The US granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver to buy Russian oil after the US-Israel war on Iran sparked fears of a supply crunch, lifting global prices. Barely a month ago, Donald Trump claimed India had agreed to stop purchasing oil from Russia, in a shift that he said would “help END THE WAR in Ukraine” by cutting off a key source of funds for Moscow. The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, insisted this temporary waiver, designed “to enable oil to keep flowing” into the market, “will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government”.
The IDF has begun striking what it describes as Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahiya neighbourhood, a densely populated commercial and residential area in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The IDF had earlier issued forced evacuation orders for the whole population of Beirut’s southern suburbs – home to 500,000 people – sparking widespread panic and leading to huge queues of traffic as people tried to flee. It comes in spite of calls from world leaders including Emmanuel Macron urging Israel not to expand the war into Lebanon. According to the Lebanese health ministry, Israeli strikes have killed at least 123 people and injured 683 in Lebanon since Monday.
Trump has pushed back against Iranian claims that it is ready for a ground invasion by US and Israeli forces. “They’ve lost everything. They’ve lost their navy,” the US president told NBC News, without citing evidence for the claim. “They’ve lost everything they can lose.” More on that here.
Trump also said he must “be involved in the appointment” of Iran’s next leader as he was in Venezuela, and dismissed the idea of the assassinated ayatollah’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeding his father as supreme leader as “unacceptable”. Trump has spoken in vague terms about who he wants to lead the country, but declined to provide specific names. More on that here.
The war has escalated each day, now affecting an additional 14 countries across the Middle East and beyond. On Thursday, Azerbaijan accused Iran of drone attacks, which Tehran denied.
The first government-chartered plane evacuating British nationals has landed in the UK. The plane took off from Muscat, the capital of Oman, at 1.36pm GMT on Thursday and arrived at London Stansted just before 1am on Friday. More on that here.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives has voted down a Democratic-backed measure to halt hostilities with Iran, as Republicans cleared the way for Trump to continue the conflict that has drawn in countries across the Middle East, but criticised as having unclear goals. Our story here.
The UK’s defence secretary, John Healey, has declined to rule out Britain joining US-Israeli strikes on Iran. More on that here.
Canada’s top general said allies were in talks about possibly helping Gulf states defend themselves. The defence chief, Gen. Jennie Carignan, said a meeting was set for Friday to discuss such a proposal among allied militaries, and the Canadian Armed Forces would present a recommendation to the Canadian government. She did not specify what type of support this might involve but said Canada is not taking part in the US bombing of Iran and confirmed the discussions were not about participating in Operation Epic Fury.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he received a request from the US “for specific support” in dealing with Iran’s Shahed attack drones, as the US and its allies in the Middle East seek Ukraine’s expertise in countering such attacks from Russia. “I gave instructions to provide the necessary means and ensure the presence of Ukrainian specialists who can guarantee the required security,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. More on that here.
