Iran-US tensions live updates: Oil rose a third day to a fresh six-month high, with President Donald Trump saying Iran had 15 days at most to reach a deal over its nuclear program as the US assembled a vast array of forces in the Middle East, bloomberg reported.

Brent climbed above $72 a barrel, and is up more than 6% this week, while West Texas Intermediate traded near $67. Trump said he thought 10 to 15 days was “pretty much” the “maximum” he would allow for negotiations to continue

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran’s oil minister, Mohsen Paknejad, on Friday said that cooperation with the United States in the oil and gas sector is possible.

“Everything is possible,” Iran International quoted Paknejad as saying. He was asked about potential energy cooperation between Tehran and Washington.

Iran-US tensions live updates: United States ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz on Thursday said that Iran carried out an “industrial-sized massacre” of its own people during its crackdown on nationwide anti-regime protests.

“Even in the face of world condemnation over the killing of somewhere between 18,000 and 40,000 of their own people — an industrial-sized massacre,” Waltz said in an interview with Fox News.

Iran-US tensions live updates: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called on Iran to immediately release children who were detained during the nationwide anti-regime protests that rocked the country, as it warned of the harmful impact of incarceration on minors.

“UNICEF is deeply concerned by the reports that children arrested in connection with the recent public unrest in Iran remain in detention,” Iran International reported quoting UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder as saying in a statement.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Director general of UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said an “obvious” gap remains between the United States and Iran over uranium enrichment after he participated in peace talks between the two sides in Geneva on Tuesday.

“​​It is clear that there is, there is this gap which is, which is obvious, between the position of the United States, which is demanding… no enrichment at all, and what Iran would like to continue to be doing,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi noted as he appeared in an interview with CNN.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Satellite images on Wednesday showed the Islamic Republic repairing its key military and nuclear‑linked sites amid nuclear negotiations with the United States and an expanding US military presence.

The images sourced by Reuters showed a new facility at the Parchin military complex covered with a concrete shield and soil.

Visuals also revealed that the tunnel entrances at the Isfahan nuclear site have been backfilled.

Iran-US tensions live updates: United States Senator John Fetterman onThursday said that Tehran should be confronted with military force over its nuclear program, adding that the Islamic Republic can only be dealt with through “strength and power.”

“I think I clearly… how could you allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb?” Fetterman said in an interview on Fox News.

“Now we’ve demonstrated that the only thing Iran ever responds to is strength and power… you can’t negotiate with cancer. You have to attack it and go right at it with superior force,” he added.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Several US fighter jets and support aircraft have touched down in the Middle East.

F-35s, F-22s, F-15s and F-16s, left bases in the US and Europe and were spotted heading to the Middle East, news agency AFP reported citing the Military Air Tracking Alliance, which is a team of about 30 open-source analysts that routinely analyzes military and government flight activity.

The team says it’s also tracked more than 85 fuel tankers and over 170 cargo planes heading into the region in mid-February.

Iran-US tensions live updates: The US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three guided-missile destroyers have been in the Arabian Sea since the end of January after being redirected from the South China Sea, news agency AFP reported.

The strike group, which brought roughly 5,700 additional service members to the region, strengthened the smaller force of a few destroyers and three littoral combat ships that were already in the region.

Iran-US tensions live updates: US President Donald Trump likely will have a host of military options, which could include surgical attacks on Iran’s air defenses or strikes focused on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, experts say. But they warn that Iran could retaliate in ways it hadn’t following attacks last year by the U.S. or Israel, potentially risking American lives and sparking a regional war.

“It will be very hard for the Trump administration to do a one-and-done kind of attack in Iran this time around,” said an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group Ali Vaez.

Iran-US tensions live updates: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he has deployed warships, fighter jets and other military hardware to the Middle East as he seeks to block Iran from building a nuclear bomb, something Tehran says it is not pursuing.

The letter cited a social media post by Trump on Wednesday, where he said the United States may need to use UK military bases, including one on an Indian Ocean island, “should Iran decide not to make a deal.”

(AFP)

Iran-US tensions live updates: The United States on Thursday signaled that it will maintain maximum pressure on Iran until Tehran meets US demands on its nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and support for armed groups.

