(AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war on Monday:
– **Israel kills 1 near Beirut**
An Israeli strike on Hazmieh east of Beirut killed at least one person, Lebanon’s health ministry said. This marks the second strike on the residential Christian area amidst the ongoing fighting between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The Israeli military stated around the same time that it had “struck an IRGC Quds Force terrorist in Beirut,” referring to the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
– **Targeting Hormuz ‘economic terrorism’**
The chief of the UAE’s state energy company ADNOC slammed Tehran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused a surge in oil prices, as “economic terrorism against every nation.” “No country should be allowed to hold Hormuz hostage,” Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said in virtual remarks to the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston.
– **Trump claims ‘regime change’ in Iran**
US President Donald Trump claimed “regime change” was effectively underway in Iran, while warning that if talks with Iranian figures contacted by Washington do not succeed, then the bombing will continue. Trump made clear the talks were not with Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, but with individuals he described as “very reasonable.” He noted that many top officials had already been killed in the conflict, suggesting there is “automatically a regime change.”
– **Iran must abandon nuclear: Trump**
Trump stated that there are “major points of agreement” in the talks with Iran, which he insists must give up its nuclear ambitions and enriched uranium stockpile.
– **Israel strikes Lebanon bridge**
The Israeli military struck a bridge linking southern Lebanon with the eastern Bekaa region, as reported by state media. This action follows warnings that the crossing would be targeted. The strike is part of a series of attacks on bridges over Lebanon’s Litani River, located around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Israel, including the key Qasmiyeh bridge hit on Sunday.
– **Oil disruption ‘temporary’**
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright remarked that oil market disruptions are “temporary,” as prices surge due to the ongoing war. “Prices have not risen high enough yet to drive meaningful demand destruction,” he said at the CERAWeek conference.
– **UN Lebanon peacekeeper HQ struck**
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon announced its headquarters in Naqura had been hit by a projectile, likely launched by a “non-state actor,” after Hezbollah stated it had targeted Israeli forces in the same town. Since Saturday, the coastal town in Lebanon’s far south, near the border with Israel, has become a flashpoint between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.
– **’Grateful’ Merz**
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his gratitude to Trump for delaying previously threatened strikes on Iranian power plants.
– **War going ‘very well’: Trump**
Trump told AFP that “things are going very well” with Iran, shortly after announcing talks with Tehran and a five-day pause on targeting the Islamic republic’s power plants.
– **Iran media report no US-Iran talks**
However, Iranian media denied Trump’s claims of negotiations between Iran and the United States. “There are no talks between Tehran and Washington,” reported the Mehr news agency, citing Iran’s foreign ministry, and adding that Trump’s statements were part of an effort “to reduce energy prices.” Other Iranian media outlets conveyed similar reports.
– **Russia-Iran call**
Russia called for a “political and diplomatic” resolution to the war just after Trump’s announcement. In a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov urged an “immediate cessation of hostilities and a political settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of all parties involved, particularly Iran,” according to the Russian foreign ministry.
– **Markets rollercoaster**
Trump’s announcement that the US and Iran were negotiating led to a sharp market reversal, with crude prices dropping as much as 14 percent after an earlier rise of around one percent.
– **Aircraft carrier return**
The USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier that has played a key role in the Middle East war, has returned to a base in Crete, according to an AFP journalist. The vessel, which loaded food, fuel, and ammunition at Souda Bay in February, reported a laundry fire on March 12 that injured two crew members.
© 2024 AFP
