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Iran refuses to reopen Strait of Hormuz as long as US naval blockade remains

Among them, a container ship reported being fired upon by a Revolutionary Guards boat 15 nautical miles northeast of Oman, causing damage to the bridge but no casualties, monitor UKMTO said.

Under orders from Trump, the US Navy is attempting to block vessels heading to or from Iranian ports, seeking to ramp up pressure on the Iranian economy even without all-out war.

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In the midst of the blockade, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday that the Secretary of the Navy John Phelan would leave “immediately”.

It gave no reason for his sudden departure, the latest removal of a senior officer under Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.

Iran in retaliation for being attacked has said that vessels must seek permission to leave or enter the Gulf through the strait. It had earlier promised free passage during the ceasefire but returned to defiance after Trump announced the blockade.

The US defence department said on Tuesday that US forces had intercepted and boarded a “stateless sanctioned” vessel. AFP has identified the ship as one linked to Iranian activity. Both sides accuse the other of ceasefire breaches.

More Lebanon violence before talks

After the ceasefire with Iran, the United States helped broker a truce between Israel and Lebanon.

Despite the declared truce, Israeli strikes killed five more people on Wednesday, Lebanese media said.

Amal Khalil, a journalist for the newspaper Al-Akhbar, was killed and her fellow reporter Zeinab Faraj wounded in an Israeli strike near the border, the paper said.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced that a second French soldier, who had been wounded in a weekend ambush against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah, had died.

A first soldier was shot dead in the Saturday ambush, for which Hezbollah has denied responsibility.

Israel and Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations, will hold a second round of talks in Washington on Thursday.

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Lebanon will request a one-month extension of the ceasefire during the meeting, a Lebanese official told AFP.

Lebanon will also seek “an end of Israel’s bombing and destruction in the areas where it is present and a commitment to the ceasefire”, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the talks.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 2,450 people since the start of the war, according to Lebanese authorities.

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