Tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran are rising, with Tehran threatening to use more powerful missiles and rejecting talks proposed by US President Donald Trump.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has denied US claims that its missile program has been dismantled, saying it is now operating a large number of missiles with warheads weighing more than a ton.
Meanwhile, President Trump has threatened to hit Iran with “weapons 20 times more powerful than before” if it tries to stop oil tankers passing through the vital Strait of Hormuz. However, Trump also said the war “could be over very quickly”.
Iran has continued to carry out attacks targeting Israel and US bases in the Middle East, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. At least one person was killed in Manama, Bahrain, while two people were killed in central Israel after Iranian strikes in recent hours.
Meanwhile, Tehran has reportedly been hit by some of the heaviest shelling since the war began. Reports from the scene say at least 40 people were killed in an airstrike near Risalat Square.
Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group have also continued to trade attacks, with the death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon rising to 486.
Other reports from the war suggest that tensions are rising between the US and Israel. Israeli media reported that Trump’s advisers have told the president that the war is going differently than they had expected, as they hoped Iran would weaken quickly.
The reports also indicate that Trump’s advisers encouraged him to start talking about “winning Iran” to find a way out of the war, a move that Israel, which wants to increase military pressure, reportedly did not welcome.
