TENSIONS in the stand-off between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz intensified on Friday after US President Donald Trump said he ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats in the Strait, while Iran pushed back on Trump’s claim there was a leadership rift in the Islamic Republic. “In Iran, there are no hard-liners or moderates’. We are all Iranians and revolutionaries,” Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote in almost identical social media statements. Since the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the first strike of the war on February 28, it has been unclear who in Iran wields ultimate authority over its collection of civilian figures and powerful generals who appear to be in charge.

 

On Friday, two Pakistani officials told ‘The Associated Press’ that Iran’s top diplomat is expected to travel to Pakistan by this weekend for talks. Pakistan has been trying to restart ceasefire negotiations between Iran and the United States, but details have been scant so far. The stand-off between the US and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 per cent of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime, with no end in sight. The UN peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon, or UNIFIL, says Corporal Rico Pramudia, 31, died at a Beirut hospital after he was critically wounded following a projectile explosion in his base in Adchit al-Qusayr, southern Lebanon, on March 29. The attack in Adchit al-Qusayr also killed an Indonesian peacekeeper. Two other Indonesian peacekeepers were also killed in southern Lebanon shortly after.

 

Kuwait says, explosive drones launched from Iraq have struck two sites on the northern land border on Friday morning. The Kuwait army said on X that the drones caused material damage, but that there were no reports of casualties. Some residents in Beirut believe South Lebanon should be included in a ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah. They said a deal will not be sustainable without a lasting truce between Iran and the United States. “It is not related to Hezbollah and Israel, but to Iran and the US. If they reach an agreement, the whole of the Middle East will be calm, but if not, there will be escalation in Lebanon and the rest of the world,” Joe Ghafari said.