Iran should make a deal with the United States to end the war by offering to curb its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief, a former Iranian foreign minister said.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, who served as foreign minister from 2013-2021, claimed in an op-ed for American journal Foreign Affairs that Tehran had the "upper hand" in the conflict against the US and Israel, but argued Iran needed to stop the war to prevent the loss of more civilian lives and damage to infrastructure.

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Easter mass cancelled -

All masses in Dubai have been cancelled because of the war, two Catholic churches in the United Arab Emirates posted on their websites.

- 'France' ship -

A container ship declaring itself to have a French owner has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Marine Traffic data analysed by AFP.

By Christine Chen and Cordelia Hsu

SYDNEY, April 3 (Reuters) - Every Easter, Sydney retiree Elsa Ulcak is one of the millions of Australians that hit the road to travel during the four-day-long weekend.

But this year, she has cancelled her trip with her husband because she could not justify how much petrol her getaway would use.

"We usually go to the countryside, but because of the petrol situation, we decided to stay at home this year," said Ulcak, 67.

A long trip would be costly and also consume fuel that could be used by people who needed it more, she said.

By Heejin Kim and Joyce Lee

SEOUL, April 3 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday they planned to boost defence cooperation and work together to address the economic and energy crises triggered by the war in Iran.

Macron arrived in South Korea on Thursday for a two-day state visit after also visiting Japan, and held a summit in Seoul on Friday.

Iranian and American forces were racing each other early Saturday to recover a crew member of the first US fighter jet to go down inside Iran since the start of the war.

Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane, while US media reported American special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.

Iran's military also said it downed a US A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with US media saying the pilot was rescued.

By Gram Slattery, Andrea Shalal, Andrew Gray and John Irish

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS/PARIS, April 3 (Reuters) - The NATO alliance has in recent years survived existential challenges - ranging from the war in Ukraine to multiple bouts of pressure and insults from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has questioned its core mission and threatened to seize Greenland.

But it is the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, thousands of miles from Europe, that has nearly broken the 76-year-old bloc and threatens to leave it in its weakest state since its creation, say analysts and diplomats.

By Kanishka Singh and Enas Alashray

WASHINGTON/CAIRO, , April 3 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said the U.S. "hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran", reiterating vows to increase the ferocity of attacks on its infrastructure, as dozens of countries sought ways to restart vital energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Nearly five weeks after it started with a joint U.S.-Israeli aerial assault, the war in Iran continues to spread chaos across the region and roil financial markets, raising the pressure on Trump to find a quick resolution to the conflict.

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump warned late on Thursday about striking and destroying bridges and electric power plants in Iran in his latest threat to hit the country's infrastructure.

The U.S. military "hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants," Trump wrote on social media.

His post said that Iran's leadership "knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!"

By David Brunnstrom and John Irish

April 2 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is to vote on a Bahraini resolution to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, diplomats said on Friday, but veto-wielding China made clear its opposition to authorizing any use of force.

Two diplomats said the meeting of the Council's 15 members and the vote were set for Saturday morning, rather than Friday as earlier planned. Friday is a U.N. holiday.

Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid thinks sometimes movies can change history; other times they simply narrate it.

With his latest production, which hits US theaters Friday, the filmmaker has set himself a different goal.

"I hope 'Yes' shakes people's souls," he said.

The chaotic satire -- which premiered in Europe last year -- follows musician Y (Ariel Bronz) and dancer Yasmin (Efrat Dor), a young couple in Tel Aviv who raise their newborn son during the day, while entertaining at wild fetish parties for the wealthy by night.