Data from the maritime tracking firm Kpler indicates that at least two vessels successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, April 13, despite the United States military blockade.
The Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Christianna completed its passage around 1600 GMT (21:30 IST), two hours after the blockade took effect, having previously unloaded a shipment of corn at Iran’s Bandar Imam Khomeini port.
Simultaneously, the Comoros-flagged tanker Elpis, carrying 31,000 tonnes of methanol since departing the Iranian port of Bushehr on March 31, was tracked clearing the strategic waterway at approximately the same time.
The US Central Command had stated that the blockade would target “vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas.”
Israeli drone kills wounded man in Lebanon
Videos shared by Israeli social media accounts show an injured man lying beside a vehicle that appears to have been bombed. An Israeli drone is seen approaching the man as he lies on the ground; moments later, the drone strikes and kills him.
Israel said that it “eliminated” a Hezbollah fighter in Bint Jbeil, a town which its army has encircled. Killing a wounded soldier violates the laws of war under the Geneva Conventions.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese group said it initiated a series of attacks on Israeli military forces and locations. Hezbollah said its fighters targeted the newly established Israeli positions in the Biyyada town with rockets and barrages. A fire-control room near the Kfar Jaladi outpost was also struck, after which rockets targeted the Misgav Am settlement.
Israeli strike kills one in Gaza
An Israeli strike on Tuesday, April 14, targeted a police vehicle on al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City, leading to fears of casualties. Earlier that day, an Israeli bombing in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, killed one Palestinian.
Italy to suspend auto-renewal of defence agreement with Israel
“In view of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defence agreement with Israel,” Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said while addressing an event in Verona.
According to Italian news agencies, the agreement deals with the exchange of military equipment and technology research.
Red Cross delivers first emergency aid shipment to Iran since war began
The Red Cross delivered its first emergency aid shipment to Iran since the war began over a month ago, which is expected to meet the needs of nearly 25,000 people.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement Tuesday that it dispatched assistance to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, or IRCS, including five truckloads delivered Monday.
Supplies included blankets, jerrycans, tarpaulins, hygiene kits and solar lamps. The remaining aid shipment, comprised of nine aid trucks, will be given to IRCS later this week.
South Korea also said it provided USD 2 million in humanitarian assistance to Lebanon through international organisations and has also decided to provide USD 500,000 in aid to Iran through the International Red Cross.
Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it hopes the aid will help ease the humanitarian crisis in affected regions.
IEA predicts Iran war will drive down oil demand more sharply than the pandemic
The war in Iran will lead to an annual decline in oil demand for the first time since the pandemic, when billions of people were trying to live in isolation, according to the International Energy Agency.
The agency, formed after the 1974 oil crisis, said Tuesday that oil demand is expected to decrease by an average of 80,000 barrels a day this year, a sharp revision from the increase of 850,000 barrels a day that it had forecast before the war began.
The drop-off in March was particularly severe because of attacks on energy infrastructure and the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the IEA, which expects a decline in demand of 1.5 million barrels in the current quarter.
While the biggest cuts in oil usage have initially come from the Middle East and Asia Pacific region, demand destruction is anticipated to spread as oil prices increase and scarcity continues.
Pakistan proposes second round of talks
Pakistan has proposed hosting a second round of talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad in the coming days, before the end of the ceasefire, two Pakistani officials said.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated that the next round of negotiations was expected soon.
The 21-hour talks between the US and Iran on Saturday, April 11, were the first of their kind since 1979 due to the involvement of top-level officials from both sides. The two sides, however, failed to secure a lasting peace deal to end hostilities following their talks in Pakistan over the weekend.
Speaking to the media outside Parliament House on Monday, April 13, Asif said there had been a sense of satisfaction after the talks that there were no negative developments so far.
“Only positive progress has been observed,” he said, indicating that the ongoing diplomatic efforts were moving in a constructive direction.
The next round of Iran-US negotiations was expected soon, he added.
Meanwhile, two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter with the press, told the Associated Press the proposal would depend on whether the parties request a different location.
One of the officials said that, despite ending without an agreement, the first talks were part of an ongoing diplomatic process rather than a one-off effort.
Macron, Starmer to co-chair talks on Strait of Hormuz mission to protect shipping
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a conference on Friday, April 17, in Paris, bringing together non-belligerent nations willing to participate in a mission in the Strait of Hormuz “when security conditions allow.”
Other participants will take part via videoconference, Macron’s office said. European and other partners are ready to contribute to a “purely defensive mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said.
France and Britain have been working in recent weeks to set up an operation to escort oil tankers and container ships to help ensure safe passage through the strait.
US-sanctioned tankers pass Strait of Hormuz despite blockade
A US-sanctioned Chinese tanker passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, April 13, even as the US blockade continues over the chokehold, Reuters reported.
