SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the war in the Middle East.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
- The Pentagon released video of US forces boarding the Guinea-flagged oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized in the Indian Ocean “transporting oil from Iran”.
- US President Donald Trump said he had ordered the navy to “shoot and kill” any minelaying boats in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming the waterway would stay “sealed up tight” until Iran made a deal. It appears the ceasefire continues indefinitely.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf dismissed comments by Trump about infighting, and confusion over their leader who has not been seen since his appointment, stating Iran “will make the aggressor regret”.
- Representatives from Israel and Lebanon held talks at the White House earlier today and agreed to a three-week ceasefire extension, Trump announced this morning.
A US-sanctioned supertanker laden with Iranian oil appeared to be attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, with traffic through the waterway otherwise at a virtual standstill.
The Yuri, carrying 2 million barrels of crude loaded from Kharg Island, re-appeared on ship-tracking platforms Kpler and Vortexa off Sirri Island earlier this week, after having stopped signalling its location for days. The tanker then began heading toward Hormuz late Thursday, and has just sailed past Larak Island.
The progress of the very-large crude carrier suggests that Tehran is still keen to test Washington’s resolve to maintain its blockade of the strait. American forces intercepted two Iranian oil tankers earlier this week, while the US Central Command said in a social-media post that 33 vessels had been redirected since the start of its blockade.
Iran has also been seeking to strengthen its grip on the strait, shooting at commercial ships and seizing at least two vessels. The double blockade has seen attempted transits plunge.
A bulk carrier that delivered food to Iran was observed sailing near Yuri heading toward Hormuz on Thursday, but it then made a U-turn in the strait and is now heading back into the Persian Gulf. Several hours before, a container ship that had departed from Bandar Abbas, an Iranian port city in the strait, was seen sailing south into the Gulf of Oman. The vessel had entered the strait four days ago.
Yuri was sanctioned by the US in 2024 for being involved in Iran’s petroleum exports. There were no contact details listed for the ship’s unidentified manager or owner on maritime database Equasis.
Bloomberg
Australia has secured an extra 100 million litres of diesel, half of which will be prioritised for regional areas.
Two extra cargoes of diesel will enter the nation following a deal struck between Export Finance Australia and fuel companies Ampol and BP.
Of the 100 million litres, 50 million will go to regional centres in Queensland, including Townsville, Gladstone and Mackay.
Trade Minister Don Farrell said the deals would allow further supply to reach areas hardest hit by the fuel crisis.
“Through these early actions and the additional shipments that are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, we are securing supplies that are essential for our industries to keep moving in the face of the continued conflict in the Middle East,” he said.
The measures have allowed the government to underwrite the cost of fuel on the spot market to prevent further shortages.
AAP
The United States has placed a $US10 million bounty on the leader of an Iranian-backed Shiite militia in Iraq.
The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program issued a notice stating it was seeking the leader of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
It said Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji led the group, whose members “killed Iraqi civilians and attacked US diplomatic facilities in Iraq”.
It also said Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada had attacked US military bases and personnel in Iraq and Syria.
AP
Iran’s exiled former prince has said his focus is on advocating for the Iranian people, after a man was reportedly charged with assault and battery for splashing a red liquid on him in Berlin.
Reza Pahlavi was sprayed by a protester with a red liquid, probably a tomato sauce, when leaving a press briefing last night (AEST). The man was arrested and later charged.
A spokesperson for Pahlavi said the exiled prince was unharmed and his schedule in Berlin – mainly attending a parliamentary round table and meeting the Iranian diaspora – was unchanged.
“Prince Reza Pahlavi wants the focus to be on the dire situation of the Iranian people, who face executions, murders, torture and rapes on a daily basis,” the spokesperson said on X. “He expresses his gratitude to the Berlin police for their support.”
The South American nation of Guyana says a tanker seized by the US in Asia yesterday for allegedly carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil was “FRAUDULENTLY flying the Guyana flag”.
Guyana’s Maritime Administration Department made the announcement in a statement to journalists.
It noted the vessel had previously been named Phonix, which the US Treasury noted when it previously sanctioned the vessel.
“This ship is NOT registered in Guyana; thus, the registration is false and fraudulent,” it said.
“While the name of the vessel has changed, the [International Maritime Organisation] number remains recorded in the international database as PHONIX. There is no record of this vessel or name in Guyana’s registry.”
AP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington had no objection to Iran participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but added the players would not be allowed to bring with them people with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Nothing from the US has told them they can’t come,” Rubio told reporters. US President Donald Trump also said his administration “would not want to affect the athletes”.
It comes as the Financial Times this week reported Trump envoy Paolo Zampolli had suggested to FIFA that Italy should replace Iran at the tournament.
The 2026 World Cup is set to begin on June 11 across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Currently, there is no suggestion Iran will withdraw or be banned from the tournament. Italy failed to qualify. After the start of the Iran war, Iran requested that FIFA move the team’s three group matches from the US to Mexico, which was rejected.
The Australian sharemarket has dipped at the open as uncertainty over the war in the Middle East continues to cast a shadow over markets.
The S&P/ASX 200 was 18 points, or 0.2 per cent, lower at 8775.4 in early trade, with six of 11 industry sectors in negative territory. Overnight, US stocks pulled back from record highs following mixed profit reports from Tesla and other big companies.
Oil prices, meanwhile, jumped on worries about what will happen next in the war with Iran. A ceasefire is still in place between the US and Iran, but oil tankers in the Persian Gulf aren’t able to get through the narrow waterway off Iran’s coast and deliver crude to customers.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June rose overnight to settle at $US105.07 ($147.36) and has climbed a further 1.2 per cent this morning to fetch $US106.29 at 10.39am AEST. US oil was 1 per cent higher at $US96.80.
White House officials have refused to estimate the cost of the Iran war to the US so far, but two independent groups say the expense is staggering: between $US28 billion and $US35 billion, or just under $US1.4 billion a day, The New York Times reports.
In the first two days of the conflict alone, the military used $US5.6 billion of munitions, defence officials said.
Restoring the country’s global stockpile to its previous size and military strength will be extremely challenging.
“At current production rates, reconstituting what we have expended could take years,” Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the armed services committee, said this week.
A group of Democrats has called on the Trump administration to provide immediate protection for Iranians in the US who cannot safely return home amid the war.
Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari and Senators Edward J. Markey, Cory A. Booker, Christopher A. Coons, Alex Padilla and Jacky Rosen signed a letter addressed to key Trump administration officials demanding responses on the administration’s plans for Iranian students and workers at risk of persecution if sent back to Iran.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s brutal crackdown on nationwide protests earlier this year deepened the country’s already-dire human rights crisis, while the recent US military attack has intensified the security situation,” the letter says.
“The administration must not forcibly return Iranian families in the United States to Iran … and should therefore pause deportation flights and designate Iranians for temporary protection.”
The letter also reiterated previous accusations from members of Congress that Trump had launched the United States’ first attacks on Iran illegally, without constitutionally required congressional authorisation.
We reported yesterday that one of Trump’s envoys suggested Italy should replace Iran at the FIFA World Cup, an idea that has embarrassed many Azzurri fans in Italy.
Paolo Zampolli, an Italian-American who is an envoy for global relations, told the Financial Times that he made the suggestion to Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Italy’s main sports news websites gave the story only a passing reference, but politicians and officials were quick to reject the idea.
“First of all, I don’t think it’s possible,” Italian Olympic Committee President Luciano Buonfiglio said. “Second, I’d feel offended. In order to go to the World Cup, you have to earn it”.
