File photo : A UN peacekeeper (UNIFIL) patrols the border with Israel, in the village of Khiam, Lebanon . A U.N. peacekeeper was killed and another critically injured when a projectile exploded in their position in southern Lebanon REUTERS/Ali Hashisho.
Major developments in the Middle East war :
- Pakistan announced Sunday that it will host talks between the U.S. and Iran, though there was no immediate word from Washington or Tehran, and it was unclear whether the talks would be direct or indirect.
- Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, dismissed the talks in Pakistan as a cover after some 2,500 U.S. Marines trained in amphibious landings arrived in the Middle East. He said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according to state media.
- U.S. universities in the Middle East responded to Iran’s threat to attack them after Israeli airstrikes hit universities there. The American University of Beirut moved classes online, and the U.S. Embassy in Iraq said the American Universities in Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk could be targeted.
- The war has threatened global supplies of oil, natural gas and fertilizer and disrupted air travel as Iran’s grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices. U.S. President Donald Trump extended his self-imposed deadline to April 6 for Tehran to reopen the strait.
- The death toll continues to rise as more than 3,000 people have been killedin the war that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
. Crude tops $116 a barrel in trading early Monday. Brent crude was just over $70 a barrel when the war started on Feb. 28. Prices have spiked by over 50% since.
. Kuwait said early Monday an Iranian attack on a power and desalination plant killed an Indian worker there.The statement carried by the state-run KUNA news agency did not identify the plant targeted.
Authorities said power and water supplies remained constant despite the attack. Desalination plants remain crucial to water supplies in the Gulf Arab states. Iranian attacks already have damaged some facilities.
Kharg Island- U.S. President Donald Trump has raised the idea of American forces seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, its main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. already launched airstrikes once it said targeted military positions on the island. Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and new attacks if U.S. troops land on its territory
Trump says that Iran’s parliament speaker authorized the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
“They gave us 10” Pakistani-flagged tankers, he said. “Now they’re giving 20 and the 20 have already started and they’re going right up the middle of the Strait.” “He’s the one who authorized the ships to me,” Trump told the newspaper about Qalibaf.
Trump says US is negotiating with Iran ‘directly and indirectly’ . Trump was asked if Iran had responded to the 15-point ceasefire plan the U.S. has proposed . “They’re agreeing with us on the plan,” Trump said, while Iran denies reports
In Lebanon a U.N. peacekeeper was killed and another critically injured when a projectile exploded in their position near a village in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL said in a statement early Monday. The statement said the “origin of the projectile” was unknown.
AP / YL
