US military ‘completely destroys’ 16 Iranian mine-laying ships in Strait of Hormuz after Trump threatened Iran would be hit ‘at level never seen before’ if they place mines in the passage

Pete Hegseth has declared the US will unleash the ‘most intense day of strikes’ inside Iran at a Pentgaon press briefing in Washington.

The Defense Secretary said the US will ‘not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated’.

His comments come after Tehran threatened Donald Trump after the President said he did not believe the new Supreme Leader can ‘live in peace’.

Here are the latest developments on the US-Israel war as it entered its 11th day.

• Donald Trump said the war could be over ‘very soon’ and claimed the US has ‘already won’ but Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was ‘not done’ with Iran
• Trump threatened to bring ‘death, fire and fury’ down on Iran if it were to cut off the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz
• Iranian security chief Ali Larijani warned Donald Trump to ‘be careful not to be eliminated’
• Oil prices dipped following Trump’s announcement as the President indicated he will waive some sanctions on oil due to market turmoil
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guard forces said Tehran will not allow the export of oil from the region to US and Israeli allies as long as the war continues
• An Iranian drone attack has forced one of the world’s largest refineries in the UAE to shut as a ‘precaution’
• Britain is preparing to send a second ship, RFA Lyme Bay, to the Mediterranean to potentially help with evacuations from the Middle East
• Pakistan has deployed its navy to escort tankers through the Gulf amid increasing threats between the US and Iran surrounding the Strait of Hormuz
• Australia has granted asylum to some of Iran’s visiting women’s football team over fears they faced persecution at home for not singing the national anthem before a match.
• Turkey said a US-made Patriot missile defence system would be deployed a day after NATO shot down a second ballistic missile fired from Iran

Stick with us throughout the day as we bring you the latest developments.

A second chartered flight organised by the UK government has headed from Dubai.

The plane follows a similar one which landed in Britain earlier on Tuesday.

It comes after three chartered aircraft took British nationals from Oman, the third of which landed on Monday.

The IDF has detected missiles headed over Israel in the last few moments.

Sirens have been ringing out in central Israel and the Jerusalem area as Iran launches its latest volley of weapons.

Northern Israel is also bracing itself for an attack.

A shocking intelligence report that was blocked by the White House warns that Iran could launch waves of terrorist attacks on US soil including assassinations, bombings and stabbings, because of the President’s new war, a leaked copy exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail shows.

The FBI, Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) were preparing to put out the joint statement last week to state and local authorities alerting them of a heightened threat from Iran, detailing potential methods of attack and encouraging vigilance.

The White House blocked the report from being issued to law enforcement nationwide on Friday after Homeland Security officials flagged the report to them. The move infuriated members of the intelligence community who argued that these bulletins typically are issued without input from the White House to avoid politicizing intel communications.

‘They were concerned about the optics of sending anything out,’ said a senior DHS official of the White House decision to put a hold on the report, which was primarily authored by the FBI.

‘They got their asses handed to them,’ the official added of the resulting backlash.

In the last few minutes, the Israeli military has confirmed it has commenced a fresh series of strikes on Beirut, Lebanon.

The attack is targeting infrastructure that belongs to Iran-backed Hezbollah in the south of the capital, according to Israeli armed forces.

The US military has now destroyed 16 Iranian minelaying vessels close to a major sea passage used to export oil.

‘US forces eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, March 10, including 16 minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz,’ the US Central Command announced on X, with an accompanying video showing some of the strikes.

The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

The G7 leaders will hold a video conference on Wednesday to discuss the economic impacts of the war in the Middle East, particularly the ‘energy situation’, French president Emmanuel Macron announced.

‘This will be the first discussion on these issue between G7 members. Economic coordination is a key issue for an effective and useful response to the situation,’ the Elysee said. The meeting will start at 2pm (UK time).

President Emmanuel Macron will chair the meeting, as France holds the G7 presidency this year.

The G7 (Group of Seven) includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and USA, alongside the EU.

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to chair the meeting

The UAE government has said its air defence systems are ‘currently responding to a missile threat’.

A statement from the country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority said there are ‘incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.’

In an update on X, it asked the public to remain in a safe location and to follow official channels for warnings and updates.

The Iranian parliamentary speaker has insisted the Middle Eastern country is not entertaining the idea of a ceasefire amid increased US and Israeli strikes.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former top commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said: ‘Certainly we aren’t seeking a ceasefire.

‘We believe the aggressor must be punished and taught a lesson that will deter them from attacking Iran again.’

Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, has formally claimed Israel killed four Iranian diplomats during its attack on the Ramada Hotel in Beirut on Sunday.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, he said: ‘The targeted killing of four Iranian diplomats while they were serving as official representatives of a sovereign Member State on the territory of another sovereign State constitutes a grave terrorist act and a serious breach of international law.’

The IDF previously claimed the strikes had killed five working for Iran’s elite Quds Force – the overseas operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Israeli attacks on Iranian oil reserves have caused something of a rift lately between the country’s government and their American counterparts.

The US have said the strikes negatively affected PR surrounding the war, and contributed to ballooning oil prices.

But President Isaac Herzog has backed the attacks in an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper.

He said: ‘The Iranians are the ones spreading chaos and terror throughout the region and the world.

‘So I think if we measure everything by a speedometer, we won’t get anywhere. We need to take a deep breath and get to the end result.’