Washington, Apr 27 (AP) Iran has offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US lifting its blockade on the country and an end to the war, two regional officials said Monday.
Under the proposal, discussions on the larger question of Iran’s nuclear programme would come later.
US President Donald Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer. The existing ceasefire keeps the US and Iran in a fragile standoff over the strait.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Russia Monday for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin as part of a trip that included two stops in Pakistan, where leaders are scrambling to reignite stalled talks between Tehran and Washington.
Airlines worldwide have begun cancelling flights as the war
in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up oil prices.
Here is the latest: Trump national security team discusses Iranian proposal on Hormuz ————————————————————————– White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s national security team met Monday and was discussing Iran’s proposal on reopening the key waterway.
But she offered no detail on what came of the discussion and how the proposal was being received. She instead said that Trump would address it later.
Israel cancels major holiday gatherings over fears of Hezbollah attack —————————————————————————- Typically, around 100,000 mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews would gather next week on Mount Meron in northern Israel to celebrate the Lag BaOmer holiday.
However, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the large festival will replaced with a smaller symbolic ceremony, citing concerns about the gathering being attacked by Hezbollah. Similar restrictions were imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and previous wars.
Mount Meron is only about 4 miles (6 km) from the border with Lebanon. People normally light bonfires, dance and have large meals there in honour Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd-century sage and mystic who is believed to be buried on the mountain.
Across Israel, even in secular areas, people often celebrate Lag BaOmer with barbecues and bonfires in parks and forests.
Iran’s top diplomat says US wants to negotiate as it failed to achieve its war aims —————————————————————————————- Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a Russian state TV reporter on Monday that despite the US being a superpower, its leaders “have achieved none of their goals” in the war against his country.
“That’s why they ask for negotiation,” Iran’s top diplomat said. “We are now considering it.” Araghchi was in St Petersburg on Monday, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top officials.
Asked by another reporter about Russia’s support, the minister said only that “Iran and Russia are strategic partners,” and that the two counties “have always supported” each other. “Our cooperation would continue,” Araghchi said.
French FM says international waterways ‘not for sale’; blames US, Israel, Iran for Hormuz crisis —————————————————– At a UN Security Council meeting on maritime security, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the energy and humanitarian crisis caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz began after “operations launched by the United States and Israel without a clearly set of goal, which were conducted in a manner that flouts international law”.
But Barrot added that Iran now holds responsibility for what it is doing with the critical waterway.
“Straits are the arteries of the world. They are not the property of any individual. They are not for sale, therefore, they cannot be impeded by any obstacles, tolls, nor bribery, neither by Iran, nor by any other party, and under no pretext,” he said.
UN officials, dozens of countries call for immediate action in releasing Iran’s hold over Hormuz —————————————————— In a joint statement led by Bahrain, dozens of countries reiterated their weekslong “call for the urgent and unimpeded opening” of the critical waterway as negotiations between the US and Iran remain stalled.
Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, told the Security Council on Monday that given the impasse in the negotiations, the world body should support an emergency framework in the meantime put forth by the International Maritime Organisation.
The UN chief warned about the consequences of waiting to address the “worst supply chain disruption since COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine”.
“These pressures are cascading into empty fuel tanks, empty shelves — and empty plates,” he told the 15-member council. “The humanitarian toll is mounting.” UK doesn’t support US blockade of Iranian ports, deputy minister says —————————————————————————- Stephen Doughty, minister of state for Europe and North America, said that while the UK doesn’t support the US blockade, it supports working with the United States and others to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – where he said the Iran is holding “the rest of the world to ransom”.
Maritime traffic must flow safely and unimpeded through the strait, he said, “and that includes no tolls, no security risk and, of course, adherence to the international laws on freedom of navigation”.
Diplomacy is crucial, Doughty told a small group of UN reporters ahead of a Security Council meeting Monday on the safety of navigation in the critical waterway, through which around 20% of the world’s crude oil normally passes.
He said de-escalation and a ceasefire are also crucial, stressing that Iran can’t be allowed to block the strait, attack its Gulf neighbours and civilian infrastructure, and develop nuclear weapons.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry raises death toll there to 2,521 ————————————————————– The ministry added Monday that 7,804 people were wounded since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war started March 2.
Despite a ceasefire that’s been in place since April 17, there have been repeated violations by both sides.
Merz says American nation is being ‘humiliated’ by Iranian leadership ————————————————————————— German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday criticised the US for going into the Iran war without any strategy, saying this also makes it harder to end the conflict.
“The problem with conflicts like these is always the same: it’s not just about getting in; you also have to get out. We saw that all too painfully in Afghanistan, for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq,” the chancellor said while speaking Monday to students in Marsberg in the Sauerland region of Germany.
The lack of US strategy and the fact that the Iranians are stronger than previously thought made it hard to end the conflict now, he said.
“Especially since the Iranians are negotiating very skillfully — or rather, very skillfully not negotiating,” he added. “And then letting the Americans travel to Islamabad, only to send them back without any results. An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards.” Germany, he said, maintains its offer to send minesweepers in order to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but only after the fighting is over.
Pakistan clears transit of third-country goods to Iran ——————————————————— Pakistan has cleared the way for Iran to import goods from third countries through its territory by opening new transit routes.
According to a government notification issued Saturday, six routes have been designated linking ports including Karachi, Port Qasim and Gwadar with key border crossings in southwestern Balochistan province.
The notification was issued during a visit to Islamabad by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met Pakistani officials for talks amid tensions between the United States and Iran.
The order took immediate effect.
Analysts said Monday the new policy allows cargo bound for Iran to move across Pakistan swiftly without facing delays due to bureaucratic hurdles.
They said it could also help Pakistan strengthen its role as a regional transit route and improve connectivity with Iran and beyond the region in future.
Israeli military videos show weapons discovered, homes levelled as fighting in Lebanon grinds on ———————————————————————— Israeli military released videos Monday showing troops operating in Lebanon, including coordinated explosions in unnamed villages, toppling homes it said were infrastructure used by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Footage also showed a brigade discovering a cache of rifles and missile launchers stashed in a children’s room, which it said were hidden beneath toys, beds and elsewhere in kids’ rooms.
Despite a ceasefire nominally in place in Lebanon, both Israel and Hezbollah continue to strike each other, while Israeli forces occupy a buffer zone in Lebanon and have been demolishing neighbourhoods in towns and villages in that area.
The military says it destroys buildings that were used as outposts by the Iran-backed militant group, but the wide scale of destruction has Lebanese officials and residents increasingly worried that displaced people will have nowhere to return. (AP) SCY SCY
