US-Iran war updates: Three major oil refineries hit by airstrikes after Trump’s terrifying threat to Iran

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for an end of “reckless escalation” of the Israel-US-Iran war while calling for a ceasefire between the countries.

“The fighting should stop for a few days to try to give negotiations another chance,” Macron said before an EU meeting in Brussels.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says his country will only help to open the Strait of Hormuz once the war between Israel, the US, and Iran has ended, according to AP.

“We can and will commit ourselves only when the weapons fall silent,” Merz said.

“We can then do a great deal, as far as opening sea lanes and keeping them clear, but we’re not doing it during ongoing combat operations.”

Three Palestinian women were killed on Wednesday night by Iranian airstrikes, according to the Palestinian Red Cross.

The women were killed in Beit Awwa in the occupied West Bank when the missile struck a hair salon.

The deaths come as a Thai farm worker was killed by cluster munitions in Adanim in central Israel.

Four Palestinians were also killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza City overnight, according to AP.

Iranian state media is reporting authorities are proposing a transit fee for foreign ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Guardian.

Currently, 20 per cent of the world’s oil supplies are being prevented from travelling through the Strait of Hormuz as Iranian forces target ships linked to the US and Israel.

Mohammad Mokhbar, who is an adviser to the Iranian supreme leader, says his country will draw “a new regime for the Strait” once the war is over.

“Iran will turn its position from a sanctioned country to an enhanced power in the region and the world,” Mokbar said.

“We will sanction those domination-seeking arrogant powers using the strait of Hormuz to not allow their ships pass through the strait.”

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker says Europe will not be strong-handed into the war in the Middle East, despite calls from the US to help defend the Strait of Hormuz.

“Europe, and Austria as well, will not allow itself to be blackmailed,” Stocker said on Thursday.

“Intervention in the Strait of Hormuz is not an option for Austria anyway.”

Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Esmaeil Baghaei says the killing of the country’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a “terrorist act”.

In an interview on the ABC’s 7.30 program, Baghaei says Iran was “forced” to defend themselves when the US and Israel initiated airstrikes.

“We have never started this war,” he said.

“We were forced to (retaliate) after the US and Israel attacks on our country.”

Chinese authorities are “shocked” by Israel’s authorisation to kill leaders of the Iranian regime and Hezbollah, AP is reporting.

“We have been opposed to the use of force in international relations, and the killing of Iran’s national leaders and attacks on civilian targets are even more unacceptable,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.

The spokesperson then reiterated China’s position on the war, that the US, Israel, and Iran should stop military operations before conflict deepens.

Natural gas prices in Europe have spiked 35 per cent on Thursday, as attacks energy production locations threaten the security of global supply, The Guardian is reporting.

Brent crude prices have jumped to a whopping $110 per barrel on Thursday, which the report says is up by 48 per cent since the war began on February 28.

A drone has hit the SAMREF oil refinery in Yanbu in Saudi Arabia’s west, the country’s defence ministry is reporting.

Owned by both Saudi Aramco and Exxon Mobile, SAMREF is located in the Yanbu port on the Red Sea and processes over 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day, according to AP.

“Damage assessment is underway,” the Saudi Ministry of Defence said.

The strike comes just hours after two Kuwait refineries were set on fire by air strikes on Thursday morning.

A Thai worker has been killed by cluster munitions in central Israel on Wednesday evening, accorfing to Thailand Labor Minister Treenuch Thienthong.

30-year-old Chaiwait Waewnil was registered as a worker on a potato farm in Adanim which is located in central Israel.

AP is reporting his body will go through an autopsy process conducted by authorities, before being returned to his family in Thailand.