War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

About 80 per cent of war-damaged sites in Iran’s capital have been repaired, Al Jazeera reports citing state broadcaster IRIB.

“More than 60,000 residential and commercial units in Tehran province were hit by American-Zionist attacks during the third imposed war,” Deputy Governor of Tehran Seyyed Kamaleddin Mirjafarian is quoted as saying.

Estimates indicate Iran suffered about $270 billion in direct and indirect damage since the start of the US-Israel war on February 28.

Bridges, ports and railway networks, universities and research centres, and several power plants and water desalination plants were directly hit, while a large number of hospitals, schools and civilian homes were also damaged or destroyed.

The top diplomats of Iran and Azerbaijan have held talks over the phone to discuss regional developments, as Tehran says it is seeking to develop arrangements aimed at strengthening and facilitating safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz, Anadolu reports.

A statement by the Iranian foreign ministry says Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has discussed the latest developments related to diplomacy, regional issues and bilateral relations with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov.

According to the ministry, Araghchi described what he called the United States’ “maximalist approach”, threatening rhetoric and “lack of good faith” as the main obstacles to a permanent end to the war and any potential agreement.

He adds that the “main source” of the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz was the US and Israeli military attacks against Iran, followed by repeated ceasefire violations and the continued blockade of Iranian ports.

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Advocacy groups have warned that higher energy prices, due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, would drive up the cost of fertilisers, agrochemicals and transport — and ultimately worsen hunger in the world’s poorest regions, Anadolu reports.

Sabine Minninger, a senior policy advisor at Bread for the World, says that many low-income countries already struggling with the impacts of global warming now face another major crisis, as the prolonged conflict with Iran severely affects those heavily dependent on oil and energy imports.

“If this war goes on and if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, it will have a tremendous impact on food security, especially in the poorest countries, such as those in Africa,” she tells Anadolu. “We are very concerned that a hunger crisis is on the way.”

With the war between the US and Israel in its eleventh week, disruption has intensified along the Strait of Hormuz. Hundreds of vessels are reportedly stranded in a narrow waterway that serves as a vital artery for petrochemicals, fertilisers, and other refined products.

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Iranian Army spokesperson Brigadier-General Mohammad Akraminia says the armed forces are maintaining “the highest level of readiness” as the ceasefire with the United States hangs in the balance, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking from Mashhad, Akraminia emphasises Iran’s military “prevented the enemy from achieving any of its objectives, and after this war, there is no room for retreat”, he said.

He has praised “Iran’s capabilities, which the enemy had not anticipated”.

At least 12 people have been killed by a series of Israeli strikes on vehicles in Lebanon, including children, Al Jazeera reports.

Israel’s attacks include three drone strikes targeting vehicles well beyond the main theatre of conflict in the south on the coastal highway, 20 kilometres south of Beirut. The health ministry says those strikes killed eight people, including two children.

A fourth attack killed one person near the southern city of Sidon, 40km from Beirut, while three more people ‌were killed in Israeli air strikes on cars in three locations further south in Tyre district, the ministry says.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the Trump administration of attempting to “usurp” influence over the global energy market, Al Jazeera reports.

The US objective is to force Russian energy firms such as Lukoil and Rosneft out of international markets as part of a broader strategy to control global energy flows, Lavrov says in an interview with broadcaster RT India.

“The United States has adopted a series of doctrinal documents, one of which proclaims that the US must dominate global energy markets,” he adds. “So their goal is entirely clear: they want to bring every significant energy supply route under their control.”

Iran’s military spokesman says Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz could generate “significant” economic revenue and strengthen the country’s international position, AFP reports.

Iran has largely blocked shipping through the strait since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on February 28. In peacetime, the route accounts for roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, along with other key commodities.

“Our oversight of the Strait of Hormuz will generate significant economic revenues for our country – potentially even doubling our oil income – and will strengthen our influence on the international stage,” military spokesman Mohammad Akraminia says, according to the ISNA news agency.

More than half of drivers in Norway say their next car will be electric as a response to soaring fuel prices, the country’s auto association has said, AFP reports.

Norway is the largest oil producer in Europe, after Russia, but the Scandinavian country is already a champion of electric vehicles (EVs), which account for over 95 per cent of new registrations. But the surge in fuel prices since war erupted in the Middle East is convincing even more motorists to make the switch.

In April, 51pc of drivers surveyed said their next car would be electric, according to a study by the Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF). In the same month last year, the figure was just 46pc, and NAF described the increase as “the biggest jump in several years”.

“It’s quite clear that high fuel prices and uncertainty about energy supplies are affecting people’s choice of car,” NAF spokesman Nils Sodal said in a statement.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed at least 2,896 people since March 2 as attacks continue despite a ceasefire, Al Jazeera reports.

Among the dead are more than 200 children.

The health ministry says 8,824 other people have been wounded.

Israel has intensified strikes on Lebanon, with the health ministry reporting nine people killed in attacks targeting cars between Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon despite a ceasefire, AFP reports.

The strikes, along with others in various areas of the country’s south, came on the eve of a new round of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Washington, brokered by the United States.

Lebanon’s health ministry said three strikes on cars along or near the coastal highway around 20 to 30 kilometres (12-19 miles) from Beirut “resulted in eight martyrs, including two children”.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said two strikes hit cars on the highway itself — a busy motorway that links Beirut to the country’s south — while a third struck nearby.

A fourth strike hit a car in Sidon, southern Lebanon’s largest city, around 40 kilometres south of Beirut, with the health ministry reporting one dead there.

