Iran warns US of return to lengthy conflict if attacked, media reports
Any US attack on Iran, even if limited, will usher in “long and painful strikes” on US regional positions, a senior Revolutionary Guards official was quoted by state media as saying on Thursday.
“We’ve seen what happened to your regional bases, we will see the same thing happen to your warships,” Aerospace Force Commander Majid Mousavi added, according to the Student News Network.
He was responding to an Axios report saying that the US military has prepared a plan for a “short and powerful” wave of strikes on Iran.
Iran-US standoff over Strait of Hormuz drags on
FRANCE 24’s Reza Sayah reports from Tehran.
Lebanon says Israeli strikes kill 9 people, including 2 children
Israeli strikes on three south Lebanon villages killed nine people, among them two children and five women, Lebanon’s health ministry said Thursday, nearly two weeks into a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
“Israeli enemy strikes on south Lebanon led, in an initial toll, to nine martyrs, among them two children and five women, and 23 wounded, among them eight children and seven women,” the ministry said in a statement issued shortly after Lebanon’s president slammed “continuing Israeli violations” of the ceasefire.
Only place for Americans in Persian Gulf is ‘at bottom of its waters’, says Iran supreme leader
Iran’s supreme leader has vowed that the Islamic Republic will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset, speaking in a written statement read by a state television anchor.
In his latest statement, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei struck a defiant tone likely seeking to draw a hard line as the US seeks a wider deal to cement the shaky ceasefire now holding in the war. Here are Khamenei’s main statements:
- Khamenei said new management of the Strait of Hormuz “will bring calm and progress” as well as “economic benefits” to all gulf nations.
- He insisted the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf is “at the bottom of its waters”.
“By God’s help and power, the bright future of the Persian Gulf region will be a future without America, one serving the progress, comfort and prosperity of its people,” Khamenei said.
- He added that the US suffered a “disgraceful defeat” in Iran and that the Islamic Republic will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset.
Japan’s 2 biggest airlines say Mideast war keeping fuel costs up
Japan’s two biggest airlines, ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines (JAL), said on Thursday the Middle East conflict is keeping fuel costs elevated and the outlook uncertain.
Executives from the airlines, however, said there is no sign of near-term supply disruption, with those at ANA adding that the impact from the conflict should ease later this year.
Germany’s Merz calls for ‘reliable transatlantic partnership’ amid Trump row
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday stressed the importance of a “reliable transatlantic partnership”, amid a row with US President Donald Trump over the Iran war.
“In these particularly turbulent times, we are following a clear compass,” Merz said during a visit to an army training ground. “This compass remains oriented toward a united NATO and a reliable transatlantic partnership.”
Merz also called for Iran to come to the negotiating table with the US and stop playing for time.
Iran’s supreme leader to release statement, state media reports
A message from Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei will shortly be released on the occasion of “national Persian Gulf day”, state media said on Thursday, at a time when Iran’s Gulf ports are under a US blockade.
Iran must come to negotiating table and stop playing for time, Germany’s Merz says
Lebanon president condemns ‘continuing Israeli violations’ of truce
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has decried what he described as Israel’s continued violations of the ceasefire, calling for international pressure on Israel to stop strikes on civilians and paramedics.
Aoun slammed the “continuing Israeli violations” in south Lebanon, saying they were occurring “despite the ceasefire, as do demolitions of homes and places of worship, while the number of killed and wounded rises day after day”.
“Pressure must be exerted on Israel to ensure it respects international laws and conventions and ceases targeting civilians, paramedics, civil defence, and humanitarian health and relief organisations,” he added in a statement, as the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah nears the two-week mark.
Latest UNRWA report cites ‘fragile, unpredictable’ humanitarian situation in Lebanon
Gaza: expanding Israeli military zone fuels fears of long-term control
Israel has expanded its military zone in Gaza to cover nearly two-thirds of the territory since the October ceasefire.
While the army says restrictions support aid efforts, Palestinians fear displacement and a long-term Israeli presence amid ongoing violence.
Oil advocates ‘inadvertently supercharging’ renewables boom, says UN climate chief
Tensions rise on Israel-Lebanon border as Iran negotiations falter
FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky reports from Jerusalem.
World facing ‘major energy and economic challenge’, IEA chief says
The world is facing a “major energy and economic challenge” as oil prices have soared in the wake of the war in the Middle East, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said Thursday.
“The world is facing the biggest energy crisis in history,” Birol said at a high-level meeting on the energy transition at IEA headquarters in Paris, adding that oil prices were “putting a lot of pressure in many countries”.
Return to conflict would be ‘catastrophic’ for millions in Middle East, ICRC president warns
A resumption of military activities in Iran and across the region would have devastating consequences for millions of civilians, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, warned during a visit to Tehran.
“Six weeks of hostilities have pulled Iran and the wider Middle East into patterns of warfare that have proved devastating for civilians and the infrastructure they rely on to survive. Any return to a conflict of such intensity and scale will be catastrophic for millions,” Spoljaric said.
Iran enters 62nd day of internet blackout, online monitor says
Activists say Israel has intercepted their Gaza aid flotilla near Crete, detaining crews
Activists sailing on dozens of boats attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid say Israeli forces intercepted them overnight Wednesday into Thursday, detaining the crews while the flotilla was sailing near the southern Greek island of Crete.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail earlier this month from Barcelona. Organizers have said more than 70 boats and 1,000 people from around the world would be participating, with more vessels joining the original boats as the flotilla sailed east across the Mediterranean.
Their attempt comes less than a year after Israeli authorities foiled another effort by the activist group to reach Gaza.
“Israel’s actions … mark a dangerous and unprecedented escalation, the abduction of civilians in the middle of the Mediterranean, over 600 miles from Gaza, in full view of the world,” the group said in a press release
Iran president says US naval blockade ‘doomed to fail’
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said a US naval blockade on Iranian ports would deepen disruptions in the Gulf and would fail to achieve its targets.
“Any attempt to impose a maritime blockade or restrictions is contrary to international law… and is doomed to fail,” Pezeshkian said in a statement.
He added that such measures would “not only fail to enhance regional security, but are in fact a source of tension and a disruption to lasting stability in the Persian Gulf”.
Israel says intercepted 175 Gaza flotilla activists on 20 boats
Israel’s foreign ministry has said that Israeli forces arrested about 175 activists aboard 20 ships from an aid-laden flotilla bound for Gaza.
“Approximately 175 activists from more than 20 boats… are now making their way peacefully to Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, including a video of the activists aboard an Israeli navy ship.
Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, and has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing shortages since the start of the war in October 2023.