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China offers $200,000 emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran after school attack.
Iran says death toll of US-Israeli strikes reaches 1,230.
Iran's IRGC official says will burn any ship trying to pass through Strait of Horm.
WASHINGTON - While saying the United States is "nearing completion" of its core objectives in Iran, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday night threatened to hit Iran "extremely hard over the next two to three weeks," a timeline he has recently set for ending the monthlong war.
"I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives very shortly. We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong," Trump said in a primetime address to the nation.
The president insisted that the negotiations between the United States and Iran "are ongoing" despite Iran's denial, saying Iran's "regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders' deaths" and "the new group is less radical and much more reasonable."
"If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously," Trump said. He also signaled the US military could target Iran's oil infrastructure.
Trump again urged US allies to "build up some delayed courage" and take the lead in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting Washington may end the US-Israeli war with Iran without reopening the crucial global energy waterway, whose prolonged closure has fueled a global energy shock and sent oil and gas prices sharply higher.
"Go to the strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves," Trump urged US allies, claiming again that the strait would "just open up naturally" with the end of the war.
Grappling with market volatility and public concerns over a drawn-out war, Trump argued the ongoing conflict, now in its fifth week, is far shorter than wars such as World War II, Vietnam or Iraq, and should be viewed as a necessary "investment" in the future rather than another prolonged conflict abroad.
Trump used the primetime address to justify the Iran war, tout US military gains, and assure the US public the war is nearing its end, local analysts say.
Markets reacted negatively to Trump's address on his Iran war strategy, with S&P 500 futures falling 0.75 percent, Nasdaq futures down 1 percent, and Dow futures dropping more than 310 points.
Meanwhile, oil prices surged, with US crude rising from about 98 US dollars to nearly 104 dollars a barrel, while Brent crude climbed from around 99 dollars to 106 dollars.
Up to 67 percent of Americans believe that Trump does not have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iran, according to the latest CNN poll.
Trump claims Iran war objectives near completion
Trump says US to be "out of Iran pretty quickly," could return for "spot hits" if needed -- Reuters
Global optimism has reignited over a potential de-escalation of the war in Iran, following remarks by United States President Donald Trump suggesting a path to end the conflict could be near, with Tehran acknowledging for the first time that Washington had held direct communications over a possible ceasefire.
Trump's comments highlighted the fluid and often contradictory timelines and statements from Washington on how and when the five-week-old war might be brought to a close.
"We'll be leaving very soon," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the exit could take place "within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three".
"Iran doesn't have to make a deal, no," he said, when asked if successful diplomacy was a prerequisite for the US to end the mission. He was expected to address the nation "to deliver an important update on Iran" at 0100 GMT on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Asian shares surged after US stocks posted their best daily performance in nearly a year, fueled by renewed hopes the conflict could soon end.
South Korea's Kospi recovered its weekly losses, jumping 8.1 percent, while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 4.5 percent. A Bank of Japan survey released on Wednesday showed business sentiment among major Japanese manufacturers improved despite concerns over the war.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday his country has the "necessary will" to end the war, but is seeking guarantees the conflict will not be repeated.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed on Tuesday he had received direct messages from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but stressed they do not amount to formal negotiations. The communications include threats or exchanges relayed via "friends", he told Qatar's Al Jazeera TV.
Araghchi also warned against any ground offensive, saying "we are waiting for them". "We know very well how to defend ourselves," he said, as thousands of US Marines and paratroopers have been deployed to the region in possible preparation for an assault.
Iran has so far rejected Trump's claims of direct talks and has continued retaliating against Israeli and US targets in the Gulf. The month-long conflict has killed thousands, disrupted energy supplies and threatened to plunge the global economy into crisis.
Still, attacks took place on multiple fronts early on Wednesday, with explosions heard in multiple areas of Tehran after US-Israeli air attacks, Iranian state media reported. Meanwhile, drones hit fuel tanks at Kuwait International Airport causing a big blaze. Qatar said a tanker leased to its state-owned energy company was struck by an Iranian missile in its territorial waters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would press ahead with its campaign, vowing to continue "crushing Iran's terror regime". But opposition leader Yair Lapid hit back, saying Netanyahu "is unable to reach a strategic resolution; the time has come to recognize that he is simply incapable".
