Iran launched a new wave of counterattacks Thursday toward Israel and American bases across the Middle East, as Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to stand with its allies and didn’t rule out Canadian military involvement in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

At a glance:

• Carney won’t rule out Canada’s military participation
• Iranian leader calls for “shedding of Trump’s blood”
• Iran claims attack on U.S. tanker in Persian Gulf
• Gas prices are up across Canada
• The death toll has risen in Iran and Lebanon
• Israel strikes Lebanese capital of Beirut

As the conflict entered its sixth day, the Iranian regime said the U.S. would “bitterly regret” sinking one of Iran’s warships in the Indian Ocean, with a clerical leader calling on state television for the shedding of “Trump’s blood.”

Meanwhile, Israel continued its attacks in Lebanon against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

The regional conflict has destabilized much of the Middle East and shaken global financial markets, markedly the price of oil, which continued to rise Thursday.

U.S. Speaker Johnson says ‘we are not at war’

Republican Rep. Mike Johnson spoke briefly after the House joined the Senate in rejecting a war powers resolution to halt Trump’s attacks on Iran.

Johnson said the U.S. is conducting a “limited operation” over Iran, that’s “limited in scope and duration.”

“We are not at war. We have no intention of being at war,” said the House speaker, a close ally of Trump. “That mission is nearly accomplished.”

The speaker contradicted the president’s own portrayal of the joint U.S.-Israel air bombing campaign as a war.

U.S. temporarily allows Russia to sell oil to India: report

The U.S. government has issued a 30-day waiver to allow for the sale of Russian oil currently stranded at sea to continue to India, two senior U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday.

Canada, allies may help Gulf states bombed by Iran: defence chief

Canada’s defence chief Gen. Jennie Carignan says allies are in talks about possibly helping Persian Gulf states defend themselves against bombing from Iran.

Carignan says a meeting is set for Friday to discuss such a proposal among allied militaries and the Canadian Armed Forces would present a recommendation to the government.

She did not specify what type of support this might involve but said Canada is not taking part in the U.S. bombing of Iran and confirmed the discussions are not about participating in Operation Epic Fury.

Her comments come as the Conservatives call for a parliamentary debate before any sort of Canadian military deployment in the ongoing war.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Canada can’t “categorically” rule out military participation in the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

He added that Canada’s potential future involvement is a “fundamental hypothetical” and that Ottawa will stand by its allies.

Trump claims Iran calling U.S. about a deal

U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Tehran had reached out about making a deal amid U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, adding that further action to reduce pressure on oil was imminent.

“They’re calling, they’re saying ‘how do we make a deal?’ I said you’re being a little bit late,” said Trump, speaking at an event Thursday at the White House.

Trump touted the U.S. military actions in Iran, saying they were destroying Tehran’s missile and drone capability and that “their navy is gone – 24 ships in three days,” as he called on Iranian diplomats to request asylum and help shape a better country.

“We also urge Iranian diplomats around the world to request asylum and to help us shape a new and better Iran,” he said.

Iran’s mission to the UN in New York declined to comment.

U.S. not expanding military objectives: Hegseth

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that the United States was not expanding its military objectives in Iran, after Trump told Reuters that the United States must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.

“There’s no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we’re trying to achieve,” Hegseth said.

U.S. has just begun fight in Iran: Hegseth

Hegseth said Iran was making a mistake if it believed that the United States could not sustain the ongoing war, adding that Washington had just begun to fight.

“Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation,” Hegseth told reporters during a visit to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command.

Israel strikes Lebanese capital of Beirut

Israel launched a series of strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut Thursday after ordering all residents of the densely populated area to evacuate.

Traffic was gridlocked in Lebanon‘s capital on Thursday as panicked residents tried to flee after Israel’s military issued an evacuation notice telling residents to “save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately,” and specified which routes they should take to escape.

Hours later, strikes began to hit the Beirut suburbs.

Since the resurgence of hostilities between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, Israel has struck sites in Beirut’s suburbs and issued a blanket warning for residents south of the Litani River — an area in southern Lebanon stretching to the border with Israel — to evacuate their homes, but had not previously issued a blanket evacuation order for Beirut’s southern suburbs.

ran targets Tel Aviv in new wave of attacks

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it is launching a new wave in Operation “True Promise 4,” which will involve missile and drone attacks that target central Tel Aviv, according to Iranian state media.

Canada, U.S. stock markets sink

Canadian and U.S. stock markets dropped Thursday, after seeing some relief a day earlier, as the price of oil rose above US$80 per barrel.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 332.89 points at 33,609.97.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 784.67 points at 47,954.74. The S&P 500 index was down 38.79 points at 6,830.71, while the Nasdaq composite was down 58.50 points at 22,748.99.

The losses came as financial markets around the world kept following the cue of oil prices. Sharp increases there are raising worries that a long-term surge could grind down the global economy, exhaust households’ ability to spend and push interest rates higher.

U.S. House rejects Iran war powers resolution

The U.S. House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution Thursday to halt U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran, an early sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad.

It’s the second vote in as many days, after the Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines. Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing wary Americans in wartime and all that entails — with lives lost, dollars spent and alliances tested by a president’s unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.

While the tally in the House, 212-219, was expected to be tight, the outcome provided a clarifying snapshot of political support for, and opposition to, the U.S.-Israel military operation and Trump’s rationale for bypassing Congress, which alone has the power to declare war. At the Capitol, the conflict has quickly carried echoes of the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and many Sept. 11-era veterans now serve in Congress.

“Donald Trump is not a king, and if he believes the war with Iran is in our national interest, then he must come to Congress and make the case,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Impact of Strait of Hormuz disruption

A Canadian supply chain expert says the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz means disruptions there could have major consequences for global energy and food supply.

“(About) 20 per cent oil demand, about 15 per cent of liquid natural gas that are going there, mostly from the Persian Gulf countries to Asian countries, India, China, Japan and Korea,” Opher Baron, a professor of operations management at the Rotman School of Management, told CTV News Channel Thursday.

Baron said recent reports suggest commercial traffic through the key waterway has stalled.

“There’s over 100 ships are stuck in the area currently, so moving them one, one by one is not a very productive way to go forward,” he said.

Alternative trade routes like Turkiye exist, Baron said, but they are far more expensive.

“The reason why we use mostly shipping overseas for large quantities of food, for example, is because it’s significantly cheaper and more effective,” he added.

U.S. closes its embassy in Kuwait

It’s the second diplomatic mission to fully suspend operations since start Iran war.

“While there have been no reported injuries to U.S. personnel, the safety of Americans abroad remains the highest priority of the U.S. Department of State,” it said in a statement about the status of the embassy in Kuwait City.

Shortly before the announcement, the department said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had called the Kuwaiti foreign minister to express condolences for the deaths of at least two Kuwaiti troops in Iranian retaliatory strikes.

Although numerous U.S. embassies and consulates in the Middle East have closed to the public since the war began, only the consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, had suspended operations.

Evacuation warning for 3 villages in east Lebanon

The Israeli military on Thursday warned residents of three villages in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa region to evacuate immediately.

“Urgent warning to the residents of the Beqaa region, specifically the residents of the villages and towns of Douris, Brital, and Majdaloun: Hezbollah’s activities in the area are forcing the IDF (Israeli military) to operate forcefully against it in order to target its military infrastructure,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X.

“To ensure your safety, we urge you to evacuate the area immediately and head west.”