Iran war: Trump claims victory, rejects 'late help' from UK, death tolls and other updates

Iran war: Trump claims victory, rejects ‘late help’ from UK, death tolls and other updates

President Donald Trump has accused Sir Keir Starmer UK Prime Minister,.of seeking to “join wars after we’ve already won” and says that “we don’t need” UK aircraft carriers.

The comments come as the BBC learns that British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has been placed on advanced readiness.

In Tehran, oil depots were hit by intense aerial bombardment, with locals reporting multiple explosions and heavy smoke. “It was as if the night had turned into day,” one man tells BBC Persian.

Israel has warned residents in the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate as it targets the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

Israel says it struck “key commanders” of the Lebanon Corps of the Quds Force, the IRGC’s overseas operations arm.

US has knocked out 42 Iranian navy ships, Trump also says.

Israel continues to intercept missiles fired.

Trump brushes off ‘pay the price’ remarks from top Iranian security official

Also in Saturday’s phone interview with the BBC’s news partner CBS, Trump brushed off threats from Iran’s top national-security official, Ali Larijani, who earlier posted on social media that Washington must “pay the price” for the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about, who he is. I couldn’t care less. I couldn’t care less,” Trump told CBS News. “He’s already been defeated.”

Trump also asserted his confidence about the US strategy so far in this war and his administration’s policy in the Middle East. “It’s been incredible, the job we’ve done. The missiles are blown to smithereens,” Trump continued.

“The factories are being blown up as we speak. The Navy is gone, it’s at the bottom of the sea. Forty-two ships, 42, in six days, 42 ships. The navy is gone. The air force is gone. Every single element of their military is gone. Their leadership is gone. There’s not a thing that’s not gone.

“We’re winning at levels never seen before and quickly.”

‘A little bit late’ for allies to send ships – Trump

Speaking to the BBC’s US news partner CBS, US President Donald Trump has said he “couldn’t care less” about whether allies could do more to assist in the war on Iran.

“They can do whatever they want. The loyal ones are already in,” the president said.

Trump was pressed on the possibility of the UK had readied aircraft carriers for possible deployment to the Middle East – something the president earlier said would not be needed.

In Saturday evening’s interview Trump added: “It’s a little bit late to be sending ships, right? A little bit late.”

The IDF says it has launched a fresh wave of attacks targeting Iran’s infrastructure, after oil depots in Tehran were hit overnight.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran’s “openness to de-escalation” has been “almost immediately killed” by President Trump’s “misinterpretation” of Iran’s capabilities and intent.

The Kuwait army says it has been dealing “with a wave of hostile drones”, including an attack on fuel tankers at the Kuwait International Airport. Elsewhere, a huge fire engulfed a tower.

A resident of Dubai was killed after shrapnel from an “aerial interception” fell on a vehicle in the Al Barsha area, the Dubai Media Office said.

In Israel

Opposition politician Yair Lapid urged the government to “destroy all of Iran’s oil fields” to cripple its economy.

The IDF reported that it was working to intercept missiles launched from Iran and said it had carried out a strike on the Quds Force in Lebanon, the overseas operation arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In Lebanon

Lebanese officials reported multiple strikes overnight, including one which they said was an Israeli airstrike on a hotel – it killed four people.

They said nearly half a million have been displaced by the fighting so far.

In the US

President Trump hit out at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a Truth Social post saying “we don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won”. This was after the BBC learned that UK aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has been placed on advanced readiness.

The US president took to his social media platform Truth Social to say the US did not need the UK’s two aircraft carriers in the Middle East.

“The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”

This comes after Starmer refused to let the US use UK bases in the initial strikes on Iran. Trump later said “he has not been helpful”.

“I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK,” he told the Sun newspaper.

For context: The UK government has not joined offensive operations or given any commitment to do so. Earlier, the BBC reported one aircraft carrier had been put on an advanced state of readiness in case it needed to be deployed to the region. The UK has allowed the US to use its bases for defensive operations.

Strikes hit Beirut overnight

Overnight, the Lebanese Health Ministry announced that four people had died and another 10 were injured in an Israeli strike on a hotel in Beirut.

Eight people were also killed in strikes on more than 20 towns and villages, AFP news agency reported, citing the health ministry.

The Israeli military said it had carried out a “precise strike” in Beirut on members of the Quds Force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ overseas operations arm. It did not say who had been targeted or where the strike hit.

Earlier in the night, it said it was striking “Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahiyeh area in Beirut”.

Israeli military announces new wave of strikes against Iran

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on X that they have just “launched another wave of attacks across Iran”, adding that they are targeting infrastructure throughout the country.

The announcement came at around 08:30 in Tehran (around 05:00 GMT), as the capital woke up after a night of strikes on its oil refineries.

About half an hour earlier, the IDF had said it was working to intercept missiles from Iran.

Overnight, Israeli strikes targeted oil refineries in Tehran sending plumes of smoke into the sky.

One resident told the BBC, “it was as if night had turned into day”.

The flames have spilled into the nearby Koohsar Boulevard, where an onlooker said they were burning homes and shops.

Death tolls

The death toll continues to rise. At least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 300 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel have been killed, according to officials in those countries.