Donald Trump speaks from the White House about the US-Israel War on Iran, April 2, 2026 (Sky)

EA on International Outlets: US-Israel War on Iran — Trump’s Deception and Incoherence

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Will Trump Risk Ground Troops in Iran?

UPDATE 1003 GMT:

Former Iranian Foreign Kamal Kharrazi, a central figure in the regime’s political positioning, was severely wounded by an airstrike on Wednesday.

Kharrazi’s wife was killed.

Kharrzi, 81, was Foreign Minister from 1997 to 2005 in the Government of reformist President Mohammad Khatami. He was later a foreign affairs advisor to the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli strike on February 28.

Analysts assess that the attack on Kharrazi is a blow to any chance of negotiations to end the US-Israel War.

UPDATE 0955 GMT:

The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, has said of oil supplies, “The next month, April, will be much worse than March.”

Birol noted that in March some cargo ships with oil and gas that were transiting through the Strait of Hormuz when the US and Israel started their war on Iran.

They are still coming to ports, still bringing oil and energy and other [commodities].

In April, there is nothing. The loss of oil in April will be twice the loss of oil in March.

Birol said the war has already had a greater effect than the energy shocks of the 1970s and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In March, the IEA’s member states approved a record release of 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves.

Birol said of another release, “When the time is right I will make the decision to make a suggestion to governments.” However, he noted that this will not end the problem in energy markets.

UPDATE 0934 GMT:

British petrol and diesel prices rose by a record amount in March.

The average price of a liter of unleaded petrol rose from £1.3283 to £1.5283. The previous all-time biggest monthly incrase was £0.166 in June 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Diesel prices rose 40 pence in March to an average from £1.4238 to £1.8277. The surge is almost twice as large as previous record rise of 22 pence recorded in March 2022.

UPDATE 0703 GMT:

Israel says Iran has launched four waves of missiles within six hours.

In the UAE, air defenses intercepted a missile near Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Economic Zones. Authorities said there was minor damage and no injuries.

The US Embassy in Iraq has urged Americans to leave the country, warning that “Iran-aligned militias” may carry out attacks in central Baghdad within 24 to 48 hours.

These actors may target U.S. citizens, companies, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports, and other sites believed to be associated with the United States, in addition to Iraqi institutions and civilian targets.

Iran’s military command said in a statement:

With trust in Almighty God, this war will continue until your humiliation, disgrace, permanent and certain regret, and surrender.

Await our more crushing, broader and more destructive actions.

UPDATE 0655 GMT:

More than 5,000 people have been killed in Iran and across the Middle East since the start of the US-Israel War on February 28.

The US-based human rights group HRANA reports the killing of 3,519 people in Iran. They include 1,598 civilians, among them at least 244 children.

Lebanese authorities say 1,318 people have been killed by Israel’s attacks since March 2, including at least 124 children. More than 400 fighters from Hezbollah have been slain.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: In a highly-touted prime-time speech on Wednesday night, Donald Trump said nothing new about the US-Israel War on Iran.

Surrounded by US and military flags and standing at a podium in the Cross Hall of the White House, Trump largely stuck to reading a 19-minute script in an uncharacteristally flat, listless voice.

He blustered about destruction of Iran, including its armed forces; assassination of leaders; and supposed military success. He put out his stock phrases about “Operation Epic Fury” and “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories, victories that few people have seen before”. He proclaimed, “We are winning bigger than ever before.”

But he said little about political objectives, let alone the current situation with the Iranian regime and across the Middle East, after a month of US and Israeli attacks and Iran’s retaliation.

Offering no evidence or substantive information, he insisted that the war was “nearing completion”, as he said Tehran would be struck “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks: “We are going to bring them back to the Stone Age where they belong.”

“We are on the cusp of ending Iran’s sinister threat to America and the world. We have all the cards. They have none,” he read.

Trump offered nothing beyond continuation of missile strikes to pursue regime surrender. He did not reiterate his falsehoods about “productive talks” with Iran, or speak about the possibility about ground operations on Iranian islands or its southern coast.

Having failed to break Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 25% of the world’s maritime oil and around 20% of maritime gas passes, he handed the issue to other countries with the command, ““Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves. Grab it and cherish it.”

The invocation failed to convince oil and stock markets. The price of Brent crude oil rose 6% to more than $107 per barrel on Thursday morning. Asian markets slumped, with Japan’s Nikkei down 1.8% and South Korea’s Kospi sliding 3.6%. US stock futures dropped 1% and Europe’s more than 1.5%.

Trump, whose approval rating has slumped to 39%, acknowledged “many Americans are concerned” about the surge in gasoline prices. However, he absolved himself of any responsibility: “This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries.”

He immediately left the issue, saying, “This proves that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear issues”. He then declared that he had taken a “dead and crippled” US and made it “the hottest country in the world”.

He said the US stock market, which has fallen by almost 8% since the start of the war, is doing “much better than we thought”: “We had to take this little journey to Iran to get rid of this horrible regime.”