The administration’s approach is designed to cut off revenue Tehran uses to fund “malign activities,” AP reported quoting a State Department spokesman as saying.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Israel on Thursday said that it is making its own preparations for possible Iranian missile strikes in response to any US action.

“We are prepared for any scenario,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, adding that if Iran attacks Israel, “they will experience a response they cannot even imagine.”

Netanyahu, who met with Trump last week, has long pushed for tougher U.S. action against Iran and says any deal should not only end its nuclear program but curb its missile arsenal and force it to cut ties with militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, reported news agency AP.

Iran-US tensions live updates: German military said it had moved “a mid-two digit number of non-mission critical personnel” out of a base in northern Iraq because of the current situation in the region and in line with its partners’ actions.

It said that some troops remain to help keep the multinational camp running in Irbil, where they train Iraqi forces, AP reported.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently urged his nation’s citizens to immediately leave Iran as “within a few, a dozen, or even a few dozen hours, the possibility of evacuation will be out of the question.”

He did not elaborate, and the Polish Embassy in Tehran did not appear to be drawing down its staff, AP reported.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran has agreed to draw up a written proposal to address US concerns raised during this week’s indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, AP reported quoting a senior official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The official said top national security officials gathered Wednesday to discuss Iran, and were briefed that the “full forces” needed to carry out potential military action are expected to be in place by mid-March.

The official did not provide a timeline for when Iran is expected to deliver its written response.

Iran-US tensions live updates: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal.

But the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups. Indirect talks held in recent weeks made little visible progress, and one or both sides could be buying time for final war preparations, AP reported.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran on Thursday held annual military drills with Russia after a second aircraft carrier from US drew closer to the Middle East, reported AP.

Both, the United States and Iran signaled that they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fizzle out.

Iran-US tensions live updates: US President Donald Trump is weighing an initial limited military strike on Iran to force it to meet his demands for a nuclear deal, according to a report by Wall Street Journal.

The strike can come within days and would target a few military or government sites, WSJ reported citing people familiar with the matter.

If Iran still refused to comply with Trump’s directive to end its nuclear enrichment, the US would respond with a broad campaign against regime facilities.

The move is a first step that would be designed to pressure Tehran into an agreement but fall short of a full-scale attack that could inspire a major retaliation, the report said.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran sees internal tensions after mourners held ceremonies honoring slain protesters 40 days after their killing by security forces.

Some gatherings also saw anti-government chants despite threats from authorities.

(AP)

Iran-US tensions live updates: In a letter to the UN Security Council on Thursday, Iranian ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid said that while Iran does not seek “tension or war and will not initiate a war,” any US aggression will be responded to “decisively and proportionately.”

“In such circumstances, all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets in the context of Iran’s defensive response,” Iravani said.

(AP)

Iran-US tensions live updates: Experts told AP Trump is likely to have several military options, including precise strikes on Iran’s air defences or attacks aimed at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, they warn that Iran could retaliate in ways it did not after US or Israeli strikes last year, which could put American lives at risk and trigger a wider regional war.

“It will be very hard for the Trump administration to do a one-and-done kind of attack in Iran this time around,” said Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the International Crisis Group. “Because the Iranians would respond in a way that would make all-out conflict inevitable.”

Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to pressure Iran into agreeing to limits on its nuclear programme and earlier over Tehran’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Trump has pulled back his support for Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, as Britain has not agreed to allow its bases to be used for strikes on Iran, The Times UK reported.

The White House is reportedly preparing detailed military plans for a possible attack on Iran that would involve both Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, where the United States keeps its fleet of heavy bombers in Europe.

Iran-US tensions live updates: Iran on Thursday warned that US bases, facilities and assets would be “legitimate targets” if the United States carries out its military threats and launches an attack.

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, made the statement in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the president of the Security Council, AFP reported.

Trump has sent warships, fighter jets and other military equipment to the Middle East as he tries to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, something Tehran says it is not seeking.

“Such a belligerent statement by the President of the United States…signals a real risk of military aggression, the consequences of which would be catastrophic for the region and would constitute a grave threat to international peace and security,” Iravani wrote in the letter.

Iran-US tensions live updates: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the Islamic Republic would attract bad things if it fails to strike a deal with Washington in the next 10 days.

“It’s proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran. We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen,” Trump said as he addressed the audience at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, HT earlier reported.