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A parliamentary committee in Iran has approved plans to impose tolls on traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Fars news agency.

It reports that a member of the national security commission has confirmed the approval of the plan, which would also see US and Israeli ships barred from moving through the strait.

It adds that, under the plans, other countries that have participated in sanctions against Iran would also be barred.

The AFP news agency reported the new toll system was announced on Iranian state television, which said Iran would implement them in co-operation with Oman.

About 20% of the world’s crude usually passes through the vital shipping way which lies between Iran and Oman.

However, since the war began, crossings have plummeted by around 95 percent, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

Source:adaderana.lk

Donald Trump has been speaking recently on Air Force One, where he says the US believes it has achieved regime change in Iran, echoing comments made last week on Fox news, where he said, ‘‘You could really say we have regime change because they have been killed.’’

Speaking to reporters on board the plane, he says: ‘‘But we’ve had regime change if you look already because the one regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead. The next regime is mostly dead, and the third regime we’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before, it’s a whole different group of people, so I would consider that regime change, and frankly they’ve been very reasonable.

‘‘So I think we’ve had regime change, I mean you can’t do much better than that.

‘‘The regime that was really bad, really evil ... the second was appointed, and they’re all gone, they’re all dead, other than one who may have a little life in him,’’ Trump says, citing the number of Iranian leaders killed in the month-long war.

He also says he believes Iran is likely to make a deal with the US.

‘‘I think we’ll make a deal with them, pretty sure, but it’s possible we won’t,’’ he says.

‘‘You never know with Iran, because we negotiate with them and then we have to blow them up,’’ he adds.

Source:adaderana.lk

Kuwait says Iran has hit one of its giant crude oil tankers that is docked at a Dubai port.

The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation described the incident as “a brutal Iranian airstrike” and reported there was some damage to the ship but no casualties.

The tanker “Al Salmi” was fully loaded at the time of the strike, which caused a fire onboard.

Dubai authorities said the attack involved a drone and firefighting efforts continued.

All 24 crew members are safe and uninjured, they said.

Initially Kuwait warned of a possible oil spill after the attack, but the UK maritime monitor says: “No environmental impact has been reported”.

Separately, Kuwait’s military said its air defences are responding to “hostile missile and drone attacks”, according to the Kuwait News Agency.

Source: adaderana.lk

The US president Donald Trump is considering a military operation with the goal of extracting 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The operation ‘‘would likely put American forces inside the country for days or longer’‘, according to the Journal, which cites unnamed security officials.

Trump has yet to make a decision, but ‘‘remains generally open to the idea, according to the officials, because it could help accomplish his central goal of preventing Iran from ever making a nuclear weapon.’‘

The BBC has reached out to the White House and the Pentagon for comment.

The New York Times reports that troops deployed to the region ‘‘could be used in a mission aimed at Iran’s highly enriched uranium at the Isfahan nuclear site’‘ but that they could also be used to seize Kharg Island or protect the Strait of Hormuz.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that Trump was ‘‘clearly considering’‘ an operation to ‘‘seize and destroy near-bomb-grade nuclear material believed to be largely stored deep under a mountain in Isfahan’‘.

Both outlets point out that the operation would be complicated and high-risk.

Source:adaderana.lk

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US TV company Newsmax that he doesn’t want to “put a schedule” on when the war with Iran is likely to end.

Netanyahu says the war is “definitely beyond the halfway point” and Iran’s Islamic republic will eventually “collapse internally”, AFP news agency reports.

Source: adaerana.lk

Oil prices extended gains on Monday after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched over the weekend their first attacks on Israel since the ⁠start of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, widening the conflict in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures jumped $3.16, or 2.81%, to $115.73 a ⁠barrel by 2205 GMT after settling 4.2% higher on Friday.

U.S. West ⁠Texas Intermediate was at $102.77 a barrel, up $3.13, or ⁠3.14%, following a 5.5% gain ⁠in the previous session.

Source:adaderana.lk

Global oil prices continued to climb in early trade in Asia on Tuesday.

The price of US-traded oil jumped by 3% to nearly $106 (£80.52) a barrel.

US oil prices closed Monday’s trading session above $100 a barrel for the first time since the war on Iran started on 28 February. Its also the highest price of US oil since July 2022.

Brent crude - the global benchmark for oil prices - rose to $115 after gaining by more than 2% on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump has continued to threaten strikes on Iran’s infrastructure if a deal is not reached soon.

Source: adaderana.lk

Australia will halve the tax on fuel and diesel for three months in a push to bring down costs that have surged due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, Prime Minister Anthony ⁠Albanese said on Monday.

The halving of the tax, known as the fuel excise, would reduce the cost of fuel by 26.3 Australian cents per litre, Albanese said.

‘‘We understand the cost pressures for people are very real ⁠as the impact of the war on the other side of the world plays out right here,’‘ Albanese told ⁠a press conference in Canberra.

The government would also pause the road user charge ⁠on heavy vehicles for three months.

The measures are expected to cost ⁠the government A$2.55 billion ($1.75 billion).

Source:adaderana.lk

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said a peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded at one of its positions near the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday (Mar 29).

Another peacekeeper was critically injured, it said in a statement early on Monday.

Indonesia’s foreign ministry said on Monday the deceased peacekeeper was one of its citizens and that three others were injured by indirect artillery fire in the vicinity of the Indonesian UNIFIL contingent’s position near Adchit al-Qusayr.

‘‘We do not know the origin of the projectile. We have launched an investigation to determine all of the circumstances,’‘ UNIFIL said.

UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel - an area that is at the heart of clashes between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

The mission, which will be halted at the end of 2026, has been sporadically caught in the crosshairs of both Israel and Hezbollah over the last couple of years.

On Mar 6, Ghana’s armed forces said the headquarters of its UN peacekeeping battalion in Lebanon was hit by missile attacks, leaving two soldiers critically injured.

Israel’s military later acknowledged that its tank fire had hit a UN position in southern Lebanon that day, wounding the Ghanaian peacekeepers.

The military said its troops had responded to anti-tank missile fire from Hezbollah, which had moderately wounded two of its soldiers.

‘‘Once again, we call on all actors to uphold their obligations under international law and to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property at all times, including by refraining from actions that may put peacekeepers in danger,’‘ UNIFIL said.

Indonesia condemned the incident and said any harm to peacekeepers is unacceptable, while reiterating its condemnation ‘‘of Israel’s attacks in Southern Lebanon’‘.

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on Mar 2 in solidarity with Tehran, two days after Iran was attacked by Israel and the US. 

Hezbollah’s attack prompted a new Israeli offensive against the group.

Source: adaderana.lk

The Department of Meteorology has forecast that warm weather conditions will continue to prevail across the island today (30).

According to the department, scattered showers or thundershowers may develop in parts of the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Northwestern provinces, as well as in the districts of Galle and Matara, mainly after 2.00 p.m.

In contrast, most other areas are expected to experience largely dry conditions throughout the day.

Misty weather is also likely during the early morning hours in parts of the Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces, along with Galle and Matara districts.

Authorities have urged the public to remain cautious and take necessary safety measures to reduce potential damage from sudden strong winds and lightning associated with thundershowers.

China’s flag carrier resumed direct flights between Beijing and North Korea’s capital of Pyongyang on Monday not long after the restoration of passenger train services between the capitals.

The Air China flight was welcomed by the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun, and other diplomats, according to Chinese state media.

Passenger train service from China to North Korea had resumed March 12.

Flights and passenger trains to North Korea had been suspended since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

North Korean carrier Air Koryo resumed flights between the capitals in 2023.

North Korea banned all foreign tourists during the pandemic but has started easing the restrictions, with a Russian tour group entering the country in 2024.

Chinese tour groups had made up 90% of all visitors to North Korea prior to the ban, and the delay on resuming Chinese tours surprised observers.

China is Pyongyang’s biggest trading partner and major ally, but Beijing has expressed disapproval over the years at North Korea’s test-launches of missiles that could be used to target South Korea and the United States.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Beijing in September to attend a massive military parade, marking the first time a North Korean leader had been present at a Chinese military parade in decades.

Source:adaderana.lk

Pakistan’s foreign minister says both Iran and the US have ‘‘expressed confidence in Pakistan to facilitate’‘ talks.

He says Pakistan ‘‘will be honoured to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in the coming days’‘.

However, there was no mention about whether Iran or the US had confirmed they would take part in peace talks.

Foreign minister Ishaq Dar made these comments following the first day of meetings in Islamabad between foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.

According to Dar, the group discussed possible ways to bring an early and permanent end to the war in the region. He expressed his profound gratitude to all three for their support to Pakistan’s efforts for peace in the region.

Dar also says he had spoken to the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Secretary General of the United Nations, both of whom expressed support for the peace initiative.

After a meeting earlier today between Pakistan’s prime minister and Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Pakistan released a separate statement saying Pakistan would ‘‘always stand shoulder to shoulder’‘ with Saudi Arabia and that Pakistan appreciated the ‘‘remarkable restraint’‘ exercised by the country.

Source: adaderana.lk