Complaints made by the United States about Nato in recent weeks are pushing Europe to seek alternative security options, Spain’s foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Tuesday.

“Nato is a mutually beneficial alliance for both Europeans and Americans ... But the US administration's remarks and new positions on Euro-Atlantic security are inviting us Europeans to take a leap in terms of our sovereignty and defence matters,” Albares told La Sexta TV channel.

“We must take our citizens' security and dissuasion into our own hands.”

President Donald Trump had made several remarks about what he perceived as a lack of support over Iran, and said he was “absolutely” considering withdrawing America from the alliance.

The island sits 16 miles from the coast in the northern end of the Gulf and just northwest of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important shipping route that Iran has effectively closed to pile pressure on the US.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that if the US crossed red lines Tehran’s response would be “beyond the region” and that the US and partners would see oil and gas supplies disrupted “for years” to come. “Restraint is over,” they said in a statement on Tuesday.

Iran has asked for an immediate halt to strikes, guarantees that attacks will not be repeated and compensation for damage as preconditions for talks on a lasting peace with the US, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday.

Tehran rejects any ceasefire proposal that would be temporary, the official added.

A permanent peace deal woul dalso allow Iran to demand fees for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, depending on type of ship, cargo and other other prevailing conditions.

One person was killed and four were injured in a shooting incident near the Israeli ⁠consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, authorities have said.

A gunfight erupted outside a building housing the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, according to Turkey’s Haberturk broadcaster. Reuters video ​showed ⁠a police officer ‌pulling out a gun and taking cover ‌as gunshots resounded. ‌One person was seen covered in blood.

One attacker was killed and two were injured at the scene, Istanbul governor Davut Gul said, while two policemen were lightly wounded. Initial reports said three were killed in the shooting incident.

Bryony Gooch reports on this breaking story:

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre has confirmed that a container vessel has been attacked in an incident south of Kish Island in Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz.

“The container vessel was struck by an unknown projectile, which has caused damage above the waterline,” it wrote in a statement on X.

“The crew are safe and accounted for. No environmental impact has been reported.”

One person has been killed and three people including two policemen have been wounded after a shooting incident near the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, Turkish media is reporting.

Initial reports had suggested three people had been killed in the incident before one person was later confirmed dead.

More to follow...

Donald Trump has said he is “not at all” concerned about committing possible war crimes in Iran, after he threatened to strike civilian infrastructure in Iran if the regime does not meet his imminent deadline to agree to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The US president has warned he will bomb power plants, bridges, oil wells and possibly water desalination plants, which is illegal under international humanitarian law.

“I’m not worried about it,” Trump said when asked during a press conference on Monday what he would say to those who allege that striking energy facilities would amount to war crimes. “You know the war crime? The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

Jessie Williams reports: