What you need to know
Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the war in the Middle East.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
- US President Donald Trump said Iran “can’t blackmail us” over the Strait of Hormuz after Iran closed the waterway again in retaliation for the US blockade on Iranian ports.
- Two gunboats from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker attempting to cross the strait on Saturday, and a container ship was damaged after being hit by an unknown projectile.
- Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that Pakistan’s army chief, serving as an intermediary, presented new US proposals to Iran when he recently visited Tehran, and they were still under review.
- One French soldier was killed and three others wounded after a UN peacekeeping force came under attack in southern Lebanon on Saturday. French President Emmanuel Macron said the evidence suggested Hezbollah was responsible, but the terrorist group has denied links.
Iran broadcasts Hormuz Strait shut as owners report gunfire
Iran broadcast to ships in the Strait of Hormuz that the vital oil and gas channel is once again closed to maritime traffic, with owners reporting gunfire in the waterway and ships abandoning efforts to transit after a brief spell when it appeared it might reopen.
The radio transmission, heard by two owners with vessels in the area, came around the time as state-run news agency Nour reported that the strait had gone back to “strict management and control by the armed forces.”
The decision to close it again was because of a separate blockade that the US has been imposing on Iran’s shipping since Monday, Nour said.
The fresh closure was the culmination of hours of chaos and confusion that saw some ships race to get out, only to U-turn. One supertanker issued a radio broadcast that it was coming under gunfire, the two shipowners said, asking not to be identified because of the security situation.
A UK naval group also warned that a tanker was approached by two Iranian gun boats and fired upon without warning. It subsequently reported another ship was hit by an unknown projectile.
Bloomberg
Australia’s plea to Iran and the US as Strait of Hormuz closes again
Australia is calling on Iran and the United States to intensify efforts to negotiate an end to their war after the Iranian regime again closed the Strait of Hormuz and began firing at ships, just a day after reopening the critical waterway.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps announced on Sunday that it would prevent ships passing through the strait while a US blockade on Iranian ports remains in place, a move Iran says violates the terms of a ceasefire agreement.
As the regime claimed victory in the war, Iranian state media confirmed reports that two Indian ships came under fire and had to turn around after trying to pass through the strait at the weekend, underlining the precarious situation in an area crucial to the global oil trade.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the closure of the strait was “a disappointing development” that highlighted the fragile nature of the ceasefire agreement struck this month.
Read the full article by foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott here.
Trump was “pulled into” war by Netanyahu: Kamala Harris
Donald Trump was “pulled into” the Iran war by Benjamin Netanyahu, Kamala Harris told a Michigan crowd on Sunday morning (AEDT).
The former US vice president, speaking alongside other potential Democratic presidential candidates at a fundraiser in Detroit, criticised Trump’s involvement in the war and the impact that it’s had on Americans.
“[Trump] entered a war that the American people do not want, putting at risk American service members. And among the many consequences of it, it includes jacking up the cost of gas,” Harris said.
“On average, Americans are paying at least $US15 [$21] more to fill up their tank.”
Harris has previously announced that she is considering a 2028 presidential run.
Iran’s navy is far from finished at the Strait of Hormuz, and the US knows it
Iranian warships sunk by US and Israeli attacks litter naval harbours along the Persian Gulf coast, but what is sometimes called a “mosquito fleet” lurks in the shadows.
The flotilla – small, fast, agile boats designed to harass shipping – forms the heart of the naval forces deployed by the Revolutionary Guard, separate from Iran’s regular navy.
These boats, and especially the missiles and drones that the Guard can launch from them, or from camouflaged sites onshore, have been the main threat stymieing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
You can read the full article from the New York Times here.
Break in economic data keeps Middle East in focus
Events in the Middle East are again overshadowing developments in the domestic economy as the Iran conflict stretches into its eighth week.
The benchmark oil price fell below $US90 a barrel for the first time in more than a month after Iran announced on Friday night, AEST, that the Strait of Hormuz would be open to commercial shipping for the duration of a 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon.
But traders were left in limbo by Sunday after Iran again closed the vital waterway in retaliation against an ongoing US blockade on Iran’s use of the strait, leaving hundreds of vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday stressed that the strait needed to be kept open permanently, and international plans to restore maritime security would continue until then.
With the last ships allowed to pass before the war started due to unload their cargoes in the coming days, shortages of vital commodities such as oil, helium and fertiliser are set to worsen in the short term.
North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles towards sea off its east coast
North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast, South Korea and Japan, according to reports on Sunday.
The incident marks the North’s seventh ballistic missile launch this year and its fourth in April. It comes as Pyongyang works to boost its military capabilities.
“As the US is focused on Iran, the North sees this as a golden time to upgrade their nuclear power and missile capability,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University.
South Korea’s presidential office said it had held an emergency security meeting.
Drivers’ fuel spend finally drops as oil channel shuts
Australians have slashed their fuel spending for the first time since the start of the Iran war as leaders call for a return to normal oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Data from Westpac shows Australians are beginning to spend less on petrol and diesel as a cut to fuel excise flows through to the bowser.
In the past fortnight, spending on fuel dropped 3.8 per cent, according to analysis of debit and credit card transactions.
“Seeing fuel spend fall back is a meaningful shift and suggests the fuel excise cut is landing in household budgets,” Westpac consumer chief Carolyn McCann said.
But fuel costs were still higher than before the war and some business sectors that were less able to pass costs on quickly were under increasing pressure, she said.
AAP
If Trump really were ‘deranged’, could he be stripped of his powers?
A president who is found to not be of sound mind can be made to stand aside under the 25th Amendment – but it’s never happened.
As psychologists warn Trump suffers from “the most serious personality disorder a human being can have,” reporter Angus Holland has completed a deep dive into how – if at all – the US president could be removed from office.
Read the full story here.
Victoria makes public transport free for another month
Public transport in Victoria will be free until the end of May and then half-price to the end of 2026, as the state government expands its cost-of-living policy while fuel prices stay high.
The state made public transport free for all Victorians during April after fuel prices rocketed after the war in the Middle East caused Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping route that handles 20 per cent of world’s oil supply, pushing oil prices up by as much as 60 per cent.
The policy will cost Vmore than $400 million in foregone fare revenue, including $71 million already committed for free travel in April.
The Minns government ruled out free public transport for Sydney, despite the Victorian and Tasmanian governments announcing fully subsidised fares.
Australia ‘clearly going to help’ in the Middle East, but deputy PM vague on details
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said Australia is “clearly going to help” in the conflict in the Middle East but has refused to elaborate on the nature of this assistance.
Speaking on ABC’s Insiders, Marles said he wouldn’t second guess America’s decision to block the Strait of Hormuz after Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass.
When asked if Australia supports the United States blockade of the vital strait, Marles said he would not give a running commentary on Trump, but he was “not going to second guess the decisions they are making.”
Asked if Australia would assist in reopening the important passage, Marles said Australia is working with the UK, France and the United States and that “we are clearly going to help”, though he would not elaborate on what that help would entail.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
