Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Swipe for next article
Iranian media said Tehran would not participate in talks while Israel continued to bomb Lebanon
Removed from bookmarks
I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice
The commander of Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force has warned that Israel’s operation in Lebanon could lead to the Bab-al-Mandab strait becoming like the Strait of Hormuz.
Esmaeil Qaani said Iran and its allies could “take steps to activate other fronts, and equate the traffic situation of the Bab El Mandeb Strait with the Strait of Hormuz.”
The Strait of Hormuz has remained closed with the price of Brent Crude standing at $95 per barrel when the market closed on Monday.
It comes as Israel has deepened attacks in Lebanon with Benjamin Netanyahu telling US president Donald Trump that Israel would attack “terror” targets in Beirut if Hezbollah did not cease its attacks on Israeli cities.
Earlier on Monday Trump claimed “all shooting will stop” between Israel and Hezbollah following the call with Netanyahu.
He said on Truth Social: “There will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back.
“Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
Two explosions struck a cargo vessel in the Gulf about 40 nautical miles southeast of Iraq’s Umm Qasr, one of which was caused by a drone attack, Iraqi officials said on Monday.
Earlier, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the vessel had been hit by some sort of projectile on its starboard side, causing a large explosion.
A second explosion struck the same vessel and was the result of a drone attack, according to an initial assessment, the Iraqi officials told Reuters.
The fire aboard the vessel was later brought under control, they added.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack and no information on the identity of the vessel was available.
When she was just 23 years old, Tahmineh Monzavi was imprisoned for her photography.
The Tehran-based photographer’s images of drug addicts and prostitutes in the poorer parts of her city were deemed “dangerous to society” by the Iranian regime. She spent a month in solitary confinement.
Her time in prison brought on panic attacks. “In addition, I got [an] autoimmune disease for the rest of my life,” she says from Tehran, “I lost my hair.”
She did not know how to treat the disease, and it began to attack her body. This was 2012, in the wake of the Arab Spring, when a wave of pro-democracy protests toppled dictators across the Middle East and North Africa. It was a highly sensitive and politically charged time in Iran.
Read the full story below.
The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force Esmaeil Qaani said on Monday that Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza will lead the Resistance Axis, Iran and its allies, to establish a similar traffic situation both in Bab al Mandab and Hormuz strait, according to state media.
He said: “The evil of the Zionists (Israel) in Lebanon and Gaza, in the shadow of the shameless support of America, will mark the determination of the resistance axis to expand support from both fronts, take steps to activate other fronts, and equate the traffic situation of the Bab al Mandab Strait with the Strait of Hormuz.”
The Strait of Hormuz has remained closed with the price of Brent Crude standing at $95 per barrel when the market closed on Monday.
Iran’s allies have repeatedly threatened to close the Bab al Mandab strait, situated between Yemen and Djibouti.
Lebanon’s embassy in Washington said in a statement on Monday that Hezbollah had accepted a US proposal for a mutual cessation of hostilities that would be extended to encompass all Lebanese territory.
The statement, shared by the Lebanese presidency on X, said the arrangement would first see Israel refrain from striking Beirut’s southern suburbs in exchange for Iran-backed Hezbollah halting its attacks against Israel, after Israel had threatened to attack the capital’s suburbs on Monday.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told the group’s Al-Manar broadcaster that Hezbollah would support a full ceasefire across all Lebanon as a precursor to the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and said the group would watch whether a cessation of hostilities took hold in the coming days.
JetBlue has revised its second-quarter fuel cost projections upward, a move driven by persistent shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz that continue to pressure the global aviation sector amid escalating jet fuel prices.
The critical Strait, a crucial conduit for nearly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, has been impacted by U.S.-Israeli actions against Iran. Before these strikes in February, jet fuel averaged $85 to $90 a barrel.
By late May, it had surged to approximately $142 per barrel, according to the International Air Transport Association. This volatility has compelled airlines worldwide to increase passenger fares and baggage fees to offset rising expenses, alongside reducing flight frequencies and routes to conserve fuel.
Paul Farrell reports:
When one of the world’s worst ever energy crises began in the Strait of Hormuz in February, few believed that their internet access – rather than their gas bill – would be the worst-affected aspect of daily life.
But lurking many thousands of metres beneath the oil ships being attacked by the Iranian navy lie a series of undersea cables that play a vital role in the global economy, helping to power our internet and keep the world connected.
Earlier this month, Tehran floated plans to impose tariffs on Strait of Hormuz submarine cables, warning that they were a vulnerable chokepoint for the region’s digital economy.
Alex Croft reports:
Donald Trump has now said that Iran’s military was largely untouched by U.S. strikes over the past three months, contradicting countless statements he has made and continues to make about the scale of America’s successes in the ongoing war.
The president spoke in an interview that aired Saturday with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump on Fox News. As the war in Iran now runs past the three-month mark, the U.S. remains mired in a stalemate with Iran under the shadow of a shaky ceasefire that Trump is now considering an offer to extend for another 60 days.
A war that the president and his team have long insisted would be over in “days” or even just a few weeks is now at a flashpoint with the U.S. having proven largely unable to forcibly open the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global energy shipping traffic.
John Bowden reports:
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Leave a Reply