The Strait of Hormuz : More than 20,000 sailors are on vessels stuck in the Gulf. Iran has been effectively blocking the Strait of Hormuz and has been charging as much as $2 million per ship in tolls. European Union nations moved Friday toward imposing sanctions on Iranian officials and others responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the E.U. said.
HERE IS THE LATEST ABOUT THE IRAN WAR TODAY
- The Trump administration was preparing for a fresh round of military strikes against Iran, according to sources with direct knowledge of the planning, even as diplomacy continued on a potential peace deal. Although, no final decision on strikes had been reached as of Friday afternoon, the sources said.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that indirect negotiations over a potential deal to end the war with Iran had seen “a little bit of movement, and that’s good.” But he tempered expectations for a peace agreement, however, alluding to unresolved differences over Iran’s nuclear enrichment and calling Iranian efforts to “create a tolling system” in the Strait of Hormuz “not acceptable.” He said the U.S. and its partners must “have a Plan “B” if Iran refuses to reopen the strait.
- Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, a key mediator between Iran and the U.S., traveled to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials as his nation continues efforts to broker a peace deal.
- US Sen. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called for renewed airstrikes against Iran, pressing President Trump to “finish the job he started” and warning him of an “ill advised” agreement with Tehran. “Trump is being ill advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it is written on,” Wicker said
- Similarly, former UN ambassador and National Security Adviser John Bolton was quoted as saying that the negotiations with Iran are “A waste of oxygen”. “It’s a waste of oxygen to negotiate with the Iranian regime. They are never going to come up with a satisfactory plan for peace that we can trust. Trump should end the ceasefire and open the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil from the Gulf Arab states to be transported” . Bolton has long maintained a hardline stance that the Iranian regime “cannot be trusted” and argues that negotiations with Tehran are fruitless.
- Lebanon says Israeli strikes kill 10
- Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed 10 people on Friday, including six rescuers and a child, as Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah continued to exchange fire despite a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
- In a statement, the Lebanese ministry said “six people were martyred”, including two rescuers from the Risala Scouts association and a Syrian girl, in a strike on Deir Qanun al-Nahr village near the city of Tyre.
- The association is linked with the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement.
- An earlier strike on the southern town of Hanaway on Friday killed four rescuers from the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Committee, the ministry said.
- Separately, the Israeli military said early on Friday morning that it had killed two people close to the border.
- “IDF surveillance identified two armed individuals moving in a suspicious manner hundreds of meters from Israeli territory, in southern Lebanon,” it said in a Telegram post. “…Following their identification and continuous monitoring by the IDF, the armed individuals were struck and eliminated in an aerial strike.”
- Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it had targeted Israeli troops and positions inside Lebanon and in northern Israel near the border.
- Death toll from Israeli attacks in Lebanon tops 3,100
- More than 3,100 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon since March 2, Lebanon’s health ministry said Friday.
- The death toll rose to 3,111, while the number of people injured climbed to 9,432, according to the ministry.
- Attacks by both Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel announced in mid-April. Hezbollah has rejected the ceasefire.
- Lebanon and Israel have engaged in peace talks in Washington, with a fourth round expected to be held in June. Hezbollah opposes those talks and has refused to surrender its weapons as the Lebanese government demands.
- Lebanon is forming a military delegation for security talks with Israel at the Pentagon on May 29 — a step that was agreed in the latest round of direct talks earlier this month.
- E.U. moves to sanction Iran over Strait of Hormuz blockade
- European Union nations moved Friday toward imposing sanctions on Iranian officials and others responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the E.U. said.
- Deeming the blockade “contrary to international law,” E.U. governments took a technical step to extend the scope of its existing Iran sanctions regime allowing for more individuals to be targeted under it.
- “The E.U. will now be able to introduce further restrictive measures in response to Iran’s actions undermining the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the European Council representing E.U. nations said.
- Brussels’ punitive measures on Iran previously targeted the country’s military support for Russia in its war against Ukraine and for armed groups across the Middle East. The European Union has also imposed sanctions over human rights violations in the country.
- The E.U. did not immediately name any individual or entities that would be targeted by the new sanctions, consisting of travel bans and asset freezes.
- E.U. citizens and companies will also be banned from making funds, financial assets or other economic resources available to those listed.
- CBS/ YL