Iran's Revolutionary Guards issued a new threat on Tuesday targeting US businesses across the region starting Wednesday. It named 18 companies, including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing, that would be targeted from 8 pm Tehran time.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found two-thirds of US citizens believe Washington should move quickly to end its involvement in the war, even if that means failing to achieve the Trump administration's stated goals.
However, Trump on Tuesday also criticized countries that have not helped the US war effort, such as Britain. In a social media post, he said that in response to the global fuel shortage, these countries should buy energy from the US or "find some delayed courage, go to the strait and just take it".
France and Italy have pushed back against certain US-Israeli military operations, sources said, exposing rifts among NATO allies over the conflict. Spain, which has emerged as Europe's biggest critic of the war, said on Monday that it had closed its airspace for US planes involved in the conflict.
The United Arab Emirates is preparing to help the US and its allies forcibly reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, saying the UAE is seeking a United Nations Security Council resolution for the action and has suggested the US occupy strategic islands.
SANAA - Yemen's Houthi armed group said on Wednesday it had launched a fresh round of ballistic missile attacks targeting "vital sites" in southern Israel.
In a statement aired by the group's al-Masirah television, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the strike was part of continued support for allied forces in the region, including those in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.
He said the operation, involving a barrage of ballistic missiles, was carried out in coordination with allied groups and had achieved its intended objectives.
Sarea warned that continued escalation against what he described as allied fronts would prompt further Houthi action until hostilities cease.
The statement comes amid rising regional tensions, with the group recently warning it could intervene militarily, particularly if the Red Sea is used as a staging ground for operations against Iran.
Last week, the group also signaled it was prepared to respond if additional forces joined those of the United States and Israel.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has reiterated the group's readiness to take military action in line with developments in the wider Middle East conflict, underscoring its close ties with Iran.
TEHRAN - Loud explosions were heard in Tehran at around 5:35 am local time (0205 GMT) on Wednesday, and thick smoke could be seen rising from eastern and southern parts of the Iranian capital.
Local media have not reported any casualties so far.
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump will update the nation on the Iran war in an address at 9 p.m. ET (0100 GMT on Thursday) on Wednesday, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt posted on X on Tuesday.
Trump said Tuesday that the US military will leave Iran in two or three weeks.
"We leave because there's no reason for us to do this," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"All I have to do is leave Iran, and we'll be doing that very soon, and they'll become tumbling down," Trump said when asked about his plan for lowering gas prices.
LONDON -- Britain will provide additional air defense support to Gulf partners as regional tensions continue to escalate, according to a statement released by the British government on Tuesday.
British Defense Secretary John Healey confirmed a series of new deployments during a visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, the statement said.
These include an extension of the deployment of British Typhoon fighter jets in Qatar, the dispatch of the Sky Sabre air defense system to Saudi Arabia, and the integration of Britain's Lightweight Multirole Launcher into Bahrain's air defenses.
The Rapid Sentry, a ground-based air defense missile system, has arrived in Kuwait, where the Royal Air Force's ORCUS drone-detection system is already operating.
In Saudi Arabia, Healey held talks with leaders and defense officials from the three Gulf countries on the conflict in the Middle East, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for world's oil, and broader Britain-Gulf cooperation on regional security.
The latest tensions erupted on Feb 28 with US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and several other Iranian cities. Since then, the attacks have continued, targeting key Iranian military command centers, missile installations, energy infrastructures and nuclear facilities.
In response, Iran has launched over 80 waves of missile and drone strikes against Israel and US military facilities across the Middle East.
In a major escalation, Iran has effectively blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, allowing only ships it considers non-hostile to pass.
TEHRAN - Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that it had hit an Israeli container ship in the Persian Gulf with ballistic missiles during a new wave of attacks against US and Israeli targets, Tasnim news agency reported.
Apart from crimping oil and gas supplies, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East is also having a negative impact on the construction sector in India, which has enjoyed a boom in recent years.
The cement industry will be hit as a significant portion of India's bitumen and limestone comes from Gulf countries, including Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain, experts said. There are also worries that the steel sector — where limestone is a vital input — could suffer from supply chain disruptions.
A potential slowdown in the construction sector could pose challenges and hinder India's overall economic growth prospects, they warned.
