Iran tightens control of Hormuz after US calls off renewed attacks

Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, where the Iran-allied Hezbollah militant group joined the fighting against Israel.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized two vessels and escorted them to Iranian shores, according to statements by the shipping companies and Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The Revolutionary Guards accused the ships it had seized, the Liberia-flagged Epaminondas and Panama-flagged MSC Francesca, of operating without required permits and tampering with their navigation systems.

A third, Liberia-flagged container ship was fired upon in the same area but was not damaged and had resumed sailing, according to maritime security sources.

Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News that since the ships were not US or Israeli vessels the seizure was not a violation of the ceasefire. She called it an act of “piracy”.

The US military said on Wednesday it had so far directed more than 30 ships to turn around or return to port as part of the US blockade against Iran. 

Far beyond the Gulf, the US military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters, sources said, redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Brent, the international crude oil benchmark, remained above US$100 a barrel in Asian trade on Thursday, having hit triple figures a day earlier for the first time in two weeks.