Main points
- A US fighter jet has been shot down over Iran and search-and-rescue efforts have so far recovered one of two crew members who ejected.
- A second US combat plane crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, and the lone pilot was safely rescued.
- A drone strike in southern Iran hit a warehouse holding aid containers and emergency vehicles.
- US president Donald Trump claimed the US could “easily” open up the strait of Hormuz but needs “more time”.
Key reads
- Iranians reel from US-Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure
- Four ways the Iran war may affect your money, bills and airfares
- Diarmaid Ferriter: This German thinker sounded an alarm about the EU and the US – are we ready to listen?
- Analysis: Donald Trump’s threat to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages” resonates profoundly in Japan
French and Japanese vessels pass through Strait of Hormuz
A French container ship and a Japanese-owned tanker have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, in what appear to be the first such transits since the war in Iran shuttered the crucial waterway.
The CMA CGM Kribi container ship exited the strait on Friday, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg and two people familiar with the situation.
That’s the first ship linked to Western Europe that’s known to have made it through since the war began more than a month ago. Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines confirmed on Friday that the liquefied natural gas tanker it part-owns also crossed — another first.
Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has practically halted since the US and Israel attacked Iran, with just a trickle of ships able to make the crossing. Those have mostly been vessels associated with nations friendly to Tehran, with a system emerging whereby Iran pre-approves transit along a route hugging close to its coast.
The French and Japanese ships appear to mark a shift, though it’s not clear whether this is the result of government diplomacy or ad hoc negotiations by companies and their intermediaries. Both France and Japan called for a ceasefire earlier this week, and President Emmanuel Macron has been vocal about the need to get the strait re-opened, but saying that can only happen once the bombing stops.
As part of the Iranian system that’s been emerging in recent weeks, some vessels have had to pay transit fees to Tehran, Bloomberg has previously reported. A spokesman for Mitsui OSK declined to comment on whether the Sohar LNG tanker paid a fee. CMA CGM SA, the owner of the French ship, also declined to comment.
France’s ministry of finance didn’t respond to a request for comment. The French ministry of foreign affairs declined to comment.
Trump declines to comment on plan if US airman harmed
The US President Donald Trump is not yet ready to say what the US will do if a missing crew member shot down over Iran is harmed, The Independent reported on Friday, citing a brief interview with him.
Trump said he could not comment on what his course of action might be if Iranian forces get to the downed airman, The Independent said.
“We hope that’s not going to happen,” Trump said.
Those with power to start and end wars will ‘have to answer to God’ - Pope
Pope Leo led a candle-lit service inside Rome’s Collosseum this evening that featured prayers for war orphans and deported immigrant children, and a warning to world leaders that their decisions will ultimately be judged by God.
The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the war in Iran war, listened as a set of spiritual meditations was read aloud inside the ancient amphitheatre to observe Good Friday..
“Every person in authority will have to answer to God for the way they exercise their power,” said the first meditation. “The power to start or end a war; the power to instil violence or peace.”
Leo, the first US pope and at the age of 70 a relatively young pontiff, carried a tall wooden cross during a traditional procession known as a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross), which marks 14 of the final moments in Jesus’ life, from his sentencing to death up to his burial.
The pope stopped at various points inside the Colosseum to hear Bible readings, writings from St Francis of Assisi and the spiritual meditations, which focused extensively on social justice issues.
The spiritual texts, written by an Italian priest chosen for the task by the pope, did not name any specific world leaders.
Plane and helicopter in fighter jet search mission and rescue hit
More details are emerging about the shooting down of the US fighter jet and the aftermath.
Reports are suggesting that another plane involved in the operation in the search and rescue operation was also shot down while a helicopter also came under fire.
CBS News has been quoting US sources as saying that in addition to the downing of the F-15E, an A-10 Warthog aircraft was also shot down.
It said that two helicopters also took part in the rescue mission that successfully retrieved the F-15E pilot with the helicopter carrying the rescued pilot hit by small arms fire, leaving crew members with unspecified injuries.
The second crew member of the F15E is still unaccounted for.
