Trump drops his 20% Hormuz toll in favour of trade deals with Gulf states
Kuwait: Four injured in strike on navy vessel
Stephen Marr
Kuwait’s armed forces said four military personnel had been injured in an Iranian strike on a navy vessel.
Those injured received medical treatment and were in stable condition, a statement said.
Kuwait’s armed forces have detected and intercepted one ballistic missile, five cruise missiles and 33 drones in the latest attacks.
The strikes targeted several vital and civilian facilities, with debris falls causing material damage, the Kuwaiti military said.
– The Telegraph
Stephen Marr
US launches new round of strikes against Iran
Stephen Marr
US Central Command (Centcom) has confirmed that the military was conducting fresh strikes on targets in Iran as of 7am NZT today.
A post on Cenctom's X page said: At 3pm ET today (7am NZT), US Central Command forces began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran to continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
"The strikes are taking place as American forces prepare to resume the naval blockade against Iranian ports and coastal areas. The blockade goes into effect at 4pm ET (8am NZT).
– The Telegraph
US blockade 'dismantles' truce deal, says Iran minister
Stephen Marr
Iran has warned that the announced resumption of the US naval blockade of its ports had wrecked a deal struck with Washington to pause the conflict to allow peace talks.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said US President Donald Trump's decision to renew the blockade "has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum".
– AFP
Death toll rises to 2 in Hormuz oil tanker strikes
Stephen Marr
Strikes on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz have killed two crew members, according to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), after Iran was accused of hitting two ships in Omani waters.
The IMO said in a statement: "We are gravely concerned by the latest attacks on shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz reported since last night, which have claimed the lives of at least two seafarers and injured several others."
India has summoned its Iranian diplomat in New Delhi over the death of an Indian crew member in a strike early on Tuesday.
There were no further details on the second fatality.
– AFP
China says US is responsible for escalating Middle East crisis
Stephen Marr
China accused the United States at the United Nations of taking the Middle East to "a dangerous precipice" with its war against Iran.
During a debate on Yemen's Houthi rebel group, China's envoy to the UN, Sun Lei, said "the US has irrefutable responsibility over the current situation in Yemen and the Red Sea".
Sun said: "It is the US that is obstructing the efforts of the [Security Council] to end hostilities and allow the [continuation] of the crisis in Gaza and the expansion of the tensions.
"Without the authorization of the Security Council, and amidst the negotiations between the US and Iran, the US launched military attacks against Iran, once again plunging the situation of the region into a dangerous precipice."
Sun was responding to criticism of China by the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, who had just accused Beijing of violating the UN arms embargo in place on the Houthis.
Waltz said: "States like Iran and, to some degree, companies and entities in China have violated resolution 2216 with little consequence."
UN Security Council Resolution 2216, adopted in 2015, requires the Houthis to cease hostilities and withdraw from territory they have seized in Yemen.
It imposes a targeted arms embargo on the Iran-backed group and its allies, as well as individual sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans.
– AFP
Saudis and Houthis edge towards war as Iran conflict spills over
Stephen Marr
Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels appeared to be on the brink of renewed war after exchanging strikes, analysts and a Gulf source said.
The Houthis fired missiles at an airport in the southern Saudi Arabian city of Abha yesterday, after the Yemeni government hit Sanaa airport to divert a flight from Iran that had onboard a Houthi delegation returning from the late supreme leader's funeral.
The Houthis have blamed the government's backer Riyadh for the attack.
For some analysts, the exchange likely marks a new era of hostilities and the end of a four-year uneasy truce that ended attacks between Yemen's government and the Saudi-led coalition that backs it, and the Houthis.
The truce had largely halted a conflict that killed tens of thousands of people and triggered a major humanitarian crisis, but ultimately failed to dislodge the Houthis from power.
Following yesterday's exchanges, the Houthis boasted of firing ballistic missiles and drones at the kingdom and warned airlines against using Saudi airspace "until the blockade on Sanaa International Airport is lifted".
– AFP
Israel promises 'decisive blow' if Iran attacks
Stephen Marr
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to strike powerfully against Iran if it staged a new attack on his country.
