Iran-US war live: Trump extends pause on energy plant strikes by 10 days

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed that Iran possesses the capability to strike London with missiles, underscoring what he described as the global threat posed by Tehran.

His remarks, made during a White House cabinet meeting, followed an incident last Friday where two missiles were fired at the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean which lies approximately 4,000km from Iran.

While the UK Government confirmed both missiles fell short of their intended target, the event has intensified concerns regarding the potential threat to Britain itself from Iran.

Israel’s military said this morning that it had conducted a wave of strikes “in the heart of Tehran†while smoke was seen billowing in the Beirut skyline.

The attack comes even as US president Donald Trump delayed his threat to obliterate Iran’s energy plants over its effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr Trump yesterday extended his deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until 6 April, saying talks to end the war are “going very well.†Iran continues to publicly insist it is not negotiating with the White House.

The UN security council has scheduled a closed consultation on Iran this morning.

Russia asked for the meeting on US-Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure in the country, two UN diplomats told AP.

The US, which holds the security council presidency, scheduled the meeting.

The Iranian ambassador to Seoul said Tehran sees South Korea as a “non-hostile†state but it would still need to coordinate with Iranian government and military authorities for its ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ambassador Saeed Koozechi, speaking at an event yesterday denouncing US and Israeli attacks, also said Tehran had requested Seoul to provide details of South Korean vessels stranded in waters near the strait, his embassy said.

He added that Iran, as a direct party in the war, has the right to sanction US and Israeli companies, but did not specify whether it would seek to block South Korean ships trading with the US.

South Korea says 26 of its vessels remain in waters around the Strait of Hormuz.

Sir Keir Starmer has suggested Donald Trump’s criticism of him is an attempt to push him to change his stance on the Iran war but vowed not to “buckle” under the pressure.

The prime minister said he had “core values and principles” that were “irreducible” and would not waver on his insistence that Britain will not be dragged into the “wider” conflict beyond defensive action.

It comes after the US president launched a fresh tirade against the UK for the extent of its involvement in the Middle East, saying Sir Keir made “a big mistake” and denigrating British warships as “toys”.

Asked whether Mr Trump’s repeated attacks had made him bristle, the prime minister told Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast: “I think I understand what’s happening, it’s to put pressure on me in different ways.

“But, that pressure isn’t going to make me waver. It’s not going to make me abandon my principles or values, and that’s just the way I am.

“That is not new. That isn’t because of president Trump. I’ve got core values and principles I’ve held all my life, and they’re irreducible.”

Kuwait this morning said it shot down Iranian drones in an attack targeting the small, oil-rich nation.

The United Arab Emirates sounded a missile alert over Dubai around the same time, though there was no sound of an interception heard in the city-state as rain blanketed it.

Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff told a cabinet meeting earlier there were “strong signs” that Tehran was ready to negotiate, confirming publicly for the first time that Washington had passed a 15-point “action list” to Tehran through Pakistani officials.

“We will see where things lead, and if we can convince Iran that this is the inflection point with no good alternatives for them, other than more death and destruction,” Mr Witkoff said.

The US president yesterday pushed back his deadline for strikes on Iran’s energy assets to 6 April, saying the move came following a request from Tehran and that talks on ending the war were “going very well”.

“As per Iranian Government request… I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time,” he posted.

Iran has sent a letter to the UN over claims that the country’s foreign minister and parliament speaker had been “targets for assassination”.

The letter, dated Thursday and signed by ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, focused on media reports that foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf both had been spared for the time being by Israel and the US as negotiations to reach a ceasefire in the war go on.

“The reports indicate the existence of an operational framework contemplating the assassination of the highest-ranking political officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran,†the letter read.

It added that “the conditional nature of the purported ‘suspension’ further underscores that the threat remains real, deliberate and ongoingâ€.The letter called any such programme “state-sponsored terrorism”.