US-Iran deal latest news: Iran says US military presence in Gulf causing insecurity, division in the region

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore reacted after an unknown projectile hit the Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.

“The vessel has since completed its transit through the Strait of Hormuz and is proceeding on its voyage,” the statement noted, adding that all 21 crew members are safe.

The authority expressed deep concern over the incident, “which was unprovoked, unjustifiable, and a breach of international law”.

“All actions affecting international shipping must fully comply with international law, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and not endanger the safety of seafarers and ships at sea,” the statement concluded.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister has said that any framework for passage through the Strait of Hormuz must be in coordination with Iran, or the outcome will be suspension of the designated route

The UN’s nuclear chief said Friday that Iran’s pledge not to build a nuclear weapon would need “very strong” verification, as the United States and the Islamic Republic negotiate a permanent settlement to end their war.

Iran’s nuclear programme is a key sticking point in talks to end the Middle East war, which began in late February with a massive US-Israeli campaign of strikes.

Iran and the US last week signed a preliminary deal to end the conflict, embarking on negotiations expected to address a host of disputes, including the nuclear programme.

But there has been contrasting information from Tehran and Washington on whether UN inspectors will have access to Iranian nuclear facilities.

“I think the objective of this agreement is to ensure that there is no development of nuclear weapons in Iran. The government of Iran has declared quite clearly that this is not their intention,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi said Friday.

“But of course, intentions are not enough. We have to have a very strong verification system in place… as soon as is practicable,” he added.

Grossi said the UN’s nuclear watchdog had so far “barely initiated” talks with Iran following the agreement with the United States.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed on Friday France and Italy’s efforts to set up a multinational coalition to succeed the UN peacekeeping force in his country, whose mandate expires at the end of the year.

In a statement, Aoun called the initiative “a sincere expression of the international commitment to supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability”.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France and Italy “want to launch a coalition for the post-UNIFIL arrangement, obviously in coordination with the European Union and the United Nations, to strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and that of its armed forces” and prevent its territory from being “a foothold for regional escalation”.

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

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.

The incident came as the United States and Iran try to forge a final agreement after signing a memorandum of understanding to end their conflict that started in late February.

US-Iran deal latest news: Iran’s Kish airport on Friday resumed flight operations after a four-month halt caused by the US-Iran war, news agency Reuters reported.

US-Iran deal latest news: Iran said on Friday that a joint statement by the U.S. and the Gulf Cooperation Council contained “interventionist, irresponsible and provocative positions”, and said the U.S. military presence in the Gulf was a source of insecurity and division in the region.

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.

via Reuters

US-Iran deal latest news: 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.

“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”.

via AFP

US-Iran deal latest news: Iran has blamed US, Israel and regional states that took ‘part in attacks’ for insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz.

via Reuters

US-Iran war LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump claimed a crushing defeat of Iran in the Middle East war, saying that the US ‘knocked the hell out of them.’

“And now we’re negotiating from a position of pure strength. Pure strength. They know that. And the strait’s already open. And we’re setting records in the strait,” Trump said.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Hezbollah Leader Naim Qassem has said that Israel has no choice but to completely withdraw from Lebanon and cease its land, sea, and air incursions.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Hezbollah chief has warned Israel saying it must ‘unconditionally’ leave Lebanon.

via AFP

US-Iran war LIVE updates: The US wants to reach a deal with Iran to end the war but won’t do so “at any price,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday, as he reiterated that tolls in the Strait of Hormuz were unacceptable.

“You can call it a toll, you can call it a fee, whatever you want to call it — it’s a game of semantics,” Rubio said Thursday in Bahrain, as he finished a whirlwind tour of the Persian Gulf. “That will never be an acceptable condition of any deal.”

The top US diplomat told a meeting of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council on Thursday that if Iran were to toll the strait there would be nothing stopping any other country near a waterway from following suit “and then we’re going to have chaos.”

Despite US officials insisting the Strait of Hormuz was open, there appeared to be confusion in the vital route for oil and gas flows on Thursday.

A ship was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, UK Maritime Trade Operations said, just hours after several freighters turned around while attempting to cross the vital waterway. The developments may undermine what had been a rapid reopening of the energy chokepoint.

Oil prices turned higher after the incident, and Brent crude touched session highs above $75 a barrel following a Wall Street Journal report that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked a Singapore-flagged cargo ship Thursday in the Strait of Hormuz.

via Bloomberg

US-Iran war LIVE updates: 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 on Friday.

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.

The main engine and navigation instruments are operating normally and there are no seaworthiness issues; the vessel has safely departed the Strait of Hormuz, the company said.

It added that the ship was following the recommended route of the British navy agency UKMTO while passing through the strait.

UKMTO said on Thursday that a cargo ship had reported a suspected attack as it attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz close to the Omani coast.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: “Very strong” verification is needed in Iran following the Middle East conflict to ensure that it does not develop nuclear weapons, the UN atomic watchdog chief said on Friday.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi’s remarks come as the United States and Iran negotiate a broader agreement to end the war, with Tehran’s nuclear programme a key sticking point.

“I think the objective of this (recent US-Iran preliminary) agreement is to ensure that there is no development of nuclear weapons in Iran. The government of Iran has declared quite clearly that this is not their intention,” Grossi told reporters in Japan.

“But of course intentions are not enough. We have to have a very strong verification system in place… as soon as is practicable,” the IAEA chief said.

Grossi said the watchdog had also “barely initiated” talks with Iran following its preliminary agreement with the United States about what to do with Tehran’s uranium stockpile.

“Initial conversations have taken place… We expect this work to pick up soon,” Grossi said.

