News and politics recap: Trump threatens to ‘bomb the s**t’ out of Iran as Strait of Hormuz closed

We are wrapping up another day of our live coverage of the war in the Middle East.

Thank you for following our blog updates. Join us again tomorrow as we bring you the latest events as they happen.

Kuwait’s defence ministry is reporting it has intercepted 24 Iranian drones over the past two days.

No injuries have been reported.

US Central Command says its forces struck the M/T Jalveer — the third Indian-crewed ship it has hit this week — because it was transporting oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman.

“A U.S. aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces,” a CENTCOM statement said.

A third tanker with Indian crew has been hit by US airstrikes off the coast of Oman.

The tanker’s 20 crew are safe and are being evacuated.

India has demanded US attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz stop after three Indian nationals were killed by strikes on the oil tanker Settebello linked to Iran.

“When this particular attack happened on the ship Settebello, we lodged a strong protest with the American side,” Indian Minstry of External Affairs spokeperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

“We conveyed that the welfare of our seafaring community is very important, and the attacks that are happening must stop.”

Strikes early Wednesday destroyed what appears to be a drinking water facility on Iran’s southern coast, near the Strait of Hormuz, according to an analysis by The New York Times. Around the time of the strikes, US Central Command said in a post on the social platform X that it had conducted attacks near the strait “with precision munitions from US Air Force and Navy fighter jets.”

Iranian state media reported that the US had hit water storage buildings, and a local official said that water was cut off to more than 20,000 people living in a town and villages nearby. Temperatures in the area have reached above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38C) this week.

A commercial satellite image from the morning of June 9 shows two small water structures in the village of Bemani. Both have light blue pipes, typical for water distribution infrastructure, as is their location — on a hill outside a populated area.

The buildings are consistent with the description of the two storage tanks that Abdolhamid Hamzehpour, the head of the provincial water authority, said were destroyed.

It is unclear if the US intentionally struck the water facilities or knew what was in the buildings. Deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime under international law.

Read the full story here.

The new Iranian authority overseeing the Strait of Hormuz says the vital waterway will be closed again in the wake of more US strikes.

“Due to tensions caused by the aggressive US forces and the recent announcement issued by IR Armed Forces, the #Hormuz_Strait will be completely closed,” a statement from the Persian Gulf Strait Authority said.

“Applicants who have already obtained transit permits are kindly requested to remain patient and await further notice by the PGSA.”

The Jordanian National Centre for Security and Crisis Management is reporting 20 Iranian missiles were intercepted on Thursday.

“The Jordanian air defense systems and Royal Jordanian Air Force aircraft intercepted and shot down at dawn on Thursday 20 missiles launched from Iran toward the Azraq area in Zarqa Governorate,” a statement said.

No casualties or damage were reported.

President Donald Trump says the US will “bomb the s**t” out of Iran unless an agreement between the countries is signed, Fox News is reporting.

Fox chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst says he spoke with the President early on Thursday morning during the US airstrike campaign overnight.

“We hit them very hard tonight,” Mr Trump is reported as saying.

“[Trump] described the strikes as vicious and violent,” Yingst said of the conversation.

“He said the bombing will stop shortly, but if they don’t sign an agreement, the President said, quote, ‘We’ll bomb the ‘S’ out of them tomorrow’.

“He [is dealing with] similar people that he’s been dealing with before, trying to get this deal across the finish line. He says this cease fire has been the most violated ceasefire in the history of the world.

“The Iranian officials, according to President Trump, [are] on the phone with the President himself asking him to stop the bombing campaign.”

Iranian state media are reporting a cargo dhow with “essential goods” on board was hit by a US airstrike in the Strait of Hormuz.

The vessel was “struck by an enemy projectile 5 nautical miles” off the Omani city of Khsab.

Five crew members were rescued after it was hit.