He said: "I will say it to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us... The days are over when someone strikes us and we don't hit back with a decisive blow."
He said the strikes would be more powerful than the ones carried out jointly with the United States earlier this year.
He said: "Do not count on a rerun. Because it will not be a rerun, and that was already powerful enough. This will be a different event, much more powerful."
– AFP
Norwegian tanker attacked off coast of Oman
Stephen Marr
A Norwegian tanker was hit by an unidentified device off the Omani coast, a crisis response company said.
MTI Network said in a statement that shipping company Stolt Tankers reported "its tanker vessel Stolt Magnesium, while on passage in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman, suffered from an explosion of an unidentified external device".
The explosion triggered a fire in the ship's engine room, but an MTI Network spokesman added that the crew "fortunately are all safe and accounted for".
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency also reported that a tanker had reported "being hit by an unknown projectile on the starboard side engine room" 40 nautical miles northeast of Qalhat, Oman.
– AFP
Israel ready to 'move forward' on Lebanon 'pilot zones'
Stephen Marr
Israel's foreign minister said he expected ongoing talks in Rome with Lebanon to help implement an agreement on two "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon, referring to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from those areas.
Gideon Saar told journalists at a press conference in Jerusalem: "We are ready to move forward implementing these two pilot zones. I hope and tend to believe that this round of discussions in Rome will promote it."
– AFP
Iran says US strikes hit nuclear-plant city
Stephen Marr
US strikes hit the port city of Bushehr, which hosts Iran's only civilian nuclear power plant, and an area near the border with Kuwait and Iraq, authorities said.
Abadan, which hosts the oldest oil refinery in the Middle East, and the port city of Mahshahr were also targeted, Khuzestan province deputy governor Valiollah Hayati said, according to state news agency IRNA.
Iranian state television reported explosions around the port city of Bandar Abbas and the Gulf island of Qeshm, both near the Strait of Hormuz.
– AFP
Jordan and Bahrain repel Iranian missile attacks
Stephen Marr
Jordan's army said it had shot down four missiles from Iran, as Tehran pressed attacks on US allies in response to American strikes.
Bahrain said its air defences intercepted several Iranian attacks. Earlier, explosions were heard in the Bahraini capital, after sirens sounded for the third time since dawn.
– AFP
Oil prices rise again amid Hormuz uncertainty
Stephen Marr
Oil prices have risen after the latest US strikes against Iran.
The key West Texas Intermediate and Brent North Sea Crude contracts both rose about 4% to US$81 and US$87 a barrel respectively, the equivalent of $139.37 and $149.69.
– AFP
US to reimpose blockade on Iranian ports at 7am
Stephen Marr
US Central Command (Centocom) said that following President Donald Trump's orders, it would reimpose a blockade on Iranian ports beginning at 7am NZT today.
The blockade would not only stop vessels from entering or leaving Iranian ports, but would also target vessels carrying any form or Iranian-linked cargo.
– AFP
US President Donald Trump abruptly scrapped a planned 20% levy on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz amid clashes with Iran, saying he would instead seek compensation from Gulf allies via trade deals.
Trump said Middle Eastern leaders persuaded him to reduce the toll just a day after he announced it – and added that he was against charging any fees for the key waterway.
On his Truth Social platform, Trump said: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States reimbursement fee with trade and investment deals that the various Gulf states will be making into the United States.”
He said he would continue with a “full blockade” on ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or ships carrying Iranian cargo. The blockade is due to come into force from 7am NZT today.
Trump had declared on Monday that Washington was now “the guardian of the Hormuz Strait” and would impose hefty fees on shipping to reimburse it for protecting it – while giving few details of the plan.
His announcement caused oil prices to spike and alarmed allies – especially given that the United States had previously slammed Iran for its own plans to charge shipping fees for the strait.
But Trump said that he had changed his mind after speaking to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
He said: “I put it out yesterday, I thought it was good. I was called by different people, different countries – kings, emirs, and all of the people that we all know and we all love.
“They said we’d love to do it a different way. We’d love to invest in the United States, with billions and billions of dollars .... And I like that, actually, because I don’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the strait.”
But Trump added that it would be “unfair” if the US was “not in somehow compensated”.
- AFP