JAKARTA, March 12 (Reuters) - Indonesia and Australia are planning to expand their security cooperation to include Japan and Papua New Guinea, Jakarta's Defence Minister said on Thursday after a meeting with his Australian counterpart.
Three crew members believed to be trapped aboard a Thai bulk carrier hit by projectiles while travelling through the crucial Strait of Hormuz were yet to be rescued on Thursday, the vessel's owner said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had struck the Thai-registered Mayuree Naree, as well as a Liberia-flagged vessel, in the strait because the ships had ignored "warnings".
The Thai ship was struck Wednesday morning while transiting through the Gulf waterway, after departing Khalifa port in the United Arab Emirates.
Filipino sailor George Miranda was racing to help a stricken vessel aboard the tugboat Mussafah 2 when he last spoke to his wife and young daughter.
The 46-year-old, whose small ship was struck by a pair of missiles this week in the Strait of Hormuz, is the only seafarer from the Philippines known to be missing in the Middle East war, the government says.
By Parisa Hafezi, Alexander Cornwell and Bo Erickson
DUBAI/TEL AVIV/WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - The United States and Iran have signaled no quick end to their war, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying it was necessary to finish the job and Iran warning that the world should be ready for oil at $200 a barrel after striking tankers in Iraqi waters and other ships near the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Israel renewed its strikes on Beirut on Thursday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that if the Lebanese government did not disarm Hezbollah, Israel would do the job "on the ground".
"You are playing with fire," Benjamin Netanyahu said to Lebanese authorities during a press conference, as Israeli jets carried out three strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs -- two without prior warning -- according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
By Erin Banco and Jonathan Landay
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence indicates that Iran's leadership is still largely intact and is not at risk of collapse any time soon after nearly two weeks of relentless U.S. and Israeli bombardment, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
A "multitude" of intelligence reports provide "consistent analysis that the regime is not in danger" of collapse and "retains control of the Iranian public," said one of the sources, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss U.S. intelligence findings.
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - Officials from President Donald Trump's administration estimated during a congressional briefing this week that the first six days of the war on Iran had cost the United States at least $11.3 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
That figure, from a closed-door briefing for senators on Tuesday, did not include the entire cost of the war, but was provided to lawmakers as they have clamored for more information about the conflict.
By Bo Erickson
HEBRON, Kentucky, March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that "we won" the Iran war but that the United States will stay in the fight to finish the job.
"You never like to say too early you won. We won," Trump told a campaign-style rally in Hebron, Kentucky. "In the first hour it was over."
He said the United States had knocked out 58 Iranian naval ships.
Trump has seesawed on Iran, crediting the U.S. military for significantly degrading Iran's military but resisting a speedy end to the conflict.
Tehran is seeking to choke the vital Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic following US and Israeli strikes against Iran, with fears it could be using sea mines to do so.
US forces have struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, more than a week into the Middle East war.
Any Iranian mining of the key shipping lane, as its forces did in the 1980s, would be a nightmare for Western demining teams.
Here's an explainer:
- What are sea mines? -
With production in the Gulf countries at a standstill and gas prices rising, the war in the Middle East is disrupting the supply of fertilisers and posing risks for food security.
A third of fertiliser shipped by sea comes from the region and cannot make it to the global market as Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.
That has sent global fertiliser prices soaring, with the UN expressing concern in particular about the impact on developing countries.
- The Gulf is a key manufacturer -