Downing of jet won’t impact negotiations - Trump
In his first comments since an F15 was shot down over Iran leaving two US president Donald Trump has said the incident will have no impact on any potential negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.
He made the comments on NBC in the last few minutes.
When he was asked if today’s events would affect any peace talks, the US president told NBC News: “No, not at all.
Meanwhile Israel’s military has held off on fresh strikes in the area of Iran where the search for missing US fighter jet crew is continuing, according to multiple media reports.
The Israel Defence Forces has not confirmed any of the reports.
Another US plane crashed in Persian Gulf region
A second US combat plane crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, and the lone pilot was safely rescued, according to two US officials.
The A-10 Warthog attack plane went down near the Strait of Hormuz about the same time that an Air Force F-15E was shot down over Iran, the officials said.
In that incident, one crew member was rescued and search-and-rescue operators are looking for the second airman. Officials provided scant details about the A-10 crash, including how and where it happened. — New York Times
A search operation is reportedly continuing for a second crew member of the US jet shot down in Iran. One US pilot has been rescued.
A University College Dublin professor described the event as a key moment in the conflict.
Scott Lucas told Sky News it is a “huge symbolic victory” for Iran to show it is able to shoot down a US jet.
“If they were able either to show that they have killed the pilot or that they have captured the pilot, that will be used as well to magnify this idea that they have triumphed over the Americans,” he said.
Lucas, a professor of international politics, said the Americans had air superiority over Iran but “in a way this has been dented”. He said the US is looking vulnerable because the Iranians have been able to carry out retaliatory strikes.
Egyptian killed in debris fall in Abu Dhabi
One Egyptian citizen was killed and four people suffered minor injuries after debris from an intercepted attack fell on Abu Dhabi’s Habshan gas facilities on Friday, Abu Dhabi’s media office said. — Reuters
The Egyptian was killed during the evacuation of the site, while four others — two Egyptians and two Pakistanis — sustained minor injuries, the media office said.
“Significant damage has occurred at the facilities and an assessment is ongoing,” it added.
The current round of mediation efforts led by Pakistan to broker a cease-fire between the US and Iran have reached a dead end, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Iran has officially told mediators that it is not willing to meet US officials in Islamabad in the coming days and considers American demands unacceptable, the report said.
Some photos from inside Iran:
CBS News reports that a crew member from the US fighter jet downed over Iran has been rescued by American forces.
The outlet says two US officials confirmed the rescue. The F-15E is a two-member crew aircraft.
Israel striking ‘terror infrastructure’ in Beirut
The Israeli military said it has begun striking what it called “terror infrastructure” in the Lebanese capital Beirut, the Reuters news agency reports.
Reuters reporters heard three loud blasts echoing across the city. Lebanese media outlets said the strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs after Israel’s military spokesperson issued a new warning for the entire zone earlier on Friday.
Fate of F-15E fighter jet crew unclear
The fate of the F-15 Eagle fighter jet’s crew was unclear, as US officials scrambled to mount a search and rescue operation before Iran could get to any survivors, officials said.
US central command keeps multiple task forces set up near Iran for search and rescue operations in the event that US warplanes are shot down, including in both Iraq and Syria, the officials said. But such an operation is highly difficult because Iran has demonstrated its ability to launch strikes, particularly at slow-moving helicopters that might be involved in such an operation.
The warplane was shot down the same day that president Donald Trump celebrated the US bombing of an Iranian highway bridge and warned on social media that there was “much more to follow.” The US attack on the B1 bridge between Tehran and the shores of the Caspian Sea killed eight people and wounded 95, Iranian news media reported.
A US military official said American forces had struck the bridge twice, eliminating what the official called a planned military supply route for Iran’s missile and drone forces.
On Wednesday night, Trump, in an address to the nation, said the US was on track to complete its military objectives in Iran soon, asserting that U.S. and Israeli military strikes had decimated the Iranian regime and military. He vowed another two to three weeks of intense bombing. — The New York Times
The Governor of southwestern Iran province has said anyone who captures or kills the crew of the downed US jet “will be specially commended by the governorate”, according to the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA. — Reuters
A US fighter jet was shot down over Iran and a search is underway for its crew, a US official has told Reuters news agency.
