Dubai, United Arab Emirates — On Saturday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy warned of any… Attack on Iranian oil tankers Or commercial ships would face a “heavy attack” on one of the US bases in the region and enemy ships, even as the fragile ceasefire remains.
Iranian state television reported the warning a day after the United States struck two Iranian oil tankers, casting doubt on the month-long ceasefire announced by the United States. He insisted that it was still valid. The US military said that the tankers were trying to break through the blockade it imposes on Iranian ports.
Meanwhile, Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s regional headquarters, said it had arrested dozens of people it claimed had links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Washington is awaiting Iran’s response to its recent proposal to reach an agreement to end the war and reopen the agreement Strait of Hormuz For shipping and defeating Tehran’s controversial nuclear program. And the Russian president Vladimir Putin He said that Moscow’s proposal to obtain enriched uranium from Iran to help negotiate a settlement is still on the table.
Bahrain said it arrested 41 people it said were part of a group affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard. The Interior Ministry said that investigations confirmed that they were in contact with the Revolutionary Guards and collected money “with the aim of sending it to Iran” to support its “terrorist operations.”
This small island in the Persian Gulf is led by a Sunni Muslim monarchy, but, like Iran, has a majority Shiite population. Human rights groups said the kingdom used the war between Iran and the United States, which is basing its Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, as an excuse to suppress dissent.
Ibrahim Azizi, head of the National Security Committee in the Iranian parliament, said on social media that Iran had issued a warning to Bahrain: “Siding with the US-backed resolution will lead to dire consequences. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital lifeline; do not risk closing it to yourselves forever.”
Iran has mostly closed the vital waterway for global energy since the United States and Israel went to war on February 28, causing a global spike in fuel prices and… It shook global markets.
The United States imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports. US Central Command said on Saturday that its forces had returned 58 commercial ships and “disabled” four of them since the start of the blockade on April 13.
The British Ministry of Defense said it would send a warship to the Middle East to join a potential mission to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz once hostilities end.
The ministry said the HMS Dragon would be “pre-positioned” in the region, ready to join the security plan led by the UK and France. France announced this week that it would move its aircraft carrier strike group to the Red Sea in preparation.
Britain and France led meetings that included dozens of countries regarding an alliance to restore freedom of navigation in the strait. But they stress that it will only begin after a permanent ceasefire is reached and the maritime industry is reassured that ships can pass through the strait safely.
American President Donald Trump He has Repeated threats Widespread bombing will resume if Iran does not accept an agreement to reopen the Strait and roll back its nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Friday that the country does not care about “deadlines,” according to the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency.
Diplomacy continues. Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif He said that his country is in contact with the United States and Iran “day and night” in an attempt to extend the ceasefire and reach a peace agreement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that it, as well as Saudi Arabia, calls for diplomatic efforts to reach a “sustainable long-term agreement” to end the war.
Separately, Putin told reporters in Moscow that he had taken the matter into his own hands Enriched uranium from Iran Helping to negotiate a settlement would let everyone know “how much stockpile there is, and where it is located,” and “all of this would be placed under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” the United Nations nuclear regulatory body.
Senior Egyptian and Qatari diplomats stressed that diplomacy is the only way to a solution, according to a readout of a phone call between the foreign ministers of the two countries.
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remains invisible and has not been heard from in public since the start of the war, raising speculation about his status.
A senior Iranian official said on Friday that Khamenei is “in full health” and will eventually appear in public. Mazaher Al-Husseini, affiliated with the office The late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali KhameneiHe, who was killed at the beginning of the war, made this statement at a pro-government gathering. Hosseini said that Mojtaba, Khamenei’s son, suffered knee and back injuries in the first attacks of the war but had largely healed.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.