US–Iran war live updates: Donald Trump to hit Iran ‘20 times harder’ if oil flow stops within Strait of Hormuz

Opposition defence spokesman James Paterson says he supports Australia’s decision to deploy military assets to the Middle East, and agrees it will not undermine the nation’s ability to defend its own security interests.

The Coalition has backed the Government’s decision to send military support to the United Arab Emirates, with Senator Paterson saying the move serves Australia’s national interest and provides an opportunity for the Australian Defence Force to “learn the lessons of modern warfare”.

“When your friends ask you for help. If you’re able to help, you should help. And there’s no question that the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states are our friends,” he said.

“It’s in Australia’s national interest or the waterways around the Gulf, and to the airspace above the goal to be cleared as soon as possible. If they can be clear, that will allow the resumption of the flow of oil through the Gulf and Australians to leave the Gulf who wish to come home on regular scheduled commercial flights.“

“Finally, this is an opportunity for us to learn the lessons of modern warfare … To be assisting in the interdiction of those drones and missiles is an opportunity to learn about this modern form of conflict and to bring those lessons home.“

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has also addressed the situation involving members of Iran’s women’s national football team who are seeking asylum in Australia.

“I want to make a comment on a very human story we have seen in the last 24 hours.”

“We have seen asylum offered to the five Iranian women soccer players and we welcome this development.”

He praised the players for their courage in standing up to the Iranian Government.

“These women are standing up against the regime I just described with enormous courage, and I think that has captured the imagination of the Australian people.”

“Every reasonable Australian would want a good outcome for their safety and for their future.”

However, Mr Taylor said asylum decisions must follow Australia’s legal framework and national interests.

“It is also important to point out, as always with asylum-seeking cases, that there are two principles that need to guide those decisions.”

“One is that they comply with Australian law and the other is that it must be in the national interest.

“We will stand up for freedom abroad and we will stand up to offer safety to those who genuinely need it.

“But we will always do so in a way that protects our national interest and our way of life.”

​

​

Speaking in Canberra, Mr Taylor framed the situation as part of a broader effort to protect Australian values and security.

“When I first came into this role as Leader of the Opposition I said there would be two top priorities for us: one is restoring Australian standards of living and the other is protecting our way of life.”

Mr Taylor said recent events had highlighted both the brutality of Iran’s regime and the willingness of allies to stand up to it.

“In the spirit of protecting our way of life, we have seen just in recent days two very clear developments. On the one hand, the extreme brutality of the Iranian regime and the strength of the nations that are prepared to stand up to this regime.”

Mr Taylor said the Coalition backed the Government’s decision to assist allied nations in the Middle East.

“What we see today are allies working against this despotic regime and we very much welcome the decision announced by the government to support our allies in their work against this regime.”

“In particular the Wedgetail aircraft and the missiles announced — this is something we strongly support from the Coalition.”

“We must stand with our allies against those who do not accept our values and who are against life — and that is certainly this Iranian regime.”

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has issued fresh stats about Operation Epic Fury summarising efforts in the first 10 days.

The updates confirmed that over 5000 sites have been struck with an array of different military assets, including: B-1 bombs, B-2 stealth bombers, LUCAS drones, F-15s, F-16s, F-18s, F-22s, F-35s, EA-18G electronic attack aircraft and “special capabilities” the US Government refused to list.

US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that if it does a single thing that stops the flow of oil through the key Strait of Hormuz, the country will respond harder than it ever has.

“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation,” Mr Trump said after earlier revealing the US had left strategic energy sites that could be destroyed later, if needed.

“Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!” Mr Trump continues.

“This is a gift from the United States of America to China, and all of those Nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait.

“Hopefully, it is a gesture that will be greatly appreciated.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has travelled by helicopter to a navy ship in the Mediterranean to meet with naval personnel as conflict in the Middle East rages.

Mr Macron could be seen being welcomed on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, before going below deck to meet and speak to the crew.

The carrier had been deployed following the first US-Israeli strike in Iran.

“We are putting ourselves in a position to last,” Mr Macron said on board the ship. He predicted the carrier may be in place for several weeks. After that, it could be moved to the Strait of Hormuz.

The Albanese Government will convene an urgent roundtable in Canberra amid concerns over the impact the US-Israel-Iran war has had on fuel reserves.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Tuesday sought to assure the public that Australia’s fuel reserves remain at pre-war levels despite rising prices at the pump caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

Global oil prices saw a dramatic reversal overnight, plunging from a peak of $US120 to $US90 per barrel as market volatility continues.

The sharp decline has sparked immediate calls from consumer advocacy groups and motorists for Australian service stations to pass these savings on to the bowser.

Speaking alongside the Prime Minister in Canberra on Tuesday, Mr Bowen said he, with Minister for Agriculture Julie Collins and Industry Minister Tim Ayres, would meet with peak bodies representing affected industries.

Read the full story.

The Australian stock market has staged a solid comeback after Donald Trump signalled overnight that the US and Israel’s campaign of attacks against Iran could soon be at an end.

His comments to a reporter from US news network CBS saw the oil price plunge by about $US30 a barrel, sparking a late rally among US markets in the final hour of trade and lifting Australian equity futures more than 2 per cent.

The S&P/ASX200 had climbed almost 1.8 per cent after the first 30 minutes to 8749.5 — still well off last week’s highs of more than 9160 points.

The index was smashed almost 2.9 per cent lower on Monday to 8599, wiping more than $90 billion in value from Australia’s top 200 companies and taking losses for the past five trading days since last Tuesday to more than 6 per cent.

Monday’s was the biggest one day sell-off on the Aussie market since Mr Trump announced his so-called Liberation Day tariffs last April.

Donald Trump said he “didn’t want to say” that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, the son of the killed Iranian Supreme Leader, had a target on his back, however, claimed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was basically the same as Ali Khamenei.

“I was disappointed. We think it’s going to lead to more of the same problem for the country,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump confirmed he preferred the idea of someone internal taking over leadership of the country, citing what occurred in Iraq when all of the leadership was fired: “They turned into ISIS.”

The US President said that “enough”, in terms of winning in Operation Epic Fury, meant “where they’re not going to be starting the following day to develop a nuclear weapon”.

“When I can see they will no longer have any capacity, for a very long time, to develop weaponry that could be used against the United State, Israel or any of our allies, we have great allies in the Middle East.”

Mr Trump said that Operation Epic Fury was ahead of schedule, saying that the war would be over “soon”.

Read the full story.

President Donald Trump has claimed the Iranian regime was attempting to rapidly develop nuclear weapons, while establishing an enormous arsenal of ballistic missiles, to threaten the US after Operation Midnight Hammer in 2025.

Mr Trump said credible information from his inner circle showed that Iran was attempting to continue with nuclear weapon development at another site, following the B2 bombing in 2025 that saw 14 30,000-pound GBU Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) dropped on three key Iranian sites.

“The situation was very quickly approaching the point of no return, and the United States found it intolerable, in my opinion... I thought they were going to attack us.

“If you notice, they did something that was very stupid, very foolish. They (Iran) attacked their neighbours.

“Their neighbours came onto our side and started attacking them (Iran).”

Mr Trump said all he was doing now was keeping a promise he made in 2015 when he announced he would run for the US presidency: “I will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons”.

He added he will not allow Iran to keep the world hostage to their terror.