Welcome to our live coverage of US politics and the Iran war.
Iran’s top officials have wasted very little time in mocking Donald Trump’s “Economic D-Day” threat, accusing the US President of launching another sanctions blitz to distract from trouble at home.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the campaign as a diversion from America’s “unprecedented debt and surging interest costs”.
It came as
NATO said on Wednesday it was ready to “address any threat” following reports Iranian commanders had examined possible strikes if Donald Trump escalated the war further.
UK newspaper The Financial Times, citing two people close to Iran’s regime, reported that Tehran had considered targeting US assets in southeastern Europe.
The US shares bases in various countries in south eastern Europe including Greece, Bulgaria and Romanis, all of which are part of the NATO defence alliance.
With the US-Iran peace deal at sour stalemate, analysts now fear the conflict could to lurch into a more dangerous phase.
With a seemingly unshakeable blockade on its doorstep, Tehran is now reorganising its military leadership and openly discussing taking the fight to its enemies.
According to certain analysts, the diplomatic off-ramp might be disappearing.
Read on for more updates
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