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Trump threatens further action as US and Iran exchange fire in new flare-up

Washington says it acted after observing Iran was planning to deploy fresh mines in strait of Hormuz

The US and Iran have exchanged fire for the first time in a month, with missiles and drones fired at Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the strait of Hormuz, and Iran targeting US military bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in response.

The US president, Donald Trump, on Monday threatened further action. The US is to trying to prise open Tehran’s grip on shipping going through the strait, which before the war accounted for a fifth of the world’s seaborne energy supply. Washington claimed that Iranian control over the waterway had been loosened by repeated US attacks on Iranian missile launchers and radars.

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© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

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Trump threatens further action as US and Iran exchange fire in new flare-up

Washington says it acted after observing Iran was planning to deploy fresh mines in strait of Hormuz

The US and Iran have exchanged fire for the first time in a month, with missiles and drones fired at Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the strait of Hormuz, and Iran targeting US military bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in response.

The US president, Donald Trump, on Monday threatened further action. The US is trying to prise open Tehran’s grip on shipping going through the strait, which before the war accounted for a fifth of the world’s seaborne energy supply. Washington claimed that Iranian control over the waterway had been loosened by repeated US attacks on Iranian missile launchers and radars.

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© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

© Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

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Iran’s economy in crisis as US launches new sanctions campaign

Trump’s Operation Economic Outcast is expected to push many Iranians into deeper poverty as food inflation soars

For many Iranians, the new US sanctions campaign, called Operation Economic Outcast, seems superfluous given the grim economic situation in their country.

Iranians are facing runaway food inflation, closed petrol stations and a seemingly never-ending depreciation of the nation’s currency caused by a lack of foreign exchange reserves.

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© Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

© Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

© Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

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Iran’s economy in crisis as US launches new sanctions campaign

Trump’s Operation Economic Outcast is expected to push many Iranians into deeper poverty as food inflation soars

For many Iranians, the new US sanctions campaign, called Operation Economic Outcast, seems superfluous given the grim economic situation in their country.

Iranians are facing runaway food inflation, closed petrol stations and a seemingly never-ending depreciation of the nation’s currency caused by a lack of foreign exchange reserves.

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© Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

© Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

© Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA

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Morocco not to blame for Ceuta border breach, says Spanish PM

Pedro Sánchez says two countries cooperating and accuses Israel and Russia of spreading fake news about migration

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said there is no evidence to suggest the Moroccan government was behind last month’s massive border crossing into Ceuta but accused Israel and Russia of spreading disinformation.

As many as 141 people are thought to have died trying to enter the Spanish enclave at the end of July. The influx of about 70,000 men, women and children unleashed a political crisis, a humanitarian emergency and reignited tensions within the EU over immigration.

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© Photograph: Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP/Getty Images

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Morocco not to blame for Ceuta border breach, says Spanish PM

Pedro Sánchez says two countries cooperating and accuses Israel and Russia of spreading fake news about migration

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said there is no evidence to suggest the Moroccan government was behind last month’s massive border crossing into Ceuta but accused Israel and Russia of spreading disinformation.

As many as 141 people are thought to have died trying to enter the Spanish enclave at the end of July. The influx of about 70,000 men, women and children unleashed a political crisis, a humanitarian emergency and reignited tensions within the EU over immigration.

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© Photograph: Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP/Getty Images

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Iranian president says he still wants diplomatic end to war after US strikes on Hormuz – Middle East crisis live

US targets Iran’s Larak Island in first exchange of fire in more than a month as Masoud Pezeshkian says America ‘has not fulfilled its commitments’

Coinciding with this week’s G20 meeting, the EU has issued a statement saying it will work with the US and other allied countries to maintain economic pressure against Iran.

“The ‌EU welcomes efforts at ensuring that Iran ceases its destabilising activities and engages in peace negotiations with good ‌faith, also through additional economic pressure, including through ​the US-led Operation Economic Outcast,” it said in reference to the pressure strategy the White House describes as “an unprecedented campaign to sever every remaining economic lifeline sustaining” the Islamic republic.

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© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

© Photograph: Reuters

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Trump says US will ‘hit Iran hard’ as hostilities resume – as it happened

Iran responded to an assault on its Larak Island by targeting US bases in Jordan

Coinciding with this week’s G20 meeting, the EU has issued a statement saying it will work with the US and other allied countries to maintain economic pressure against Iran.

“The ‌EU welcomes efforts at ensuring that Iran ceases its destabilising activities and engages in peace negotiations with good ‌faith, also through additional economic pressure, including through ​the US-led Operation Economic Outcast,” it said in reference to the pressure strategy the White House describes as “an unprecedented campaign to sever every remaining economic lifeline sustaining” the Islamic republic.

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© Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

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‘We want to find a better future’: teenage girls on why they risked their lives to reach Spain

More than two dozen teenagers stuck in the Spanish territory of Ceuta shared their reasons for joining the treacherous mass crossing in July

For Fatin, one of the teenage girls now living in limbo in a makeshift camp in the Spanish city of Ceuta, the decision to leave her home in Morocco began to form when she had to give up school.

She wanted to continue studying, she says, but at home she was expected to take responsibility for the housework instead. As classes and learning gave way to domestic chores, the future she had imagined for herself began to feel increasingly distant.

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© Composite: Soraya Aybar Laafou

© Composite: Soraya Aybar Laafou

© Composite: Soraya Aybar Laafou

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US strikes Iranian launchers in strait of Hormuz, sparking reprisal attack on airbases in Jordan and UAE

US says it attacked Larak Island to prevent launch of sea mines, prompting reprisals against airbases used by US forces, with tanker fire also reported in strait

Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on airbases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates after the US attacked Iranian rocket launchers in the strait of Hormuz, the first such hostilities in a month.

Hours later, Iranian state TV later reported that a supertanker had caught fire after hitting two naval mines while attempting to pass through the southern side of the strait. It ‌did not identify the vessel or provide information ​about its crew.

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© Photograph: Maxar Tech/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Maxar Tech/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Maxar Tech/AFP/Getty Images

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First US military attacks on Iran in a month prompt retaliation

US attacks Iranian rocket launchers on island in strait of Hormuz and Tehran targets US bases in Jordan and UAE

The US has reverted to military attacks on Iran for the first time in a month, firing missiles and drones at Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the strait of Hormuz, prompting the Iranian military to attack US military bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

US Central Command said it acted late on Sunday after it detected the Iranians planning to fire fresh mines into the strait. Last week Donald Trump claimed the US navy had cleared the strait of mines for the first time since the conflict started on 28 February, a claim the Iranians rejected as lies.

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© Photograph: Maxar Tech/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Maxar Tech/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Maxar Tech/AFP/Getty Images

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