Iran’s Supreme Leader vows ‘new bitter defeats on its enemies’: live

Gunfire has been reported after at least two ships tried to navigate through the Strait of Hormuz.

Maritime sources suggested that the vessels had received fire after trying to cross the strait after Iran’s earlier announcement it had again closed it to traffic.

It is believed that one of the affected vessels may be an Indian oil tanker, although this has not been independently confirmed.

The UKMTO said it had received a report of a tanker being approached by two IRGC gun boats, around 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman.

These boats are said to have fired on the tanker. All crew are safe and accounted for, the agency added.

The Strait of Hormuz has again been closed to international shipping, Iran has said.

State broadcaster IRIB confirmed in the last few minutes the shipping route, which sees 20 per cent of global oil and gas pass through it each year, is ‘closed’ and any passage requires approval from Tehran.

Iran had earlier allowed a convoy of ships to pass for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict.

But after it became clear the US was continuing a blockade against Iranian ships, Tehran has once again implemented the closure, a spokesperson said.

For this reason, control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, and this strategic strait is under the strict management and control of the armed forces.

As long as the United States does not end the complete freedom of passage of vessels from Iran to destination and from destination to Iran, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain under strict control and in its previous state.

Israel’s military said it had established a ‘Yellow Line’ demarcation in southern Lebanon, similar to one separating its forces from Hamas-held areas in Gaza, adding it had hit a ‘terrorist cell’ operating near its troops along the line.

‘Over the past 24 hours, IDF forces operating south of the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon identified terrorists who violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces from north of the Yellow Line in a manner that posed an immediate threat,’ it said, referring to such a line for the first time since a ceasefire came into effect.

‘In order to eliminate the threat… forces attacked the terrorists in several areas,’ it said, noting that the military was authorised to act against threats.

‘Actions taken in self-defence and to remove immediate threats are not restricted by the ceasefire,’ it said.

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 on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.

The US military is preparing to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters in the coming days, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

More than 10,000 US personnel, including marines and airmen, are currently stationed in the Middle East enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports.

According to the report, any vessel which attempts to sail despite the blockade will be boarded.

Earlier, US Central Command confirmed that 23 ships have so far complied with its orders to turn around after leaving Iranian ports.

Hezbollah has denied involvement in the incident that left a French peacekeeper dead and three others wounded in southern Lebanon today.

The UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon earlier said that an initial assessment suggested ‘the fire came from non-state actors’, understood to be a reference to the Iran-backed group.

It says it has launched an investigation.

French President Emmanuel Macron also said early information suggests Hezbollah is responsible.

Hezbollah earlier said that it was ‘not concerned’ in the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

India has summoned the Iranian ambassador after two of its vessels were involved in an incident which saw them shot at in the Strait of Hormuz earlier today.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry said the incident, which involved two India-flagged ships, was ‘serious’ and of ‘deep concern’.

A spokesperson said:

During the meeting, Foreign Secretary conveyed India’s deep concern at the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

He noted the importance that India attached to the safety of merchant shipping and mariners and recalled that Iran had earlier facilitated the safe passage of several ships bound for India.

Reiterating his concern at this serious incident of firing on merchant ships, Foreign Secretary urged the Ambassador to convey India’s views to the authorities in Iran and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait.

Donald Trump said Iran cannot ‘blackmail’ the US after threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz again.

The president addressed the deepening crisis during a Q&A session on Saturday, shortly after he signed an unrelated executive order to ease access to a psychedelic drug used to treat PTSD.

Trump revealed that talks between the US and Iran are ‘ going very well,’ despite the issue of the Strait.

‘We’ll have some information by the end of the day,’ he said. ‘We’re talking to them. We’re taking a tough stand. They’ve killed a lot of people. A lot of our people have been killed.’

It comes amid reports Iran opened fire on Saturday on ships trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz after shutting the key waterway again, according to reports citing maritime sources, as tankers turned around and fled for cover.

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Iran is reviewing ‘new proposals’ received from the United States, even as it warned that its negotiators would cut no compromises with Washington, the country’s top security body has said.

‘In recent days, with the presence of the commander of the Pakistani army in Tehran as an intermediary and mediator in the negotiations, new proposals have been put forward by the Americans, which the Islamic Republic of Iran is currently reviewing and has not yet responded to,’ the Supreme National Security Council said in a statement.

It went on to say that Iran’s negotiating delegation ‘will not make even the slightest compromise, retreat or leniency, and will defend with all its strength the interests of the Iranian nation’.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has said ships must pay to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, after it closed the shipping route again earlier today.

A statement to Iran’s Fars News Agency said the military is determined to exercise control over the waterway until a final peace deal is reached in the conflict.

Tehran, which had previously threatened to charge tolls on the strait, said that ships must pay the costs of providing security and protecting the environment if they want to secure safe passage.

US President Donald Trump has said that Iran ‘got a little cute’ in reference to its earlier closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but that Tehran ‘can’t blackmail us’.

At a press conference announcing new treatments for mental health issues, the President brought up the conflict with Iran and said they would not ‘get away with murder… anymore’.

We have very good conversations going on it’s been going very well.

They got a little cute as they have been doing for the past 47 years and nobody ever took them on, we took them on.

They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no leaders, they have no nothing.

He continued:

We’re talking to them, they wanted to close up the strait again as they’ve been doing for years, they can’t blackmail us.

The President said more information will be available ‘by the end of the day’. He added:

They’ve gotten away with murder for 47 years, they’re not getting away with it anymore.