Tucker Carlson, once a close ally of Donald Trump, brushed off the president’s threats to Iran as meaningless, going as far as to tell him “shut up, b****” during a podcast appearance Wednesday.

Israel’s defence minister has warned Iran that it is “ready to finish the job” if attacked again.

Israel Katz wrote on social media on Friday that Tehran would “commit its biggest mistake” if it reopens hostilities.

“Neither Hormuz nor attacks on civilians will help them; nothing will stop us. Our forces are ready to finish the job.”

Katz issued the threat after Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani said on Thursday that if Israel did not withdraw voluntarily from south Lebanon, it would eventually be forced to leave in defeat.

Despite a renewed ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, Israel has continued operations across the border.

Israeli forces dropped leaflets over a town in southern Lebanon on Friday ordering residents to leave, Lebanese state media reported, in a first such order issued since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.

Iran's ⁠deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz could not be guaranteed without coordination with Iran, and that failure to coordinate could result in the suspension of any designated route.

The comments posted on social media platform X on Friday came after Oman, in coordination with the International Maritime Organization, designated temporary routes for passage through the strait.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that any Iranian attack on Israel would be Tehran's "biggest mistake".

Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani said on Thursday that if Israel did not withdraw voluntarily from south Lebanon, it would eventually be forced to leave in defeat.

Israeli forces dropped leaflets over the southern Lebanese town of Mansouri on Friday ordering residents to leave, Lebanese state media reported, the first such order issued since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect.

A senior Lebanese military official said Israel had recently added the town to a zone occupied by Israeli troops inside southern Lebanon.

Lebanese officials say Israeli troops are enforcing the zone's northern boundary by firing at anyone approaching it, including civilians and Lebanese soldiers.

The military official said farmers had continued to enter and leave Mansouri, but had not been living there.

President Donald Trump said this week that it may never be determined who was responsible for a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran that killed scores of children on the first day of the Iran war, as questions continue over whether U.S. forces were involved.

The February 28 strike in Minab, southern Iran, killed more than 175 children and teachers, according to Iranian officials, triggering international outrage and renewed scrutiny of the U.S. military operation.

Trump, speaking to reporters, said the circumstances surrounding the attack may never be fully resolved.

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Oil prices have eased again following a recent spike over renewed clashes in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude fell 1.8 per cent on Friday after rising 4 per cent after the International Maritime Organisation said it was pausing its planned evacuation of ships trapped around the channel.

That decision came after a cargo vessel reported being struck by an ‘unknown projectile’ while trying to transit the strait near the Omani coast.

The IAEA’s top official claimed again on Friday that the interim US-Iran peace accord gives UN nuclear inspectors access to Iran, after the Islamic Republic said it did not.

"There is an agreement and to comply with that agreement, the IAEA will have to have access and inspect," Rafael Grossi told a press conference in Japan on Friday. "We hope to be there soon."

Grossi said that inspectors have already held an initial exchange with Iranian officials to discuss technical issues. The first goal of any visit to Iran would be to check whether IAEA seals on previously inspected material remained intact and whether any material was missing, he said.

The comments come after Iran's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Wednesday there were no plans to grant access to inspectors.

Oil prices have fallen below their levels before the outbreak of the Iran conflict, as traders increasingly bet that a surge in crude supplies could outweigh lingering geopolitical risks in the Middle East.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped as low as $72.24 a barrel on Thursday, slipping beneath the $72.48 closing price recorded on the eve of US and Israeli strikes against Iran in late February.

The decline marks a dramatic reversal from the sharp price spikes seen during the conflict, which raised fears of severe disruption to global energy markets.