U.S. Forces Disable Merchant Vessel Near Iran

A U.S. official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that U.S. forces disabled another merchant vessel trying to reach Iran. The Gambia-flagged bulk carrier Lian Star ignored multiple warnings from U.S. forces overnight as it attempted to enter an Iranian port, the official said.

The ship was disabled by U.S. aircraft in the Gulf of Oman and remains adrift there. U.S. forces have not boarded the vessel, the official added.

Ministry said Israeli attacks on the country have killed at least 3,371 people and wounded 10,129 others since March 2. Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said diplomatic efforts must be intensified to achieve a ceasefire. He described Israeli actions as a policy of total destruction and an act of erasing history.

Salam said the decision of war and peace remains a national decision and pledged that the Lebanese state would work to establish a ceasefire, the return of prisoners, and reconstruction.

An Israeli drone strike killed one Palestinian and wounded several others near Firas Market in central Gaza City, according to the official news agency Wafa. Doctors at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said one of their colleagues, Dr Jamal Abu Aoun, was killed in an Israeli strike on Deir el-Balah.

Israeli air force and artillery strikes were reported near Beaufort castle in southern Lebanon, about 15 km from the Israeli border, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

Barakat, public policy professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, told Al Jazeera that U.S. President Donald Trump is walking back earlier demands one step at a time. Barakat said Iran appears increasingly confident in the negotiations and that time is working in Tehran’s favor.