War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

British clothing retailer Next plans to mitigate the cost increases caused by the Iran war with “moderate” price rises in some international markets and cost savings elsewhere, it said, AFP reports.

European apparel retailers, including H&M, have warned that a prolonged Middle East conflict, will push up prices and dent consumer demand.

Next also reported a better-than-expected 6.2 per cent rise in full price sales for its first quarter to May 2 and edged up its full-year profit guidance.

The Israeli military has issued an urgent warning to residents of 12 towns and villages in southern Lebanon, including some north of the Litani River, telling them to leave their homes, saying Hezbollah had violated the ceasefire agreement, Reuters reports.

The military said civilians near Hezbollah fighters or facilities may be at risk.

A fire ripped through a commercial complex near Iran’s capital Tehran, killing at least eight people and leaving dozens more wounded, state media reported, according to AFP.

The blaze erupted on Tuesday in Arghavan commercial complex in the city of Andisheh, west of Tehran. Footage broadcast by state television showed a multi-storey building on fire with thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

The Israeli army claims its forces struck multiple Hezbollah-linked sites in southern Lebanon, killing several fighters and targeting what it claimed to be military infrastructure, Al jazeera reports.

It added that Israeli jets hit “several buildings” while Hezbollah fighters “were operating inside them”.

According to the army, around “25 targets of the Hezbollah terror organisation” were struck over the past day, including a weapons depot and “additional terror infrastructures”.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has described military actions by the United States and Israel against Iran as “illegitimate” during his meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in Beijing, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, Al Jazeera reports.

Wang stated that the Middle East is at a “decisive turning point” and that a comprehensive ceasefire is “indispensable” for regional stability.

He also reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment to de-escalation efforts and said direct dialogue between the two sides is essential, Tasnim reports.

The United States is looking for “concrete actions” by Iraq’s next prime minister to distance the state from pro-Iran armed groups before resuming financial shipments and security aid, a senior official said, according to AFP.

Germany’s Lufthansa warned of rising risks to the firm’s financial performance because of the Middle East war even as it maintained its outlook for the year, AFP reports.

“The risk-opportunity profile has shifted toward risks,” the firm said in a statement.

“While no restrictions in kerosene supply are currently expected at any of the Lufthansa Group hubs, potentially reduced fuel availability later in the year represents an additional risk factor,” it added.

Marking Lebanon’s annual Martyrs’ Day commemoration, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has paid honour to media professionals killed in attacks by Israel, specifically citing those “deliberately targeted” for reporting the truth, Al Jazeera reports.

“Media martyrs refused anything but to convey the reality on the ground, paying with their lives for a sacred message,” Aoun said in a statement.

“Their blood stands as testimony that the Lebanese word cannot be defeated,” he said.

A loud noise heard on Qeshm island in southern Iran was caused by air defences intercepting small drones and reconnaissance drones, the Hormozgan provincial authorities said, according to the Iranian news agency Students News Network, Reuters reports.

It said that no impact, damage or explosion had occurred.

Oil prices extended losses and stocks rallied on fresh hopes for an end to the Iran war and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, while Samsung blasted past the $1 trillion valuation mark as the AI tech boom continued apace, AFP reports.

Investors welcomed Donald Trump’s decision to pause efforts to help stranded ships through the crucial waterway.

Oil prices sank around 4 per cent yesterday. Today, they continued to fall, with West Texas Intermediate briefly dipping below $100 a barrel.

The cheaper oil prices provided support to equities, with investors taking their cue from another record day for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, fuelled again by tech firms. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta were all up.

Iranian FA (FFIRI) chief Mehdi Taj says FIFA must guarantee that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is not insulted by the United States if the national team is to travel to the country to play at the World Cup in June, Reuters reports.

“We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” he said on the sidelines of a pro-government night rally in Tehran.

Vacuum cleaners and vapes could get more expensive if the Iran war drags on for much longer, Chinese factory owners and traders warn, as the world’s manufacturing hub reels from “crazy” costs, AFP reports.

Manufacturing giant China has been comparatively sheltered from fuel shortages thanks to oil reserves and renewable energy, but local factories are picking up a ballooning raw materials bill.

“Basically, we’ve been losing money on all our orders,” said Bryant Chen, a manager at vacuum cleaner factory RIMOO in southern Guangdong province’s Foshan.

The price of plastic has risen roughly 50 per cent since before the Iran war, Chen told AFP as workers behind him fastened suction tubes to metal tanks.

Speaking at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre in Washington, D.C., in early 2012, Henry Kissinger asserted that, since World War II, the US had entered wars without a clear exit strategy, and often sought a way out shortly after engagement. He highlighted the Afghan conflict as an example of a prolonged and unwinnable war. At that time, the US, despite being the world’s greatest military power, was bogged down in a conflict that had entered its second decade. It took another decade for this war to conclude, resulting in utter humiliation for America, which had faced similar challenges in Vietnam and Iraq.

America’s longest war in Afghanistan was triggered by a desire for revenge for 9/11. Its military intervention in Iraq, meanwhile, was initiated under false pretenses regarding the possession by Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). From the outset, both conflicts proved unwinnable, yet deception masked the failures. For nearly two decades, American leaders misled the public about the disastrous outcomes of these wars.

Read more from Zahid Hussain here.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, according to the State Department, AFP reports.

The two, who spoke at Lavrov’s request, “discussed the US-Russia relationship, the Russia-Ukraine war, and Iran,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a brief statement that provided no other details.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi met his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi for talks in Beijing, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported, without giving further details, AFP reports.

Araghchi was set to “discuss bilateral relations and regional and international developments” with Wang, Iran’s Fars news agency reported earlier.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beijing on Wednesday morning ahead of scheduled talks with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi, according to Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies, AFP reports.

“Seyyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beijing… at the head of a diplomatic delegation. During this visit, our country’s Foreign Minister will discuss bilateral relations and regional and international developments with his Chinese counterpart,” Fars reported.

US President Donald Trump has said that he would briefly pause an operation to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing “great progress” toward a comprehensive agreement with Iran, Reuters reports.

“We have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom … will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump wrote on social media. He said that the development came at the request of Pakistan and other countries.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US had made some adjustments to a draft UN resolution on the Strait of Hormuz to try and avoid vetoes by China and Russia, reports Reuters.

“Everyone wouldn’t want to see this vetoed again,” he said.

The new resolution, also drafted by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar, would require Iran “to cease attacks, mining, and tolling” and demands that Iran disclose the number and location of the sea mines it has laid and cooperate with efforts to remove them.

The US secretary of state said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are “working hard” to advance diplomatic efforts with Iran.

He added that Iran must “accept the reality of the situation” and come to the negotiating table, agreeing to terms that are “good for it, but ultimately good for the world.”

Marco Rubio said that ‘Project Freedom’ was “defensive in nature”, asserting that US forces would only engage militarily if attacked first. “This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation,” he said, adding that there would be “no shooting unless we’re shot at first.”