The incident is the first known loss of a jet inside Iran since the war began.
The White House will ask Congress to approve a defence budget of roughly $1.5 trillion for the 2027 fiscal year, the New York Times reports. If enacted, the 40 per cent increase on 2025 figures would leave US military spending at the highest level in modern history.
The administration said it would couple the proposed boost with a call for $73 billion in cuts across many domestic agencies, including the elimination of some climate, housing and education programs.
Is the US committing war crimes?
Donald Trump, other senior US officials and their cheerleaders appear to be embracing attacks – and threats of attacks – on Iranian civilian infrastructure, which legal experts say appears to constitute serious war crimes under international law.
In his rambling national address on Wednesday, the US president warned that if Iran did not reach an unspecified deal with him, US forces would “hit each and every one of their electric-generating plants” and “bring [Iran] back to the stone ages – where they belong”.
Following through on that threat a day later, Trump posted images of a strike on an the unfinished B1 bridge near Tehran, warning: “Much more to follow!”
Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director of research, advocacy, policy and campaigns said: “Intentionally attacking civilian infrastructure such as power plants is generally prohibited.
“Even in the limited cases that they qualify as military targets, a party still cannot attack power plants if this may cause disproportionate harm to civilians.
“Given that such power plants are essential for meeting the basic needs and livelihoods of tens of millions of civilians, attacking them would be disproportionate and thus unlawful under international humanitarian law, and could amount to a war crime.”
Trump: US needs more time on Strait of Hormuz
Trump claims US could “easily” open up strait of Hormuz but needs “more time”.
The US president has been posting on his social media platform, Truth Social. On Iran, he has written: With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A “GUSHER” FOR THE WORLD??? President DONALD J. TRUMP
Drone strike in Iran hits aid supplies, emergency vehicles
A drone strike in southern Iran hit a warehouse holding aid containers and emergency vehicles, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Societies said on Friday.
The strike in the southern province of Bushehr early on Friday destroyed two containers, two buses and an unspecified number of emergency vehicles, the spokesperson said.
She did not attribute blame and Reuters could not immediately establish responsibility.
The IFRC is the only humanitarian group working across the country and has 100,000 responders. Three of them have been killed since the US-Israeli strikes on the country began on February 28th.
Its head of delegation in Iran told Reuters on Thursday that medical needs were rising exponentially and supplies could run low. – Reuters
US pilot ‘ejected over southwest Iran’
Back to earlier reports in which Iran claimed to have shot down a US fighter jet.
The Associated Press is now reporting that an affiliate of Iran state TV claims the fighter pilot ejected from an aircraft in southwest Iran.
Above are some images of Iran’s B1 bridge, a day after it was damaged by a strike in Karaj, some 35km southwest of Tehran. Photograph: ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images
Iran denies it attacked Kuwait power and water plant
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has denied responsibility for the attack on a Kuwaiti power and water desalination plant, blaming it instead on Israel.
In a statement carried by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said: “The Zionist regime’s unconventional and illegitimate attack on Kuwait’s desalination plants is a sign of the vileness and baseness of the Zionist occupiers, and the Revolutionary Guards condemn this inhumane act and declare that American bases and military personnel in the region and the Zionist regime’s military and security centres in the occupied Palestinian territories are our powerful targets.”
In a statement earlier today, the Kuwait ministry of electricity, water and renewable energy said an Iranian attack had damaged the plant.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer had earlier condemned the “reckless” Iranian attack, during a call with Kuwait’s crown prince. – Guardian
Easter Masses in Dubai cancelled
All Easter Masses in Dubai have been cancelled because of the Middle East war, AFP news agency reported.
In a statement on its website, the St Francis of Assisi Church at Jebel Ali in Dubai said “all Masses at our Church are cancelled until further notice” as per government directives.
The Jebel Ali coastal area has been hit several times by missiles and drones fired by Iran, after its port was designated a “legitimate target” due to alleged US military presence.
St Mary’s Catholic Church in Dubai published a similar announcement on its website, and said Good Friday’s Mass would be livestreamed online instead.
