DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tehran has agreed to "facilitate and expedite" humanitarian aid through the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said Friday, even as it endures strikes on its nuclear facilities.
APTOPIX Iran War
Ali Bahreini said Tehran has accepted a request from the U.N to let humanitarian aid andagricultural shipmentsmove through the vital waterway, which usually handles a fifth of the world's oil shipments and nearly a third of the world's fertilizer trade.
The aid plan would be the first breakthrough at the shipping chokepoint after a month of war. While markets and governments have largely focused on blocked supplies of oil and natural gas, the restriction offertilizer ingredients and tradethreatens farming and food security around the world.
"This measure reflects Iran's continued commitment to supporting humanitarian efforts and ensuring that essential aid reaches those in need without delay," Bahreini said in a post on X. The U.N. earlier announced a task force to address the ripple effects the Iran war has had on aid delivery.
Israel strikes Iranian nuclear facilities
The announcement came just hours after Iranian state media said two nuclear facilities had come under attack. Israel, which had threatened to "escalate and expand" its campaign against Tehran, claimed responsibility, and Iran quickly threatened to retaliate.
"Attack contradicts POTUS extended deadline for diplomacy," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump. "Iran will exact HEAVY price for Israeli crimes."
Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said the Shahid Khondab Heavy Water Complex in Arak and the Ardakan yellowcake production plant in Yazd Province were targeted, IRNA reported. The strikes did not cause any casualties and there was no risk of contamination, it said. The Arak plant has not been operational sinceIsrael attacked it last June.
Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore. Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors.
The Israeli military later said raw materials are processed for enrichment at the Yazd plant and that the strike was a major blow to Iran's nuclear program.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Iran would retaliate, IRNA reported. Seyed Majid Moosavi, IRGC's Aerospace Force commander, posted on X that employees of companies tied to the U.S. and Israel should abandon their workplaces.
"This time, the equation will no longer be 'an eye for an eye,' just wait," he said.
Late Friday, Israel's military said Iran had launched missiles at the country. Sirens alerted people to seek shelter in and around the city of Beer Sheba and areas near Israel's main nuclear research center, which were targeted by Iranian strikes that injured dozenslast weekend.
US pushes diplomatic solution
Word of the attacks on Iran came after Trump claimed talks on ending the war were going "very well" and that he had given Tehran more time to reopen theStrait of Hormuz. Iran maintains it has not engaged in any negotiations.
Withstock markets reelingand economic fallout fromthe warextending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran's chokehold on the strategic waterway.
A Gulf Arab bloc said Thursday that Iran has beenexacting tollsfrom ships to ensure safe passage.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff saidWashington delivereda15-point "action list"to Iran for a possible ceasefire, using Pakistan as an intermediary. It proposes restricting Iran's nuclear program and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran rejected the U.S. offer and presented its ownfive-point proposalthat included reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the vital strait.
Trump has said if Iran doesn't reopen the strait to all traffic by April 6, he will order the destruction of Iran's energy plants.
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Uncertainty surrounding the conflict prompted a further drop in U.S. stocks Friday. The S&P 500 sank 1.7% to close out its worst week since the Iran war started and its 5th losing week in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%. Meanwhile, crude oil prices continued to soar.
With U.S. gas prices approaching $4 a gallon, members of Congress have been pushing to suspend the federal gasoline tax, set at 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel. Trump said he has "thought about" suspending it but suggested states should look at suspending their taxes on fuel.
Israel targets Iran's weapons production while Iran attacks Gulf Arab neighbors
Air raid sirens sounded in Israel and the military said it has been intercepting Iranian missiles on a daily basis. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran "will pay heavy, increasing prices for this war crime."
Israel's military said its attacks Friday targeted sites "in the heart of Tehran" where ballistic missiles and other weapons are produced. It said it also hit missile launchers and storage sites in Western Iran.
Smoke rose over Beirut after a pre-dawn strike, and Lebanon's Health Ministry later reported two people were killed.
Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry meanwhile said it shot down missiles and drones targeting the capital, Riyadh.
Kuwait said its Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait City and the Mubarak Al Kabeer Port to the north, which is under construction as part of China's "Belt and Road" initiative, sustained "material damage" in attacks. It appeared to be one of the first times a Chinese-affiliated project in the Gulf Arab states has come under assault in the war. China has continued to purchase Iranian crude.
Diplomatic wrangling endures even as US sends more troops to the Mideast
Diplomats from several countries including Pakistan and Turkey have tried to organize a direct meeting between U.S. and Iranian envoys. Separately, G7 foreign ministers meeting in France formally asked for an immediate halt to attacks against populations and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, U.S. ships drew closer to the region carrying some 2,500 Marines, and at least 1,000 paratroopers from the82nd Airborne— trained to land in hostile territory to secure key positions and airfields — have been ordered to the Middle East.
Nevertheless, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. "can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops." Rubio, speaking to reporters following the Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting Friday in France, said the new deployments are designed to ensure "maximum opportunity to adjust to contingencies should they emerge."
Israel deployed the 162nd Division into southern Lebanon to support efforts to protect its northern border towns from Hezbollah attacks and uproot the militant group, the military said.
The U.N.'s International Organization for Migration said Friday that 82,000 civilian buildings in Iran, including hospitals and the homes of 180,000 people, are damaged.
"If this war continues, we risk a far wider humanitarian disaster," Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a statement. "Millions could be forced to flee across borders, placing immense pressure on an already overstretched region."
Death toll climbs, primarily in Iran and Lebanon
Eighteen people have died in Israel, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon. Two Israeli soldiers were severely injured in Lebanon on Friday during an "operational accident," the military said.
Authorities said more than 1,100 people have died in Lebanon and over 1,900 people have been killed in Iran.
At least 13 American troops have been killed and four people in the occupied West Bank and 20 in Gulf Arab states have also died.
In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died.
Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell'Orto in Miami; Fay Abuelgasim in Cairo; Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel; Fatma Khaled in Cairo; Sam McNeil in Brussels; Matthew Lee in Paris; Matthew Daly in Washington; and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tehran has agreed to "facilitate and expedite" humanitarian aid through the ...
