Iran war updates: No 'definitive time frame' to end Iran war, Pentagon to seek funds from Congress — as it happened

We are ending our live coverage of the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Thank you for reading our rolling coverage today. We will be back tomorrow to bring you more updates.

The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan have condemned recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf.

In a joint statement, the leaders said "we call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait".

"The effects of Iran’s actions will be felt by people in all parts of the world, especially the most vulnerable," the statement added.

A spokesman for the unified command of Iran's armed forces said it has entered "a new stage in the war".

Recent strikes on energy infrastructure led Iran to target energy facilities linked to the US and American investors in the region, the spokesman said.

"If strikes [on Iran's energy infrastructure] happen again, further attacks on your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until it is completely destroyed, and our response will be much more severe," Ebrahim Zolfaqari said according to state media.

Reporting with Reuters

China says it is shocked at reports that Israel authorized the killing of senior Iranian and Hezbollah figures without case-by-case approval, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday in Beijing.

“We have been opposed to the use of force in international relations, and the killing of Iran’s national leaders and attacks on civilian targets are even more unacceptable,” spokesperson Lin Jian said.

China urges all parties involved to immediately cease military operations and prevent the regional conflict from spiraling out of control, he said.

Israel's attack on Iran's South Pars gas facilities on Wednesday was coordinated with the United States but will likely not be repeated, three Israeli officials said.

US President Donald Trump had earlier said that Washington "knew nothing about this particular attack", which has drawn widespread Iranian attacks on energy installations in the Gulf.

Reporting with Reuters

United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged the United States and Israel to stop the war and called on Iran to stop attacking its neighbours.

"It is high time to end this war that is risking to get completely out of control," Guterres told reporters in Brussels after he met with European Union leaders.

He also called for the end to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which threatens the world economy.

Reporting with Reuters

Before the press conference at the Pentagon finished, Hegseth was asked about the costs of the war efforts, and if he had requested more funding.

The US secretary of defense confirmed the Pentagon has asked Congress for more money to help the war efforts in Iran.

An anonymous source told Associated Press the figure requested is $US200 billion ($285 billion) in additional funds.

He said the amount "could move, obviously" adding that it is important his department is "properly funded".

"It takes money to kill bad guys," he said.

US General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says American forces struck more than 90 targets on Kharg Island, which is vital to Iran’s oil network.

Caine said the US targets included all of the island’s military-only infrastructure, such as air defenses, a naval base and mine storage facilities.

Trump said a few days ago that the US military had “totally obliterated” the island’s military assets.

He has warned that if Iran or anyone else interferes with ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, he will reconsider his decision not to target oil infrastructure.

Reporting with AP

Despite saying earlier that the US is "winning" the war in Iran, Pete Hegseth refused to give a time frame for its end.

"We wouldn't want to set a definitive time frame," Hegseth told reporters.

He added that "we're very much on track" and that Trump will be the one to decide when to stop.

"It will be at the president's choosing, ultimately, where we say, 'Hey, we've achieved what we need to,'" he said.

The US secretary of defense did confirm that the Pentagon has asked Congress for more money to help the war efforts in Iran.

The US Secretary of Defense said Iranian officials promoted into senior leadership positions are taking up "temp jobs".

Pete Hegseth asked the room of reporters "what's the last job anyone wants in the world right now?"

He answers the question: "Senior leader for the IRGC or Basij — temp jobs, all of them".

He then says the US is "sharing the ocean with Iran".

"We've given them the bottom half," he says.

Hegseth says the US will end the war in Iran quickly, because the US President Donald Trump "knows better" than to keep it going for a long time.

"The media wants you to think that just 19 days into this conflict that we're somehow spinning towards an endless abyss, or a forever war, or a quagmire — nothing could be further from the truth," he says.

"We're winning decisively, and on our terms," he added, while asking the media to report as much.

"Iran has funneled decades of state resources, not into their people, but into missiles and drones and proxies and buried facilities. But we are hunting them down.

"The results speak for themselves."

Pete Hegseth says the United States' objectives in the war against Iran have not changed since strikes started on February 28.

He told reporters that the objectives remained to destroy Iran's missile launchers, its defense industrial base and navy as well as never allowing Iran to get a nuclear weapon.

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is speaking in the Pentagon, delivering an update on the war in Iran.

He says, the US has hit over 7,000 military targets in Iran since the war began.

He also said today will see the largest strike package on Iran since the beginning of the war.

Iran's intelligence ministry has arrested 97 people for being "soldiers of Israel", state media reported on Thursday.

Earlier today, state media quoted the police commander of Alborz province as saying that 41 people were arrested for sending videos to foreign-based opposition media channels.

Global oil and natural gas prices soared after Iran attacked a key natural gas facility in Qatar that can supply one-fifth of the world’s gas and two oil refineries in Kuwait.

The attacks raised fears that the global energy crisis trigged by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic would be longer and more extensive than feared, with lasting damage to oil and gas productions.

International benchmark Brent crude rose to near $US114 ($162) per barrel, up from under $73 per barrel on the eve of the war.

Reporting with AP

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has condemned what he described as a "flagrant" Iranian attack on a major gas facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar.

He also condemned Iran's attacks on Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, and warned against the "dangerous escalation" caused by targeting oil and gas facilities in the Gulf.

He reiterated full support to Gulf nations in "all measures they undertake to confront these malicious Iranian attacks, and their right to safeguard the security of their citizens and the integrity of their facilities".

Reporting with AP

One of Iran's deputy foreign ministers, Esmaeil Baghaei, has told 7.30 that Australia "has decided to take side with the aggressors".

He said Australia's military assets in the Gulf may become a target.

The comments about Australia came after the government deployed an E7 Wedgetail surveillance aircraft, 85 personnel and defensive air-to-air missiles to the United Arab Emirates last week.

Baghaei told 7.30 Iran would not distinguish between countries acting in an aggressive or defensive capacity.

Read more here:

One of Iran's deputy foreign minister Esmaeil Baghaei discussed the war in detail from Iran's perspective on 7.30 tonight.

Asked by Sarah Ferguson about the assassinations of Iranian leaders in US and Israeli strikes, Baghaei said it was "unprecedented".

"The leaders of another country assassinating them [Iranian leaders] through terrorist activities must be alarming to the whole international community," he said.

"It should not be underestimated as part of warfare."

In his interview with Sarah Ferguson on 7.30, Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran remains "capable of defending our country".

"They [US and Israel] are attacking us. They are killing our leaders. They are killing our innocent girls and boys," he said.

"So please, let's call a spade a spade and an illegal war imposed on Iran, imposed on the whole region."

If  you are just joining us, here are some key developments from today:

• An Iranian deputy foreign minister has accused the US and Israel of committing 'terrorist acts'.
• Anthony Albanese declares key objectives of the war against Iran have been achieved and urged an end to the crisis
• Gulf states including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have come under Iranian attack
• Qatar's main gas facility, Ras Laffan, one of the world's largest LNG gas plants, has been damaged by Iranian ballistic missiles, Qatari officials say
• The retaliatory attacks come after Iran's huge South Pars gas field was hit by Israeli strikes, in a major escalation that sent oil prices shooting higher
• Iran's intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib was killed in an Israeli strike, both countries have confirmed
• The Iranian women's football team has arrived back in Iran after several players sought asylum in Australia, Iranian media is reporting
• At least 10 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in the heart of Beirut, while the IDF has also intensified its attacks in the country's south