How sheltered is the US from the Gulf oil supply crisis?
A month has passed since the US and Israel’s war on Iran all but closed the strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies typically flow. Prices have surged, amid fears of sustained disruption to global supplies.
Donald Trump argues this is not his country’s problem. “Go get your own oil!” the president urged countries earlier this week. The US has “plenty”, he added. The US is “totally independent” of the Middle East, the president claimed in a prime-time address on Wednesday. “We don’t need their oil.
“Under my leadership, we are [the] No 1 producer of oil and gas on the planet, without even discussing the millions of barrels that we’re getting from Venezuela,” he said.
Trump and his allies hail the US as an energy “superpower” after a historic surge in domestic oil production sparked by the fracking boom. For years now, it has produced more oil than the entire country consumes.
Unlike natural gas – another crucial energy source – for which prices can vary drastically in different parts of the world, the oil market is far more interconnected.
“Gas, unlike oil, is hard to move around,” Clark Williams-Derry, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “You can’t just pour gas into a drum, and then move that drum somewhere else.”
Significant oil price movements are rarely confined to a specific region. Brent crude, the international benchmark, has by risen by nearly half since the start of the war, to north of $100 per barrel – and climbed sharply after Trump’s latest address.
“Think of it like a giant swimming pool,” said Williams-Derry. “There are waves or ripples, but the whole swimming pool rises or falls. The fundamental level is set by the global market.”
“Under current policy, being a net exporter doesn’t do anything to cushion the US from global price trends,” he added.
The US does export more oil than it imports. But it still imports millions of barrels per day, and relied on Gulf nations for almost a tenth of those imports last year. Many US refineries are geared up to process heavier crude than the lighter, sweeter stuff primarily produced domestically in the US.
The energy supply disruption sparked by the war on Iran goes far beyond oil. Global fertiliser costs have risen sharply, prompting US farmers to reconsider their planned crops, as the strait of Hormuz remains paralysed. A small but significant share of US fertiliser imports come from the Middle East.
Qatar typically supplies about a third of the world’s helium, which plays a key role in the manufacturing of semiconductors. But the country halted output last month – a potentially worrying move for chipmakers and the many industries that rely on them.
But for now, oil remains the most visible indicator of the turmoil.
“In the US, because we produce oil and gas, when there’s a price spike, consumers are paying more, and producers are making more,” said Williams-Derry.
“The talk of ‘energy independence’ has to be seen as a smokescreen,” he added. “For a low-income person, with a livelihood balanced on a knife-edge, they literally cannot afford higher prices at the pump.”
High fuel prices, many incumbent presidents and congressional candidates have learned, can scupper political campaigns. With seven months until November’s midterm elections, and Republican control of the US Congress in the balance, voters nationwide are paying more and more to fill up their cars. – Guardian
‘You have two, old broken-down aircraft carriers, do you think you could send them over?’
Back to those comments that emerged in footage of Donald Trump mocking Keir Starmer.
In a new low for UK-US relations, Trump appeared to impersonate Starmer during an Easter lunch speech at the White House.
The US president said the UK “should be our best” ally but had not been during the Iran war, accusing Starmer of prevaricating over sending aircraft carriers.
However, Whitehall sources said Trump had never asked the UK for the vessels and Britain had not offered them.
During his speech, the president said: “I asked [the] UK, who should be our best. In fact the king is coming over here in two weeks, he’s a nice guy, king Charles.
“But should be our best but they weren’t our best. I said: ‘You have two, old broken-down aircraft carriers, do you think you could send them over?’
“‘Ohhh, I’ll have to ask my team.’
“I said: ‘You’re the prime minister, you don’t have to.’
“‘No, no, no, I have to ask my team. My team has to meet, we’re meeting next week.’
“But the war already started. Next week the war’s going to be over ... in three days.”
The remarks were made at a lunch that was not open to the press. It was released by the White House on a social media channel but later deleted. However, it was downloaded and republished by a politics reporter for the US website Business Insider.
During the lunch, Trump also mocked Emmanuel Macron, saying the French president was “still recovering from the right to the jaw” and claimed that Marcon’s wife, Brigitte, “treats him extremely badly”.
