The latest developments in the Middle East war:
- US destroyers in Hormuz -
US guided-missile destroyers have entered the Gulf as part of a mission to escort ships through the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, the US military said.
The warships "are currently operating in the Arabian Gulf after transiting the Strait of Hormuz in support of Project Freedom", US Central Command said on X, referring to the operation announced by US President Donald Trump on Sunday.
After the announcement, Iranian state television reported that the Islamic republic's navy fired cruise missiles, rockets and combat drones near the US ships, after multiple warning shots.
- UAE missile warning -
The United Arab Emirates issued a mobile phone alert for a potential missile attack, nearly a month into a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East war.
"Due to the current situation, potential missile threats, immediately seek a safe place in the closest secure building," the message read.
Authorities said earlier that Iran had fired two drones at a tanker affiliated with its state oil company ADNOC in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Pilgrimage tensions -
Israeli police warned people not to defy the cancellation of a major pilgrimage near the border with Lebanon, scrapped because of hostilities with Hezbollah, while local media reported thousands had gathered at the site.
The Mount Meron pilgrimage takes place on the Lag BaOmer holiday, when mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews throng the site of the tomb of the revered second-century rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
"Police will not allow extremist elements to turn this sacred place into a scene of violence," a police statement said.
- Hezbollah condemns Israel -
Hezbollah's leader condemned Israel's operations in Lebanon amid a fragile ceasefire, repeating the group's rejection of direct negotiations between the Israeli and Lebanese governments.
"There is no ceasefire in Lebanon, but a continuous Israeli-American aggression," Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a written statement broadcast by the al-Manar TV channel.
- Execution wave -
Iran executed three men charged over protests this January, authorities said, the latest hangings of convicts seen by rights groups as political prisoners against the backdrop of the war against the United States and Israel.
Iranian authorities have carried out executions on a near-daily basis in recent weeks, in what activists have denounced as a bid to instil fear.
- Iran media says missiles fired at US frigate -
Iranian media said that a US navy frigate was targeted by two missiles in the Strait of Hormuz, after Trump said US forces would begin guiding ships through the waterway. The US military denied that any of its ships had been hit.
"The frigate, which was sailing on Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, in violation of navigation and maritime safety rules near (the port of) Jask, was targeted by a missile attack after ignoring a warning from the Iranian navy," the Fars news agency said, without citing a source. Iran's military had said earlier that US forces would be attacked if they entered the Strait.
Trump said the United States would on Monday begin guiding ships through the strategic strait, which was a major transport route for oil, gas and fertiliser before the Middle East war broke out and Iran blockaded the waterway.
- Iran says US must 'abandon its excessive demands -
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said that the United States must reduce its demands on ending the ending the two-month-long Middle East war.
"At this stage, our priority is to end the war," Baqaei said in a briefing broadcast by state television. "The other side must commit to a reasonable approach and abandon its excessive demands regarding Iran."
Negotiations between the two countries have been stalled since a ceasefire took effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held.
- Dubai airport traffic slumps -
Dubai airport's passenger traffic plunged to 2.5 million passengers in March, two-thirds down on the same month last year, following Iran's attacks on the United Arab Emirates during the Middle East war, the emirate's media office said in a statement.
burs-sbk/tw
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