War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The US military says it “redirected” 109 commercial vessels in the Arabian Sea to enforce President Trump’s blockade of ships travelling to and from Iranian ports via the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.

Several US Sea Hawk helicopters are currently patrolling the Arabian Sea to make sure the blockade continues.

The IRGC Navy reports a total of 23 vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz with its permission in the last 24 hours, Al Jazeera reports, citing Iran’s IRIB broadcaster.

The IRGC on Tuesday said 25 ships passed the critical strait in coordination with its navy.

The White House has dismissed Iranian state TV reports claiming that Tehran has obtained a draft of an initial, unofficial framework for an MoU with the US on ending their conflict, Reuters reported.

The White House termed the report “not true”, saying that the cited MoU was “a complete fabrication”.

The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Wednesday for residents of the city of Tyre in south Lebanon and the surrounding areas, saying it was “compelled to act forcefully against” Hezbollah targets there.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately, according to the area shown on the map, and move north of the Zahrani River,” Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, wrote on X, attaching a map of the Tyre region with some localities highlighted.

Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Alexander Vendiktov in a conversation with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Bagheri on the sidelines of a security conference in Moscow urged Tehran to prevent war from restarting, Al Jazeera reported.

Iran’s state broadcaster quoted Vendiktov saying: “It is important to prevent the resumption of armed confrontation and pave the way for the creation of a new security architecture in the region.”

The Israeli military says it has identified the impacts of “several explosive drones” in the north of the country, Al Jazeera reported.

Sirens were activated in the region after the discovery, with warning alerts related to possible aircraft infiltration going off in the Shomera area, the military said.

Iranians isolated by a long internet shutdown imposed by the authorities during the war with the US and Israel expressed joy as social media came back to life in a country where even in normal times access to the outside world remains restricted via censorship of many websites.

“Ive never been so happy in my life to see Telegram notifications,” Kian Galvani, an engineering student, wrote on his account on X.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issued an order to reopen international internet access, Iranian state media reported on Monday, citing an official after a near-90-day blackout. The report cited the head of public relations at Irans Communications Ministry.

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Iran and Oman are jointly negotiating a new mechanism for vessel transit in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s IRIB said in a post on X.

Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Bagheri reportedly said, “Conditions will differ significantly from pre-conflict norms. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

Iran’s state TV claims Tehran has obtained a draft of an initial, unofficial framework for a Memorandum of Understanding with the US on ending their conflict.

Under the alleged framework, Iran would restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month, while the US would withdraw military forces from Iran’s vicinity and lift a naval blockade.

State TV claimed the framework, which excludes military vessels and envisages Iran managing ship traffic through the strait in cooperation with Oman, was not yet finalised and that Tehran would take no steps without “tangible verification”.

It added that if a final agreement was reached within 60 days, it could be approved as a binding UN Security Council resolution.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday at a briefing announced the outcome of a government investigation into the May 4 attack on a bulk carrier operated by shipper HMM in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Various pieces of evidence point toward Iran,” said First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, adding that Seoul had not conclusively determined who was responsible or whether the attack was intentional.

The analysis showed that the ship, named Namu, was attacked twice and while the first warhead did not explode, a second did. Components in the debris indicated the objects were likely made in Iran, the ministry said.

“Their engines were similar to turbojet engines made in Iran,” Park said, noting that one component had markings that appeared to be used by an Iranian manufacturer. The warheads resembled those used in Iranian anti-ship missiles, the Noor or Qader, Park said.

Saeed Koozechi, the Iranian ambassador to South Korea, denied Iran’s role in the South Korean vessel attack saying his country “took no part” in it, local news agency Yonhap News reported.

The Iranian embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

South Korea summoned the Iranian ambassador to share the results of the investigation and deliver a protest message, according to the ministry.

Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has reiterated Tehran’s position that the fate of its highly enriched uranium is not open for discussion in ongoing talks with the United States, reports Al Jazeera.

“This issue is not on the agenda of the negotiations,” Bagheri Kani told Fars news agency on the sidelines of an international security conference in Moscow.

The pound fell for a second day against the euro and made little headway against the dollar, as doubts about the likelihood of peace in the Middle East made traders cautious, reports Reuters.

The nearly 7 per cent drop in the oil price this week has given some respite to the currencies of more import-dependent nations, which include sterling, but overall, trading ranges have been narrow and volatility has been contained, reflecting a lack of conviction among investors.

