According to a document seen by Bloomberg, a company offered seafarers an additional six months' salary if they completed a round trip through the strait to collect crude oil from Saudi Arabia or Iraq and unload it in the Gulf of Oman.

Kuwait has stated that in the continued "sinful" Iranian strikes, the nation's power and water desalination plants were subjected to attacks on Monday evening, resulting to fires in number of facilities.

In a statement released by the Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said that the Iranian attacks, which continued for the fourth consecutive day, caused fire to break out in numerous facilities. The Ministry said that the emergency operations helped contain the fire, adding that an assessment of the damage and the ways to rehabilitate the facilities is being done.

(ANI)

A high-level Iranian delegation led by Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni is in Pakistan to hold talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid an ongoing escalation with the US.

Momeni, who arrived in Pakistan on Monday evening for talks, was received by his counterpart Mohsin Naqvi, who had invited him to visit Islamabad.

Momeni laid a floral wreath on the Yadgar-e-Shuhda and was briefed about the monument. A smartly turned-out contingent of the Federal Constabulary presented a guard of honour to the visiting dignitary.

(PTI)

Residents of Kuwait, one of the world's hottest countries, are cutting their use of air conditioning at the height of summer, as Iranian strikes on power plants turn rationing into a national priority.

Kuwaiti authorities have called on the public to consume less energy so that they can maintain round-the-clock electricity as the grid comes under Iranian attack.

Nasser Al-Dhafiri, a civil servant in his forties, described "immense psychological pressure" on ordinary people as the attacks sparked fears of electricity outages.

(AFP)

Kuwait says Iran hit several power, water plants on Monday 

(AFP)

Iran stepped up its attacks in the Middle East on Tuesday, two weeks after its war with the United States resumed, with sirens sounding in Bahrain and Jordan announcing it had intercepted two waves of missiles and drones.

Iran's Yemeni allies, the Houthis, declared they would blockade Saudi Arabia's ports, in what would throw the world's energy markets into further chaos after the Islamic republic blockaded the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards meanwhile said they had attacked and stopped two "non-compliant oil tankers" attempting to transit Hormuz, which Tehran has blockaded to avenge the US-Israeli attack that kickstarted the war on February 28.

(AFP)

An Iranian official began meetings Tuesday with mediators in Pakistan as diplomats sought to salvage the collapsed interim deal between Iran and the United States, even as both countries continued to launch attacks for a 10th day of renewed fighting.

The visit by Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni comes as Pakistan has intensified diplomatic efforts in recent days to resuscitate the deal. However, it remains unclear just what new arrangement could be reached to end the fighting.

Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, while the United States conducted yet another round of airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic.

(AP)

Bahrain's military on Tuesday said it had intercepted a number of Iranian attacks, nearly two weeks into the resumption of US-Iran hostilities that have included daily attacks on the Gulf kingdom.

"The air defences of the Bahrain Defence Force intercepted and destroyed a number of Iranian aerial aggressions," the military said in a statement on X.

The announcement came as the United States said it struck Iranian military command centres, air defence systems and missile launch sites in overnight attacks.

Jordan's military said Tuesday it had intercepted five drones launched by Iran targeting the kingdom.

The military made the announcement through the state-run Petra news agency.

It said the interception did not cause casualties or any damage on the ground.

Jordan hosts U.S. forces and aircraft in the country, and has been repeatedly targeted by Iran as the interim deal with the U.S. has collapsed over the fight for control of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Trump administration on Monday identified two soldiers killed in action last week as part of the US war with Iran. The Defense Department said in a statement that 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, were killed in Jordan, where they were supporting a U.S. mission against the Islamic State. It’s unclear how they were killed.

On Saturday, the US Central Command had two service members were killed in Jordan while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. The US military has said the total number of deaths in the war with Iran is 17.

Yemen's Houthi rebels announced a maritime embargo of Saudi Arabia on Monday, stepping up the US-Iran war as the rebels threatened the top oil exporter's ability to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. The Iran-backed group did not say how it planned to impose the embargo, whose declaration came as Iran said it was back to a "full-scale war" with the United States, and as Washington and Tehran battled to control the strait.

Saudi Arabia and the Houthis traded fire last week for the first time in years, threatening a 2022 truce that has held despite expiring. The exchange of strikes was set off when an Iranian plane attempted to land in Sanaa, challenging Saudi Arabia's hegemony over Yemeni skies.

The Houthis' naval blockade, if enforced, could further strain Saudi Arabia's economy by cutting off access to its Red Sea ports, which have been vital for oil exports as renewed fighting limits passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The blockade is also expected to hurt global markets that rely on Saudi Arabia -- which produces over 10 million barrels of crude per day -- for energy imports.

The rebels declared "a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of 'an eye for an eye', effective immediately", military spokesman Yahya Saree said.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, warned that the threat from the Houthis risked an "even wider" regional conflict.

Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship even as the United States conducted yet another round of airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic over control of the key waterway.

The 10 consecutive nights of US airstrikes haven't compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait, through which about a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime.

Even as the US and Iran inch closer to all-out war again, Iran’s interior minister traveled to Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, for talks. However, it remains unclear just what new deal could be reached to end the fighting.

The interim deal signed last month that was meant to end the fighting has crumbled. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. And as fighting intensifies, both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.

“Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world,” the US State Department said in a new warning to Americans.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday said that Tehran is engaged in a "full-scale war" with the United States, asserting that the conflict extends beyond military strikes and warning that the country must accept the consequences of its resistance while continuing to defend its national interests.

Addressing a meeting of Iran's Supreme Judicial Council, Pezeshkian said, "The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war. Today's war is not simply a war of missiles; the enemy has come to the conclusion that it cannot force the Iranian nation to surrender through military attacks."

According to Iran's ISNA news agency, the President said the economy and people's livelihoods had become the principal arena of confrontation with the country's "enemies".

Honouring those killed in "recent imposed war", Pezeshkian said their deaths placed a responsibility on the country's leadership to continue pursuing "the dignity, independence, and progress of Islamic Iran."

The US State Department on Monday issued an alert urging American citizens around the world to "exercise increased caution" over the war with Iran.

The alert said that "due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation."

"Americans outside the Middle East should reconsider travel to and through the region," it said, while warning of the heightened possibility of attacks targeting US diplomatic facilities "or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world." (AFP)