US president vows to continue blockading Iranian ports as Tehran refuses to send negotiators to Pakistan talks
Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards say they have seized two vessels for what they describe as maritime violations, Iranian news agencies are reporting , posing a threat to the fragile ceasefire extended by Donald Trump.
The ships, identified in a statement as the MSC Francesca and the Epaminodes, were detained for "operating without the required authorisation and for manipulating navigation systems".
They have now been taken to Iranian ports, the Guards added.
The MSC Francesca is a Panama-flagged container ship that was sailing from the Dammam port in Saudi Arabia to Sri Lanka, according to ship tracking website Marine Traffic, which shows it located near the Iranian coast.
It brings Trump’s truce under further strain.
Earlier, three container ships were hit by Iranian gunfire in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, maritime authorities said.
Trump has walked back several threats against Iran to instead announce the extension of a fragile two-week ceasefire that was due to conclude on Wednesday.
The president announced that he had ordered the US military to continue to blockade Iranian ports until Tehran ’s leaders and representatives came up with “a unified proposal”.
London to host military planners for talks on Strait of Hormuz
Military planners from countries seeking to join a UK and France-led mission to keep the Strait of Hormuz open once the Iran war ends will meet in London today.
More than 30 nations are expected to send planners to the two-day conference starting today and co-hosted by the UK and France at the UK's Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, north London.
They aim to build on talks held by Sir Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris last week with a view to setting up a joint defensive mission after a sustainable ceasefire agreement has been reached.
The talks in London will focus on military capabilities, command and control, and how military forces could deploy to the region.
Defence secretary John Healey said: "The task, today and tomorrow, is to translate the diplomatic consensus into a joint plan to safeguard freedom of navigation in the strait and support a lasting ceasefire.
"I am confident that, over the next two days, real progress can be made.
International trade, energy security and the stability of the global economy depend on freedom of navigation."
By building on our common purpose, strengthening multinational co-ordination and planning for effective collective action, we can help reopen the strait, stabilise the global economy and protect our people."
Iran executes man accused of spying for Israel, Mizan reports
Iran has executed yet another man convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence service and passing sensitive information, the judiciary's news outlet Mizan reported this morning.
Mizan identified the man as Mehdi Farid, saying he had held a position in a civil defence unit within a sensitive organisation and had used his access to gather and transmit information to Israel's Mossad.
His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court and carried out after legal procedures were completed, Mizan said.
Analysis | Trump has exposed the limits of his own power
Our world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:
Critics of the US president will see the latest extension of a ceasefire over Iran as yet another TACO moment because Trump Always Chickens Out.
But to criticize Donald Trump for not behaving like a madman or an idiot is a sign that his critics are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Trump has threatened genocide against Iran when he said that “tonight an entire civilization will die” on social media.
Making such statements is criminal and involves his armed forces in potential violations of international law.
For now, Trump has backed away from a more recent threat that, if Iran does not open the Straits of Hormuz and agree to a peace deal, "the whole country is going to get blown up”.
Outlook for energy markets is bad even in worst case scenario - European energy commissioner
The outlook for energy markets is bad even in a best-case scenario, said the European Energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen.
The Energy markets have been badly hit as a result of the impact of the US-Israeli war on Iran since the end of February.
"This is a crisis that is probably as serious as the 1973 and the 2022 crises combined, and this means that we are looking into some very difficult months, or maybe even years - depending of course on the development in the Middle East - but even in a best case scenario, it's still bad," he said.
"If we imagine that there is a peace tomorrow, it will still take, for instance Qatar, probably two years, maybe even more to rebuild their gas production and transportation infrastructure," he added at a news conference.
Iran claims it has seized two vessels for 'maritime violations'
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy say they have seized two vessels for what it described as maritime violations, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.
The ships have now been taken to Iranian ports, the Guards said.
In a statement, the Guards said the ships, which they identified as the MSC Francesca and the Epaminodes, were detained for "operating without the required authorisation and for manipulating navigation systems".
They said that this endangered maritime activity.
Watch: Trump expects 'great deal' from Iran talks but ready to resume bombing if discussions don't go well
EU proposes measures to address impact on energy markets
The European Commission has proposed several measures to address the impact on the region's energy markets of the war in the Middle East.
The Commission said the measures - announced in a package called 'AccelerateEU' - included optimising the distribution of jet fuel between EU countries, in order to avoid shortages.
"The choices we make today will shape our ability to face the challenges of today and the crises of tomorrow.
Our AccelerateEU strategy will bring both immediate and more structural relief measures to European citizens and businesses," said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Oil prices hold near $100 as Trump extends Iran ceasefire but keeps blockade in place
Oil prices held near $100 a barrel on Wednesday after US president Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran just hours before it was due to expire.
The Strait of Hormuz remained closed and it was unclear whether Iran or Israel had agreed to the new arrangement.
Brent crude slipped 0.17 per cent to $98.27 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate fell 0.42 per cent to $89.29, swinging between gains and losses as markets weighed a ceasefire extension that seemed to be unilateral against the continued closure of the waterway through which a fifth of the world's energy supply flowed before the US and Israel launched the war on Iran.
Stuti Mishra brings the latest on oil prices:
Three container ships hit by gunfire in Strait of Hormuz - UKMTO
At least three container ships were hit by gunfire in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, maritime security sources and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
We earlier reported that one boat had been struck, but this number has since increased.
Iran has imposed restrictions on ships using the strait, first in retaliation for the US-Israeli bombardment of the country, and then in response to a US blockade of Iranian ports.
A Liberia-flagged container ship sustained damage to its bridge after being hit by gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades northeast of Oman.
The UKMTO said the master of the vessel reported being approached by an IRGC gunboat.
The vessel, it said, was subsequently fired upon.
All crew members were safe and there was no fire or environmental impact due to the incident.
Maritime security sources said that three people were onboard that gunboat.
Iran war causes Diet Coke shortage in India
The Iran war has caused a shortage of Diet Coke in India, where it is sold only in aluminium cans that have run short because of delayed shipments from the Gulf caused by the Iran war.
The Gulf accounts for around 9 per cent of global aluminium production, which has been trapped since the end of February by Iran's de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
While most soft drinks are sold in India both in plastic bottles and cans, Diet Coke is only sold in cans.
Two Coca-Cola distributors told the Reuters news agency that the company had notified them it was rationing supplies or not fulfilling some orders due to a can shortage caused by the war.
"We've been placing orders but have been told there is a shortage due to war," said Sanjay, one of the distributors, who declined to give his last name.
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