Trump has repeatedly condemned the UK over its decision not to authorise the use of military bases for the initial strikes on Iran, as well as the move to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Starmer has not retaliated but said he would stick to his position on the war “whatever the pressure and the noise”.
When asked previously about the “quite rude” comments made by Trump about him, the prime minster said: “I’m utterly focused on what is in the best interests of our country and I am unapologetic about that.
“Notwithstanding the pressure that comes from elsewhere, I will remain laser focused on what is in the British national interest.
“And a lot of what is said or done is undoubtedly said and done to put pressure on me, I have no doubt about that. I understand what is going on. But I am not going to be wavering on this.” – Guardian
‘Every night they are bombarding’
Amir, whose name has been changed for his safety, had just crossed the Kapıköy border point in eastern Turkey, a mountain pass between snow-topped peaks that is one of the few gateways to the west from Iran.
Until a few weeks ago, this was a busy place, popular among Iranian day-trippers coming across to Turkey to do some shopping in the lively city of Van, a further two hours drive west, or to spend a couple of nights out in its discreet Iranian-only nightclubs and bars serving alcohol.
Back then, there had been plenty of reasons that an Iranian might give for making this trip. But today, just about visible behind Amir, was the lifeless black flag raised a month ago by the Iranian regime after the death under US and Israeli strikes of the supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
“Why? Amir asked back with a smile when questioned as to his motivation for leaving Iran. “Boom,” he responded. “Because of the war. Every night they are bombarding.”
Not that Amir, who had come from Tehran, was bitter about the American and Israeli campaign. “We must want to get rid of the regime,” he said. “Thank you to Trump,” he added with a weary nod of the head. – Guardian
McEntee calls for ‘accountability’ for deaths of three UN peacekeepers
It is “heartbreaking” that decades of work by Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon has been set back by the conflict in the country and there has to be “accountability” for the deaths of three of their Indonesian colleagues, Minister for Defence Helen McEntee has said. Cormac McQuinn reports.
Ms McEntee, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs, was forced to cancel a visit to Lebanon this week after the Defence Forces advised it would be too dangerous to travel amid the clashes between Israel and Hizbullah fighters.
She said she did not want to put Irish soldiers at risk by going as they would have to collect her which “just takes them away from what they are doing”.
Ms McEntee told RTÉ Radio it did not make sense to go, adding it “is an extremely volatile situation and their safety and their [peacekeepers’] wellbeing is my priority first and foremost”.
Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two incidents in Lebanon in recent days as the conflict continues.
Asked during the interview if there is any clarity on who was responsible, Ms McEntee replied: “While the investigations are still under way, I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to say.
“What’s clear is that there is fire from all sides and I will say that.
“It is clear that this is not just in any one direction, that there is fire from Hizbullah but there is also fire from Israel here so any type of attack that is directed at and that results in the death of peacekeepers, it has to be condemned.
“But also there has to be follow-through and there has to be accountability,” she said.
On the question of whether Irish troops are still able to do something useful in Lebanon given the current situation, she said: “Their reason for being there is to monitor and it’s to assist, and I think over the last number of years and decades they have done a fantastic job in particular in support of the Lebanese people.”
She added: “What is heartbreaking I think for all of us is that in a very short space of time, decades of their work has been set back essentially, and we are seeing so much of the progress that has been made, years taken off it.”
McEntee said Irish troops are still carrying out missions but there have also been a lot of scenarios where they have to shelter underground at their base.
She said that in one mission they rescued Polish soldiers from “very difficult environments”, and she added: “this is what our members sign up to. This is what they are there for.
“This is what they are absolutely committed to and they are committed to this mission.”
‘No military activity’ on Iranian bridge targeted by US
The US attack on the B1 bridge between Tehran and the shores of the Caspian Sea killed eight people and wounded 95, according to Ghodratollah Seif, the deputy governor of Alborz province.
Seif told state media that the bridge was not yet operational and that “there was absolutely no military activity on bridge B1″.
He said the casualties were people from a nearby village who were picnicking outdoors in celebration of the last day of Nowruz, the Persian new year.
