Star Metro - New strikes threaten ceasefires in Iran, Lebanon

The Brent benchmark oil price jumped up by more than three percent after US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the new wave of bombings targeting Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats, while China urged both sides to respect the truce and to resolve their dispute peacefully.

Iranian state media reported overnight blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz, and the country's Revolutionary Guards said its forces had downed a US drone entering its airspace and had fired at an F-35 fighter jet.

"The US terrorist army, continuing its illegal and unjustified actions since the ceasefire...has, in the past 48 hours, committed a gross violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region," the Iranian foreign ministry said.

It added that Tehran "will not leave any evil unanswered and will not hesitate to defend the Iranian nation," without elaborating.

- 'Self-defence strikes' -

CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins had announced the new American strikes on Iran overnight.

"US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces", Hawkins said.

He gave few details of the attacks and said only that the targets included missile launch sites and boats trying to "emplace mines."

In a statement marking the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Tehran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei declared Washington was losing its influence in the Middle East and warned countries in the region to stop hosting bases from which the US could launch attacks.

The United States, he said in a written statement, "in addition to no longer having any safe haven in the region for aggression and the establishment of military bases, is moving further and further away from its former position with each passing day".

Despite the new US strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that a peace deal remained within reach, while insisting that the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil and gas shipping route which Iran is seeking to control, would reopen "one way or the other".

The strikes threatened the ceasefire between the United States and Iran that began on April 8, prompting China to express concern.

"We urge the parties concerned to fulfil their ceasefire commitments, resolve disputes through peaceful means...and promote the early restoration of peace," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.

- Dozens dead in Lebanon -

In south Lebanon, Israel carried out strikes on Tuesday that Beirut's health ministry said killed 31 people, including at least four children.

Iran has demanded that any peace accord apply to Lebanon, where an April 17 truce has failed to stop fighting that began when militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in early March.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed to "crush" Hezbollah, and an Israeli military official told AFP the following day that the country's forces were expanding their ground operations deeper inside Lebanon.

Work on a peace deal between Washington and Tehran is still ongoing, with Iranian state broadcaster IRIB saying a top delegation returned from a two-day visit to Qatar on Tuesday while Iran said it was finalising a 14-point framework for a deal on ending the war.

In a telephone conversation with Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country was "ready to reach a respectful framework to end the war," according to IRIB.

- Internet partially restored -

Tasnim news agency said Tehran's negotiators are seeking the release of frozen assets, with half to be made available once an initial memorandum of understanding is signed.

"Iran's frozen assets are to be released during the course of the negotiations, and this amount is estimated at $24 billion in accordance with the 14-point memorandum of understanding," Tasnim said.

After nearly three months of blackout in Iran, internet connectivity saw a "partial restoration", monitor NetBlocks said on Tuesday, calling it the "longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history".

Iran's vice president later confirmed the "first step" had been taken towards restoring the internet for Iranians, adding that the demands of the country's people "will be fulfilled".

"Since a few minutes ago I could open international websites using my home internet provider," said a 22-year-old woman from the western city of Kermanshah who declined to be named, but she said she still needed VPNs for social media.

burs/wd/sla

O.Gauthier--SMC