty quickly”
• Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US expected to finish its operations in Iran“in the next couple of weeks”. That was echoed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who previously suggested the war could last up to six weeks
• On Monday, Donald Trump said the US was in “serious discussions” with a new Iranian regime to end the American military operation - but only if a deal is reached and the Strait of Hormuz is immediately “open for business”. Iran denies having any negotiations with the US
• On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the war was “definitely beyond the halfway point”, later clarifying he meant in terms of missions, not time
• Yesterday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said there was an “urgency” to finish the job - and that negotiations were “gaining strength”
• Then, last night, Trump said the US will "leave" Iran in "two to three weeks" when it is certain the regime cannot build a nuclear weapon "for years"

Starmer sending deliberate and meaningful message in updatepublished at 11:48 BST

11:48 BST

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

The prime minister was adamant that he would not be choosing between the US and the EU.

But Sir Keir Starmer decided to use today’s press conference, which was called in the context of a spiralling conflict about which the UK and the US profoundly disagree, to advertise his determination to get closer to the EU.

That was a deliberate and meaningful political decision, even if Starmer has been moving in that direction for a few months now.

We already knew that there was going to be a second annual UK-EU summit in a month or two’s time, and we already knew that the UK government hoped to use it not only to complete existing negotiations on areas of cooperation but also to seek deeper ties in other areas.

Still, it was interesting to see how much emphasis Starmer placed on this summit as a moment of economic significance. That said, the PM said that Labour’s 2024 election manifesto still stood, which is to say the commitments that the UK would neither rejoin the EU’s customs union or its single market.

But it feels increasingly like the government wants to get as close as possible to single market membership as it can from outside the bloc. Of course, Theresa May wanted that once too, but the EU resisted “cherrypicking” — the idea that the UK could have what it saw as the benefits of the single market (economic cooperation through shared regulations) without what it saw as the drawbacks (the free movement of people).

Those old debates are coming right back to the heart of British politics.

Esyllt Carr
Business reporter, BBC News

An additional 1.3m households could face higher mortgage payments by the end of 2028 as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, according to the Bank of England’s latest report into the risks facing the global economy.

The bank's financial policy committee says 5.2 million households could face increases in mortgage costs by the end of 2028, based on current rates, compared to 3.9 million before the conflict began.

But it says in a new report “typical increases in mortgage payments would remain modest” compared with those in recent years, such as after the mini-budget in 2022.

Since the US-Israel war in Iran began, oil and gas prices have increased rapidly, and the cost of government borrowing has risen.

With Trump belittling the UK, Starmer repeated his desire for closer EU ties with urgencypublished at 11:26 BST

11:26 BST

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

What we heard from the prime minister this morning spanned the global to the local.

He always insists he won’t choose between the US and Europe.

But with Trump questioning Nato and belittling the UK’s military standing it was interesting that Keir Starmer didn’t just repeat his desire for more defence co-operation with the EU - he said it with more urgency.

He also emphasised the desire for closer economic ties with the EU.

Simon Atkinson
Australia reporter

Image source, Reuters

Australia’s Prime Minster Anthony Albanese has delivered an address to the nation about how the country is being affected by the war in the Middle East.

The broadcast speech comes the day fuel duty cuts mean petrol and diesel become a little cheaper for motorists who have been facing surging prices.

Albanese tells Australians the months ahead may not be easy and calls on people to go about life as normal but asked them “do their bit”.

This includes not taking more fuel than needed and for those who can, to switch to using public transport.

Image source, Getty Images

The news conference has now come to an end, but before it did Starmer responded to a question about a recent threat from Trump that the US would no longer come to the aid of the UK.

Starmer said there's been "a good deal of pressure on me to change my position in relation to joining the [Iran] war, and I'm not going to change my position on the war.

"Whatever the pressure, whatever the noise, I am the British prime minister and I have to act in our national interests."

As a reminder, Trump took to Truth Social yesterday to tell allies, including the UK: "You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore".

Shortly before the press conference we reported Donald Trump was considering pulling the US out of Nato after repeated criticism of the bloc's refusal to become involved in the war. Trump has also singled out the UK and Starmer numerous times.

Asked whether he's forging closer ties to Europe as his relationship with Trump deteriorates, Starmer says he's not choosing between the continent and the US.

"I think it's in our interest to have a strong relationship with the US and with Europe," he says.

"But I do think that when it comes to defence and security, energy emissions and the economy, we need a stronger relationship with Europe."

Starmer also says that stronger co-operation with the continent will help relations with the United States.

Asked whether people in the UK should be looking at changing their behaviours in response to the increasing economic pressures, Starmer replies the government is monitoring the situation closely.

He says the economic situation will all depend on how long the conflict goes on for, and how quickly the Strait of Hormuz re-opens.

He is also asked about the rise in fuel duty that's scheduled for September - he says it's being kept under review, a position he has taken before.

Starmer says it is "increasingly clear" that the UK's "long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe and with the European Union".

The opportunities to "strengthen our security and cut the cost of living" are "simply too big to ignore", he adds, announcing that a summit with EU partners will occur in the near future.

In the coming weeks, he says he will announce a new summit with EU partners designed to forge partnerships in a "dangerous world".

It comes following Donald Trump's repeated criticisms of the UK and European allies in response to the war.

Image source, Getty Images

Starmer moves on to the economy. "I do have to level with people, this will not be easy," he says.

Starmer says he is not prepared to ask the British people "once again, to go through a crisis, come out of it, and say 'business as usual, back to the status quo'".

He refers to measures the government has previously announced to address living costs, including capping energy bills and having fuel duty cuts in place until September.

Starmer announces Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will be hosting a summit of international leaders to discuss plans to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait has been in effect blocked by Iran in response to Israeli-US strikes, causing global energy prices to rise as a result of the constraints on the key shipping corridor.

Starmer reiterates previous assertions that the UK will not be drawn into the conflict in the Middle East and that the best way to address rising costs of living is to push for de-escalation and ensure the Strait of Hormuz is re-opened.

Every diplomatic avenue available is being explored, he says.