The bridge is part of an ambitious highway project intended to connect Tehran to the Caspian Sea, giving motorists an alternative to windy mountainous roads. The highway is used regularly for commerce and by many Iranians who travel back and forth for weekend getaways.
A US military official said that US forces had struck the bridge twice, eliminating what the official called a planned military supply route for Iran’s missile and drone forces.
President Donald Trump celebrated the bridge strike, warning on social media that there was “much more to follow”.
Trump’s post on Truth Social was accompanied by a video of an explosion on or near the bridge and a large plume of smoke rising into the sky.
With the US-Israeli war on Iran now in its fifth week and showing little sign of abating despite Washington’s diplomatic overtures to Tehran, Trump urged Iran’s government to “MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!” – New York Times
France-linked tanker exits Strait of Hormuz
A container ship signalling French ownership has exited the Strait of Hormuz, in what appears to be the first known transit by a vessel linked to western Europe since the Iran war all but shuttered the vital waterway.
The CMA CGM Kribi sailed from waters off Dubai toward Iran on Thursday afternoon local time, signalling that its owner was French, according to ship-tracking data.
It stuck close to the Iranian coast, moving through a channel between the islands of Qeshm and Larak, openly broadcasting its journey. On Friday morning, it signalled that it was off Muscat. Two people familiar with the situation also said the ship had crossed.
This French-owned, Maltese-flagged vessel belongs to CMA CGM SA, the world’s third-largest container line, which is majority-owned by the billionaire Saadé family. The founder immigrated to France from war-torn Lebanon and started the line in 1978, in Marseilles, with one leased vessel.
The company and the French ministry of foreign affairs declined to comment.
Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has practically halted since the US and Israel attacked Iran more than a month ago, with just a trickle of ships making the crossing.
Those have mostly been vessels associated with friendly nations, and a system is emerging whereby Iran preapproves transit along a route that hugs close to its coast. Pakistan, for example, reached a deal for 20 ships to cross under its flag, and other Asian nations have also secured safe passage.
European states, including France, are making initial diplomatic efforts to ease the crisis, but so far no progress has been reported. President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday on a trip to South Korea that France will work to stabilise the situation in Hormuz, “once the bombardments have ceased”. – Bloomberg
Iran hits Kuwait power and water desalination plant
Here’s some further details on an Iran attack on a power and water desalination plant in Kuwait this morning.
The attack caused material damage to parts of the facility, Kuwait’s ministry of electricity, water and renewable energy said.
In a statement on X, the ministry said emergency and technical teams were at the scene to maintain operations and secure the site.
Iranian drones struck Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery earlier today, sparking fires at the facility.
In Bahrain, the country’s interior ministry reported sirens sounding overnight as it told people to head “to the nearest safe place”.
Kuwait and other Gulf nations have been bearing the brunt of Iranian strikes since war erupted on February 28th.
Inevitable EU will consider easing budget deficit rules if war persists, says Italian economy minister
It is inevitable that the European Union will consider easing its budget deficit rules if the US-Israeli war with Iran persists, Italy’s economy minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, said on Friday.
Giorgetti also told reporters in Rome that the cabinet had approved a decree setting aside some €500 million to extend, from April 7th until May 1st, a cut in excise duties on fuels, in a bid to stabilise prices.
Exports to Europe disrupted by conflict, says Hyundai Motor
Hyundai Motor said on Friday that exports to Europe and North Africa, which typically transit through the Middle East, were being disrupted by the conflict in the region, underscoring growing strains on global supply chains.
The disruption highlights how the conflict is choking key shipping routes, driving up logistics costs, delaying deliveries and adding pressure on the automaker and its suppliers.
Hyundai Motor, the world’s third-biggest automaker by sales with its affiliate Kia Corp, warned that even if the Iran war ended soon the impact would linger.
Kim Dong-jo, a senior vice-president at Hyundai Motor’s Global Policy Office, said rebuilding supply chains would take time.
“Even if the conflict ends, it will take a considerable amount of time to rebuild and restore existing supply chains,” said Kim, who was speaking at Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port, southwest of the capital Seoul, where government officials, logistics firms and automakers met to assess the impact of the war.
