TEHRAN – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that their naval forces stopped two ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz and directed them to the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic.

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force this morning identified and stopped in the Strait of Hormuz two violating ships,” the Guards said in a statement.

“The two offending ships… were seized by the IRGC’s naval forces and directed to the Iranian coast.”

They identified one ship as “MSC-FRANCESCA”, which they said belonged “to the Zionist regime” in reference to Israel, and the other as “EPAMINONDAS”, which they said was “tampering with navigation systems and jeopardising maritime security.”

The Guards further warned against any action against the regulations imposed by the Islamic republic in the strait “as well as activities contrary to the safe passage” through the waterway.

Tehran has said vessels must seek permission to leave of enter the Gulf through Hormuz, through a route that in peacetime accounts for a fifth of the world’s oil and gas exports along with other vital commodities.

Iran and the United States failed to strike a deal Sunday to end the war in the Middle East, but there was no immediate return to hostilities and the region clung to hope that a fragile truce would hold. US Vice President JD Vance left Pakistan after the talks — the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution — and warned that Washington had made Tehran its “final and best offer” for a deal.

“We leave here with a very simple proposal,” he said. “We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said his negotiating team “put forward constructive initiatives but ultimately the other side was unable to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations.”

The failure of the talks will raise concerns that a return to fighting could drive world energy prices higher and further damage shipping and oil and gas facilities in the Gulf. But Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said Sunday its key east-west oil pipeline was back in service after it was damaged in earlier strikes, and Qatar’s transport ministry said it was lifting some restrictions on Gulf shipping.

Pakistan, which hosted the talks and whose leadership had ushered the rival sides to the table, said it would keep facilitating dialogue and urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.

“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire,” Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said.

US news website Axios quoted an unnamed source briefed on the negotiations as saying that disagreements included “Iran’s demand to control the Strait of Hormuz and refusal to give up on its enriched uranium stockpile.”

UK health minister Wes Streeting, speaking for the British government, told Sky News that the failure of the talks was disappointing but “that doesn’t mean there isn’t merit in continuing to try.”

The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, sparking retaliation from Tehran that has plunged the Middle East into conflict and shaken the global economy. Iran and the US had entered the talks mediated by Pakistan with maximalist positions, with Washington piling pressure by saying it had sent minesweeping ships through the vital Strait of Hormuz maritime route.

Signs of strain in the negotiations appeared when Iranian media accused the United States of making “excessive demands” over the strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil transited before its effective closure by Iran during the war. US President Donald Trump had also insisted several hours into the talks on Saturday that the United States had already triumphed on the battlefield by killing Iranian leaders and destroying key military infrastructure.

“Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me. The reason is because we’ve won,” Trump said. The high-stakes 21-hour meeting had unfolded in Islamabad with both sides exhibiting intense mistrust. Iran was in the middle of negotiations in February with Trump’s real-estate friend Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner when the US and Israel attacked.

Both Kushner and Witkoff were part of Vance’s team in Pakistan. The first salvos of the war killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Iranian demands for any agreement to end the war include unfreezing sanctioned Iranian assets and ending Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The opening of the Strait of Hormuz has also presented a friction point. Iran throughout the war exercised global economic leverage by asserting control of the maritime route, sending oil prices soaring and piling political pressure on Trump as US fuel costs rose.

The US military said Saturday that two Navy warships transited through the strait to begin clearing it of mines and ensure it is a “safe pathway” for tankers. The Iranian military denied that any American warships had entered the waterway and threatened to respond if they do so. The Revolutionary Guards’ Naval Command said Iranian promises of safe passage during a two-week ceasefire applied only to “civilian vessels under specific conditions.”

A complicating factor has been Israel’s assertion that the ceasefire does not affect Lebanon, where the Israeli military has launched strikes and a ground invasion in response to rocket fire from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed movement. Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Saturday killed 18 people, bringing the death toll from Israel’s operations since the war broke out past 2,000.

Israel and Lebanon will hold their own talks next week in Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he wanted a peace deal with Lebanon that “will last for generations.”

But Israel has ruled out a ceasefire with Hezbollah, signaling it will instead seek to pressure the historically weak central government in Beirut.

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for intensifying political and diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East war during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“Both sides emphasised the need for a rapid cessation of hostilities and the intensification of political and diplomatic efforts to achieve a long-term settlement of the conflict,” the Kremlin said in a read-out of the call. The call comes after Ukraine signed an air defence deal with Saudi Arabia as the Gulf nation grapples with Iranian drone attacks.