The infrastructure, housing and commercial construction sectors are a high priority in India for sustaining faster economic growth, said Karori Singh, former director of the South Asia Studies Centre at the University of Rajasthan in India.
"The construction of roads and bridges for a faster supply chain" and the government's 'Housing for All' program are heavily dependent on efficient supplies of raw materials and energy, Singh said, noting that the resources are also crucial for meeting the construction demand stemming from faster urbanization.
India's highway program is still expanding. The National Highways Authority of India completed about 10,660 kilometers in the financial year ended March 2025, and has earmarked $30.6 billion to match that pace this fiscal year, but engineers and construction companies warn that the turbulence in the Middle East is raising costs and risks.
"The shock wave won't stop at fuel," Partha Pratim Biswas, who teaches construction engineering at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, told China Daily. "Housing, metros, flyovers — everything runs on steel and cement, and both depend on raw materials shipped through the Strait of Hormuz."
Around 40 percent of India's roughly 9 million metric tons of annual bitumen demand is met through imports, according to industry estimates. A significant percentage of the material comes from the Middle East and passes through the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has been disrupted in the past few weeks due to US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Bitumen, as a petroleum by-product, comes from crude oil refining. Benoy Majumdar, managing director of Mackintosh Burn Ltd, sources bitumen from Indian state-owned oil refineries — Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum — all of which depend on imported crude.
As crude oil supply is hit, the supply of bitumen is also affected, leading to a slowdown in projects and cost overruns, Mazumder said. "When crude supply is disrupted, our project schedules and margins bleed."
Apart from bitumen, the UAE is a critical supplier, accounting for roughly 79 percent of India's high-grade limestone flux imports. These are used in the steel and cement industries. The Strait of Hormuz is the primary shipping route for these significant raw material shipments.
"We mine two-thirds of limestone domestically under environmental caps; the missing third is critical," said Biswas from Jadavpur University.
If steel output stutters, prices spike and flagship projects would start to creak, according to him.
The property market in the city of Mumbai is also under strain, said Sanjay Agarwal, a stockbroker. He said in an interview with China Daily that construction costs have risen alongside crude and steel prices, while wardriven risk aversion has reduced the demand from multinational companies for office space and tightened equity-market liquidity.
The conflict in the Middle East is "causing unmitigated pain for real estate across India, including Mumbai, the country's financial capital. From project timelines to project costs — everything seems to be going for a toss", Agarwal said, wondering when there would be an end to the crisis.
According to Singh, supply shortages and increased prices of bitumen, limestone and energy will adversely affect the construction sector, which is a major source of employment.
Arunava Das is a freelance journalist for China Daily in Kolkata.
Contact the writers at vivienxu@chinadailyapac.com.
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump has told aides that he's willing to end the US-Israeli war with Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday night, citing Trump administration officials.
Trump and his aides recently assessed that a mission to pry open the crucial global energy waterway would push the war with Iran beyond his timeline of four to six weeks, said the report.
Senior ministers from the Group of Seven countries held a virtual conference on Monday to assess the economic impact of the war in Iran amid soaring global energy prices.
One month on from the start of airstrikes by the United States and Israel, Iran's response has been to halt all shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important routes on the planet for energy supplies.
The meeting was due to include other relevant stakeholders and parties, including heads of global banks and international agencies, as well as national finance and energy ministers.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said the Middle East crisis was being felt differently around the world, which is why so many people would be involved in the meeting.
"There are already differences in the responses largely linked to differences in exposure to the crisis," Lescure said, noting that Asia was feeling particularly vulnerable.
"That is one of the reasons why we wanted to convene a G7 of finance, energy and central banks," he said.
The meeting will be the fourth held by the G7 since the outbreak of the conflict, indicating the seriousness of the situation and the lack of progress so far.
The US has already sought backing from G7 nations in its bid to break the Strait of Hormuz deadlock. However, it has been heavily criticized for the lack of clarity about its aims in the conflict and for the uncertainty about when it is likely to end.
"We need an exit, not an escalation in this war," said Kaja Kallas, vice-president of the European Commission.
"And that means there has to be a diplomatic solution so that this region will come out of it stronger and actually more peaceful. Therefore, it can only be a diplomatic solution, sit down and negotiate to have a way out," she said.
