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Second ship reports attack in strait of Hormuz
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of a second ship coming under attack in the strait of Hormuz.
A cargo ship was fired at about 8 nautical miles northwest of Iran, UKMTO said, although it did not say where the shots were fired from.
In a report issued this morning, UKMTO said: “A master of an outbound cargo ship reports having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water. Crew are safe and accounted for. There is no reported damage to the vessel.
“UKMTO is aware of high levels of activity in the SoH (strait of Hormuz) area and encourages vessels to report any suspicious activity.”
It follows an earlier report of a container ship that was fired at by an IRGC gunboat off the coast of Oman.
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Third ship attacked in strait of Hormuz - report
A third ship has been attacked in the strait of Hormuz, the BBC has reported.
Maritime intelligence company Vanguard told BBC Verify that the ship was targeted about 6 nautical miles off the coast of Iran. Vanguard said the vessel was hailed by the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and “instructed to drop anchor”.
The ship has reported “damage to the hull and accommodation”.
It follows attacks on two ships earlier this morning, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). A container ship was fired at by an IRGC gunboat off the coast of Oman, UKMTO reported, and a cargo vessel came under attack near Iran shortly after.
We have some images on the newswires from the Pakistani capital Islamabad, which is still locked in gear to host US-Iran talks that were pushed back at the last minute.
To understand more about what Hezbollah is and how much power it wields in Lebanon, watch this video by the Guardian’s Matilda Boseley, where she explains the group’s beginnings and its connections to Iran:
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, has urged Lebanon to make joint efforts with his country to counter Hezbollah, AFP reports.
Speaking ahead of talks between the countries that are set to resume in Washington, Saar said: “Tomorrow the direct talks between Israel and Lebanon will resume in Washington DC. I call on the government of Lebanon – let’s work together against the terror state that Hezbollah built in your territory.
“This cooperation is needed by you even more than by us. It requires moral clarity and the courage to take risks. But there is no real alternative for ensuring a future of peace for you and for us.”
The Israeli military said it killed “two terrorists who had violated the ceasefire agreement” in southern Lebanon, saying they crossed what it described as the front defence line that separates an area occupied by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from the rest of the country.
In a report issued today, the IDF said: “Yesterday (Tuesday), forces identified two terrorists in the Saluki area who violated the ceasefire agreements, crossed the front defence line, and approached the forces in a manner that posed an immediate threat.
“After identification and a quick closing of the circle, the air force attacked and eliminated the terrorists in order to remove the threat.”
After the 10-day Israel-Lebanon ceasefire took effect on Friday, the Israeli military has carried out demolitions in the territory that it occupies on Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, while Hezbollah said it had launched rockets toward northern Israel in retaliation for what it said were Israeli violations of the truce.
Two million people in Iran lost their jobs because of war, says Iranian minister
More than two million people have lost their jobs in Iran as a result of the war, according to an Iranian minister, pushing a fragile economy already battered by sanctions and an internet blackout deeper into crisis.
The war has inflicted severe damage on Iran’s critical infrastructure, including its oil and gas facilities, petrochemical industries, steel plants and aluminium factories. Internet disruptions during the January protests, and the blackout since the start of the war on 28 February, have also paralysed the digital economy.
Widespread redundancies have followed, with Hadi Kahalzadeh, a former economist at Iran’s Social Security Organisation, estimating 10 to 12 million jobs, roughly 50% of Iran’s workforce, are at risk.
Earlier this week, Gholamhossein Mohammadi, an Iranian deputy labour minister and head of Iran’s technical and vocational training organisation, said initial estimates showed the war has led to the loss of more than one million jobs and direct and indirect unemployment of two million people, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
He said the Iranian government has launched initiatives to train and recruit people for the reconstruction of damaged homes and industries. He was quoted as saying: “Our approach this year has shifted from quantity to quality, with a focus on the training required for reconstruction, renewable energy and the digital economy.”
Second ship reports attack in strait of Hormuz
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of a second ship coming under attack in the strait of Hormuz.
A cargo ship was fired at about 8 nautical miles northwest of Iran, UKMTO said, although it did not say where the shots were fired from.
In a report issued this morning, UKMTO said: “A master of an outbound cargo ship reports having been fired upon and is now stopped in the water. Crew are safe and accounted for. There is no reported damage to the vessel.
“UKMTO is aware of high levels of activity in the SoH (strait of Hormuz) area and encourages vessels to report any suspicious activity.”
It follows an earlier report of a container ship that was fired at by an IRGC gunboat off the coast of Oman.
Iran has executed a man convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence service and passing sensitive information, the judiciary’s news outlet Mizan reports.
Mizan said the man had held a position in a civil defence unit within a sensitive organisation and had used his access to gather and transmit information to Israel’s Mossad, Reuters reported.
His death sentence was upheld by the supreme court, Mizan said.
In the UK, inflation rose by 3.3% in March after the surge in fuel prices triggered by the Iran war led to the biggest jump in transport costs since December 2022.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the consumer prices index increased last month from 3% in February, adding to pressure on household finances already battered by a cost of living crisis. The rise matched City economists’s forecasts.
Grant Fitzner, the ONS chief economist, said: “Inflation climbed in March, largely due to increased fuel prices, which saw their largest increase for over three years.
“Air fares were another upward driver this month, alongside rising food prices.”
Read the full report here:
Iranian media has reported the container ship that was fired at by an IRGC gunboat off the coast of Oman had “ignored warnings from the Iranian armed forces”.
As reported earlier, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of a container ship coming under fire near the strait of Hormuz by an IRGC gunboat, causing damage to the vessel but no casualties.
The incident happened 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman, UKMTO said, adding that the captain of the tanker reported the gunboat opened fire without issuing a radio challenge.
But Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the vessel “ignored warnings from the Iranian armed forces [and] was fired upon … causing serious damage to the ship”.
IRGC warns it would inflict 'crushing blows' if fighting resumes
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned it would inflict “crushing blows” against “the enemy’s remaining assets” in the Middle East if fighting resumed, according to Iranian media.
The warning came after Donald Trump announced an extension of the US-Iran ceasefire that was set to expire today.
In a statement carried by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said it is “prepared to confront any threat or renewed aggression from the enemy decisively, conclusively, and immediately, and in the next phase of a potential military conflict, will inflict crushing and unimaginable blows on the enemy’s remaining assets in the region”.
The head of the UN maritime agency has appealed for help for thousands of seafarers stranded in the Gulf by the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz.
About 20,000 seafarers and 2,000 ships have been stranded since US-Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The agency said at least 10 seafarers have been killed and several more severely injured in attacks on commercial vessels since the start of the war.
IMO’s secretary general, Arsenio Dominguez, said the agency is working on an evacuation plan for the stranded ships but that it can only be put into action when there are clear signs of de-escalation.
