The US and Israel on Feb 28 launched what they described as a “pre-emptive” joint strike against Iranian targets, with Trump announcing start of “major combat operations”
Oil tanker HELGA, sailing under the flag of Comoros, has arrived at one of the offshore oil loading terminals in Iraq’s southern Basra port and is preparing to load 2 million barrels of crude, two port sources say according to Reuters.
The vessel is the second tanker to reach Basra’s southern offshore terminals since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the sources added.
Container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd says that one of its ships has crossed the Strait of Hormuz but does not have any information on the circumstances or timing, according to Reuters.
Four out of initially six ships remain in the Gulf, after one ship’s charter agreement expired, meaning it no longer belongs to the Hapag-Lloyd fleet, a spokesperson added.
The four Hapag ships remaining in the Gulf are staffed with 100 crew, who are well-supplied with food and water, he said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a phone call, exchanged views on the US-Iran ceasefire and Pakistan’s ongoing diplomatic efforts, the Foreign Office (FO) says.
In a post on X, FO said, “Both sides exchanged views on regional developments, the ceasefire, and ongoing diplomatic efforts being pursued by Islamabad in the context of US-Iran engagement”
It added that Dar, for his part, stressed the importance of “sustained dialogue and engagement to address outstanding issues, in order to advance regional peace and stability at the earliest”.
Araghchi “appreciated Pakistan’s consistent and constructive facilitation role in this regard, and both leaders agreed to remain in close contact”.
European leaders have vowed to do more to de-escalate conflicts in the Middle East, as they prepared for discussions with regional counterparts from Egypt, Lebanon and Syria in Cyprus, AFP reports.
“Europe must do even more,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in Nicosia before heading into talks with fellow European Union leaders.
They will later have a working lunch with leaders from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan as well as the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
This lunch will be “an opportunity, with Syria, Jordan, among others, to coordinate. They are affected by the situation in the region,” Macron said.
Oil has risen on concerns of a renewed military escalation in the Middle East after Iran released footage of commandos boarding a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, and a lack of progress in re-opening the key waterway, Reuters reports.
Navigation through the strait, which before the war carried about a fifth of global oil output, remains effectively blocked. Iran’s capture of two cargo ships highlighted Washington’s difficulties in trying to control the passage.
Brent crude futures were up $1.93, or 1.8 per cent, to $107 a barrel at 08:05 GMT (1:05pm PKT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 76 cents, or 0.8pc, at $96.61.
For the week, Brent is up 18pc and WTI 15pc, the second-largest weekly gains since the war began.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has dismissed a Reuters report that an internal Pentagon email explored way of punishing Nato members who did not support the US war on Iran, including suspending Spain from the military alliance, according to Al Jazeera.
Madrid only responds to official positions, not internal correspondence, Sanchez said.
“We do not work off of emails, we work from official documents and position,” he added.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia on April 24, 2026. — AFP
China’s foreign ministry has rejected an accusation by US President Donald Trump that an Iranian-flagged cargo ship intercepted by US forces was a “gift from China”, Reuters reports.
The US said it fired on and seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Trump on Tuesday told CNBC the ship “had some things on it, which wasn’t very nice. A gift from China perhaps, I don’t know.” China’s foreign ministry rejected the comments.
“China opposes any accusations and associations that lack a factual basis,” ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.
“Normal international trade relations between countries should not be subject to interference and disruption,” he added.
French President Emmanuel Macron says it is in “everyone’s interest” for stability to return to the Middle East, as the spillover of the Iran war rattles the global economy, AFP reports.
“It is in everyone’s interest for stability to return as soon as possible and for the world’s economies to be reassured,” Macron said as he arrived at an European Union summit in Nicosia, where talks with Middle East leaders are also scheduled.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron reacts as he arrives to attend a working session of the European Council during an informal meeting in Nicosia on April 24, 2026. — AFP
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies are likely to remain strained through the end of 2027 due to disruptions and infrastructure damage from the US-Iran war, the International Energy Agency has said according to AFP.
“The combined effect of short-term supply losses and slower capacity growth could result in a cumulative loss of around 120 billion cubic metres of LNG supply between 2026 and 2030,” the Paris-based agency said in a new report.
It said nearly 20 per cent of LNG supply has been lost due to the conflict, and warned that new investments to increase production are likely to be delayed.
“While new liquefaction projects in other regions are expected to offset these losses over time, the impact will prolong tight markets through 2026 and 2027,” it said.
