US-Israel Iran war updates: Iran vows ‘eye for an eye’, Trump issue revenge vow for Strait of Hormuz mines

The International Energy Agency has reported recomended the largest-ever release of oil reserves to bring the price of crude oil.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that sources close to discussions said the release would be larger that when members put 182 million barrels on the market in 2022 when war between Russia and Ukraine broke out.

G7 energy ministers have stopped short of agreeing on a release of strategic oil reserves and instead has asked the International Energy Agency to assess the situation before acting.

The IEA said it was convening an extraordinary meeting of its member states on Tuesday.

Members would “assess the current security of supply and market conditions to inform a subsequent decision on whether to make emergency stocks of IEA countries available to the market,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said.

“We have asked the IEA to elaborate scenarios for a potential oil stock release, we need to be ready to act at any moment,” French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told reporters after the G7 ministers held a call to discuss soaring energy prices due to the war in Iran.

The G7 comprises the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

The Australian Government has confirmed it has closed the embassy in Israel, warning Aussies not to attempt to travel to the area where it is located.

“Due to heightened security concerns, the Australian Embassy in Tel Aviv is closed,” an update issued by Smartraveller confirmed.

“Do not go to the Embassy and surrounding area.

“Australian officials remain in country and continue to provide consular services.”

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed that the two additional people granted asylum were swept into an interview room at the Gold Coast airport, where they were able to be alone with just department officials and an interpreter.

“In that situation, what we made sure of was there was no rushing. There was no pressure,” he said.

“Everything was about ensuring the dignity for those individuals to make a choice.

“Obviously, the one thing, the one pressure we couldn’t take away, was the context.

“We couldn’t take away the pressure of the context for these individuals, of what might have been said to them beforehand, what pressures they might have felt with their own family members.”

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has confirmed that two additional people from the Iranian women’s football team have been granted asylum.

Mr Burke told reporters on Wednesday morning that of the two additional people, one was a player and the other was a support person.

“When I met with them, I made them the same offer that I had made the five players the night before, and that was that, if they wanted to receive a humanitarian visa for Australia – which would have a pathway to a permanent visa – I had the paperwork ready to execute that immediately,” he said.

Iran’s women’s soccer team arrived in Kuala Lumpu on a flight from Sydney after Australia granted some of their teammates humanitarian visas after they sought asylum over safety concerns on their return home for not singing the national anthem.

“They both said that they did. I signed off on that, asked the department to start processing straightaway and, overnight, processing happened.”

The rest of the delegation, with the exception of a few, had been taken aside at Gold Coast airport after going through customs and immigration, Mr Burke said.

Latika M Bourke writes: Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s immediate support for Donald Trump’s war against Iran was purely out of political “cunning.”

And the Howard government veteran cabinet minister blasted revelations that Australian sailors on board a US submarine were sent to their cabins to avoid taking part in the sinking of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean as “childish.”

Speaking exclusively to The Nightly, Mr Downer, who is Australia’s longest-serving foreign minister, said Mr Albanese’s decision was the right one and stood in contrast to the damage the UK’s Labour leader Keir Starmer who had degraded Britain’s standing to that of Belgium by opposing US action and refusing Pentagon access to military bases.

Australia and Canada’s swift and strong support for Mr Trump’s attempted regime change in Iran has been frequently cited by the British press, which has contrasted their position with Sir Keir, who initially refused the US permission to use British military bases and said he did not support “regime change from the air.”

He said he was pleased Mr Albanese was supporting our ally.

“And it’s not just an ally. The United States is the cornerstone of the Western Alliance, and so if you don’t support the cornerstone of the Western alliance you’re undermining the Western Alliance, so in that sense, I was pleased Mr Albanese did what he did; I thought it was good,” Mr Downer said.

Read the full exclusive.

Defence Minister Richard Marles says while Australia’s recent deployment of military assets to the Middle East was in response to UAE’s call for support, the United States has also made requests during the conflict with Iran.

It comes after Anthony Albanese’s commitment on Tuesday to send the E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft and an unspecified quantity of medium-range missiles, known as an AMRAAM.

Mr Marles said Australia had received a range of defensive capability-based requests since the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran late last month.

“The request that we’ve responded to is the UAE,” Mr Marles told ABC’s 7.30.

“I spoke to my counterpart in the UAE over the course of the weekend, and they were gratefully receiving the offer that we’ve made.

“A number of other countries, including the US have made requests which are centred on helping to provide for the defence of the Gulf countries.”

Read the full story.

British Airways has confirmed it is pulling flights to and from the Middle East, with a domino effect expected to cause chaos for flight routes around the world.

“Due to the continuing uncertainty of the situation in the Middle East and airspace instability, we’ve had to temporarily reduce our flying schedule in the region,” a statement said.

“We’ve cancelled all flights to and from Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv until later this month and to and from Abu Dhabi until later this year.

British Airways did not share further details about those two frames.

Read the full story.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has confirmed US strikes have been unleashed on multiple boats over fears Iran was laying underwater mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

“At the direction of President Trump, @CENTCOM has been eliminating inactive mine-laying vessels in the Strait of Hormuz—wiping them out with ruthless precision,” he wrote on X.

“We will not allow terrorists to hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage. To the weakened Iranian regime: you have officially been put on notice!”

President Donald Trump says that within “the last few hours”, the US has destroyed 10 mine-laying boats.

It comes after he threatened to unleash an unseen force on Iran if mines were laid in the Strait of Hormuz.

“I am pleased to report that within the last few hours, we have hit, and completely destroyed, 10 inactive mine laying boats and/or ships, with more to follow!” he wrote on Truth Social.