Iran war LIVE updates: US completes fresh strikes; Trump says Tehran's economy 'totally collapsing'

Recent tensions escalated in the Middle East as Iran and the United States engaged in a series of retaliatory strikes. Iran launched attacks on US targets across the region, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, following an extensive American bombardment. The strikes, which occurred in response to a deadly attack on a wedding ceremony that reportedly killed five people, marked the heaviest exchange between the two sides in recent weeks.

US Central Command confirmed targeting various military assets belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in retaliation for recent attacks involving commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members. At least five people were killed and 50 injured in a residential attack in Kuhestak, Sirik, on the Strait of Hormuz, with a four-year-old child among the fatalities.

US President Donald Trump warned of "much harder and higher" attacks if Iran retaliated against the American strikes, claiming that Washington was in "almost total control" of the strategic maritime route. He also stated that Iran's economy was "collapsing" due to sanctions and the country's "economic D-day" approach to the ongoing conflict.

Trump stated, "If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!"