Talks with Iran should include nuclear experts otherwise “we will end up with a more dangerous Iran”, EU’s foreign chief Kaja Kallas says according to Reuters.
“If the talks are only about the nuclear and there are no nuclear experts around the table, then we will end up with an agreement that is weaker than the JCPOA was,” Kallas said, speaking ahead of an informal summit of EU leaders in Cyprus.
“And (if) the problems in the region, missile programmes, their support to proxies, also hybrid and cyber activities in Europe are not addressed, we will end up with a more dangerous Iran,” she added.
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas addresses the media on the day of a summit of the European Union and regional partners’ leaders in Nicosia (Lefkosia), Cyprus on April 24, 2026. — Reuters
South Korea has secured 74.62 million barrels of crude oil for next month, equivalent to about 87 per cent of its average monthly oil imports last year, the government says according to Al Jazeera, as Seoul seeks to stabilise energy supplies amid the US-Israel war on Iran.
President Lee Jae Myung’s chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said the country has also reduced its reliance on crude imports from the Middle East, its primary supplier, down to 56pc from 69pc.
Iran has granted “friendly” countries including Russia a fee exemption to transit the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports, citing the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
“We have provided exceptions for some countries. I don’t know what will happen in the future,” Iranian Ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, told the news outlet.
“At the moment, our foreign ministry is trying to use the exceptions provided for friendly countries, for example Russia,” Jalali said.
Iran will resume flights between Tehran and the northeastern city of Mashhad from tomorrow, Al Jazeera reports according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
Most Asian currencies were set for weekly losses, with the Philippine peso slipping to its weakest level in nearly four weeks and the Indonesian rupiah hovering near its record low, as stalled US-Iran peace talks supported the dollar.
Most stock markets in emerging Asia were headed for weekly gains after US President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely, but stalled talks and the fragile truce gave investors little to cheer.
The MSCI gauge of EM Asia stocks inched higher on the day and was set for a third consecutive weekly gain. An MSCI gauge of global EM currencies inched lower to its lowest since April 13.
The Philippine peso weakened 0.5 per cent to 60.755 per dollar, its lowest since late March. The currency has lost nearly 2pc so far this week, facing its worst week in seven. The Philippine central bank (BSP) raised its policy rate to 4.50pc on Thursday to tame inflation
Israeli warplanes launched fresh strikes on southern Lebanon, just hours after US President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension to the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, local media reported.
Gold held steady, but was on track for a weekly drop as elevated oil prices fuelled fears of inflation and higher-for-longer interest rates amid stalled US-Iran peace talks.
Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at $4,686.29 per ounce, as of 0230 GMT. The metal is down 3pc so far this week after a four-week winning run.
US gold futures for June delivery fell 0.5pc to $4,702.
Brent crude prices have risen over 17pc so far this week to hover above $105 a barrel, as the key Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed despite an extension of the Iran ceasefire.
Adam Ereli, former US ambassador to Bahrain, has told Al Jazeera’s This is America that while the US blockade of Iranian ports and seizure of vessels transporting Iranian oil “makes sense” as a policy, it may not work as intended due to domestic political considerations in the US.
“The Iranians have prepared for this, for this eventuality. They have their own plans. They’ve got alternative means of storing their oil or selling their oil,” Ereli told Al Jazeera.
“Even if they ran out of oil, they have ways to survive a very tough blockade and sanctions regime that, frankly, I think will outlast Trump’s patience and the patience of the American people,” he said.
Al Jazeera reports that the United States has announced a $10m reward for information that leads to the arrest of the leader of an Iran-aligned “terrorist group” in Iraq.
Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji is the leader and secretary-general of Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS).
The statement from the US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice programme said the group was responsible for killing Iraqi civilians and attacking US diplomatic facilities and personnel in Iraq and Syria.
Those providing information “could be eligible for relocation and a reward”, the State Department said.
Speaking to US media less than two hours after US President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said that the ceasefire situation was “not 100 percent”, according to Al Jazeera.
Danon said in an interview that the situation was “significantly better” than pre-ceasefire, but that Israeli forces “have to retaliate” against Hezbollah sending rockets. “Every time we see a threat, we take action,” he said.
“I think the main question is whether the Lebanese government is capable of enforcing a ceasefire or a peace agreement or actually applying sovereignty over southern Lebanon,” he added.
