Iran-US war latest: Trump says he threw away Tehran’s peace proposal after reading ‘unacceptable’ first sentence

Economic growth in Germany will likely take a significant hit from the effects of the Iran war in the second quarter, the federal economy ministry warned on Friday.

Growth was just 0.3 per cent in the first quarter.

“Rising prices, supply chain issues and uncertainty are weighing on sentiment among businesses and households,” the ministry said in its monthly report.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has said that ships entering the Strait of Hormuz must cooperate with the Iranian navy after reports emerged of a ship being seized outside a UAE port.

Araghchi said: “In our view, the Strait of Hormuz is open to all commercial ships, but they must cooperate with our naval forces.”Araghchi is in India for the Brics summit.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said it received reports that the ship seized yesterday was taken by unauthorised personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah.

Indian authorities said that an Indian-flagged cargo ship sank off the coast of Oman after an attack sparked a fire aboard the vessel while it was en route from Somalia to Sharjah, another UAE port. They did not say who attacked the ship.

India’s foreign ministry called the incident “unacceptable” and condemned continued attacks on commercial shipping and civilian mariners.

The Department of Defense is not investigating US bombings that reportedly destroyed 22 Iranian schools and 17 healthcare facilities, according to the commander leading US forces in Iran.

US Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper told members of Congress that there is “no way” and “no indication” that the military can corroborate reports in The New York Times that detailed the alleged destruction using satellite imagery and verified video and social media footage.

“There is no indication that we have that has been corroborated,” Cooper told Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand during Thursday’s Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing. “There is no way we can corroborate that. No indication of that whatsoever, senator.”

His admission comes two months after a preliminary internal investigation linked American forces to a lethal strike on an Iranian girls’ school that killed 150 children, according to Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Military investigators believe American forces were likely responsible for a strike that analysts and human rights officials believe is the deadliest incident for civilian casualties since President Donald Trump’s administration and Israeli forces began attacking the country in February.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has criticised Barcelona’s teenage star Lamine Yamal for waving a Palestinian flag during celebrations of the Spanish league title win.

Yamal, 18, waved a large Palestinian flag from an open-top bus during a victory parade, which drew about 750,000 people.

“Lamine Yamal chose to incite hate against Israel while our soldiers combat the terrorist organization Hamas, an organization that massacred, raped and burned Jewish children, women and the elderly on October 7 [2023],” Israel Katz wrote on X.

Dismissing Katz’s claims, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said Yamal made Spain “proud” for waving a Palestinian flag at a victory parade.

“Those who think that waving the flag of a state is ‘inciting hatred’, they have either lost their minds or they have been blinded by their own disgrace,” Sanchez wrote on X.

“Lamine just expressed the solidarity with Palestine that millions of Spaniards feel. Yet another reason to be proud of him”.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu quietly visited the United Arab Emirates during the Israeli-US war with Iran, his office said this week. The UAE later denied any secret visit had occurred.

Netanyahu met with UAE president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a gathering that “resulted in a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates,” according to the Israeli statement. The Gulf nation normalized relations with Israel in 2020.

The UAE’s official WAM news agency later posted an article denying “reports circulating” about a Netanyahu visit. According to WAM, the country’s relations with Israel “are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements.”

The Emirati report also denied any Israeli military delegation was received in the UAE.

Ayman al-Zain watched on a recent afternoon as a bulldozer cleared the rubble of what used to be his sports clothing store, which was one of dozens of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes against the Hezbollah militant group.

With a nominal truce in place that has reduced but not halted the fighting, Al-Zain tried to assess whether to rebuild the shop in Beirut’s southern suburbs that he once hoped to pass down to his kids. But it’s unlikely he will be able to do so anytime soon, and not only because of the fear of more airstrikes.

“Everything is expensive,” he told The Associated Press. “If I want to open a new store and get mannequins, hangers and some accessories, the prices are very different than before.”

A support vessel owned by Malaysian firm Vantris Energy, formerly known as Sapura Energy, passed through the Strait of Hormuz, shipping data showed on Friday.

It becomes the fourth ship linked to the country to transit the waterway since the outbreak of the US-Iran war.

The Sapura 1200 was among seven ships that the Malaysian government had sought permission from Iran to clear the strait, which has been mostly closed off since the conflict broke out in late February disrupting global energy supplies, two sources told Reuters news agency.

The ship made its way through the strait, hewing close to the Iranian coastline, before heading for Oman, entering the Muscat port, LSEG data showed.

Malaysia’s prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said in March Iran would allow Malaysian vessels to pass through the strait after holding talks with Iranian officials.

We’re hearing more now from Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.

He claims that Tehran has received messages from the US saying they are seeking continued talks.

Araghchi adds that Iran is prepare to go back to fighting with the US but is also ready to engage in a diplomatic solution.

He calls on China to help address the situation, adding that Pakistan’s mediation process is in “difficulty”.

Tehran has “no trust” in the US and is interested in negotiating with Washington only if it is serious, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday.

Iran is trying to keep the ceasefire to give diplomacy a chance, he told reporters in New Delhi during a visit to attend the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting.