Trump says US will provide insurance for commercial shipping – as it happened

This live blog has now closed. Our live coverage continues hereFollow live updates in the expanding Middle East crisisUS secretary of state Marco Rubio has claimed the US attacked Iran after learning that Israel was going to strike, which would have meant retaliation against US forces.“We knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” he told reportersThe Air Force is now attacking Tehran and Beirut simultaneouslyThe Air Force has now begun a wave of extensive strikes against the Iranian terror regime and the Hezbollah terror organization. Continue reading…