Iran insists it is not laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz as expert warns unmanned naval attack drones could ‘create havoc’ – Live updates

Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani has claimed Tehran is not planning to close the vital Strait of Hormuz, but adds it is the country’s inherent right to preserve the peace and security of the waterway.

He made the comments while speaking to reporters at the United Nations.

The IDF has revealed it has killed four ‘terrorists’ who crossed the yellow ceasefire line in the northern Gaza Strip earlier today.

A statement on X said: ‘IDF forces eliminated terrorists who violated the agreement and crossed the yellow line in northern Gaza Strip.

‘Combat teams of the “Iron Fist” Brigade (205) operating in northern Gaza Strip identified earlier today four terrorists who crossed the yellow line and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat.

‘Immediately after the identification, the forces eliminated the terrorists in order to remove the threat.

‘IDF forces under Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat.’

Discussing further his hope that the Iranian population will overthrow the regime, Benjamin Netanyahu evoked a proverb, saying:

You can lead someone to water, you cannot make him drink.

We will create optimal conditions to do this, including airstrikes as we did yesterday, as we are doing these days, to try to give them the space needed to take to the streets.

Asked whether he would pursue Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Netanyahu replied: ‘I wouldn’t take out a life insurance policy on any of the leaders of the terror organisations.’

After discussing the progress of the war in Iran, and then urging the Iranian people to act against the ruling regime, Benjamin Netanyahu is now discussing his friendship with US President Donald Trump.

He says:

We have created an alliance unlike any before with the United States – an alliance with our great friend, my personal friend, President Trump.

We speak almost every day. We speak freely, exchange ideas and advice, and make decisions together.

Netanyahu adds he and Trump spoke a short time ago and the president told him: ‘Our relationship is one hundred times stronger than any relationship that has existed between an American president and an Israeli prime minister.’

He continues:

We are not thinking only about our countries, or only about this generation. We are thinking about future generations – about the future of humanity.

In these days, my team and I are weaving additional alliances with countries in the region – alliances that only a few weeks ago would have seemed imaginary.

Iran has threatened to wreak havoc on the region’s oil and gas industry if its own energy infrastructure is targeted during its war with the US and Israel.

‘We will set the region’s oil and gas on fire with the slightest attack on Iran’s energy infrastructure and ports,’ a spokesman for the Iranian military’s central operational command, known as Khatam al-Anbiya, said.

More from Benjamin Netanyahu as he addresses both the Israeli population and the Iranian people.

We are working to advance another objective: to create the conditions that will allow the Iranian people to remove the cruel tyrannical regime that has oppressed them for nearly fifty years.

We are delivering crushing blows to the Revolutionary Guards, their bases, their street forces, their checkpoints – and more is yet to come.

I say to the Iranian people: The moment when you will be able to embark on a new path of freedom is approaching. That moment is drawing closer. We stand with you. We are helping you. But in the end — it depends on you. It is in your hands.

If we had not acted immediately, within a few months Iran’s industries of death would have become immune to any strike. Therefore, we went out together to battle — the United States and Israel — to continue what we began and to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

To prevent Iran from developing ballistic missiles that threaten Israel, the United States, and the entire world. That is our objective.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed Israel is ‘crushing’ the Iranian regime as well as its affiliate Hezbollah in Lebanon, in his first press conference since the Iran War began almost a fortnight ago.

He said:

We are crushing the terror regime in Iran. We are striking and defeating its proxies – Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hezbollah is feeling the force of our arm, and it will feel it even more so. It will pay a very heavy price for its aggression.

Through an unprecedented joining of forces between Israel and the United States, we have achieved tremendous accomplishments — achievements that are changing the balance of power in the Middle East and even beyond it.

Hezbollah has conducted another attack on Israel, with sirens ringing out in Kiryat Shmona and surrounding towns.

Medics have confirmed that no injuries have been reported in the series of rocket barrages and drone strikes.

It comes after terror group Hezbollah escalated its rocket fire on Israel last night.

In the last few moments, the Israeli armed forces have confirmed a fresh series of strikes on infrastructure in Iran’s capital.

The IDF X account posted: ‘The Israel Defense Forces have now launched a massive wave of attacks against the infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime across Tehran.’

The Red Cross has been busy in the Middle East in recent days, with 700,000 believed to have been displaced in Lebanon alone, and a further 3.2 million in Iran.

Based in Beirut, Gabriel Karlsson, Middle East and North Africa Regional Representative for the British Red Cross said:

‘The shock of just a few days of violence could create ripple effects that impact the region for decades.

‘I’ve seen families sleeping in their cars, children, the elderly and people with disabilities left with no shelter.

‘People are forced to flee with little belongings, become separated from loved ones, and are struggling to find adequate shelter, access to food or healthcare. 

‘We are working tirelessly to ensure people are not in harm’s way, but the numbers are staggeringly high.’

In Tyre, Lebanon, a Lebanese Red Cross paramedic was killed by an Israeli attack. His funeral took place on Wednesday, with hundreds of Red Cross staff in attendance.

As Donald Trump keeps reminding us, Iran’s conventional navy has been almost entirely destroyed over the last fortnight.

But the Middle Eastern country has been preparing for this eventuality for a long time – by producing large arsenals of unmanned naval attack drones.

Often called suicide drones, these weapons are packed with explosives and hurl into larger vessels in a bid to destroy them.

Much smaller than huge naval ships, the drones can often dodge defensive systems. They have been used regularly by Ukraine against Russian ships in the Black Sea.

The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams says: ‘If [Iran] can continue to deploy them without being detected and destroyed, then its ability to create havoc in one of the world’s most important waterways could last for some time.’