Iran-US war latest: US forces fire at ship ‘running Hormuz blockade’ while Israel intensifies war in Lebanon

Senior Iranian official accuses Donald Trump of 'betraying diplomacy for third time'

• Bookmark
• CommentsGo to comments

Bookmark popover

Removed from bookmarks

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

US forces attacked a cargo ship they claimed was attempting to breach their naval blockade of Iran on Saturday.

Centcom said Lian Star ignored over 20 warnings before its forces struck the Gambia-flagged vessel's engine room with a missile, stranding it in the Gulf of Oman.

The incident came as Tehran awaits the US president’s response to a proposed peace deal, as efforts to bring an end to the war drag on.

A senior official accused Trump of “betraying diplomacy for the third time”. Mohsen Rezaei pointed at the continuing naval blockade and what he called the president’s excessive demands in negotiations as he blamed the White House for failure to reach a peace deal.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israeli troops pushed beyond the Litani river and seized the Crusader-era Beaufort fortress in their deepest invasion of the neighbouring country in over 25 years.

The military said it was prepared “to expand the operation if needed”.

On Friday morning, it issued a fresh evacuation warning for residents south of the Zahrani River in southern Lebanon.

• Iran’s internet blackout still a reality for 60 per cent of population
• What a peace deal between Iran and the US could look like as Trump outlines key demands
• ‘A cartoon villain’: Hegseth shredded for ‘cringe’ pep talk to Navy soldiers about Iran war
• Chevron refuses to pay Strait of Hormuz toll as tanker attacks rattle oil world

Key Points

• Israel captures Beaufort castle in deepest Lebanon incursion in decades
• Lebanon PM accuses Israel of escalating ‘scorched-earth policy’
• Israel issues fresh evacuation orders for southern Lebanon
• Qatar opposes permanent Strait of Hormuz transit fees
• Trump says Iran would have nuclear weapon without US strikes
• Pentagon chief says Iran talks have been ‘productive’

‘A cartoon villain’: Hegseth shredded for ‘cringe’ pep talk to Navy soldiers about Iran war

A clip of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth giving a “cringe” speech to US sailors about the Iran war is going viral.

Hegseth was in Singapore on Friday, where he did drills with the crew of the USS Boxer and then spoke to a group of assembled sailors about the ongoing conflict.

In his remarks, Hegseth pointed to a recent comment from President Trump, which threatened further US strikes if Iran doesn’t agree to a deal to end the war.

Online commentators quickly mocked the speech and the audience of service members, who appeared to be mostly unmoved by Hegseth’s call to arms.

Read the full report here

Israel issues fresh evacuation orders for southern Lebanon

The Israeli military has issued a fresh evacuation warning for residents south of the Zahrani River in southern Lebanon.

Israel is deepening its invasion of the country to the furthest point in decades, as it intensifies its attacks.

The evacuation order comes ahead of potential strikes, and is the latest in a significant number of evacuation orders .

What a peace deal between Iran and the US could look like as Trump outlines key demands

What could a peace deal between Iran and the US look like?

Israel captures Beaufort castle in deepest Lebanon incursion in decades

Israeli troops have captured the Beaufort castle in southern Lebanon in their deepest incursion into the country in more than 25 years.

The Crusader-era fortress sits on a strategic hilltop near Nabatiyeh, where Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters have clashed for days amid heavy airstrikes.

The Israeli military said troops launched an operation in the Beaufort Ridge and nearby Suluki valley to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure and remove “direct threats to Israeli civilians”. It added that the army was prepared “to expand the operation if needed”.

Israeli forces have advanced beyond the Litani River and are now about 5km from Nabatiyeh, one of southern Lebanon’s main cities, despite a ceasefire that officially took effect on 17 April.

Lebanon PM accuses Israel of escalating ‘scorched-earth policy’

Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam has accused Israel of escalating its offensive in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire that officially came into force last month.

Speaking in a televised address on Saturday, Salam said Israel was pursuing a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” by “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile”.

“This will bring neither security nor stability” to Israel, he said.

Salam also warned Lebanon was facing a “dangerous” escalation and called for “a swift and real ceasefire”.

Salam spoke after Israeli forces pushed deeper into southern Lebanon and issued new evacuation warnings for villages near the border, while airstrikes continued across parts of the south despite the April ceasefire.

Qatar opposes permanent Strait of Hormuz transit fees

Qatar has said it is against permanent transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz but is open to temporary tolls if they help restore normal shipping through the key waterway.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, Qatar’s deputy prime minister Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said: “Qatar and also the partners in the Gulf stated very clearly that charging fees will always impact the consumer, so we are against this.”

“But for certain times that they say they will use it for mine-clearing or some usage of the fees for a temporary time, this is something that is negotiable,” he added.

The comments came amid reports that Iran and Oman have discussed introducing a permanent toll system in the strait, which Iran effectively closed after US-Israeli strikes began in February.

Soaring prices during the Iran war jeopardize travel to tourism-dependent countries in Asia

With summer around the corner, soaring prices and other complications from the war with Iran are straining the tourism-dependent economies of countries in Southeast Asia, including Thailand and Vietnam.

The region's peak tourist summer season is at risk as elevated jet fuel costs coupled with ceasefire uncertainties prompt flight cancellations and higher ticket prices.

Tourism in Asia has yet to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, many countries are coping with the war's repercussions for global energy supplies and prices, which hit Asia first and hardest. Some families are pulling back on travel as visiting gas stations and grocery stores gets more expensive worldwide. Crowds have thinned at some places once synonymous with travel.

Soaring prices during the Iran war jeopardize travel to tourism-dependent countries in Asia

Trump says Iran would have nuclear weapon without US strikes

Donald Trump has said the US “shouldn’t have been in Iran” while defending strikes on the country and claiming they prevented Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Speaking to Fox News, Trump compared the conflict to the Iraq war and said: “We did so bad. It was such a foolish thing what we did. We shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

“We shouldn’t have been in Iran, but Iran has the capability,” he added. “If we didn’t hit them with B-2 bombers nine months ago, they would have a nuclear weapon right now and will be a whole different story. You probably wouldn’t have had Israel, but you probably wouldn’t have had a Middle East, and then where do they go from there?”

Trump also claimed the US had intentionally avoided targeting much of Iran’s military leadership.

“Their military, we sort of left it alone because we think that their military is somewhat moderate,” he said. “We’ve taken different forms of leadership out. We’ve actually left their military alone.”

Pentagon chief says Iran talks have been ‘productive’

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said he was “quite confident” Donald Trump would secure an agreement with Iran, saying negotiations were moving in Washington’s favour.

Speaking to reporters at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore, Hegseth said Iran “knows very, very clearly what our expectations are”.

“They’re coming in our direction and the talks have been productive,” he said. “They know where it needs to go, and I’m quite confident with our president who makes nothing but great deals.”

Hegseth also repeated that Trump would only agree to terms he considered beneficial “for our country and the world”.

“You saw it in how he's been talking about it publicly. The goalposts haven't shifted at all. The closer they come to that reality, the closer we're going to get to that kind of a deal.”

He added that concerns over the Strait of Hormuz had been raised repeatedly during talks with allies at the summit, but said the US had reassured partners over the situation.

Iran’s internet blackout still a reality for 60 per cent of population

After 88 days of a widespread internet shutdown in Iran, the Islamic Republic partially restored access for some users this week.

State media described the move as the “return of the internet”, but an investigation by Independent Persian, global data and reports sent to us from across Iran suggest that users still only have limited, slow and unstable access.

Iran’s internet blackout still a reality for 60 per cent of population

More about

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies