Cairo | Iran reversed its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and fired on a tanker attempting to pass the waterway on Saturday. It also warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
Confusion over the critical chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed conflict, even as mediators expressed confidence a new deal was within reach.
Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that "control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces." Two gunboats from Iran's Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. It reported the tanker and crew as safe, without identifying the vessel or its destination. TankerTrackers.com reported vessels were forced to turn around in the strait, including an Indian-flagged supertanker, after they were fired on by Iran.
Saturday's developments came after US President Donald Trump said the blockade "will remain in full force" until Tehran reaches a deal with the US that includes its nuclear program. Tehran had reopened the strait Friday to commercial vessels.
Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again. Iran's Friday announcement about the opening of the crucial body of water, through which 20 per cent of the world's oil is shipped, came as a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon appeared to hold.
Despite the escalation, Pakistani officials say the United States and Iran are still moving closer to a deal ahead of the April 22 ceasefire deadline.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
Here is the latest:
Another Israeli soldier dies in combat
Israel's military says another soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced in under twelve hours.
It brought the total number of soldiers killed in Lebanon to 15, and was the second soldier killed in combat since the ceasefire.
The military said another soldier was badly wounded in the same incident, along with four moderately wounded and four lightly injured.
UN chief condemns attack in Lebanon that killed French peacekeeper
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, says Guterres has strongly condemned the killing of a French peacekeeper and the wounding of three others in an attack in southern Lebanon.
The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon came under attack with small-arms fire Saturday morning. Two of the injured were hurt seriously, France's president and the force known as UNIFIL said.
Both President Emmanuel Macron and the UNIFIL force blamed Hezbollah, but the Lebanese militant group denied involvement.
Iran declares the Strait of Hormuz fully closed, state media reports
The navy of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it extended the closure to the corridor it had earlier designated for the safe passage of vessels through the strategic waterway and declared the strait fully closed until the US blockade on Iranian ports and ships is lifted.
On Friday, Iran said vessels could move through the strait in coordination with it and against the payment of a toll.
But in a statement late Saturday carried by Iran's state media, the navy warned that any violating vessel would be targeted.
Iran considers the US blockade a violation of the ceasefire between the two countries. Two vessels were attacked earlier on Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz and off Oman's coast, at least one of them by Iranian gunboats.
Israel says one of its soldiers has been killed in Lebanon
The military said the soldier, an officer, was killed in south Lebanon on Friday, the day after the start of a US-brokered ceasefire that has otherwise largely held.
It said two other soldiers were injured in the incident, but didn't release any more details.
This brings to 14 the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the latest war in Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader dismisses ceasefire paper published by US
Naim Kassem, head of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, in a statement read on the group's al-Manar TV said a paper published by the US State Department that it described as the text of a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel "means nothing at the practical level, but it is an insult to our country." "Everyone knows that the government of Lebanon has not met or approved this statement," he said.
The text published by the US described the 10-day truce as a gesture by Israel "to enable good-faith negotiations" toward a permanent peace agreement with Lebanon.
The text gives Israel the "right to take all necessary measures in self-defence, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks." It does not mention any similar right for Lebanon or Hezbollah.
Kassem said the truce should entail "a complete cessation of all hostilities" and that Hezbollah "will respond to enemy violations."
Israel's military kills two UNICEF-contracted truck drivers in northern Gaza
The Israeli military killed two UNICEF-contracted truck drivers at a water point in northern Gaza Strip, forcing the UN agency to suspend its operations in the area, UNICEF said.
Two other people were also injured in the attack that occurred Friday at the Mansoura water filling point in Gaza City, UNICEF said in a statement.
The firing took place "during routine, water trucking operations, with no changes in movement or procedures," it said.
The Israeli military claimed that troops opened fire on suspected militants in the area of the so-called Yellow Line, which separates Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza. It said the incident was being investigated.
UNICEF said the point is being used multiple times a day to keep providing hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza City with clean water from the Mekorot water supply line.
The agency said it suspended on-site activities until security conditions in the area are restored.
Macron says a French soldier was killed and 3 were wounded in attack on peacekeepers in Lebanon
A UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon came under attack with small-arms fire Saturday morning leaving one French peacekeeper dead and three wounded, two of them seriously, France's president and the force known as UNIFIL said.
The attack near the southern Lebanese village of Ghandouriyeh came after a 10-day ceasefire went into effect at midnight Thursday between Israel and Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group.
Hezbollah denies links to attack that left one French peacekeeper dead in south Lebanon
The Iran-backed group in a statement called for caution when assigning blame and judgment, until the Lebanese army completes its investigation of the incident.
Hezbollah said the peacekeeping forces should coordinate with the Lebanese army in their operations.
Hezbollah expressed surprise at the hasty accusations levelled against it, especially given the silence of these same parties "when the Israeli enemy attacks UNIFIL forces."
Iran says it is reviewing new US proposals
Iran's Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that Pakistan's army chief, serving as an intermediary, presented the proposals to Iran when he recently visited Tehran, and they were still under review.
It was not revealed what was in the proposals.
The council said Iran has yet to respond, but further talks would require the US to abandon "excessive demands and adjust its requests to the realities on the ground." It also said that Iran will maintain full control over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until "the war fully ends and lasting peace is achieved in the region," adding that it would collect detailed information on passing vessels, issue transit certificates and impose tolls.
The council added that it considered the US naval blockade a violation of the ceasefire, and there would be no reopening of the Strait of Hormuz until that was lifted.
Trump says Iran got a 'little cute,' but there are good conversations happening
President Donald Trump says that US talks with Iran are going well and that he expects to have more information "by the end of the day." Trump made the comments Saturday morning during a White House event where he signed an executive order directing the Food and Drug Administration to expedite review of certain psychedelic drugs designed as breakthrough therapy for mental illness.
Trump declined to take reporters' questions about Iran but said, "We have very good conversations going on." He says Iran "got a little cute," later adding, "They wanted to close up the strait again," referring to the Strait of Hormuz.
"They can't blackmail us," Trump said.
Pope Leo XIV says not in my interest at all' to debate Trump but will keep preaching peace
Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that it was "not in my interest at all" to debate US President Donald Trump about the Iran war, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace.
Leo spoke to reporters aboard the papal plane flying from Cameroon to Angola.
He addressed the spiralling back-and-forth saga of Trump's critiques of his peace message, which have dominated news headlines this week. But the American pope also sought to set the record straight, insisting that his preaching isn't directed at Trump, but reflects the broader Gospel message of peace.
"There's been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself," he said.
