TEHRAN: Four tankers caught fire after hitting mines while attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's armed forces said Thursday, a day after the US military said it had cleared key routes through the waterway. "Over the past 24 hours, three violating oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking mines while attempting to pass through the unauthorised southern route of the Strait of Hormuz," Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement.
Later Thursday, Iran's army reported that another tanker had caught fire east of the strait, after hitting mines while "operating in a restricted and dangerous area". Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthis reported on Thursday deadly strikes on residential areas of western Yemen, while explosions later rocked Riyadh, weeks into intensified violence.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis said on Thursday it had downed two ballistic missiles launched by the group towards Riyadh, soon after. "As an initial toll, 12 citizens were killed and three others were critically injured when the Saudi enemy targeted the homes of the families of Ibrahim Saeed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Qouz and Al-Raabi Saeed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Qouz in Al-Barah, Maqbana district," the Houthi health ministry said in a statement Thursday shared by the group's Saba news agency.
Yemeni tribal leaders gathered at the United Nations on Thursday to launch an agreed set of principles aimed at protecting civilians and improving aid access in the war-ravaged country. They hope the measures will prove a useful step in easing the vast humanitarian crisis gripping the country.
Some 5,000 leaders have signed the code, with around 100 coming to Geneva for the formal launch at the UN's Palais des Nations headquarters. The US military's senior officer overseeing the Middle East met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to outline military options in Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing US officials and other people with direct knowledge of the meeting.
Iran's parliament speaker said on Thursday that Tehran's conditions had been repeatedly and clearly communicated to mediators and that progress can only be achieved if Iran's seven conditions are met. The "carrot-and-stick approach has no effect on Iran," Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf added.
US President Donald Trump said that Vice President JD Vance's outreach to Iran was about helping the country get medical supplies, after US media reported Vance had written to Tehran's top security official to revive peace talks. Vance sent the letter to Iranian Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei in a bid to revive peace negotiations, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Thursday that Britain was "doing everything we can" to support the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, amid the impact of the Iran war. A dozen European countries pledged Thursday to jointly release 42.6 million barrels of oil by the end of January, in line with a G7 deal struck this month to ease global energy supply concerns.
In energy markets, oil prices fell after the Wall Street Journal reported US Vice President JD Vance had sent a letter to Iran in an effort to revive peace negotiations. US crude fell 0.92 per cent to $101.83 a barrel and Brent fell to $115.08 a barrel.