Before the conflict, the IAEA estimated that Iran had 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60 percent.

That is close to the 90 percent needed to make a bomb and well above the 3.67-percent limit set by a now-defunct 2015 agreement with Iran.

via Reuters

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Crude prices sank 2% 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.

Brent crude futures fell $1.50, or 1.99%, to $73.76 a barrel as of 0649 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell $1.49, or 2.07%, to $70.43 a barrel.

Refining giant Saudi Aramco resumed oil loading on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after a near four-month halt, shipping data from LSEG showed. Two Very Large Crude Carriers were seen loading crude at the terminal, while another waited nearby, the data showed. Each VLCC is capable of loading 2 million barrels of oil.

“There is a general selloff as the market reacts to the increased flows exiting the Strait of Hormuz and China not yet picking up crude demand,” said June Goh, senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities.

via Reuters

US-Iran war LIVE updates: 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 on Friday.

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.

The main engine and navigation instruments are operating normally and there are no seaworthiness issues; the vessel has safely departed the Strait of Hormuz, the company said.

It added that the ship was following the recommended route of the British navy agency UKMTO while passing through the strait.

UKMTO said on Thursday that a cargo ship had reported a suspected attack as it attempted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz close to the Omani coast.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: 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 on Friday.

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. This southern route is managed by Oman and coordinated by the US.

The strike on the Ever Lovely on Thursday — the first since an interim US-Iran peace deal was signed — has seen some owners and captains pull back, according to shipowners, who declined to be named given the sensitivity of the issue. At least one company based in Asia revised earlier plans to exit and told staff that vessels in the gulf should stay put as executives reassess transit options, according to a message seen by Bloomberg News.

But the attack does not appear to have completely derailed a slow return to normality. Average daily tanker crossings before the strike had swelled to more than 20 per day in the aftermath of the interim deal, up from just six per day for much of the war, according to data from Vortexa.

via Bloomberg

US-Iran war LIVE updates: The interim U.S.-Iran peace accord gives inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog access to Iran, the agency’s chief said on Friday, after Tehran indicated that key sites would remain off-limits until a final deal with Washington is reached and sanctions are lifted.

“There is an agreement and to comply with that agreement, the IAEA will have to have access and inspect,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said at a news conference in Japan. “We hope to be there soon.

via Reuters

US-Iran war LIVE updates: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on X on Friday that three additional vessels are set to depart the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

via Reuters

US-Iran war LIVE updates: A “very strong” verification system is needed in Iran following the Middle East conflict to ensure that the country does not develop nuclear weapons, the UN atomic watchdog chief said Friday.

“I think the objective of this (recent US-Iran) agreement is to ensure that there is no development of nuclear weapons in Iran. The government of Iran has declared quite clearly that this is not their intention,” Rafael Grossi told reporters in Japan.

“But of course intentions are not enough. We have to have a very strong verification system in place… as soon as is practicable,” Grossi said.

via AFP

US-Iran war LIVE updates: India has removed restrictions on supplies of commercial liquified petroleum gas imposed during the Middle East war when energy supplies were hit by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

India, the world’s most populous country, is the second-largest importer of LPG, much of it from the Middle East. A fifth of global oil and gas usually pass through the waterway, which was shut after the start of the US-Iran war in late February.

The government ended the restrictions late Thursday on “non-domestic packed LPG and restored supplies to the levels prevailing prior to the West Asia crisis”, the petroleum ministry said in a statement.

“The supply of bulk LPG, which had been suspended at the onset of the crisis, has been relaxed by 50 percent of the pre-crisis consumption levels,” the statement added.

“The restoration follows the recent improvement in the LPG supply situation.”

The decision follows improved energy cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran and the US signed a deal that included opening the strategic waterway.

During the crisis, the government raised prices for LPG, a primary cooking fuel for millions of households.

via AFP

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Empty liquefied natural gas tankers are lining up outside of Qatar’s massive export plant in the Persian Gulf as the supplier seeks to quickly increase production following early progress in US-Iran peace talks.

At least eight empty vessels have congregated off the Ras Laffan facility after most transited through the Strait of Hormuz over the past week, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Another tanker in the Persian Gulf is on its way to the plant, while two other Qatar-linked ships are approaching the eastern entrance of Hormuz, the data shows.

QatarEnergy operates Ras Laffan, the world’s largest LNG export facility, but output has been largely halted since Iranian attacks damaged two production trains and the war led to a near-closure of Hormuz. Higher exports depend on safe passage through the strait, with an attack on a cargo ship renewing concerns and leading to one LNG tanker U-turning before entering.

via Bloomberg

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Saudi Aramco resumed oil loading on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after a near four-month halt, shipping data from LSEG showed.

Two Very Large Crude Carriers were seen loading crude at the terminal, while another waited nearby, the data showed. Each VLCC is capable of loading 2 million barrels of oil.

Saudi Aramco could not be immediately reached for comment outside office hours.

The Saudi energy major last loaded a cargo from the Ras Tanura port for China on March 8, the data showed, and had to divert all its exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu after an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz during its war with the U.S. and Israel prevented ships from entering the Gulf.

Middle Eastern producers have been ramping up output and exports after the United States and Iran struck an interim deal to halt the war.

via Reuters

US-Iran war LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump had earlier claimed that the unfrozen Iranian assets will be used to buy US agricultural products.

Denying this, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf said, “America falsely claims our unfrozen assets will buy their agriculture. Interesting. The only crop we’re harvesting is what you planted: decades of mistrust.” He added, “It’s organic, abundant, and homegrown. But apparently the US only exports GMO soybeans, broken promises and trash talks.”