Kim said rising logistics costs and raw material constraints linked to the conflict were also pressuring parts suppliers and production, adding that Hyundai was working with suppliers and the government to minimise disruption.
Hyundai Motor Group’s logistics unit, Hyundai Glovis, said it was unable to access some Middle East routes, forcing it to temporarily store cargo at alternative locations until conditions stabilise.
The company said that while routes to North America’s west and east coasts have not been significantly affected so far, restricted access to the Middle East and higher fuel costs were hampering operations and efficiency.
South Korea’s trade minister, Yeo Han-koo, told the gathering that some shipments were being diverted to intermediate hubs such as Sri Lanka, where they are being held while companies reassess when transport can resume.
Message from the Editor
British government should consider abandoning increase in fuel duty, says cost-of-living tsar
The British government should consider abandoning the increase in fuel duty planned for September because of the rise in pump prices, prime minister Keir Starmer’s cost-of-living tsar has suggested.
Richard Walker, also the executive chairman of Iceland, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The 5p fuel duty cut that you allude to is an interesting one. That’s going to expire in September.
“I think given where we are, we do need to be thinking and talking about extending it or enlarging it.
“Interestingly, the Australian government, I was reading, have recently taken 14p per litre cut to their fuel tax. I mean that this cut is 5p.”
Macron tells Trump to get ‘serious’ about Iran war
French president Emmanuel Macron has said people “want to be serious” about dealing with the Iran war.
Without referencing US president Donald Trump directly, Macron showed a cold fury to a man who insulted him in a long and rambling speech at the Easter gathering in the White House.
“There is too much talk ... and it’s all over the place,” he said on a visit to South Korea “We all need stability, calm, a return to peace – this isn’t a show!”
Macron added: “You have to be serious. When you want to be serious, you don’t go around saying the opposite every day of what you just said the day before. And perhaps you shouldn’t talk every day.”
Macron’s patience with Trump’s contradictory messages on support for Nato is also running out.
Tehran warns against ‘provocative action’ before UN Security Council vote on Strait of Hormuz
Iran has warned the UN Security Council against “provocative action” ahead of a vote on the use of “defensive force” to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, reports AFP.
The security council had already postponed the vote, scheduled for Friday, on authorising the use of such force to protect shipping in the strait from Iranian attacks, according to the official programme.
The 15-member body was set to vote Friday morning on a draft resolution brought by Bahrain, but by Thursday night the schedule shifted. The reason given was that the United Nations observes Good Friday as a public holiday, according to diplomatic sources – despite this fact being known when the vote was first announced.
“Any provocative action by the aggressors and their supporters, including in the UN security council regarding the situation in the strait of Hormuz, will only complicate the situation,” Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said. – Guardian
Hegseth tells US army chief to step down
Yesterday came the news, on the same day US attorney general Pam Bondi was fired by Trump, that US army chief of staff Randy George was asked to step down by defence secretary Pete Hegseth.
George’s removal adds to recent upheaval at all levels of leadership at the Pentagon, including the firing last year of the previous chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, air force gen C Q Brown, as well as the chief of naval operations and air force vice-chief of staff.
Read the full story here.
Iran claims US fighter jet shot down over Iran
Iran has said a second US F-35 fighter jet has been shot down over Iran, with the state news agency saying it is unlikely the pilot survived.
A spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central HQ said on Friday the second F-35 jet was shot down over central Iran by Revolutionary Guard air defences, with low chances of pilot survival, Reuters reported.
There was no immediate comment from the US, and the Guardian has not been able to confirm the report.
Last month, the US military said in a statement that a US F-35 aircraft conducted an emergency landing after flying a combat mission over Iran. The military said the pilot of that jet was in stable condition. – Reuters
Iran fires on targets across Middle East; Israel and US hit Tehran
Iran fired on targets across the Middle East, sparking multiple blazes at a Kuwaiti oil refinery, while American and Israeli air strikes hit the Islamic Republic early on Friday as the war neared the end of its fifth week unabated.
Despite claims from the US and Israel that Iran’s military capabilities have been all but destroyed, Tehran has continued to keep the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbours, hitting Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery in a drone attack.