Iran has said it will no longer allow US weaponry to transit the Strait of Hormuz to regional bases, with the army declaring that the strategic waterway is now under the coordinated strategic control of the Iranian armed forces, state broadcaster Press TV reports.

“From now on, we will not allow American weapons to transit the Strait of Hormuz and enter regional bases,” Army spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia says, addressing a ceremony. “Any country wishing to transit the waterway must do so under the supervision of Iran’s armed forces, ensuring a ‘passage without harm’.”

According to Akraminia, the western part of the strait is under the command of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy. At the same time, its eastern section is controlled by the Iranian Navy.

Air India has said it would reduce or cut several international routes over jet fuel price hikes and airspace restrictions due to conflict, AFP reports.

Air India did not give the total number of flights affected, but said it would suspend routes to Chicago, Shanghai, Male and Singapore from certain Indian cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, between June and August.

The airline added that it would also cut the frequency of flights to San Francisco, Paris, Milan and Sydney.

Several factors have “significantly” impacted the commercial viability of some flights, the airline said in a statement.

“Despite the challenges and beyond these adjustments, Air India will continue to operate more than 1,200 international flights every month.” The Middle East war has proven to be the latest in a series of setbacks for the Indian carrier, whose chief executive resigned in April.

Israel has escalated its attacks in Gaza in the five weeks since halting its joint bombing of Iran with the US, redirecting its fire back on the ruined Palestinian enclave, where the military claims Hamas fighters are tightening their grip.

According to the Gaza health ministry, 120 Palestinians, including eight women and 13 children, were killed in Gaza since the Iran war was paused on April 8 — 20 per cent more than in the five weeks prior, when Israel was flying sorties over Iran.

Conflict monitor ACLED, which tracks Israeli attacks in Gaza, says in a monthly report for April that Israel had carried out 35pc more attacks last month than in March.

“The war is still ongoing,” says Lafi Al-Najjar, 36, a blind Palestinian, one of whose sons was killed on April 28 in an Israeli attack.

“It stopped in the announcement, but in reality and on the ground, the war has not stopped,” adds Najjar, whose family have been living in a tented camp in the ruins of Khan Younis, once Gaza’s second-largest city.

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A Chinese supertanker carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude has sailed through the Strait of Hormuz after being stranded in the Gulf for more than two months due to the US-Iran war, Reuters reports citing ship-tracking data from LSEG and Kpler.

The very large crude carrier (VLCC) Yuan Hua Hu is now anchored off the Gulf of Oman, near where the US Navy has set up a blockade on Iranian vessels, LSEG data shows.

The Chinese VLCC is owned and operated by COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation’s Hainan unit and chartered by Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese state oil major Sinopec.

COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation and Sinopec have not immediately responded to requests for comment.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called on the country’s agriculture ministry to use “all their capacity” to control prices amid the Middle East war.

“Our duty is to stand by the people with all our strength,” he says in a post on X.

A unit of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) says one of its tankers, struck by Iranian drones last week, has leaked a small amount of fuel off the coast of Oman, underscoring the ecological risks stemming from the Iran war, Reuters reports.

Adnoc Logistics and Services says it is monitoring the situation concerning the vessel, the MV Barakah, and is working “closely with the relevant authorities and specialist response teams”.

“The Adnoc Logistics and Services vessel Barakah remains at anchor off the coast of Oman after being impacted by two Iranian drones on May 4,” a company spokesperson says. “A small amount of what is understood to be bunker fuel was unfortunately released as a result of the incident.”

The spokesperson has not said how much fuel is believed to have leaked.

At the time of the attack, Adnoc said no crew members were injured, and the tanker was not carrying any cargo.

Oman’s Maritime Security Centre did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen says the bloc does not expect a serious jet fuel supply crisis in the short term caused by the US-Israel war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.

“We don’t expect a very serious security of supply issue on a very short term. But we cannot exclude that there will be security of supply issues on a longer term,” Jorgensen says. “This all depends, of course, on the situation in the Middle East.”

His comments come after the International Energy Agency said countries around the world are tapping into oil inventories and strategic reserves at a “record pace”.

Australia will join a “strictly defensive” mission led by France and Britain to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Defence Minister Richard Marles has said.

Australia will contribute a Wedgetail E-7A surveillance aircraft, already deployed in the region to protect the United Arab Emirates from Iran drone attacks, Marles said after a meeting of 40 countries.

“Australia stands ready to support an independent and strictly defensive Multinational Military Mission, led by the United Kingdom and France, once it is established,” Marles said in a statement.

A multinational military mission is designed to complement diplomatic engagement and de-escalation efforts, while “demonstrating a tangible commitment to the security of international trade”, he said.

At least one person has been killed and another wounded during an Israeli raid on a vehicle near the Rafik Hariri Sports City (formerly the Sidon Municipal Stadium) north of Sidon, NNA has reported according to Al Jazeera.

The attack comes after the Lebanese health ministry reported a short while ago that at least eight people have been killed, including two children, in a series of Israeli air attacks on a coastal highway in southern Lebanon.

Israeli strikes targeting cars on a highway south of Beirut killed eight people, including two children, Lebanon’s health ministry said, according to AFP.

In a statement, the ministry said “the three raids carried out by the Israeli enemy on the Saida-South coastal highway — specifically in Barja, Jiyeh and Saadiyat — resulted in 8 martyrs, including two children”.