ROME – Italy’s foreign minister said Thursday he had called for a “humanitarian corridor” for fertiliser and other essentials through the Strait of Hormuz to avoid a food disaster in Africa. Antonio Tajani, who participated by video in a meeting on Iran coordinated by Britain, said in a statement that “ensuring the transport of fertilisers and other humanitarian goods through the Strait of Hormuz is vital.

“Tajani, together with colleagues such as the Dutch Minister and the Deputy Minister of the United Arab Emirates, advocated for the need to work with the UN to establish a ‘humanitarian corridor’ as soon as possible, primarily for fertilisers and all other goods necessary to prevent a new food crisis, particularly in African nations,” the statement said.

JERUSALEM – Air raid sirens sounded and explosions rang out in several areas of Israel on Thursday as Iran launched multiple missiles, the military said, adding that the projectiles had been intercepted. Falling shrapnel has wounded seven people since the first missile attack was detected in the morning, according to Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom.

The military said it had detected seven waves of incoming missiles over the course of the day, triggering sirens in central Israel, Jerusalem, Haifa and some areas of the occupied West Bank. “Defence systems are operating to intercept the threat,” it said as it announced each salvo.

AFP journalists in Tel Aviv reported hearing several blasts from the morning, with the first missile fire detected at 6:49 am (0449 GMT). AFP footage showed a residential building in the Tel Aviv area struck by debris from an intercepted missile.Images showed damage to an apartment, with metal fragments scattered across the scene. Rescue services and medics were deployed to assess the damage.

Earlier, a spokesperson for Magen David Adom told public radio that several houses were damaged in the central city of Kafr Qassem. Mayor Haitham Taha said the damage was caused by cluster munitions. Magen David Adom said six people were wounded in Kafr Qassem and one in Tel Aviv. AFP footage showed a large crater at the impact site in Kafr Qassem, as well as several cars overturned by the blast.

The first morning attack came more than 14 hours after the military last reported incoming missiles from Iran. Central Israel also came under fire overnight from Lebanon, after the Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it had targeted military sites in the area. Israeli media reported that six rockets were intercepted.

In a separate statement, the military said a soldier was killed in fighting in south Lebanon on Thursday. Since the war in the Middle East began on February 28, the Israeli military has lost three soldiers in combat in southern Lebanon, where ground operations have expanded.

A judicial appointee of former President Ronald Reagan on Tuesday ordered Voice of America (VOA) to rehire its employees and resume international broadcasting. The ruling from District Judge Royce C. Lamberth comes more than a year after President Trump significantly downsized the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and directed Voice of America to dismiss all but 68 employees. Lamberth said the Trump administration was in a “flagrant and nearly year-long” refusal to uphold congressional mandates by dwindling its staff and resources.

Two weeks ago, he ruled that Kari Lake was unlawfully serving as the head of USAGM. USAGM is overseen by six bipartisan House and Senate committees. Lawmakers provide funding for the independent agency which focuses on countering misinformation abroad, according to its website.

The two rulings have been celebrated by both plaintiffs, including VOA Director Michael Abramowitz who brought one of the cases against the administration. A separate lawsuit was filed by VOA’s White House bureau chief, Patsy Widakuswara, Press Freedom Editor Jessica Jerreat and USAGM’s Director of Strategy and Performance Assessment, Kate Neeper.

The latter group said it was eager to “rebuild the trust of the global audience” that the broadcaster has been unable to serve for the past year, according to the Washington Post. Officials from USAGM and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

TEHRAN – President Donald Trump said Monday the United States and Iran had held “very good” talks towards ending the three-week Middle East war, putting threatened US attacks on Iran’s power plants on hold in a stunning about-turn. In a social media post that immediately sent oil prices tumbling, Trump said Washington and Tehran had held “productive conversations” over the last two days towards “a complete and total resolution” of hostilities in the Middle East.

In Iran, media outlets quoted the foreign ministry denying any such talks and suggesting Trump was angling to bring down energy prices sent soaring by the war — with no mention of his claim on state television’s latest news bulletin.

But Trump asserted he had told the Pentagon, on the basis of talks to date, to “postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings.”

He said the US-Iranian sides would keep talking “throughout the week.”

