The Latest: Israel launches strikes on 'heart of Tehran' as Trump delays Strait of Hormuz deadline
Israel’s military said early Friday it had conducted a wave of strikes “in the heart of Tehran” while smoke was seen billowing in the Beirut skyline after U.S. President Donald Trump delayed his threat to obliterate Iran’s energy plants over its effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel has moved thousands of troops across the border into Lebanon, where Israeli officials said they want to take control of the entire area south of the Litani River — some 20 miles (about 30 kilometers) north of the border.
Facing a convulsing stock market, Trump on Thursday extended a deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz until April 6, saying Iran asked for the grace period and that talks were going “very well,” despite the fact Iran continues to publicly insist it is not negotiating with the White House on a 15-point proposal to end the conflict
The war has killed more than 1,900 people in Iran and nearly 1,100 in Lebanon. Eighteen people have died in Israel, while three Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon. Thirteen U.S. military members have died, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.
Here is the latest:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia and Iran have a military-technical cooperation agreement, and Moscow “supplied Iran with certain types of military products.”
“But we can’t accept the accusations that we’re helping Iran with intelligence,” Lavrov said in an interview to France Television on Thursday night.
He added that “everyone knows” the coordinates of U.S. military bases in the region. “It’s public information. I’m not surprised that Iran is attacking them,” Lavrov said.
The Saudi Embassy in Beirut said in a statement Friday that the decision is related to the “repercussions of the current events” taking place in Lebanon.
The embassy added that Saudi Arabia’s travel ban to Lebanon has been in place for years.
Israel has moved thousands of troops across the border into Lebanon, and Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have been fighting on the ground for at least three weeks.
Bahrain sounded its missile alert siren late Friday morning over an incoming Iranian attack.
Qatar, which had not seen a major attack in days, also sounded its alerts Friday.
Kuwait said Friday its Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait City came under attack and sustained “material damage.” It said no one was hurt in the attack but offered no other details.
A Thai-flagged cargo ship that came under attack from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and was abandoned by its crew has run aground, Iranian media reported Friday.
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that the Iranian and Omani authorities were able to reach the Mayuree Naree on a rescue mission as three sailors remain unaccounted for. The ship came under attack March 11.
The semiofficial Tasnim and Fars news agencies, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, reported that the ship ran aground near the village of Ramchah on Qeshm Island.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis outlined Friday a four-tier plan for future fuel shortages, which at its most severe levels includes limits on buying gasoline and its prioritization for life-preserving services.
Willis disclosed criteria, including export restrictions and the state of domestic fuel stocks, that would guide movement between the four levels.
Willis said that the current designation was phase one, the lowest level, but that it was important for New Zealanders to know the possible extent of future restrictions.
There are no restrictions currently enacted on gasoline use or purchasing in New Zealand.
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