SYDNEY, March 10 (Reuters) - Australia on Tuesday agreed to provide visas to five Iranian women's soccer players to stay in the country, after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Canberra not to send them back to Tehran due to concerns over their safety.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters the other members of the team were welcome to stay back in Australia. The team is in Australia for the Asian Cup tournament.

British warplanes have begun "defensive air sorties" in support of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and taken out drones elsewhere in the Middle East amid the ongoing war, the UK defence ministry said Monday.

The development came as Britain's response to the conflict was under criticism, including from the US president and the Cypriot government.

More US B-52 bombers landed at the UK air force base in Fairford, in southwestern England, on Monday, AFP witnessed, after a first one landed on Friday.

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump thinks the war against Iran "is very complete" and that Washington was "very far ahead" of his initial four to five week estimated time frame, according to a CBS News interview with him.

"I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force," Trump told CBS News.

When asked about the Straitof Hormuz, Trump said that ships are moving through now, but he is "thinking about taking it over."

US President Donald Trump on Monday pushed the idea of the Iran war ending soon, but remained vague on a timeline for ending the attacks that have rocked the Middle East and shaken the global economy.

Markets jumped when Trump suggested to CBS News that the US-Israeli assault was "very complete," but during a later speech and press conference he offered shifting accounts of what to expect.

"I think soon. Very soon," Trump told reporters at his Doral National golf club near Miami, Florida, when asked if he thought the war could end in days or weeks.

US President Donald Trump is under pressure to curb oil prices sent skyrocketing by the war with Iran, but has only limited tools to fix a problem that is shaking the world economy and is politically toxic at home.

Trump has insisted it will be only a "short-term" issue that will end when the war ends, yet soaring gas prices are already hitting voters ahead of US midterm elections later this year in which the economy will be crucial.

By Tuvan Gumrukcu

ANKARA, March 9 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Monday that NATO air defences shot down a second Iranian ballistic missile that had entered its airspace and warned that it would move against any such threats, which increasingly pose a test for Ankara and the alliance.

The incident in southern Turkey marks the second intercepted missile from Iran in the last week. Turkey, NATO's second-largest armyand Iran's neighbour,had warned Tehran on Saturday against attacking again, but it has not suggested it wants to formally call on bloc members for further protection.

By Forrest Crellin

PARIS, March 9 (Reuters) - Almost half of Iran's uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons-grade, was stored in a tunnel complex at Isfahan and is probably still there, U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.

The tunnel complex is the only target that appears not to have been badly damaged in attacks last June by Israel and the U.S. on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Global shipping giant MSC announced Monday it was formally halting certain export shipments from the Gulf because of the Middle East war and that "all affected cargo will be discharged".

"In light of the ongoing and exceptional security situation in the Middle East... it is necessary to declare an 'End of Voyage' for certain export shipments" from Gulf ports, "whether located ashore or already onboard", MSC said in an advisory notice to customers.

Four years after world sport rushed to ban Russia for invading Ukraine, the leading governing bodies are reacting guardedly to the US-led attack on Iran, raising accusations of double standards.

Both wars broke out immediately after the end of a Winter Olympics -- and before the start of the subsequent Paralympics and ahead of a summer World Cup.

Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine four days after the closing ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. US and Israeli bombs started falling on Iran six days after the flags came down on the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

By Sam Tabahriti and Sarah Young

LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - Britain wants major economies to agree to release emergency oil reserves as the escalating Iranian crisis sends energy prices soaring and increases the risk of higher inflation, finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Monday.

British borrowing costs have soared since the conflict erupted more than a week ago, and by more than those of other European countries and the U.S., as investors fear that surging oil and gas prices will stoke already stubborn inflation and require the government to borrow more.