US military says strikes in the first 24 hours was nearly double the scale of the 2003 ‘shock-and-awe’ operation in Iraq; US president orders insurance to be provided for shipping in crucial waterway Trump administration has still not settled on reasons for war Middle East attacks intensify as Trump rejects Iran’s attempt to talk Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East crisis as it enters day five. The US military has claimed that the number of strikes carried out on Saturday in the first 24 hours of its war on Iran was nearly double that of the “shock-and-awe” strikes on Iraq in 2003, and that nearly 2,000 targets had been hit so far in Iran. Donald Trump has attempted to counter a simmering anti-Israel backlash in Congress and among his own Maga supporters by denying suggestions that he had been forced into attacking Iran because Israel had already decided to do so. Asked whether Israel had pushed him into launching military action, Trump told reporters: “No. I might have forced their hand.” The Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 787 people had been killed since the conflict began. The worst mass casualty event of the US-Israeli military assault so far has been the direct strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab on Saturday, which killed up to 168 people. You get a sense of the devastation through our visual guide, here . Israel said it has launched a ‘broad wave’ of strikes on Iran that were targeting launch sites, defense systems, and additional Iranian infrastructure. Global oil and gas prices have spiked as the US-Israeli war on Iran has halted energy exports from the Middle East, with Tehran attacking ships and energy facilities, closing navigation in the Gulf and forcing production stoppages from Qatar to Iraq. The conflict has caused turbulence on global markets. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 continued to fall on Wednesday, and was down about 1.7% during early trading. In Seoul, the Kospi - which dropped 7.2% on Tuesday - fell by a further 3.1% at the open. But Wall Street looks set to open flat in New York, according to pre-market trading data. At least 30,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the United Nations, following heavy Israeli airstrikes in the country. Trump also said he was upset with British prime minister Keir Starmer, who has not joined the US-Israeli attack on Iran but did let US forces use UK bases. “I’m not happy with the UK,” the US president said. “It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land,” Trump said. Referring to Starmer, he added: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.” Canadian prime minister Mark Carney called on Wednesday for the rapid de-escalation of the conflict unleashed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran, urging all parties to respect the international rules of engagement. Continue reading...