Trump draws US into another Middle East war

In the present day’s agenda: Suicide bombing in Damascus; Spain’s Nato goal opt-out; Revolut CEO in line for windfall; and Tesla’s robotaxis

Good morning, and welcome again to FirstFT. The US has been drawn into one other Center East warfare, bombing three nuclear websites in Iran yesterday. Right here’s what occurred, and what to anticipate.

The state of affairs now: US B-2 stealth bombers led an assault on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan utilizing what defence secretary Pete Hegseth known as “misdirection”. US President Donald Trump claimed the websites had been “fully and completely obliterated”, however the extent of the damage remains to be being assessed. A lot depends upon the whereabouts of Iran’s 408kg stockpile of uranium, enriched to ranges simply wanting weapons-grade. Israel and Iran traded extra air strikes this morning.

The worldwide fallout: Oil costs hit a five-month high over fears Tehran would retaliate by attacking power infrastructure within the area or closing the important Strait of Hormuz. Gold costs rose throughout early buying and selling in Asia earlier than paring again positive aspects, whereas the US greenback additionally rallied. Greater than 150 airways have suspended or diverted flights as a result of battle, with British Airways and Singapore Airways cancelling flights to Dubai yesterday.

What’s subsequent? US officers stated there have been no plans for additional assaults until Iran hits again, however Trump has raised the opportunity of “regime change”. He’ll chair a nationwide safety assembly at this time. Tehran is weighing whether or not to retaliate or heed European nations’ and the UN’s calls to hunt a diplomatic resolution. Iran’s international minister Abbas Araghchi is assembly Russian President Vladimir Putin, one among Tehran’s closest allies, at this time. Israel has signalled it would press on with its bombing raids towards Iran.

Follow our live blog for the most recent updates, and we now have extra evaluation on the battle:

• Gideon Rachman: Tehran’s grand technique has failed, however that’s no guarantee Israel and the US can succeed, writes our chief international affairs commentator.

• Trump’s gamble: The US strike might backfire on a president who had vowed not to attract America into new world conflicts. 

• A deal is feasible: Iran wants to indicate flexibility and the US should shift away from maximalist demands, writes Ellie Geranmayeh of the European Council on Overseas Relations.

• The FT View: Trump’s step into the dark makes the world a extra harmful place, writes our editorial board.

Be a part of our subscriber-only webinar on Wednesday with FT journalists and company and put your questions concerning the battle to our panel. Register here. And right here’s what else I’m maintaining tabs on at this time:

• UK: Sir Keir Starmer will make investments £2bn over 4 years to cut energy prices for hundreds of companies. Learn the prime minister’s op-ed within the FT as he unveils a long-awaited industrial strategy.

• Brussels: EU international ministers meet to debate Ukraine with sanctions on Russia resulting from expire, whereas the bloc holds a summit with Canada. European Central Financial institution chief Christine Lagarde addresses the European parliament.

• Macron in Norway: King Harald V and Queen Sonja welcome the French president and his spouse Brigitte in the beginning of a two-day state go to.

5 extra high tales

1. At the least 20 folks had been killed in a suicide bombing at a church in Damascus yesterday night, the primary main safety incident in Syria’s capital because the Assad regime was toppled final December. The Syrian authorities stated jihadi group Isis was responsible for the attack.

2. Spain has secured an opt-out from a Nato defence spending goal demanded by Trump, the nation’s prime minister stated. Pedro Sánchez introduced the deal forward of the navy alliance’s summit this week, the place allies are anticipated to agree to spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence.

3. Unique: Revolut’s chief govt is in line for a multibillion-dollar windfall if he greater than triples its present valuation to about $150bn. Folks conversant in the matter say Nik Storonsky, who based the fintech in 2015, would see his stake enhance considerably under a long-standing Elon Musk-style pay deal. 

4. European international locations face paying extra for medicines resulting from Trump’s plans to chop drug costs within the US, business consultants have warned. European international locations are seemingly to withstand important value rises as a result of budgets are stretched and lots of contracts with corporations are lengthy. This might additionally imply drugmakers find yourself not launching new medicines in these markets.

5. Tesla’s robotaxi service launched within the firm’s residence metropolis of Austin yesterday with about 10 autos and a human security driver on board amid regulatory scrutiny of its self-driving know-how. CEO Elon Musk has touted the self-driving taxis as the future of his flagging electric-car maker.

Information in-depth

Mark Zuckerberg is betting greater than $14bn {that a} well-connected 28-year-old is the catalyst his firm must meet up with rivals racing to develop and commercialise synthetic intelligence. The Meta boss struck a deal lately to purchase 49 per cent of Scale AI — however the real prize was the data labelling business’s head, Alexandr Wang.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Return to workplace: When top executives work remotely, it turns into tougher to tug everybody else to their desks, writes Pilita Clark.

• Serial CEOs: Larger strain and extra scrutiny imply leaders are sometimes taking a “one and done” approach to the highest company job, writes Anjli Raval.

• Fred Smith: The person who founded FedEx in 1973, and stepped down as chief govt solely three years in the past, died on Saturday. He was 80.

Chart of the day 

Germany and Italy are going through calls to move their gold out of New York following Trump’s repeated assaults on the Federal Reserve and growing geopolitical turbulence.

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