'No appetite' to expand naval mission to Hormuz: EU foreign policy chief
European Union foreign ministers showed "no appetite" to expand an EU naval mission in the Middle East to the Strait of Hormuz for the time being, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called on other nations to help police the strait after Iran responded to U.S.-Israeli attacks by using drones, missiles and mines to effectively close the channel for tankers that normally transport a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
The EU’s Aspides mission - named after the Greek word for "shields" - was established in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea.
"There was in our discussions a clear wish to strengthen this operation, but for the time being, there was no appetite in changing the mandate of the operation," Kallas told reporters after a meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
The mission currently has an Italian and a Greek ship under its direct command and can also call upon a French ship and another Italian vessel for support.
"The discussion was that it should be strengthened, because it doesn't have too many naval assets. It should have more," Kallas said.
"While the Strait of Hormuz is at the center stage, the Red Sea also remains critical."
US-Israel war on Iran not a matter for Nato: German chancellor
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says this war "is not a matter for Nato", after Donald Trump said it would be "very bad for the future of Nato" if allies don't help secure the Strait
Pakistan-bound oil tanker gets safe passage via Hormuz amid war
Ship-tracking data shows a Pakistan-bound oil tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, indicating that some countries are able to negotiate safe passage for their vessels despite the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Since the war began more than two weeks ago, Iran has attacked several ships in the Gulf, in effect closing the strait, conduit for a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas, and driving up global energy prices.
Iran has, however, let some vessels through. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that the U.S. believed some Indian and Chinese as well as Iranian fuel tankers had passed through the strait.
The Kpler data provider MarineTraffic said the Karachi was "the first non-Iranian cargo to transit the chokepoint while broadcasting its AIS signal, suggesting that select shipments may be receiving negotiated safe passage" in a post on X.
The Aframax tanker Karachi, operated by Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, transited the strait around March 15 after loading crude at Das Island in Abu Dhabi, and is expected to arrive at Karachi on March 17, according to LSEG vessel-tracking data.
The data shows the vessel sailing along the Iranian side of the strait before turning east toward Pakistan.
Pakistan relies heavily on imported crude and refined fuels from Gulf producers, most of which come through the Strait of Hormuz.
It has good ties with Iran while also maintaining close relations with Washington and Saudi Arabia, with which it has a mutual defence pact, leaving Islamabad walking a diplomatic tightrope as tensions escalate.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi thanked Pakistan for its "solidarity" in a post on X on Monday.
Pakistan's navy last week launched an operation to safeguard shipping lanes, including escorting merchant vessels.
A military source told Reuters the navy had contacted Iranian counterparts. "No escort was needed, being Pakistani vessels," the source added.
Pakistan's navy and military, as well as the foreign, petroleum and information ministries, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Another PNSC tanker, the Lahore, which loaded crude at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu, was about three vessel days from Pakistan, LSEG vessel data showed.
The finance ministry on Monday said Pakistan held "comfortable" petroleum stocks, with supply secured for March and cargo coverage into mid-April. It also said Pakistan was diversifying its fuel imports.
Airstrikes kill four Iraqi fighters near Syrian border
At least four fighters from Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) were killed Monday in a series of airstrikes targeting the town of Al-Qaim, located in western Anbar province near the Syrian border.
Over 200 children among hundreds killed in US-Israeli strikes: Iran's foreign minister
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi claimed that hundreds of Iranian civilians have been killed in ongoing Israel-U.S. military operations. According to the Foreign Minister, the death toll includes more than 200 children.
Araqchi also said that some "neighbouring states" hosting U.S. forces and allowing attacks on Iran were also actively encouraging the killing of Iranians.
"Stances should be promptly clarified," Araqchi added.
Spain won't be participating in military operations in Strait of Hormuz: Defence minister
Spain will not take part in any military mission in the Strait of Hormuz because it considers the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran to be illegal, Madrid's defence and foreign affairs ministers said on Monday.
