War in the Middle East: latest developments
The latest developments in the Middle East war:
- Pope praised by peer -
Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, the new leader of the world's Anglicans, hailed Pope Leo XIV's "courageous call" for peace following a war of words with US President Donald Trump.
"I stand with my brother in Christ, His Holiness Pope XIV, in his courageous call for a kingdom of peace. As innocent people are killed and displaced, families torn apart, and futures destroyed, the human cost of war is incalculable," Mullally said.
- Israel warning -
Israel's defence minister warned Iran against rejecting a US proposal focused on renouncing "nuclear armament" and vowed to stage "even more painful" strikes on new targets if it did so.
"Iran is standing at a historic crossroads: one path is renouncing the ways of terror and nuclear armament... in line with the US proposal, the other leads to an abyss," Israel Katz said.
"If the Iranian regime chooses the second path, it will quickly discover there are even more painful targets than those we have already struck," he said.
- Pakistan, Iran meet -
Pakistan's powerful army chief met Iran's parliament speaker in Tehran, Iranian state television said.
There were no further details on the contents of the latest meeting, which came a day after Asim Munir arrived in Tehran with his delegation, bringing what Iranian state television described as a message from the United States.
- Exports through Hormuz collapse -
Iran was the top exporter of commodities through the Strait of Hormuz in March, as shipments from other countries fell off a cliff with Tehran's blockade of the vital waterway, data by analytics firm Kpler showed.
Shipments by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Qatar dropped by at least 96 percent each in March compared to the previous 12 months' average, according to Kpler.
Iran's shipments did also fall -- but by only 26 percent, the data showed.
- US warning on blockade -
The United States will blockade Iranian ports for "as long as it takes," US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, threatening renewed strikes if Tehran does not make a deal.
"If Iran chooses poorly, then they will have a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power and energy," Hegseth said.
US forces began blockading Iranian ports at 1400 GMT on Monday after peace talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement the previous day.
- UK preparing for shortages -
UK government officials have drawn up contingency plans for possible food shortages caused by a scarcity of carbon dioxide if the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted, a report said.
A secret government analysis envisaged shortages of CO2, which is critical to the food industry, unless Iran and the United States reach an agreement to open the vital waterway, The Times daily reported.
Officials had been working through a "reasonable worst-case scenario" in an event codenamed "Exercise Turnstone", it said.
- Key bridge, road destroyed -
The Israeli military destroyed a key bridge in southern Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
"Enemy aircraft carried out two consecutive strikes on the Qasmieh bridge, the last bridge between the Tyre and Sidon regions, completely destroying it," the NNA said.
Another strike hit a road linking Beirut to the Syrian capital Damascus, NNA said.
- Israel, Lebanon talks? -
US President Donald Trump said the leaders of Israel and Lebanon will speak on Thursday in what would be a historic first, but there was no confirmation from either side.
Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun stressed the importance of a ceasefire before any talks, saying it "was a natural starting point.".
Trump's announcement comes as Washington pushes to ease hostilities following the first direct talks between the two countries in decades this week, when their ambassadors met in the US capital.
- Extra diesel -
Australia has secured more than 500,000 barrels of diesel from Brunei and South Korea, as the country looks to boost stocks hit by the Middle East war, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said
"I can announce that my government has secured an additional 100 million litres (26 million gallons) of diesel from two shipments. One from Brunei, where I was yesterday, and one from South Korea," Albanese told a news conference in Malaysia.
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