'Wrong approach'
The United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves was expected to tell other G7 countries that, in the current climate, unilateral actions, such as the imposition of new trade barriers, were entirely the wrong approach and could exacerbate energy security difficulties.
According to a statement issued by the finance ministry, Reeves was going to tell the group that its members "should act together, not in ways that shift pressure onto partners or weaken collective resilience".
It is thought that so far, as many as 3,000 people may have been killed in Iran, and a further 1,000 in an overspill of the conflict into Lebanon.
Last week, G7 foreign ministers met and called for a halt to attacks on civilian infrastructure and said it was an "absolute necessity" for Iran to reestablish free passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
julian@mail.chinadailyuk.com
Iran has accused the United States of plotting a ground attack even as Washington publicly pushed for a negotiated deal, while US and Israeli forces continued their strikes on the country on Monday and US President Donald Trump openly floated seizing Iran's Kharg Island oil infrastructure.
It came as Pakistan hosted foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt on Sunday for a high-level meeting aimed at de-escalating the conflict.
The discussions lasted several hours. Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar described the talks as "detailed and in-depth", announcing that Islamabad would host US-Iran negotiations "in the coming days".
Pakistan has emerged as a key intermediary between Washington and Tehran, relaying messages and coordinating back-channel communications. However, there was no immediate response from Washington or Tehran, and it remained unclear whether the talks would be direct or indirect.
As the conflict entered its fifth week, the Pentagon has bolstered its military presence in the region, fueling speculation over a potential ground incursion. Trump said he wants to "take the oil" in Iran, reviving the idea of seizing Kharg Island.
"Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options," he told the Financial Times in an interview published early on Monday.
But launching an amphibious assault on Kharg would require passing through the Strait of Hormuz and most of the Gulf.
Joe Kent, a former director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, who stepped down recently, warned in remarks in an article in The Washington Post that any occupation of Kharg Island would be strategically unsound and could prove "disastrous, exposing US troops to severe danger both there and across the region".
Meanwhile, Tehran said its armed forces are well prepared to confront US troops. "The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack," Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a statement on Sunday.
Iran's Navy Commander Shahram Irani also warned on Monday that the USS Abraham Lincoln would face shore-to-sea missile strikes if it entered what he described as Iran's strike range.
Fresh strikes
On Monday, the Israeli military launched a fresh wave of airstrikes across Iran, targeting sites from the Persian Gulf coast and southern islands to northern cities. Iranian media reported that a facility at the Tabriz Petrochemical Company was hit again. Earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran's heavy water production plant in Khondab is no longer operational following an Israeli military strike.
Iran's Ministry of Energy reported widespread power outages on Sunday in Tehran, its surrounding areas and neighboring Alborz Province,"following attacks on electricity infrastructure". Authorities later said the outages were quickly resolved via grid adjustments.
It remained unclear, however, whether the strikes were linked to US threats to target Iranian power stations and other energy infrastructure unless Tehran accepts a ceasefire deal. Trump extended his deadline by 10 days to April 6, as Washington put forward a peace plan.
Iran, meanwhile, has ramped up pressure on its Gulf neighbors. Kuwait announced an Indian worker was killed in an attack on a power and desalination plant, in one of the most significant attacks in the Gulf over the past 24 hours. The incident came shortly after Iranian energy facilities in Tehran were targeted.
Other Gulf states on Monday also reported intercepting drones and missiles. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted five missiles targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province, Bahrain sounded a missile alert, and a fireball was seen over Dubai as an incoming missile was taken out by defenses.
The conflict has disrupted global oil and natural gas supplies, and triggered fertilizer shortages. Brent crude, the international benchmark, neared $117 a barrel on Monday — up nearly 60 percent since Feb 28 when the conflict began.
Contact the writers at cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn.
Iran has accused the United States of plotting a ground attack even as Washington publicly pushed for a negotiated deal, while US and Israeli forces continued their strikes on the Islamic republic on Monday and US President Donald Trump openly floated seizing Iran's Kharg Island oil export hub.
It came as Pakistan hosted foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt on Sunday for a high-level meeting aimed at deescalating the conflict.
The four-way consultations lasted several hours. Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar described the talks as "detailed and in-depth", announcing that Islamabad would host US-Iran negotiations "in the coming days".