The leftist coalition government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has criticised the offensive and banned participating U.S. aircraft from using jointly operated bases in southern Spain. Defence Minister Margarita Robles rejected a demand by U.S. President Donald Trump for military support to secure the waterway, which Tehran has de facto blocked to oil tanker traffic, and his threats of a "very bad future" for NATO allies failing to do so.
"Spain will never accept any stopgap measures, because the objective must be for the war to end, and for it to end now," Robles said.
The situation in the strait is a matter of grave concern for Europeans, but the European Union's position should be that the war must end regardless of economic considerations, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said.
"We mustn't do anything that would add even more tension or cause the situation to escalate further," he told reporters in Brussels.
Some EU members such as Germany, Italy or Greece, have also signalled they will not join military operations in the strait, while others, including Denmark, have yet to make a decision.
'Want the world to be well supplied': US 'fine' with Indian, Chinese transit in Hormuz, Bessent says
The United States is "fine" with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships going through the Strait of Hormuz for now, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, adding that any action to mitigate higher prices would depend on how long the Iran war lasts.
"We are seeing more and more of the fuel ships start to go through. The Iranian ships have been getting out already, and we've let that happen to supply the rest of the world. We've seen Indian ships go out now ... we believe some Chinese ships have gone out," he told CNBC in an interview.
"That should start ramping up before there are any of the flotillas or protective armadas in the Gulf. So we think that there will be a natural opening that the Iranians are letting out. And for now, we're fine with that. We want the world to be well supplied," Bessent said.
Asked if there were any tools the Trump administration would use to mitigate higher prices and impacts from the war outside of oil reserve releases, Bessent told CNBC "it will depend on the duration of the conflict."
Hamas holds talks with Trump's 'Board of Peace', Israel reopens key Gaza border crossing
Envoys from U.S. President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" have met representatives of Hamas in Cairo in an effort to safeguard the Gaza ceasefire, under serious strain since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, three sources told Reuters.
The weekend meeting is the first publicly reported since the start of the Iran war between the Palestinian militant group and the board, a new international body personally headed by Trump, which has been tasked with overseeing post-war Gaza.
Following the meeting, Israel announced on Sunday that it would soon reopen the sole crossing for pedestrians between Gaza and Egypt, shut since the Iran bombing campaign began. One of the sources said he believed the Israeli announcement was a direct result of the meeting between Hamas and the board.
Prior to the war in Iran, Trump's plan for Gaza was his flagship initiative for the Middle East.
The sources said the Hamas representatives warned the board that the Palestinian militant group could back away from its previous promises under the Gaza ceasefire if Israel maintains new restrictions on Gaza imposed during the Iran war.
Israel shut Gaza's borders after the war's launch on February 28, saying crossings could not be operated safely. It later resumed the limited flow of goods and aid but kept shut the sole crossing for pedestrians into Egypt, at Rafah on Gaza's southern edge. On Sunday it announced it would reopen the crossing later this week following a "security assessment".
Reuters has previously reported that talks on the disarmament of Hamas - meant to be a focus of the next phase of Trump's plan - have been on hold since the start of the Iran war.
One of the sources said Trump's board was represented at the talks with Hamas by Aryeh Lightstone, an American aide to Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff. The other two sources said meetings that included Lightstone were on the agenda although they were unable to confirm whether Lightstone had attended yet.
Further meetings were expected this week. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
A U.S. official said that Lightstone had attended Gaza-related meetings in Cairo in the past several days, without confirming whether he met with the Hamas delegation. U.S. negotiators were continuing to meet with regional partners to fulfil Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, the U.S. official added.
Israel's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether its decision to reopen the Rafah crossing was a result of the Cairo meeting. Hamas declined to comment.
'This is not our war': German defence minister rejects Trump's demand for military support against Iran
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Monday rejected demands by U.S. President Donald Trump for military support in the war against Iran and downplayed threats that such a stance by allies would hurt NATO.
"What does (...) Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful U.S. navy cannot do?" he said in Berlin.
"This is not our war, we have not started it."
Asked about Trump's warning that NATO faces a "very bad" future if its members fail to come to Washington's aid, Pistorius said he did not anticipate NATO falling apart over these differences.
