Vice-President JD Vance has warned that the US military will respond if Iran attempts to block the Strait of Hormuz.

“If Iran tries to close the strait down, there’s going to be a response for the American military. That’s the deal," he told a press conference in Washington DC.

"The basic deal that we cut was, we’ll lift our blockade if you stop shooting at ships, but if you shoot at ships, we are going to punch back.

"They can either follow it, or they can have exactly what happened last night. It’s just gonna keep on happening until they open up that lane and stop shooting at ships."

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the US and Iran to uphold commitments laid out by the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed last month.

In a statement on X, the ministry urged all parties to exercise restraint and "refrain from any actions that may further undermine regional peace and stability".

President Donald Trump, 80, seemingly became confused during a press conference today when he spoke of attacks on the US Navy by the Islamic Republic of Japan.

The befuddled leader was sitting across from Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky when he embarked on a rambling description of the latest hostilities in the Persian Gulf.

Describing an attack on the US aircraft carrier the Abraham Lincoln, which is currently on deployment in the Middle East, Trump said: "We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan.

"They were shot at the aircraft carrier over a period of about one hour. 111 missiles going to a very expensive ship, and every one of those missiles was knocked down, pretty much most by patriots, but by other means also."

Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for the Iranian parliament's Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, has warned that "not even a single American soldier will return alive" if the US attempts to invade Iran's Kharg Island.

Referring to a threat Trump made during the NATO summit in Ankara, Rezaei wrote on X: "Trump has once again spoken of occupying Kharg Island. Come on, we're waiting for you and we promise that not even a single American soldier will return alive."

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has branded Donald Trump "criminal" and "murderous" after the US president threatened to launch further strikes on Iran tonight.

He wrote on X that Trump's remarks "are not a sign of strength", but rather an "admission of the failure of a policy built on brute force, sanctions and threats for years, which could not bring the Iranian nation to its knees".

"With the criminal and murderous Trump, one must speak in his own language; apparently, he understands the language of force better!" Gharibabadi added.

Asked why his tone towards the new Iranian leadership had changed after previously describing its officials as "rational" and "smart", Donald Trump said he came to the conclusion they are "scum" and "cuckoo" after getting to know them.

"I think they’re much more rational than level one, level two. Level one is gone, level two is gone. This is level three," he said. "I think they are more rational, but based on their actions over the last week or two, they’re not doing a service to the people."

Donald Trump has said he may be assassinated by Iran as he is the regime’s "number one target" and number one on their "kill list"

"They [Iran] had leaders, they’re gone. And they had another set of leaders, they’re gone. Now they have another set of leaders. They may be gone. Who knows? And you know what? I may be gone too, because I’m their number one target," the US president said during his press conference at the NATO summit.

Trump also said he prefers being number one of TikTok rather than "number one on the kill list for Iran".

Being a president is a "very dangerous profession" and one that makes him "number one on the kill list for Iran", he said, adding: "I like being number one on TikTok better, but I’m number one on the list for killing."

Responding to a journalist's suggestion that the US war with Iran has reached a "strategic dead end", Donald Trump said: "I think we’re doing just the opposite. The Iran war has been a tremendous military success."

He added: "I’m not sure I want to make a deal with them. We can play games, but I’m not sure I want to make a deal. Let’s just finish the job."

Trump also said the US has prevented Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Donald Trump is now speaking at his official news conference at the NATO summit in Turkey.

We will bring you the most important updates.

Oil prices have surged and stock markets have fallen worldwide after US President Donald Trump said he thinks the ceasefire is "over".

The price of a barrel of Brent crude jumped 7.2 per cent to $79.48. Although that remains well below its peak earlier in the war when the benchmark climbed to nearly $120 a barrel, it has unsettled markets as prices had fallen back to pre-war levels.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell 0.8 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 745 points, or 1.4 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.7 per cent.

Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas has said the latest attacks by the US and Iran complicate "already fraught talks" to end the war.

She condemned Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait as "unacceptable" and said recent attacks on ships near the Strait of Hormuz violate the commitment made under the memorandum of understanding and "threaten to disrupt the resumption of energy supplies".

Kallas added that EU foreign ministers will meet their Gulf counterparts on Monday to discuss how they can work together to preserve freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.

As the latest exchange of fire between the US and Iran put the ceasefire under renewed strain, funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei were held today in the Iraqi city of Najaf.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the services alongside other Iranian and Iraqi officials, including Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falah al-Zaidi. Funeral prayers were scheduled to be held later at the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala.

Khamenei's body will then be returned to Iran, where he is due to be buried tomorrow at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Iran was “wrong” to carry out the strikes on ships in the Strait of Hormuz that prompted a US response, saying they violated the agreement Tehran had signed.

“I believe the Iranians were entirely in the wrong to carry out those strikes, which are contrary to the agreement they themselves signed,” Macron said.

Asked about the status of the ceasefire, Macron said the parties remain within the 60-day negotiation period established under the US-Iran deal signed in June.

Macron said his understanding is that the meetings scheduled under that framework will continue to take place.

Donald Trump has threatened to take over Iran's Kharg Island which is central to Iran's oil industry.

Having said that the ceasefire with Iran is over, Trump said the US can up its attacks by targeting infrastructure including bridges, electrical plants and desalination plants.

And on Kharg Island, he said: "We attacked Kharg Island last time, (I said) don't touch the oil because maybe we will take over Kharg Island, we may take over Kharg Island, there is not a thing that they can do about it."

