Iran fired on ships in the strait
Iran reversed its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on a tanker attempting to pass through the waterway on Saturday. It also warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect.
Confusion at the key chokepoint threatens to deepen the energy crisis in the global economy and push the two countries into renewed conflict, although mediators expressed confidence that a new deal is within reach.
Iran’s Joint Military Command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous position under the strict management and control of the armed forces.”
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said two gunmen from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It said the tanker and crew were safe, without identifying the ship or its destination. Tankertrackers.com reported that the ships, including an Indian-flagged supertanker, were forced to turn around in the strait after Iran fired on them.
Saturday’s developments came as US President Donald Trump said the blockade would “continue in its entirety” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including over its nuclear programme. Tehran reopened the strait to commercial vessels on Friday.
About a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait and further limits would reduce already constrained supplies, sending prices soaring once again. Iran’s announcement Friday of opening the vital body of water, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil is shipped, came as a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
Despite rising tensions, Pakistani officials say the United States and Iran are still moving closer to an agreement ahead of an April 22 ceasefire deadline.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, about 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members are also killed.
Here’s the latest:
Another Israeli soldier died in the war
Israel’s military says another soldier has been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced within twelve hours.
This brought the total number of soldiers killed in Lebanon to 15, and was the second soldier killed in combat since the ceasefire.
The army said another soldier was seriously injured in the same incident, along with four seriously injured and four slightly injured.
UN chief condemns attack in Lebanon that kills French peacekeeper
Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, says Guterres strongly condemns the killing of a French peacekeeper and the wounding of three others in an attack in southern Lebanon.
UN peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon were attacked with small arms on Saturday morning. The French president and the force known as UNIFIL said two of the injured suffered serious injuries.
President Emmanuel Macron and UNIFIL forces both blamed Hezbollah, but the Lebanese militant group denied involvement.
According to government media reports, Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz completely closed.
The navy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it has closed the previously designated corridor for safe passage of ships through the strategic waterway and declared the strait completely closed until the US blockade of Iranian ports and ships is lifted.
On Friday, Iran said ships could pass through the strait in coordination with it and without paying tolls.
But in a statement carried by Iran’s state media late Saturday, the navy warned that any ships that violate would be targeted.
Iran considers the US blockade a violation of the ceasefire between the two countries. Earlier on Saturday, two ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and off the coast of Oman, at least one of them by Iranian gunmen.
Israel says one of its soldiers has been killed in Lebanon
The military said the soldier, an officer, was killed on Friday, the day after the start of a US-brokered ceasefire in southern Lebanon that otherwise largely held up.
It said two other soldiers were injured in the incident, but did not release further details.
This brings to 14 the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the latest war in Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader rejects ceasefire letter published by US
Naim Qassem, the head of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, said in a statement read on the group’s Al-Manar TV that a paper published by the US State Department described the text of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel as “making no sense at a practical level, but it is an insult to our country.”
“Everyone knows that the Lebanese government has not completed this statement or approved it,” he said.
The text published by the US described the 10-day ceasefire as a gesture by Israel “to enable good-faith negotiations” towards a permanent peace agreement with Lebanon.
This text gives Israel the right to “take all necessary measures in self-defense against, at any time, planned, imminent or ongoing attacks.” It does not mention any similar rights for Lebanon or Hezbollah.
Qassem said the ceasefire should include a “complete cessation of all hostilities” and that Hezbollah would “respond to enemy violations.”
Israeli forces kill two UNICEF-contracted truck drivers in northern Gaza
UNICEF said Israeli forces killed two truck drivers contracted to UNICEF at a water point in the northern Gaza Strip, prompting the UN agency to suspend its operation in the area.
Two other people were also wounded in the attack on Friday at the Mansoura water filling point in Gaza City, UNICEF said in a statement.
It said the shooting occurred “during routine, water trucking operations, without any change in movement or procedures.”
The Israeli military claimed that soldiers fired on suspected militants in the area of the so-called Yellow Line, which separates Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza. It said that the incident is being investigated.
UNICEF said the point is being used several times a day to provide clean water from the Mekorot water supply line to thousands of people in Gaza City.
The agency said it has suspended activities at the site until the security situation in the area is restored.
Macron says one French soldier killed and 3 wounded in attack on peacekeepers in Lebanon
A UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon was attacked with small arms on Saturday morning, killing one French peacekeeper and wounding three, two of them seriously, the French president and the force called UNIFIL said.
The attack near the southern Lebanese village of Ghandouriyeh came after a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group came into force at midnight on Thursday.
Hezbollah has denied being linked to the attack that killed a French peacekeeper in south Lebanon
The Iran-backed group in a statement called for caution in assigning blame and judgment until the Lebanese army completes its investigation into the incident.
Hezbollah said that the peacekeeping force should coordinate with the Lebanese army in its operations.
Hezbollah expressed surprise at the hasty accusations leveled against it, especially given the silence of these same parties “when the Israeli enemy attacks UNIFIL forces.”
Iran says it is reviewing new US proposals
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that Pakistan’s army chief, acting as a mediator, presented the proposals to Iran when he recently visited Tehran and they were still under review.
What was in the proposals was not disclosed.
The council said Iran had not yet responded, but that further talks would require the US to “abandon excessive demands and adjust its requests to the realities on the ground.”
It also said Iran would maintain full control over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until “the war completely ends and lasting peace is achieved in the region,” adding that it would collect detailed information on passing ships, issue transit certificates and levy tolls.
The council said it considers the US naval blockade a violation of the armistice and will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until it is lifted.
Trump says Iran is ‘a little sweet’ but good talks are happening
President Donald Trump says US talks with Iran are going well and he expects to have more information “by the end of the day.”
Trump made the comments during a White House event Saturday morning, where he signed an executive order directing the Food and Drug Administration to expedite its review of certain psychedelic drugs designed as breakthrough therapies for mental illness.
Trump declined to answer reporters’ questions about Iran but said, “We’re having a very good conversation.”
Referring to the Strait of Hormuz, he says Iran “got a little cute,” later adding, “They wanted to close the strait again.”
“They can’t blackmail us,” Trump said.
Pope Leo XIV says it is not in his best interest to debate Trump, but will continue to preach peace
Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that it was “not at all in my interests” to debate US President Donald Trump about the Iran war, but that he would continue to preach the gospel of peace.
Leo spoke to reporters aboard the papal plane flying from Cameroon to Angola.
He addressed the growing saga of back-and-forth criticisms of Trump’s peace message that have dominated news headlines this week. But the US Pope also sought to set the record straight, insisting that his sermon was not directed at Trump but reflected the broader gospel message of peace.
He said, “There is a certain story that is not accurate in all its aspects, but because of the political situation that arose at the time, on the first day of the trip, the President of the United States made some comments about me.”
