The United States carried out new strikes on southern Iran on Thursday, after President Donald Trump threatened to “finish the job” if Tehran did not agree to a peace deal, AFP reported.
Three loud explosions rang out in the port city of Bandar Abbas in the early hours of Thursday morning, following US strikes earlier in the week that underscored the fragile state of a diplomatic push to get a provisional peace agreement across the finish line.
Oil prices rose about 2% in early Thursday trading after Reuters reported fresh US strikes on an Iranian military site, raising concerns over escalating tensions even as Washington and Tehran continue negotiations to end their three-month conflict. Brent crude and US WTI futures both gained nearly 2%, reversing losses from the previous session when prices had fallen on hopes of a possible deal to ease sanctions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The uptick was also supported by a sixth straight weekly decline in US crude inventories.
The US military carried out fresh strikes in Iran on Wednesday, targeting a site that posed a threat to American forces and commercial shipping in the region, a US official told Reuters. The US official also said American forces intercepted drones launched from Iran, reported CNN.
The Israeli military on Wednesday urged residents across southern Lebanon to evacuate as it expanded operations against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, warning that it would “work with extreme force” in the area.
The warning, issued during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, came a day after clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters along a strategic river in southern Lebanon. Israeli forces have since advanced farther north ahead of planned talks in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli delegations.
Seoul on Wednesday summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest after a probe concluded it was “highly likely” that an Iranian-made missile was to blame for a strike on a South Korean ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
In remarks carried by Iranian state media, Tehran’s envoy to Seoul denied his country had anything to do with the incident.
The South Korean cargo ship was hit by unidentified projectiles on May 4 in the strait, a key waterway virtually closed since the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28.
US President Donald Trump claimed Iran had “taken some shots” at the Panama-flagged vessel, while Tehran had denied responsibility for the attack.
Iran has widened restrictions on the distribution of news content from the country, instructing international media organisations to limit the use of their reporting by Israeli media outlets.
A directive issued on Tuesday to several international news organisations operating in Tehran outlined mandatory wording to be attached to “all submitted content, including photos, videos, reports, and other media productions”.
The instructions, sent by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance — the body responsible for regulating media activity — were received by multiple organisations, including The Associated Press.
“Responsibility for failing to comply with this directive rests with the submitting media outlet,” the notice, translated from Farsi, stated.
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards official said on Wednesday that renewed war with the United States was unlikely but warned that Iran stood ready against any attack.
“The possibility of war is low because of the enemy’s weakness, the armed forces are lying in wait with full magazines,” said Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy political chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying.
“Do not doubt that we will turn the area from Chabahar to Mahshahr into a graveyard for aggressors,” he said, naming places at each end of Iran’s lengthy southern coast.
US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran on Tuesday to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.
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