Donald Trump says the US will give a license for its Patriot air defence systems to be made overseas for Ukraine to counter Russian missile attacks - a huge coup for Ukraine which has badly needed the technology in the war that’s now in its fifth year.

The US President made the announcement as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit in Turkey, praising him as having “done an amazing job” and “been very effective” in the war.

“We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it,” Trump said.

Zelensky has long sought more of the defence systems, which are expensive, in high demand and take a long time to manufacture. He’s been pressing for Ukraine to be granted a license to manufacture the technology.

Donald Trump says that Iran won't ever have a nuclear weapon whether there is a deal or not with the United States.

He told a press conference: "They will never have a nuclear weapon under our government, I don't know whether we will have a deal, maybe we will do it without a deal because it is easier because these people they lie and they cheat.

"We agree a deal and they go outside, for instance we agree they will never have a deal nuclear weapon, and they go outside and they say that they never discussed the subject, who would ever believe we never discussed the subject because for me that is 99% of what we are doing."

Trump added that the US negotiators "can continue" talking to Iran and "we will see what happens".

Trump repeated that Iran won't have a nuclear weapon(Image: Getty Images)

Donald Trump says that the United States are planning "to hit hard" Iran tonight.

He said: "We hit them hard last night, probably hit them hard again tonight, I'll give them a bit of a warning. We'll see how it works out, but no I am not happy with them."

And he added that it is not about "regime change" but the denuclearisation of Iran.

Donald Trump has continued his demands for Greenland saying the US needs to gain ownership of it for security reasons.

His renewed insistence on claiming the semiautonomous territory of Denmark has upended the NATO summit in Ankara.

“Greenland is very important to the United States, but it’s not important to Denmark,” Trump argued, as he met with Mark Rutte on the second day of the summit.

He continued, “We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States.”

Negotiations to reach a final deal had been due to start after the days-long funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28.

The funeral, which ends Thursday, was supposed to be a period of lower tensions.

The talks were meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.

But now that has been thrown into the air with Donald Trump saying “for me, I think it’s over,” when asked about the ceasefire. “It’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” he added.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X: “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”

Recep Erdogan says Turkey is prepared to contribute to demining efforts in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Turkish president made the remarks in a speech marking the opening of the NATO summit he is hosting.

Earlier, Erdogan was seen in a huddle with Donald Trump, joined by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Intelligence Minister Ibrahim Kalin.

Trump meeting with the Turkish leader(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi slammed the US' decision to reimpose sanctions on the sale of its oil after overnight missile attacks.

In a post on X on Tuesday, the senior diplomat warned that Iran will take “firm measures” to safeguard its national interests and security.

The Spanish prime minister’s office has responded to Donald Trump's claim that it is a "terrible ally" by saying it is “business as usual”.

In an apparent effort to downplay the spat, an official statement read: “Our country enjoys excellent social, cultural, and economic relations with the US, and it is not our intention for that to change."

The price of Brent crude oil jumped 5.7% to more than $78 a barrel after Trump’s comments on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

US benchmark crude surged 5.8% to $74.55 a barrel. Crude prices had declined recently from spikes well above $100 a barrel to around the levels they were at before the war with Iran began in late February.

Donald Trump has lashed out at Spain and called it a “terrible partner” with its lack of support for the war in Iran along with resistance to increase NATO spending.

“Spain is a wasted cause,” Trump said on the sidelines of the NATO summit. “We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way. I’d like to cut it off.”

He went on: “I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, including visits.”

Trump called Spain a "terrible ally"(Image: AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Oil prices have risen and stocks have slumped after fresh attacks between the US and Iran which threaten to lengthen disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.

The price of Brent crude oil was up by as much as 3% on Wednesday morning to around 76 US dollars a barrel, climbing to a two-week high.

Prices have been coming down in recent weeks after Donald Trump declared a ceasefire deal had been reached with Iran and that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen. But this morning it says that agreement is over at a NATO summit.

Trump called the Iranian regime "evil people" as he repeated the line that the US can't allow the country to have a nuclear weapon.

He pointed to attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, as well as strikes against targets in Kuwait and Bahrain.

"These are evil sick people," said Trump. "They're cancer, and you know what you have to do - you have to cut out cancer early."

He continued: "If they had a nuclear weapon they would use it... They are bad people and frankly I don't want to waste my time with them."

Trump speaking with Rutte(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Trump says that the interim agreement with Iran is “over” but he will allow talks to continue.

“For me, I think it’s over,” Trump responded when asked about the status of the ceasefire. “It’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”

He made the comment on the sidelines of the two-day NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, and hours after striking Iran in what the U.S. described as retaliation for strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

But he did say negotiators from both sides "can talk" even if they would be "wasting their time".

Trump speaking at the NATO summit(Image: Filip Singer/Pool EPA via AP)

The attacks on shipping and the resulting strikes from both the US and Iran have come during the dayslong funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in the war’s first moments at age 86.

The funeral, which ends Thursday, had been thought to be a period of lower tensions — though mourners have repeatedly called for the killings of Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

When asked whether the ceasefire and the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran was dead, Trump said: “I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum.

“I’ll speak to our negotiators, they want to negotiate, they’re good people. But as far as I’m concerned it’s just a waste of time dealing with them [Iran]. They’re liars.

“There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo. As far as I’m concerned it’s over.”

The US military attacked Iran early Wednesday after it said Tehran struck three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and revoked the Islamic Republic’s ability to openly sell crude oil in the world market.

Iran retaliated with strikes targeting Bahrain and Kuwait.

The regional crossfire raised the risks that an interim agreement to halt fighting in the war could break down ahead of Trump's latest comments on the ceasefire.