The refinery has been hit multiple times during the war and state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp said firefighters were working to control several blazes.
Sirens also sounded in Bahrain, warning of Iranian attacks and Israel reported incoming missiles.
Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it was not immediately clear what was hit.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have sent oil prices skyrocketing and are impacting global economies.
The UN Security Council was expected to vote on Saturday on a proposal from Bahrain that would authorise defensive action to ensure vessels can safely transit the strait.
Bahrain’s initial draft would have allowed countries to “use all necessary means” to secure the strait, but Russia, China and France – who have veto power on the council – expressed opposition to approving the use of force.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 US service members have been killed.
More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than one million displaced in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion in its fight with the pro-Iranian Hizbullah militant group. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there. – AP
Trump’s dangerous road to escalation
Today’s Irish Times editorial says Donald Trump’s recent boast that if there is no deal the US intends to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age, where they belong” represents an outrageous threat to violate the international rules of war, specifically the Geneva conventions.
It notes those rules, particularly the failure to distinguish between military and civilian targets, have been breached many times in Gaza, Ukraine and now Iran. “Those responsible have sought, however unconvincingly, to excuse themselves by insisting civilian casualties are accidental byproducts of strikes on legitimate military targets. Trump has no such scruples.”
The writer says western powers are, rightly, rejecting his claim that the guaranteeing of safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is now a matter for everyone else.
Any role in escorting ships and demining in the strait, they insist, will have to await an end to hostilities.
“In response, Trump has taken his bullying of allies to new levels, again threatening to pull out of Nato because they have refused to back his war. His recklessness will further convince these countries that the US is an unreliable – and dangerous – partner under Trump and that they must set their future strategies accordingly.”
Trump mocks Starmer as ‘weak’
Donald Trump has mocked British prime minister Keir Starmer as weak and had a fresh dig at the UK’s navy as Britain led diplomatic efforts to try and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, closed by the Iran war.
The US president impersonated Starmer as he recounted him saying he had to ask his team about sending “two old broken-down aircraft carriers” to the Middle East.
Trump said Britain “should be our best” ally but had not been, in his latest sideswipe over the UK’s refusal to be drawn into the conflict with Tehran. The latest criticism emerged in a video from a private Easter White House lunch.
It is not the first time the American leader has been critical of the UK’s aircraft carriers, having previously dismissed them as “toys” that “aren’t the best”.
Earlier this week, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth rounded on Britain for failing to send warships to the region, saying “last time I checked there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well.”
Their disparaging remarks come as British king Charles, who is head of the armed forces, is due to travel to Washington later this month for a state visit to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Europe must prepare for ‘long-lasting’ energy shock
The EU is assessing “all possibilities” including fuel rationing and releasing more oil from emergency reserves as it braces for a “long-lasting” energy shock from the Middle East war, the Financial Times reported on Friday in an interview with EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen.
“This will be a long crisis ... energy prices will be higher for a very long time,” Jorgensen told the FT, saying that for some more “critical” products “we expect it to be even worse in the weeks to come”.
Trump renews threat to increase ferocity of Iran assault
Donald Trump said the US “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran”, reiterating vows to increase the ferocity of attacks on its infrastructure, as dozens of countries sought ways to restart vital energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Nearly five weeks after it started with a joint US-Israeli aerial assault, the war in Iran continues to spread chaos across the region and on financial markets, raising the pressure on Trump to find a quick resolution to the conflict.
Trump has stepped up his rhetoric in recent days as negotiations conducted via intermediaries with new leaders in Iran show limited signs of progress.
The US military “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants,” Trump wrote on social media late on Thursday, adding that Iran’s leadership “knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!”
He earlier posted video of the US bombing a newly constructed bridge between Tehran and the major northwest suburb of Karaj. The B1 bridge was scheduled to open to traffic this year. According to Iran’s state media, eight people were killed and 95 others were wounded in the US attack.
“Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender,” Iran foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said in a statement.
Satellite images also showed smoke rising from the port in Qeshm, an Iranian island strategically located in the Strait of Hormuz, earlier this week.
