US Iran war updates highlights: Tehran vows ‘swift response’ after US seizes vessel in Gulf of Oman

US Iran war updates LIVE: Iran fended off the United States using asymmetric warfare and planning, Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf said on Saturday. The Iranian leader’s message comes as tensions persist over the US-Israeli war on the West Asian country, currently paused under a fragile ceasefire. “We fought an asymmetric war in such a way that we pushed back the enemy through our own planning and preparation,” he said in a televised address, as per Iran’s Press TV. Asymmetric warfare is when a weaker side fights a stronger opponent using indirect tactics rather than engaging in direct combat.

US Iran war updates LIVE: Israel’s military says another soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced in under twelve hours.

It brought the total number of soldiers killed in Lebanon to 15, and was the second soldier killed in combat since the ceasefire.

The military said another soldier was badly wounded in the same incident, along with four moderately wounded and four lightly injured.

US Iran war updates LIVE: Former US Vice President Kamala Harris has launched a scathing attack on US President Donald Trump, alleging that he was "pulled into" a military conflict with Iran by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and calling it a "feeble attempt" to distract from the "Epstein files."

Speaking at an event hosted by the Michigan Democratic Women's Caucus on Saturday, Harris characterised the hostilities as a war that "the American people do not want."

During her address in Detroit, Harris further scrutinised the administration's motives, accusing Trump of utilising "Operation Epic Fury" as a diversion from domestic controversies.

US Iran war updates LIVE: A day after tensions escalated in the Strait of Hormuz, more details have emerged about the two Indian-flagged vessels that came under fire, prompting a swift diplomatic response from New Delhi. This marks the first time that Iranian forces have fired upon Indian-flagged or owned merchant vessels in the war-torn waterway. The shipping ministry has identified the two vessels as the Sanmar Herald, a crude oil tanker, and the Jag Arnav, a bulk carrier. Read full report here

US Iran war updates LIVE: Confusion over the critical Strait of Hormuz threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed conflict, even as mediators expressed confidence a new deal was within reach.

via AP

US Iran war updates LIVE: Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh has said that no date has been set for a new round of face-to-face talks with the US as he slammed Washington for its refusal to abandon “maximalist” demands, Al Jazeera reported.

US Iran war updates LIVE: Iran’s joint military command on Saturday said control of the Strait of Hormuz has been restored to its earlier status, adding that the key waterway is now under the “strict management and control of the armed forces,” reported AP.

The statement comes a day after Tehran briefly reopened the strait to commercial shipping.

Saturday’s assertion also follows remarks by US President Donald Trump, who said the blockade “will remain in full force” until Iran agrees to a deal with Washington that addresses its nuclear programme.

US Iran war updates LIVE: Iran is ‘firmly positioned on the battlefield’ and ready respond the moment the enemy makes any mistake, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said. "As long as we pursued matters on the battlefield and militarily, we stood firm, and today we stand firm as well," he was quoted as saying by Iranian state media Press TV. "The moment the enemy makes a mistake, we are ready."

US Iran war updates LIVE: US President Donald Trump has praised Israel and said the country is ‘courageous, bold, loyal, and smart’. “Whether people like Israel or not, they have proven to be a GREAT Ally of the United States of America. They are Courageous, Bold, Loyal, and Smart and, unlike others that have shown their true colors in a moment of conflict and stress, Israel fights hard, and knows how to WIN!” Trump said on his Truth Social handle.

US Iran war updates LIVE: US President Donald Trump on Saturday took a dig at Iran after the country said that the Strait of Hormuz was being closed again, just one day after its opening was announced. Even as he lashed out at Iran for the move, Trump maintained that talks were still ongoing, and further added that Tehran was getting a “little cute”. Follow live updates on Iran-US war here.

"We're talking to them. They wanted to close up the strait again -- you know, as they've been doing for years -- and they can't blackmail us," Trump said at a White House event, according to an AFP report. Trump said there would be "some information" about Iran later in the day, adding: “We're taking a tough stand.”

US Iran war updates LIVE: Iran military used asymmetric warfare to push back the ‘enemy’, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, Press TV reported. "The enemy had money and resources, but they did not act correctly in terms of design," Ghalibaf was quoted as saying. "They make strategic errors. They miscalculate regarding our people, just as they miscalculate in their own military design."

US Iran war updates LIVE: The representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in India reacted on Saturday when asked about the attack on two Indian-flagged tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. While the envoy, Dr Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, said that he was not aware of any such incident, he also said that the relationship between India and Iran is “very strong”. He also said that New Delhi benefitted from these ties, citing how its oil tankers passed the Strait of Hormuz.

“The relationship between Iran and India is very strong and I don't know anything about this event which you mentioned and we hope that it will be okay and it will be solved,” Illahi said, further adding that Iran was not in favour of war, but of peace.

US Iran war updates LIVE: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard fired at two Indian-flagged merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, prompting the external affairs ministry to call in the Iranian envoy to lodge a formal protest over the incident.

This was the first instance of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) firing at Indian-flagged or owned merchant shipping in the crucial waterway, which is used to transport 50% of India’s oil imports. In recent weeks, at least nine Indian-flagged vessels have safely transited the strait.

The shipping ministry in a status update said that an oil tanker, the MT Desh Garima, transited the strait at 1pm IST and is bound for Mumbai. Thirteen India-flagged ships remain in the Persian Gulf, west of the Strait of Hormuz. It also said that two India-flagged vessels were reportedly fired at by the IRGC boats during transit, identifying the vessels as the Sanmar Herald, a crude oil tanker and the Jag Arnav, a bulk carrier. The two turned back after the incident and no injuries were reported, the ministry said.

US Iran war updates LIVE: The US is reportedly planning to board and seize vessels linked to Iran in international waters in the coming days. The move, if implemented, would let the US navy expand its blockade beyond the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal said in a report on Saturday. Citing unnamed US officials, the publication said that the move aims to put economic pressure on Iran and to force open the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil transit, central to the ongoing negotiations.

The WSJ report further said that expanding the campaign against Iran would let the US “take control of Iran-linked vessels around the world”, including those outside the Persian Gulf.

US Iran war updates LIVE: The crucial Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until the United States lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports, Tehran said Saturday, as a top official warned that a final peace deal remained "far" off.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, said in a televised address that there has been "progress" in talks with Washington "but there are many gaps and some fundamental points remain."

"We are still far from the final discussion," said Ghalibaf, one of Tehran's negotiators in the talks aimed at ending the war launched by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

US Iran war updates LIVE: US President Donald Trump cited "very good conversations" with Tehran despite warning against "blackmail" over the the Strait of Hormuz after Iran reimposed the closure on Saturday. Iran said it was responding to a continued US blockade of Iranian ports, calling it a violation of the ceasefire, while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Iran's navy was ready to inflict "new bitter defeats" on its enemies. Trump called the move "blackmail" even as he praised the talks.

US Iran war updates LIVE: The final agreement between Iran and the United States is still far, though progress had been made in negotiations to end the war, Iran's parliamentary speaker said on Saturday night.

"We are still far from the final discussion," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also one of Iran's negotiators, said in a national televised address, adding "we made progress in the negotiations, but there are many gaps and some fundamental points remain".