Iran-US war latest: Trump accuses media of treason as US intel reportedly claims Tehran retains substantial missile capabilities

Oil prices fell on Wednesday after three consecutive sessions of gain as Donald Trump headed to China for a high-stakes summit with Xi Jinping.

Brent crude lost 73 cents to settle at $107 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate fell 62 cents to $101.60, pulling back from a rally that had pushed both benchmarks up on fading hopes for a lasting ceasefire to end the US-Israeli war against Iran.

The benchmarks have hovered at or above $100 since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February and Tehran retaliated by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz. Brent has surged from roughly $70 per barrel before the war began.

A Chinese crude oil supertanker appears to be transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to ship-tracking data.

Yuan Hua Hu passed Iran’s Lark Island on the eastern side of the strait while heading south away from Hormuz.

The vessel is owned and operated by units of China’s Cosco Shipping, according to shipping database Equasis.

Yuan Hua Hu is the third large crude carrier to cross the strait since the beginning of the US-Israeli war on Iran in February.

Airlines have dramatically escalated flight cancellations for May, new figures reveal, as the industry grapples with soaring jet fuel prices and concerns over potential shortages.

Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows 296 departures from UK airports were cancelled this month as of Tuesday, representing 0.75 per cent of the total scheduled flights. This marks a significant increase from just 120 cancellations reported six days prior.

However, the outlook for the peak summer travel period appears more stable. Week-on-week schedule reductions for June remain limited at 48 fewer outbound flights, following the cancellation of 0.2 per cent of services. July has seen a reduction of 31 flights week-on-week, while August shows a minimal decrease of just four flights.

Iran executed a man convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence service after the supreme court upheld his death sentence, the judiciary’s Mizan news outlet reported this morning.

According ‌to rights ‌group HRANA, the ⁠32-year-old defendant named Ehsan Afrashteh was arrested in 2024 and sentenced to death ‌in 2025 based ‌on ⁠confessions that ⁠were fabricated.

The United Arab Emirates has carried out secret strikes on Iran during the war started by the US and Israel earlier this year, according to a report, in what would mark the first involvement of a Gulf nation in the conflict.

The Gulf monarchy was Iran’s number one target since it began its retaliatory attacks across the region, targeting states that are allied with the US.

The UAE has not publicly acknowledged the strikes, which included an attack on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf in early April, around the time Donald Trump announced a temporary truce, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A 4.6-magnitude ‌earthquake struck the Iranian capital ​of Tehran, according to ⁠Iranian state media, ​citing the country’s ​seismological centre.

The quake was at a depth of ​10km, ​according to the centre.

There ‌were ⁠no reported casualties or material damage from the quake, ​which struck ​the ⁠border area between Tehran ​and Mazandaran yesterday, according to ​Iran’s ⁠state broadcaster IRIB.

The Pentagon put the cost of the US war in Iran at $29bn so far, an increase of $4bn from an estimate provided late last month.

The vast bulk of the amount, roughly $24bn, is related to replacing munitions and repairing equipment but also includes operational costs to keep forces deployed, the Pentagon told lawmakers.

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth faced tough questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers yesterday about the Trump administration’s end game for the Iran war.

“I take issue with the characterisation that munitions are depleted in a public forum,” Hegseth said. “That’s not true.”

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the plight of Americans finding it harder and harder to make ends meet and rising gas and consumer prices simply aren’t on his mind as the months-long Iran war and impasse over the Strait of Hormuz continue to fuel surging inflation in the United States.

Trump made the stunning brush-off statement as he departed the White House for Beijing, where he will be feted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a state visit, including a lavish Thursday night banquet at the Great Hall of the People.

Asked about the continuing pocketbook pressures faced by everyday consumers as a result of the war he started more than two months ago, Trump told reporters: “I don’t think about American financial situation — I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

China’s foreign minister has urged Pakistan to step up mediation efforts between Iran and the US to help “properly” address the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Wang Yi spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in a call yesterday, state news agency Xinhua reported.

US president Donald Trump is expected to arrive in Beijing this evening for talks with leader Xi Jinping, whose country is a key strategic and economic partner of Iran.

“China will continue to support Pakistan’s mediation efforts and make its own contribution toward this end,” Wang said, according to Xinhua.

India has raised import tariffs on gold and silver to 15 per cent from 6 per cent, government orders ​said, as part of efforts to curb overseas purchases of the ‌metals and ease pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

The higher duties could dampen demand in the world’s second-largest consumer of precious metals, although they may help narrow India’s trade deficit and support the rupee, one ​of Asia’s worst-performing currencies.

The government has imposed a ⁠10 per cent basic customs duty and a 5 per cent Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess on gold and ​silver imports.

Prime minister Narendra Modi on ​Sunday urged people to avoid gold purchases for a year to help protect foreign exchange ​reserves.