The bombshell announcement came ahead of a Monday night ultimatum for the Islamic republic to reopen the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane — or see Trump “obliterate” its power plants.

In response, Iran had threatened to deploy naval mines in the Gulf and target power plants across the region — ramping up its rhetoric after warnings the world faced an energy crisis of historic proportions if the US-Israeli war with Iran drags on.

Tehran has retaliated against US-Israeli attacks by throttling traffic through Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of global crude, hitting energy sites and US embassies across the Gulf as well as targets in Israel. Israel hit Tehran with fresh strikes on Monday, with the latest wave reported by the military minutes after Trump’s announcement.

The head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol warned overnight that, in the event of a protracted war, daily oil losses put the world on track for a crisis worse than the combined impact of both 1970s oil shocks and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Oil prices have been driven above $100 a barrel by the conflict — and they tumbled sharply after Trump’s announcement, while and European stocks rebounded. International benchmark Brent North Sea crude plunged more than 14 percent to $96.00 per barrel, while the main US oil contract West Texas Intermediate shed more than 14 percent to $84.37 per barrel.

Sign of the conflict’s tentacular impact, the world’s second economy China had said earlier Monday it was capping domestic fuel cost increases to mitigate the effect of surging oil prices.

Weighing in before Trump’s post, China’s foreign ministry had warned of an “uncontrollable situation” should the war expand further. Key Iran ally Russia meanwhile called after Trump’s announcement for an “immediate cessation of hostilities”.

In a call with Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi, Russia’s Sergei Lavrov called for “a political settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of all parties involved, above all Iran,” the Russian foreign ministry said.

The US president had offered varying timelines and objectives for the war, saying Friday he was considering “winding down” the operation — only to later threaten Iran’s power plants, of which it has more than 90.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, has spoken of a long-term campaign against Iran’s government, a state sponsor of Hamas, which launched the October 7, 2023 attack triggering the Gaza war.

In Lebanon, Israel has also expanded its ground campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah, warning of “weeks of fighting” there. The Lebanon violence has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than a million, according to the health ministry.

On Monday Israel’s military said it was working to intercept a new salvo of missiles from Iran — while confirming its own artillery fire had killed an Israeli civilian a day earlier near the Lebanese border.

In Iran, at least 3,230 people have died in the war, including 1,406 civilians, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. AFP is not able to access the sites of strikes nor independently verify tolls in Iran.

Dubai: It’s official. Saudi Arabia announced today (March 18, 2026) that the first day of Eid al Fitr will fall on March 20, after the Shawwal crescent moon was not sighted. The moon-sighting committee convened and verified the sighting of the new moon, marking the end of Ramadan after 30 days of fasting. This aligns with the Islamic tradition of determining the start of a new month through lunar observation.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development announced that holidays for Eid for employees in the private and non-profit sectors will begin tonight, Wednesday, Mar 18, and last for four days, in accordance with the provisions of the Saudi Labour Law.

Mohammed Al Ruzaiqi, the ministry’s spokesperson, said at the time that the announcement aimed to provide clarity for employers and employees ahead of the holiday period, allowing organisations to organise work schedules and ensure operational continuity in essential sectors while safeguarding workers’ rights to the festive break.

Dubai: The UAE has announced Eid Al Fitr prayer timings across the seven emirates, with prayers set to take place early in the morning on the first day of the holiday. According to official guidance, prayer timings will be 6:20am in Abu Dhabi, 6:18am in Dubai, 6:16am in Sharjah and Ajman, 6:12am in Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah, and 6:10am in Fujairah.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat said that Eid prayers will be held exclusively in approved mosques across the UAE, confirming that no prayers will take place in traditional open-air Eid prayer grounds.

Stay updated: Get the latest faster by downloading the Gulf News app now – it’s completely free. Click here for Apple or here for Android. You can also find it on the Huawei AppGallery.

The measure is part of the country’s efforts to ensure the safety and wellbeing of worshippers and to facilitate the smooth organisation of prayers nationwide.

The first day of Eid Al Fitr is expected to fall on Thursday or Friday, subject to confirmation by the moon-sighting committee, which will convene after Maghreb prayer today. Officials said preparations are under way to ensure the holiday is marked safely and without disruption across the country.

TEHRAN – Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that Tehran had shown it was ready to take the war with Israel and the United States as far as necessary. “I think by now they have learned a good lesson and understood what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary,” said Araghchi during a weekly foreign ministry briefing.