Pakistan has emerged as a key intermediary between Washington and Tehran, relaying messages and coordinating backchannel communications. However, there was no immediate response from Washington or Tehran, and it remained unclear whether the talks would be direct or indirect.
As the war entered its fifth week, the Pentagon has bolstered its military presence in the region, fueling speculation over a potential ground incursion. Trump said he wants to "take the oil" in Iran, reviving the idea of seizing Kharg Island.
"Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options," he told the Financial Times in an interview published early on Monday.
But launching an amphibious assault on Kharg would require passing through the Strait of Hormuz and most of the Persian Gulf.
Joe Kent, a former director of the US National Counterterrorism Center who recently stepped down, warned in remarks to the Washington Post that any occupation of Kharg Island would be strategically unsound and could prove "disastrous, exposing US troops to severe danger both there and across the region".
Meanwhile, Tehran said its armed forces are well prepared to confront US troops.
"The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack. Our men are waiting for the arrival of the American soldiers on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional allies once and for all," Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a statement on Sunday.
Iran's Navy Commander Shahram Irani also warned on Monday that the USS Abraham Lincoln would face shore-to-sea missile strikes if it entered what he described as Iran's strike range.
On Monday, the Israeli military launched a fresh wave of airstrikes across Iran, targeting sites from the Persian Gulf coast and southern islands to northern cities. Iranian media reported that a facility at the Tabriz Petrochemical Complex was hit again. Earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran's heavy water production plant in Khondab is no longer operational following an Israeli military strike.
Iran's Ministry of Energy reported widespread power outages on Sunday in Tehran, its surrounding areas and neighboring Alborz Province, "following attacks on electricity infrastructure". Authorities later said the outages were quickly resolved via grid adjustments.
It remained unclear, however, whether the strikes were linked to Trump's threats to target Iranian power stations and other energy infrastructure unless Tehran accepts a ceasefire deal. Trump extended his deadline by 10 days to April 6, as Washington put forward a 15-point peace plan.
Iran, meanwhile, has ramped up pressure on its Gulf neighbors. Kuwait announced an Indian worker was killed in an attack on a power and desalination plant, in one of the most significant attacks in the Gulf over the past 24 hours. The incident came shortly after Iranian energy facilities in Tehran were targeted.
Other Gulf states on Monday also reported intercepting drones and missiles. Saudi Arabia intercepted five missiles targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province, Bahrain sounded a missile alert, and a fireball was seen over Dubai as an incoming missile was taken out by defenses.
The war has already disrupted global oil and natural gas supplies, triggered fertilizer shortages and disrupted air travel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, neared $117 a barrel on Monday — up nearly 60 percent since Feb 28 when the war began.
JERUSALEM - A fire broke out at the Haifa oil refinery in northern Israel following a recent round of missile attacks launched by Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, Israel's Channel 12 reported on Monday.
It remains unclear whether the facility was directly hit by a missile or struck by debris from an intercepted projectile, the report said.
China supports all efforts conducive to de-escalation, cooling the situation and the resumption of dialogue in ending the Middle East conflict, and calls on all parties to start the peace talk process as soon as possible, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Monday.
Mao's remarks came after Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said that both Washington and Tehran have expressed confidence in Pakistan to facilitate talks aimed at ending the ongoing conflict. Dar raised the possibility after a meeting in Islamabad over the weekend with the foreign ministers of Turkiye, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to discuss the regional situation.
"We appreciate Pakistan's efforts to promote the easing of the situation and support Pakistan in continuing to play its mediation role," the spokeswoman said.
China stands ready to strengthen communication and coordination with Pakistan and all other relevant parties to jointly promote peace, end hostilities and safeguard regional peace and stability, Mao added.
Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday expressed doubts that the US and Israel had a clear strategy to end the war in Iran, but said his country would be ready to take part in any stabilization mission after the end of hostilities.
His comments came on the same day foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations, or G7, met in Paris, France and agreed to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy route, but only after the war ends.
"I'm just not convinced that what Israel and the US are doing right now will actually succeed," Merz said at a forum organized by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, or FAZ, newspaper in Frankfurt, Germany.
"Is regime change really the goal?" he said. "If that's the goal, I don't think you'll achieve it. It's mostly gone wrong" in past conflicts, he said, pointing to the Afghanistan war.