Iran’s intelligence ministry said that the goal of the United States and Israel remained to overthrow the Islamic republic and break up the country, reports AFP.

“The enemy is now pursuing through other means the objective of overthrowing and partitioning the country, which it openly declared at the beginning of the recent war but failed to achieve through military attack,” the ministry said in a statement carried by Iranian media.

Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces in a town north of the Litani river, a day after Israel’s military said it was expanding its ground operations, reports AFP.

Israel intensified the scope of its strikes on south and east Lebanon on Tuesday despite a ceasefire, killing at least 31 people, Lebanese authorities said, as Hezbollah also kept up its attacks.

In a statement, the resistance group said its fighters “clashed with the enemy forces at point-blank range” with light and medium weapons in the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, on the edge of an Israeli-declared “yellow line” in south Lebanon where its troops have been operating.

Israel has issued a fresh forced displacement order to residents of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, reports Al Jazeera.

In a post on X, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson instructed residents to “evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River”.

Seoul has said it would summon Iran’s ambassador to protest after a probe concluded that a strike on a South Korean ship in the Strait of Hormuz was “highly likely” an Iranian-made missile, AFP reports.

“Our government plans to summon the Iranian ambassador to explain the investigation results, convey a strong protest regarding the attack on our vessel, and demand responsible measures, including steps to prevent a recurrence,” first vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo said during a briefing.

The Iran war and lingering trade tensions could dent euro zone economic growth, push up borrowing costs and challenge some member states’ ability to sustain public budgets, a European Central Bank report concluded.

Financial markets have mostly shrugged off the war in Iran, leaving stocks at rich valuations, corporate borrowing costs low and the spread between sovereign bond yields across the 21-nation bloc at low levels, raising fears that investors may be complacent about risks.

“A scenario of notably weaker growth associated with a more persistent energy shock could trigger a reassessment of fiscal sustainability and an abrupt repricing in sovereign bond markets,” the ECB said in a biannual Financial Stability Report.

Such a repricing could then raise corporate borrowing costs, setting off a feedback loop that could endanger financial stability and hit the real economy.

This risk is especially acute because governments are already financing a long list of urgent projects, limiting their fiscal buffers and their room to manoeuvre.

“High sovereign financing needs related, among other things, to defence spending, the green transition and potential fiscal measures to cushion households and firms from rising energy prices, are likely to add to pressures over the medium term,” the ECB added.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards official has said that renewed war with the United States was unlikely but warned that Iran stood ready against any attack, AFP reports.

“The possibility of war is low because of the enemy’s weakness, the armed forces are lying in wait with full magazines,” said Mohammad Akbarzadeh, deputy political chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying.

“Do not doubt that we will turn the area from Chabahar to Mahshahr into a graveyard for aggressors,” he said, naming places at each end of Iran’s lengthy southern coast.

British energy bills are set to rise this summer, the sector regulator announced on Wednesday, as the Middle East war drives wholesale gas prices higher, reports AFP.

Energy market regulator Ofgem said the price cap that suppliers can charge customers will increase by 13 per cent from July, adding around 18 ($24) per month to the average bill.

A typical annual bill for gas and electricity will rise to about 1,862 per year, Ofgem, which sets the cap every quarter, said in a press release.

The regulator cited “volatility in global energy markets” as a reason for the unusual summer increase, a period when energy demand is typically lower.

“Higher wholesale gas prices, driven by ongoing conflict in the Middle East, is impacting the price we pay for energy,” said Ofgem chief executive Tim Jarvis.

An Israeli airstrike has killed two people and injured another in Deir Aames, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry has described the strikes since yesterday as a series of “massacres,” saying at least 31 people were killed and 40 others wounded.

Tabriz International Airport in northwestern Iran is expected to reopen today, according to Iran’s IRIB broadcaster, which cited a spokesperson for the country’s Civil Aviation Organization, Al Jazeera reported.

The airport will join around 20 other terminals across the country that have already resumed operations following disruptions caused by the US-Israeli conflict, according to the agency.

Oil prices pulled back from recent highs, erasing some of the previous day’s 4 per cent gain as traders sought clarity on complex negotiations between Iran and the US after renewed hostilities set back efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, reports Reuters.

Brent crude futures fell $1.42, or 1.43pc, to $98.16 a barrel as of 0253 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost $1.66, or 1.77pc, to $92.23 a barrel.