Greece will not engage in military operations at Hormuz Strait, says government official
Greece will not engage in any military operations in the Strait of Hormuz, Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Monday.
Greece would only participated in the EU's naval mission "Aspides" charged with protecting ships in the Red Sea, Marinakis told a press conference.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday his administration was talking to seven countries about helping to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, calling on them to help protect ships in the vital waterway that Tehran has mostly blocked to oil tanker traffic.
Oil loading resumes at UAE's Fujairah port after an attack, sources say
Oil loading operations have resumed at the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, two sources told Reuters on Monday, after it was halted earlier following a drone attack that triggered a fire in the emirate's petroleum industrial zone.
Fujairah, located on the Gulf of Oman just outside the Strait of Hormuz, is typically a critical exit point for about 1 million barrels per day of the UAE's Murban crude - a volume equivalent to roughly 1% of global demand.
Civil defense teams were working to control the blaze, the Fujairah government media office said in a statement, adding that no casualties were reported.
The suspension of loading operations marks the second major disruption at the vital bunkering hub in recent days. Operations at Fujairah had resumed on Sunday following a separate drone strike over the weekend.
The attacks come as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran strangles shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that normally handles a fifth of the world's oil supply.
Fire breaks out in a building in UAE's Umm Al Quwain after attack by drone, no injuries
Fire breaks out in a building in UAE's Umm Al Quwain after attack by drone, no injuries: Emirate's Media Office.
Britain working with allies on plan to reopen Strait of Hormuz, Starmer says
Britain is working with allies on a collective plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restore freedom of navigation in the Middle East but it will not be easy, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday.
"Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability in the (oil) market. That is not a simple task," Starmer told reporters.
"So we're working with all of our allies, including our European partners, to bring together a viable collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible and ease the economic impact."
Communications ongoing to ensure Strait of Hormuz is fully opened, Qatari official says
Communications are ongoing with different parties to guarantee the Strait of Hormuz is fully opened for goods to reach the Gulf and to export energy products from the region, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
India says it has not had talks with US on deployment of warships in Strait of Hormuz
India has not had any conversation with the U.S. about helping ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz - a key artery of the global crude oil trade - a spokesperson for India's foreign ministry said on Monday.
Iran's Araqchi says no messages have been exchanged with the US
Iran has not requested a ceasefire, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday according to the semi-official Students News Network, and wants to ensure that any end to the war with Israel and the U.S. is definitive.
Araqchi said that the Strait of Hormuz is only closed to "enemies and those supporting their aggression".
A foreign ministry spokesperson added that states not party to the war have been able to transit their vessels through the strait with coordination and permission from Iran's armed forces.
Too early to quantify impact of Iran conflict on global growth, OECD says
It is too early to quantify impact of the Middle East conflict on global growth, but there is a significant level of downside risk for the global economy right now, the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Monday.
"Of course to a large extent it will depend on a lot of factors that we don't have ... the length of the conflict and continued developments but suffice to say there is significant level of downside risk in the global economy right now," Mathias Cormann said during a conference in Bucharest on Monday.
The OECD's current global growth estimate for 2026 is just under 3%.
Key UAE port of Fujairah hit again on Monday, damage being evaluated, Bloomberg reports
UAE largest port Fujairah being hit and damage being assessed: Bloomberg News.
UAE Fujairah port attacked again: sources tell Reuters.
One killed after missile strikes civilian car in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi authorities have responded to incident involving missile falling on a civilian vehicle in Al Bahyah area, one killed in the incident: Media Office.
"Abu Dhabi authorities have responded to an incident involving a missile falling on a civilian vehicle in the Al Bahyah area, resulting in one casualty of Palestinian nationality.
The public is advised to obtain information only from official sources and to avoid spreading rumours or unverified information," Abu Dhabi Media wrote on X.
Israel says troops launch 'limited' operations against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
The Israeli military said on Monday that its troops had begun limited ground operations against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in recent days to bolster forward defences.
