War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz could not be guaranteed without coordination with Iran, and that failure to coordinate could result in the suspension of any designated route, Reuters reports.

The comments posted on social media platform X on Friday came after Oman, in coordination with the International Maritime Organisation, designated temporary routes for passage through the strait.

Former Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has praised the Lebanese army commander for what he described as the “honourable stance” of the country’s military delegation, which declined being photographed alongside the Israeli delegation at talks in Washington, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reports.

He also expressed hope that the entire Lebanese delegation would withdraw from the negotiations.

Lahoud argued that Israel is not seeking a truce or peace, but is instead attempting to weaken Lebanon’s resistance through negotiations and create internal divisions, NNA said.

Pope Leo XIV said people should “resolve conflicts as human beings and not as beasts” as he hosted a gathering of cardinals from around the world in the Vatican, AFP reports.

The closed-door assembly — known as a “consistory” —ends on Saturday and is intended to discuss a variety of global challenges facing the Catholic Church.

It started with a mass in St Peter’s Basilica presided by US-born Pope Leo, whose anti-war message has been harshly criticised by US President Donald Trump.

“International tensions and conflicts seriously wound the human family,” the pope said in his homily.

“War is never worthy of humanity, and it is never blessed by God,” he said.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has welcomed a French-Italian initiative to form an international coalition to manage the post-United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) period, calling it a sign of strong international support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability, according to a statement from his office, Al Jazeera reports.

The president considered this initiative “a sincere expression of the international commitment to supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability, and a genuine appreciation of the role played by the Lebanese Armed Forces in maintaining security and extending state authority over all its territory, particularly in the southern border regions”, the statement read.

Taiwanese shipping operator Evergreen Marine Corp said one of its container ships was hit by an “unidentified object” in the Strait of Hormuz, but the crew, vessel and cargo were “unharmed,” AFP reports.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a marine monitoring agency, previously said a vessel had been hit by a projectile in the strait on Thursday, with US media outlets reporting that Iran had fired at a container ship.

The Iranian agency that claims to regulate traffic there issued a warning after the incident, while the UN suspended efforts to evacuate trapped mariners.

Iran said that a joint statement by the US and the Gulf Cooperation Council contained “interventionist, irresponsible and provocative positions”, and said the US military presence in the Gulf was a source of insecurity and division in the region, Reuters reports.

In the statement by Iran’s foreign ministry, Iran also reiterated its position that the Strait of Hormuz should be governed with Oman in line with terms of MOU with the United States

Iran also dismissed the United States and the Israeli government’s position on “Iran’s peaceful nuclear program” as false allegations, Al Jazeera reports.

The Iranian foreign ministry urged GCC countries to support the initiative for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, “instead of aligning with policies of portraying Iran as a threat.”

It further emphasised that lasting peace and security can only be achieved through regional cooperation without foreign interference, and condemned efforts to portray Iran’s defensive, missile, and drone capabilities as a threat.

Iran’s foreign ministry further said in its statement, carried by semi-official Tasnim news agency, that the US claims of commitment to the security of the GCC member states “is nothing more than rhetoric and a distortion of reality,” Al Jazeera reports.

The statement added that the US military presence is rather a burden for regional countries.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Friday that the US-Iran deal signed last week was a declaration of defeat by Israel and America, after the agreement also reduced fighting between his group and Israel, AFP reports.

“They wanted a major war… to eliminate our existence,” Qassem said in a televised address to mark Ashura, a day of mourning for the death of a key figure in Shia Islam.

“We were able to stop this aggression and achieve a great victory… We have shattered the Israeli-American project and entered a new phase,” he added.

Iran “was able to reach the memorandum of understanding, which is an official declaration of the defeat of America and Israel”.

Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem said that Lebanese authourities cannot afford to antagonise half Lebanon’s population, Al Jazeera reports.

“resistance” will stand with the government if it proceeds on the path of Lebanese sovereignty, he added.

Israel must leave Lebanon unconditionally, says Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem, Al Jazeera reports.

Israel is in Lebanon not because of the missiles, but because it wants to swallow it up and occupy it, Qassem added.

Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified command of Iran’s armed forces, has said in a statement that Tehran considers the “movements and presence of military aircraft in the skies of some neighbouring countries towards Iran as a dangerous act and a threat against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Al Jazeera reports.

In the statement, quoted by Iran’s Fars news agency, the headquarters further noted that if the US “is unable to contain and control the Zionist [Israeli] regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not tolerate any threat against it and considers it its right to respond to these dangerous actions”.

European natural gas prices inched higher after an attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz renewed fears about safe passage through the critical waterway, Bloomberg reports.

Benchmark futures rose as much as 1.6 per cent after falling the previous two sessions. Prices have been trading in a narrow range since the start of the week. They remain more than 25pc higher than before the war started amid concerns European storage isn’t filling up fast enough before winter.

The Israeli army has been bulldozing and burning houses in the municipality of Markaba, in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district, during military operations, the country’s National News Agency reports.

The Israeli army has said that four of its soldiers, including two officers, were injured in a “close-quarter encounter” with a Hezbollah fighter in southern Lebanon’s Beit Yahun municipality, Al Jazeera reports.

The statement said that the fighter threw a grenade at the Israeli forces on Thursday evening, and was killed shortly afterwards in a shootout.

“One officer was moderately wounded in the attack, while another officer and two other soldiers were lightly wounded,” the statement added.

An attack on a container vessel sailing through the Strait of Hormuz has prompted some shipowners to review exit plans, but traffic continued to flow in both directions through the vital thoroughfare, Bloomberg reports.

Two fully laden tankers are heading out of the Persian Gulf, while four empty, inbound, very large crude carriers are among the vessels sailing along the Omani coast, ship-tracking data show.

A ship belonging to Evergreen Marine was hit by an unknown object off Oman but has now safely departed the Strait of Hormuz, the Taiwanese company said, Reuters reports.

In a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange, the company said the starboard side of the bridge of the Ever Lovely, owned by its Singapore subsidiary, was hit a day earlier by an unknown object 3.6 nautical miles off Oman’s Khawr Naiwah.

After an initial inspection by the crew, damage was found around the bridge windows. But the crew, vessel and cargo are all safe, it said.

An explosion caused by an unexploded remnant of war in the town of al-Mansouri in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district has killed one person and critically injured another, NNA reports.

Crude prices sank 2 per cent on Friday and were headed for steep ‌weekly losses amid easing supply concerns as more stranded oil tankers exited the Strait of Hormuz, even though a cargo vessel was hit near Oman on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures fell $1.47, or 1.95pc, to $73.79 a barrel as of 0421 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate fell $1.44, or ​2pc, to $70.48 a barrel.

Two people were killed and another person was wounded in an Israeli raid on the town of Mefdoun, in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district, the National News Agency reports, citing the country’s health ministry.

The ministry said it was a revised toll from earlier.

QatarEnergy has issued a tender to sell crude for July-to-August loading, likely its first since the US-Iran conflict began, trade sources said, Reuters reports.

The producer is offering its al-Shaheen, Marine Qatar and Marine Land crude. Buyers can load or lift via ship-to-ship transfer between Fujairah and Sohar, according to a tender document seen by Reuters.

The tender will close on June 29.

The offer adds to rising supplies from Middle Eastern producers. Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO issued a tender on Thursday offering to sell Basra Heavy and Basra Medium oil in July.