War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

US Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has said that President Donald Trump has “lost this war” with Iran, arguing that continued fighting is weakening the US while strengthening Tehran, according to Anadolu Agency.

“America is weaker. Iran is stronger,” Murphy told NBC, saying he would support even a “bad deal” to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

He said the cost of reopening the strategic waterway was rising as negotiations remained stalled.

“The war needs to end because every day that the war continues, America gets weaker, Iran gets stronger, and people here in the United States get screwed as prices go up and up and up,” Murphy said.

Murphy said he would oppose funding to continue the war but would support replenishing US munitions after the conflict ends.

The US reaffirmed its support for Yemen in confronting Houthi attacks, with Washington highlighting maritime security and counterterrorism among its priorities in the country, Anadolu reports.

US Mission to Yemen Chargé d’Affaires Neil Hop made the remarks Sunday during his first meeting with Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

In a statement on the US social media platform X, the embassy said Hop outlined US President Donald Trump’s policy priorities and affirmed support for partnerships with Yemen on maritime security and counterterrorism.

Joe Kent, who resigned as director of the US National Counterterrorism Center in March in protest against the US-Israel war on Iran, has said: “The most powerful thing President Trump can do right now is to just walk away— it’s his best option to end the war with Iran.”

In a post on X, he said, “Trump has the political power to frame this maneuvering as a win, but his time to do so successfully is running out.”

Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the US must meet other conditions, including compensation and an end to sanctions and military threats, before the strategic waterway is reopened, Reuters reports.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said an agreement with Oman on the strait was in its “final stages” but reiterated comments made earlier that Tehran would not reopen the channel unless the US met certain demands made by Tehran.

A Houthi attack on Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Mocha killed seven people and wounded 30 others, the Yemeni military says, according to Al Jazeera.

Air defences intercepted 11 Houthi drones during the attack.

Oil prices rise as uncertainty continued over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as Iran said a deal with Oman defining new shipping lanes was in its final stages, but the US must still meet other conditions, according to Reuters.

Brent crude futures rise $1.20, or 1.44 per cent, to $84.79 by 2206 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate is at $79.29 a barrel, or 1.08pc, rising $1.12.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has appointed Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, as his political adviser.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has appointed Dr Mohsen Rezaei as his representative in Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

The Yemeni transportation ministry has said in a statement that the Houthis’ attack on Mocha caused severe damage to the port’s infrastructure, Reuters reports.

“This marks yet another assault on a vital civilian facility that serves citizens and contributes to boosting commercial and maritime activity in the Red Sea,” the ministry said.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tarik discussed the “close fraternal relationships between the two countries” as well as exchanged views on “a number of issues of mutual interest”, Qatar says.

The Oman sultan undertook a one-day visit to Qatar.

Oman’s foreign ministry said they “discussed the course of bilateral relations and all matters aimed at developing aspects of existing cooperation in various sectors, in service of shared interests and aspirations”.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 4,335 people and wounded 12,277 others since March 2, Al Jazeera quotes Lebanon’s health ministry as saying.

After months of US military strikes on Iran, sanctions and a blockade, President Donald Trump says that his administration is watching economic pressure mount on Iran, according to an interview with Axios.

“We are low-keying it,” Trump was quoted as saying during a brief phone call.

“We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.”

He stressed that Iran “is in very bad shape” economically and has no money to pay its troops. Trump said the US naval blockade has exacerbated Iran’s economic crisis.

At the same time, Trump said that with oil down to slightly over $75 a barrel, US consumers are feeling less pain from the war.

“It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game,” Trump said of the back-and-forth with Iran.

Deputy PM Ishaq Dar and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand have discussed the “evolving situation” in the context of the US-Iran war, the Foreign Office says.

They also exchanged views on the regional situation, including the recently signed Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

The spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission has announced the approval of a strategic action plan to ensure the security and sustainable progress of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, IRNA reports.

The spokesperson added: “In this meeting, the oral and written views of the relevant agencies and institutions were discussed and reviewed in the presence of representatives at the National Security Commission meeting, and ultimately this plan was approved without any dissenting votes.”

Reuters

Former Iranian chief justice says that Iran will not retreat from the Strait of Hormuz at any cost, Iran’s state-run IRIB news agency reports.

Basij Organisation deputy Qasem Qoraishi has said that footage and other documentation showing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei among the public and out in the streets, as well as in meetings with armed forces commanders, would be released in the future, Reuters reports.

Qoraishi said the footage would “once again bring disgrace upon the enemies and detractors of the Iranian people”.

The comments appeared aimed at countering speculation about Khamenei’s health and lack of public appearances.

Strikes by Houthi rebels have killed at least 11 people, a medical source in the Yemeni port city of Mokha tells AFP, after an earlier drone salvo targeted a Saudi oil refinery on the Red Sea coast.

A medical source in Mokha, held by Yemen’s internationally recognised, Aden-based government, said three civilians and eight military personnel had been killed in the Houthi attacks.

A further 32 individuals were wounded, six of them civilians, the source added, explaining all the civilian casualties had been a result of strikes on Mokha’s port.

Two military sources with the government forces earlier confirmed at least eight troops had been killed in the strikes and more than 40 personnel were injured.

Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian says that the country’s armed forces, including the Revolutionary Guards, Basij, and police, have done a great job and astonished the America, the Zionist regime, and the world, Iran’s ISNA news agency reports.

Attacks by Houthis in Yemen have killed at least four troops from the government forces and injured 20 more personnel, two military sources told AFP.

The initial toll came from strikes on the Yemeni city of Mokha and surrounding areas, as well as Khokha, south of the port city of Hodeida, the sources said on condition of anonymity, after the Houthis announced they had targeted military forces and equipment on the Red Sea coast.

Iran’s Press TV has reported that at least eight media workers have been killed since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to discuss the country’s “economic and defence strategies”, IRNA reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons, a goal he has long alleged Tehran is pursuing, regardless of the course of diplomacy with Washington and Arab states, AFP reports.

“I want to emphasise once again: with an agreement or without an agreement, as long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting.