Dubai, April 22: US President Donald Trump said the United States was indefinitely extending its ceasefire with Iran as a new round of peace talks was on hold.
Pakistan had planned to host a second round of talks, but the White House suspended Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Islamabad as Iran rebuffed efforts to restart negotiations.
Iran acknowledged the ceasefire extension but didn’t say Tehran was ready to attend a new round of talks to end the war, state television reported Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Iran’s semiofficial news agencies are reporting that the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has attacked a third ship Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, throwing into question efforts to end the war.
Nour News, Fars and Mehr all reported the attack by the Guard on a vessel called the Euphoria. They said the vessel had become “stranded” on the Iranian coast, without elaborating.
The Guard has seized the other two ships that were attacked, Iranian state television separately reported.
Israeli strike kills two people in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire
The strike targeted a vehicle in the town of Tayri on Wednesday, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
No further details on the identities of the victims were immediately available.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.
The strike comes despite a 10-day ceasefire that went into effect Friday. Since then, several Israeli strikes have been reported, while Hezbollah has claimed a couple of attacks since Tuesday.
A second French soldier has died after an attack on peacekeepers in Lebanon
On Saturday, a UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon came under attack with small arms fire leaving one French peacekeeper dead and three others wounded, two of them seriously.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X that a wounded soldier, who was repatriated Tuesday from Lebanon “where he had been seriously wounded by Hezbollah fighters, died this morning from his injuries”.
Hezbollah had denied is was behind the attack.
Iran says it has yet to decide whether to join a new round of talks with the US
“We entered the negotiations in good faith and with seriousness, but the negotiating party (the United States) has shown disregard and lack of good faith,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaei, said Wednesday, according to Iran’s State TV.
A second round of negotiations, expected in Pakistan’s capital later this week, has not yet been confirmed. On Tuesday, President Trump extended a ceasefire with Iran indefinitely, leaving the next steps for resuming talks unclear.
“Iran has not yet decided whether it will participate in the new round of peace negotiations with the United States scheduled for later this week,” Baqaei said.
US stocks climb, but so do oil prices with uncertainty rising about the war with Iran
GE Vernova, Boston Scientific and Boeing are leading the US stock market toward another record after joining the list of companies reporting fatter profits for the start of the year than analysts expected.
But caution is still hanging over Wall Street on Wednesday, and oil prices are also rising on uncertainty about what will happen in the war with Iran.
The S and P 500 climbed 0.7 per cent and was on track to top its all-time high set Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 360 points and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9 per cent. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil briefly topped USD 100.
Energy agency head says energy crisis will trigger major response by governments and industry
Talking about the repercussions of the Iran war, the head of the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that “we are facing the biggest energy crisis in the history”.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin that what ”we lost in the this war is much bigger than all the crises put together in terms of oil and gas. Plus, plus, there are vital commodities that we are losing — petrochemicals, fertilizers, helium, sulfur.”
However, Birol also pointed out that “there will be a major response to this crisis as well” and that “it is now the job of the governments to design their energy policies in terms of industrial sector, while keeping the competitiveness of the existing industries, preparing the next steps for the tomorrow’s industries”.
He said he also expects that “there will be a similar response in all parts of the economy, car manufacturing industry, electric industry and in the industry sector”.
“And this is a wonderful opportunity,” he added.
Dozens of Israeli civilians attempt to enter Syria
The Israeli military said it intercepted around 40 Israeli civilians that attempted to enter Syria on Wednesday afternoon. The military said the civilians gathered at the border and then were able to infiltrate several hundred metres into the Israeli-military controlled buffer zone in Syria before being returned to Israel and taken into police custody.
The Israeli media identified the infiltrators as part of the right-wing group “Pioneers of Bashan”, which calls for establishing Jewish settlements in Lebanon and Syria. (AP)
