Saudis push Trump to deploy US troops on the ground in Iran and grab ‘historic opportunity’ to remake Middle East – live updates

by Jon Michael Raasch, US Political Reporter

Saudi Arabia’s leader has urged Donald Trump to deploy ground troops in Iran and believes the war is a ‘historic opportunity’ for regime change.

Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) urged Trump in several calls over the past week to keep fighting Iran, attempting to persuade the President that the job could not be left half finished, sources told the New York Times.

The Saudi Crown Prince made the case that Iran’s government will pose a long-term threat to the region if it isn’t completely wiped out, the officials said.

MBS urged Trump to send troops into Iran to take over the country’s energy infrastructure and to force the current government out of power, the sources added.

Trump expressed concerns that escalating further could push oil prices even higher, with the national average gas price hitting $4.00 on Monday, up from $2.90 per gallon when the war began on February 28.

MBS’s private views contrast with Saudi’s public statements that highlight the kingdom’s desire for a diplomatic end to the war, which has led to retaliatory strikes on its energy sites and strangled its oil exports.

Here are the latest developments on day 25 of the US-Israel war with Iran:

• Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is urging Donald Trump to continue the US war with Iran, according to The New York Times
• Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad stands ‘ready and honoured’ to host peace talks between the US and Iran with Donald Trump sharing his annnouncement on Truth Social
• Iran named a former Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, as head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to succeed the assassinated Ali Larijani
• The Gulf states will need to re-evaluate their shared security after the war, which has resulted in a ‘breakdown of the security system’, a Qatar foreign ministry spokesman said
• Israel said its military will seize control of a ‘security zone’ around 20 miles into southern Lebanon as it presses its fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah
• Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has declared a state of ​national energy emergency in response to the Middle ‌East conflict and what he called an ‘imminent danger’ posed to the country’s energy supply
• A British Special Forces base in northern Iraq repelled a record 14 Iranian suicide drones last night in a dramatic escalation of the conflict
• New Zealand has announced it will provide cash handouts to help families afford petrol in response to the energy crisis
• European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has declared the time has come for negotiations with Iran to reopen the blocked Strait of Hormuz with the crisis now ‘critical’ for countries
• Vietnam’s national air carrier will suspend nearly two dozen domestic flights a week starting next month because of limited fuel supplies caused by the Iran war

The president of the Philippines has declared a state of emergency over the nation’s supply of energy.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said there is an ‘imminent danger’ to the ‘availability and stability of the country’s energy supply’.

The declaration, which will be put in place for one year, was made after four weeks of war in the Middle East, which has sent global energy prices soaring.

Marcos Jr. said the sky-high prices of oil posed a ‘threat to the country’s energy security’.

The nation has formed a committee to make sure that basics like fuel, food and agricultural products were readily available.

The leader said major measures, including forcing energy conservation and fuel subsidies, will be taken.

On top of this, action against hoarding, profiteering and manipulation of the supply of petroleum products will be taken.

The government of the Philippines will also be giving 5,000 Philippine pesos (£62.11) to transport workers and motorcycle taxi drivers to help with rising fuel costs, while welfare programmes have been announced for farmers, fisherman and other workers.

The price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, dropped nearly six per cent after Trump sent his outline of a peacepkan to Iran.

As of 12.30am GMT on Wednesday, the price of a barrel of Brent crude was down 5.92 per cent at $98.30.

The US benchmark, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate, was down 5.01 per cent at $87.72.

Earlier, the US reportedly sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the current hostilities.

US Central Command admitted to CNN that 290 American troops have been injured during operations against Iran.

A spokesperson told CNN: ‘Of those 290 injured, 255 have returned to duty, the spokesperson said. Ten US troops remain seriously wounded’.

In total, 13 US troops have been killed in action.

For comparison, over 1,500 Iranians have been killed, according to a state broadcaster, while over 1,000 people in Lebanon have been killed, according to its health ministry.

In Israel, 15 people have been killed.

Kuwait’s civil aviation authority said tonight that a fire has broken out at Kuwait International Airport.

Iran targeted a fuel tank at the travel hub with drones, it said, adding that while there was damage, no one was hurt.

The agency added that firefighters are on the scene.

Sir Keir Starmer has discusses the ongoing war in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.

Starmer reiterated support for Saudi Arabia as attacks continue across the Gulf, and updated the Saudi leader on the deployment of more British defensive equipment.

The UK leader said: ‘Iran’s ongoing attacks, including on critical national infrastructure, were appalling.

‘Following the UK-led joint statement last week, the UK was now working with partners on what a viable plan could look like to ensure the flow of goods through the key maritime route’, Downing Street said, quoting Starmer.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNS) has reported several additional casualties following Israeli airstrikes.

The organisation reported that two people were killed after an airstrike hit the Mieh Mieh refugee camp near Sidon. Four more people were also hurt.

In a separate airstrike on the town of Adloun, four people were killed while another was injured.

Israel’s envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, has said his country is not party to talks between the US and Iran.

Danon said, instead, that Israel and the US will continue to hit military targets in Iran’.

He said the joint strikes against Iran have so far ‘accomplished a lot’, adding that Israel’s priority remains to take out its enemy’s nuclear and missile capabilities.

Cyprus has asked the UK to negotiate new security arrangements for Britain’s military bases on the island following Iranian drone attacks earlier this month, the Telegraph reported on Tuesday.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides raised the issue during a lengthy call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday, the report said.

Telegraph added that Christodoulides wants a renegotiation of security arrangements of the 1960 treaty, which established the sovereign bases of RAF Akitori and Dhekelia, when the Iran war ends. The report added that Cypriot demands will not include asking Britain to give up the bases.

A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson, in a statement to Reuters, said the status of the bases was not up for negotiation and that the ‘long-standing friendship’ between the UK and Cyprus remained strong ‘in the face of Iranian threats.’

‘The status of the Sovereign Base Areas is not in question. The SBAs have never been part of the Republic of Cyprus as UK sovereignty was retained over these areas when Cyprus became independent in 1960. We have no plans to change this,’ the spokesperson said.