Middle East crisis live: Trump claims Iran war will be over ‘very soon’ but Tehran says it will determine when | US-Israel war on Iran

Investor hopes for a swift resolution to the Middle East conflict propelled Australian shares higher today, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finishing the day up 1.1% and recovering about $35bn in value after yesterday’s $90bn plunge.

Oil prices surged to a four-year high early in the week before coming back down below $US90 a barrel after Donald Trump suggested the Iran conflict would end soon, sending global stock markets higher.

Equity markets have been pulled up and down by the Middle East given energy disruptions and increased oil costs contribute to global inflation by elevating costs across nearly all goods and services.

The ASX was expected to rise more than 2% today, according to overnight futures pricing, but the rebound proved weaker than forecast amid lingering investor concerns.

Four fighters from the Iran-backed Kataeb Imam Ali group were killed on Tuesday in airstrikes blamed on the US in northern Iraq, the armed faction announced.

The group said its fighters were killed in an “American aggression” on their position in the Debs district in Kirkuk province, the AFP news agency reports.

Amnesty International Australia has raised urgent concerns for the safety of members of the Iran women’s football team and is calling on Australian authorities to ensure all players have been clearly informed of their right to seek protection in Australia.

“The Iranian women’s football team face serious risks to their safety if they return to Iran. We stress that they have the right to seek protection and safety in Australia and must have an opportunity to exercise that right”, said Zaki Haidari, Strategic Campaigner at Amnesty International Australia.

Five members of the team have been granted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia after telling Australian government officials they did not wish to return to Iran.

It is unclear whether other players, or members of the travelling party, will also seek to stay in Australia. The group has travelled to the Gold Coast airport, and it is expected they will leave Australia tonight.

Iran’s foreign minister has said his country is prepared to continue attacks for as long as necessary.

Abbas Araghchi also ruled out talks with the US after Donald Trump said the war with Iran would be over “very soon”.

Araghchi made the comments to the US broadcaster PBS News on Tuesday, cited by AFP.

He said Iran was prepared to continue missile attacks and that negotiations with the US were no longer on the agenda.

Syria has said Hezbollah fired artillery shells into its territory from Lebanon overnight, state media reported on Tuesday.

Syrian army officials said artillery shells fired from Lebanon landed near the town of Serghaya, west of Damascus, reported the state news agency Sana, cited by AFP.

The army accused Hezbollah of targeting Syrian army positions, telling Sana it observed Hezbollah reinforcements at the Syrian-Lebanese border.

“The Syrian Arab army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria,” the army said in a statement to Sana.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of then Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes.

Hezbollah and Israeli forces have clashed in eastern Lebanon in recent days, while Israeli forces have carried out strikes across Lebanon.

Lebanese president Joseph Aoun accused Hezbollah of working to “collapse” the state, while the head of the group’s parliamentary bloc said it had “no other option… than the option of resistance”.

Australia’s government confirmed earlier today that it has offered humanitarian visas to five Iranian football players who have been in the country for the Asian Cup.

Now protesters have briefly blocked a bus taking Iranian women’s football team members out of their hotel on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Andrew Messenger reports:

The group of a few dozen physically sat in front of the vehicle to block it. They chanted “save our girls” as the vehicle attempted to make its exit. Protesters say they believe the bus is heading to the Gold Coast airport.

A group of Queensland police officers moved them on.

The bus is now leaving.

The Guardian saw at least one of the football players through the window in tears.

A protester who was inside the Gold Coast hotel where the Iranian football players were staying said they saw one of the players being walked onto the bus by a minder who appeared to be holding her wrist.

Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and wider Middle East crisis. Here are the major developments.

• Donald Trump described the Iran war as a “short-term excursion” and said it would end “very soon”, as the assault on Iran entered its second week. He said the war was “very complete, pretty much” and ahead of schedule, a significant shift from his previous suggestions it could last several weeks. But the US president also indicated he was not yet declaring the US mission accomplished, saying: “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough.” The operation would only end once Tehran no longer had any capacity of weaponry against the US, Israel or any US allies in the region for a long time, he added later. Here’s our report, plus analysis on what our global affairs correspondent Andrew Roth called a vague and contradictory press conference by the president.

• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has said Tehran will not allow “one litre of oil” to be exported from the region if US-Israeli attacks continue. Trump then threatened to hit the Islamic republic far harder if it stopped the flow of oil in the vital strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement that it would “determine the end of the war”, after Trump earlier said the conflict would end “soon”.

• Oil prices surged by 20% to a four-year high before coming back down below $90 a barrel after Trump’s suggestion the war would end soon. Iran earlier mocked the US over the rocketing oil price, branding its campaign “Operation Epic Mistake”.

• Trump twice declined to say whether or not Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei had a target on his back, saying only that he was “disappointed” and thought he was “going to lead to just more of the same problem for the country”. It came after a day of Trump being dismissive of the late ayatollah’s son – saying his selection was a “big mistake” – and reiterating that Trump still wants to be involved in the selection of a leader. Israel, meanwhile, has openly vowed to target the new supreme leader.

• Large crowds took to the streets in Tehran in a defiant show of support for Khamenei.

• Israel launched its second wave of strikes today against Tehran. The Israeli military claimed it had started a broad wave of strikes against “terror targets” in the Iranian capital, but it has been hitting critical energy and fuel infrastructure that serves ordinary Iranians.

• Israel also pressed its offensive against Hezbollah with raids in southern Lebanon and airstrikes in Beirut. Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 486 people, including at least 83 children, since 2 March, Lebanese state news reported, citing the country’s health ministry. At least 600,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, sparking fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.

• Fresh Iranian missile and drone attacks also targeted Israel, US bases across the Middle East and energy infrastructure in the Gulf.

• British Typhoon jets intercepted drones heading towards Jordan and Bahrain, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.

• Turkey said Nato defences shot down a ballistic missile in its airspace, the second intercepted missile from Iran in a ​week.

• Five female Iranian footballers have been granted humanitarian visas by Australia following an appeal from Trump to prime minister Anthony Albanese. Our story is here.