Iran says it has seized two ships crossing Strait of Hormuz

 

Here's the latest

• Ships seized: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says two ships were seized in the Strait of Hormuz and transferred to Iranian waters. A third vessel was also reportedly targeted by the IRGC and is “now disabled off Iran’s coast,” according to Iranian media. It came after a maritime agency said at least two container ships were hit by gunfire in the Strait of Hormuz.

• Ceasefire extended: The incidents came after US President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran and vowed to continue the US blockade on Iranian ports. He plans to give Tehran a limited timeframe to come up with a unified proposal to get peace talks back on track, sources have told CNN.

• In Lebanon: Meanwhile, Lebanon wants to prolong the ceasefire with Israel by at least another month, a source told CNN. The Israeli military said it intercepted a Hezbollah drone in southern Lebanon one day before a second round of direct talks between the two countries.

Israel-Iran strikes on energy sites "may amount to war crimes," Human Rights Watch says

By Mohammed Tawfeeq

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday that Israeli and Iranian attacks on critical energy infrastructure last month were “unlawfully indiscriminate” and “may amount to war crimes.”

The US-based organization described Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars Gas Field on March 18 and Iran’s subsequent attacks on Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility as part of “a series of unlawful attacks on energy infrastructure” by the two countries.

Ras Laffan and South Pars are among the world’s largest natural gas sites.

“Unlawful attacks on key oil and energy infrastructure have foreseeable knock-on economic impacts that could prove harmful to millions of people,” said Joey Shea, senior Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates researcher at Human Rights Watch.

HRW said it analyzed “official government and company statements, satellite imagery, and videos of the aftermath,” and wrote to both governments seeking clarification. It said Israeli authorities responded on March 30, stating that their “targeting processes are governed by a structured and binding framework designed to ensure the accurate identification of lawful military targets.”

HRW said Iranian authorities had not responded.

CNN has reached out to both the Israeli military and Iran’s Foreign Ministry for comment.

In a separate development, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US of committing an “unprecedented war crime” in its attack on the Iranian warship Dena.

A US submarine sank the ship in international waters last month, killing more than 80 crew according to authorities in Sri Lanka who launched a rescue mission.

In a phone call with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herat on Wednesday, Araghchi said Iran would “never forget” the incident, which he said was a violation of international humanitarian law. Tehran would pursue “all legal and political capacities” to hold accountable those responsible, he added.

In a separate call with Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister, Araghchi called on Muslim majority countries to “remain vigilant against what he claimed Israel’s “hegemony and divisiveness”