U.S. President Donald Trump

March 11, 2026 4:44 PM

Iran fires back at bases and ships despite war’s most intensive strikes

Iran fired at Israel and targets across the Middle East on Wednesday, while at least three ships were hit in the Gulf, demonstrating Tehran can still fight back and disrupt energy supplies despite the most intense U.S.-Israeli strikes yet. Oil prices that shot up earlier this week have eased and stock markets have rebounded, with investors betting for now that U.S. President Donald Trump will find a quick way to end the war he began alongside Israel nearly two weeks ago. But so far there has b...

March 10, 2026 1:12 PM

Trump, Putin talk of war and peace as US weighs easing Russian oil sanctions

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed on Monday the war in Iran and prospects for peace in Ukraine, just hours after the Kremlin chief warned that a global energy crisis threatened the world economy. The U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran triggered the biggest spike in oil prices since the turmoil following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as Gulf producers reduce output after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The Kremlin said Trump called Putin, in the...

March 10, 2026 10:38 AM

Oil falls as Trump predicts Middle East de-escalation

Oil prices fell on Tuesday after hitting an over three-year high in the prior session as U.S. President Donald Trump predicted the war in the Middle East could end soon, easing concerns about prolonged disruptions to global oil supplies. Brent futures LCOc1 fell $4.17, or 4.2%, to $94.79 a barrel at 0345 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down $3.81, or 4%, to $90.96 a barrel. Both the contracts fell as much as 11% earlier before paring some losses. Oil surged past $1...

March 9, 2026 9:18 AM

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader?

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba was chosen by Iran's Assembly of Experts to succeed his late father as supreme leader, in a sign that hardliners were still firmly in charge. The clerical body named the 56-year-old mid-ranking cleric, who has survived the U.S.-Israeli air war on Iran, as successor more than a week after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an air strike, Iranian media reported. A member of the council, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, said in a video on Sunday that a can...

March 9, 2026 9:13 AM

Iran names Khamenei’s hardline son Mojtaba as new supreme leader

Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel. Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran's security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed as a frontrunner in the lead-up to Sunday's vote by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics tasked with choosing Ali Khamenei's successor. "By a decis...

March 5, 2026 8:34 PM

UK sending four extra Typhoon jets to Qatar, PM Starmer says

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday that four additional Typhoon fighter jets would be sent to Qatar as the conflict in the Middle East escalates, insisting that the UK has the right plan for defence. Britain's cautious response to the Iran crisis and a drone attack on its key military base in Cyprus have led to doubts among partners about its military effectiveness. U.S. President Donald Trump has also criticised Starmer for failing to provide sufficient support for his strik...

March 3, 2026 7:16 PM

Russia says war could backfire by spurring Iran and Arab nations to seek nuclear weapons

Russia warned on Tuesday that the war launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran could result in the very outcome they were seeking to prevent, by spurring both Iran and its Arab neighbours to seek to acquire nuclear weapons. U.S. President Donald Trump cited Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons - something Tehran denies - as one of the reasons why the United States and Israel launched attacks on Saturday that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, igniting a war that has spread across th...

March 2, 2026 10:44 PM

Trump says he ordered Iran strikes to thwart Tehran’s nuclear, missile programs

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had ordered the U.S. military to attack Iran to thwart Tehran's nuclear development and a ballistic missile program that he said was growing rapidly. Trump said U.S. military operations that he set in motion on Friday were ahead of schedule, without providing details. He said he had projected the U.S. campaign would last four to five weeks but that it could go longer. He said a central premise of the fight was to prevent Iran from developing a nucl...

March 2, 2026 9:42 AM

Israel strikes Lebanon following Hezbollah attacks, widening Iran conflict

Israel launched new air strikes targeting Tehran and expanded its military campaign to include attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, as U.S. President Donald Trump signaled the U.S.-Israeli military assault on Iranian targets could continue for weeks. Israel said it was attacking sites connected to Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim armed group Hezbollah, one of Tehran's principal allies in the Middle East, after Hezbollah acknowledged launching missiles and drones toward I...

February 27, 2026 10:24 PM

Venezuelan oil sale proceeds no longer routed through Qatar, US energy secretary says

Proceeds from sales of Venezuelan oil are no longer being routed through a fund in Qatar and are going directly to accounts handled by the U.S. Treasury Department, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Friday. After U.S. forces captured and removed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from office in January, the U.S. has controlled the country's oil exports in a landmark deal between Caracas and Washington. The proceeds were initially deposited in an account in Qatar to protect it from se...