"I have serious doubts about whether there is a strategy and whether that strategy is being implemented successfully. In that regard, it could take longer, and things probably won't improve," he added.
Fighting has intensified since US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb 28. Tehran has responded with repeated drone and missile attacks against Israel and Gulf states that host US forces.
Merz argued the US and Israel "are becoming more deeply entangled in this conflict every day", and cautioned that regime change in Tehran — if that is the aim — is not achievable by military means.
Merz stressed the confrontation is not a NATO fight and said US President Donald Trump appears to recognize that.
"I believe that at least the US government — and probably the president as well — has now accepted that we cannot support this. But we have, of course, offered to organize, for example, military protection of the Strait of Hormuz together with others in the event of a ceasefire," Merz said.
"This requires an international mandate. It requires approval from the German Bundestag (parliament) and a prior cabinet decision. We are far from that, and as long as the war continues, it is not an option for us either," he added.
G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris said a postwar mission would secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Jean-Noel Barrot, said: "There is a very broad consensus within the international community to preserve the common good of freedom of navigation.
"It is out of the question to live in a world where international waters are closed to navigation, particularly in the context of conflicts that do not concern the countries that need this navigation to continue."
An international mission to escort vessels will operate "once calm has been restored" and "in a strictly defensive posture" according to international law, Barrot added.
"It will necessarily happen one way or another," he said, evoking the law of the sea.
"With each passing day, the situation worsens due to the lack of shipping traffic from the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world."
jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com
TEHRAN -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Saturday its air defense has struck a US F-16 Fighting Falcon and an MQ-9 Reaper drone in the country's southern airspace.
Making the announcement in a statement on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the US fighter jet and drone were hit during joint retaliatory missile and drone operations by its Navy and Aerospace Division against heavy industries belonging to the United States and Israel.
It added that the US Central Command (CENTCOM) has also confessed that its F-16 Fighting Falcon was targeted.
In a post on social media platform X, CENTCOM said, "A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon lands at a base in the Middle East after a combat flight in support of Operation Epic Fury."
The development came amid heightened tensions following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran starting on Feb 28, to which Iran and its regional allies responded with attacks on Israeli and US interests across the Middle East.
TEHRAN -- A heavy water research reactor facility in central Iran's Khondab was attacked by US-Israeli airstrikes on Friday, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported.
No casualties or danger to residents in the area have been reported so far, Fars added, citing local authorities.
The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran later confirmed the attack.
Meanwhile, a yellowcake production plant in central Iran's Yazd province was also hit by US-Israeli strikes, with no radioactive leaks reported so far, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
The plant, inaugurated in May 2023, produces yellowcake, a uranium concentrate powder obtained from leach solutions and serving as an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores.
Separately, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported Friday that two people were killed and two others injured in US-Israeli strikes on a cement plant in the southwestern Fars province.
Earlier in the day, Fars news agency reported that two steel plants in Iran's Isfahan and Khuzestan provinces came under separate US and Israeli strikes on Friday.
The fresh attacks came amid a nearly month-long US-Israel-Iran conflict starting from Feb 28, with heavy fighting continuing between the relevant parties and no breakthrough on a ceasefire.
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is considering deploying up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give US President Donald Trump more military options beyond diplomacy, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The force, likely to include infantry and armored vehicles, would be added to the roughly 5,000 Marines and thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division already ordered to the region, said the report, citing Department of Defense officials.
It is unclear exactly where the forces will be deployed in the Middle East, but they are expected to be within striking distance of Iran and its Kharg Island, a crucial oil export hub, the report added.
"All announcements regarding troop deployments will come from the Department of War. As we have said, President Trump always has all military options at his disposal," Anna Kelly, deputy White House press secretary, was quoted as saying.
Trump said earlier on Thursday that he would pause planned strikes on Iranian energy facilities for 10 more days, until April 6 at 8 pm Eastern Time, claiming that talks between the two sides were "going very well."
Iran has publicly rejected a 15-point peace plan proposed by the White House but is privately considering meeting with unspecified US negotiators in Pakistan in the coming days, said a report from The New York Times.
The United States and Israel launched massive attacks on Iran on Feb 28, disrupting global shipping, driving up oil prices and shaking the global economy.