According to shipping data from LSEG, MarineTraffic, and Kpler, the Rich Starry would be the first to pass the Strait and exit the Gulf since the blockade began.
The United States had sanctioned the tanker and its owner, Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co Ltd, to deal with Iran. The data showed that the Chinese-owned medium-range tanker has a Chinese crew aboard, carrying approximately 250,000 barrels of methanol. At its last port of call at the United Arab Emirates’ Hamriyah, the tanker loaded the cargo.
Another US-sanctioned tanker identified as Murlikishan was seen heading into the strait on Tuesday, the data showed. The empty tanker is likely to load fuel in Iraq on April 16, according to Kpler data. Formerly known as MKA, the vessel has transported Iranian and Russian oil.
Israel continues air raids on Lebanon, 2 killed
An Israeli airstrike hit a car travelling near the southern Lebanon town of Nabatieh, killing at least two people, the Lebanese National News Agency reported. The attack was one of the latest in a series of Israeli raids leading to casualties.
NNA said that several Israeli air raids hit the southern parts of the country. An old municipality building in Aadloun was targeted, while another hit a house in Deir Intar town, causing injuries.
Israeli strikes ‘intolerable,’ France says Lebanon must be included in ceasefire
French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot reaffirmed Tuesday that Lebanon must be included in the initial ceasefire agreement.
“The ceasefire must absolutely include Lebanon, which under no circumstances can be the scapegoat of the Israeli government,” Barrot said on French radio RFI.
Israel’s strikes on Lebanon are “intolerable,” he said, because they undermine the ceasefire reached between the United States and Iran and because it strengthens militant group Hezbollah.
“Destroying Lebanon, targeting the Lebanese state, does not weaken Hezbollah — quite the opposite, it strengthens it,” Barrot said.
Spain’s prime minister asks China to do more to end war
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he sees China as the main global interlocutor that can help end the war in Iran and other conflicts, such as Ukraine, and urged the Asian giant to do more on the diplomatic front.
“I find it very difficult to find other interlocutors, beyond China, who can resolve this situation created in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz,” he said Tuesday after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Sánchez is in China for his fourth trip in just over three years as Spain looks to strengthen its political and commercial ties with the world’s second-largest economy.
Sánchez said Spain wants to avoid impunity for those who commit crimes and described what has happened in Gaza as “genocide.”
“International law is being violated today, fundamentally by one country: the government of Israel,” he said. “There is also an absolutely illegal response from the Iranian regime regarding a war that we have described from the very beginning as a mistake and an illegality.”
Chinese President Xi floats proposal to promote Middle East peace
Chinese President Xi Jinping floated a four-point proposal for promoting Middle East peace during a meeting Tuesday with Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported.
Xi’s proposal calls for upholding the principle of regional peaceful coexistence and respecting national sovereignty while underscoring the principles of coordinating development and security, Xinhua reported.
“Safeguard the authority of the international rule of law. It can’t be ‘use it when it suits us, discard it when it doesn’t,’ and we cannot allow the world to revert to the law of the jungle,” Xi said.
Fuel price freeze: Rs 18/litre loss on petrol, Rs 35 on diesel
Losses on petrol have widened to Rs 18 per litre and to Rs 35 on diesel as state-owned fuel retailers continue to keep pump prices frozen despite a sharp rise in input costs, sources said.
Despite prices being deregulated more than a decade back, state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) have not changed the retail petrol and diesel price since April 2022. Global crude oil prices have seen sharp fluctuations over this period – from above USD 100 per barrel following the Russia-Ukraine war, to easing to around USD 70 a barrel earlier this year, before surging again to about USD 120 last month after the US-Israel attacks on Iran triggered fresh supply concerns.
India, which imported about 88 per cent of its crude oil requirement in 2025, remains highly exposed to global price swings. Around 45 per cent of imports came from the Middle East, 35 per cent from Russia and 6 per cent from the United States.
While the government cut excise duty on fuels by Rs 10 per litre in March, central levies have been on a declining trend and now stand at Rs 11.9 per litre on petrol and Rs 7.8 per litre on diesel.
JD Vance says ‘ball is in Iran’s court’ on ending war
The US Vice President JD Vance has said that the ball is in Iran’s court regarding the ceasefire talks to end the war. Vance told Fox News that the US has made “very clear” what its red lines are and would be “happy to treat Iran like a normal country.”
“Whether we have further conversations, whether we ultimately get to a deal, I really think the ball is in the Iranian court because we put a lot on the table. We actually made very clear what our red lines were. We also made clear that we actually would be very happy. The president of the United States has said he would be very happy if Iran were treated like a normal country, if it had a normal economy, if its people were able to prosper and thrive.”
“What we’ve given here is a ceasefire. We stopped bombing the country. What we expect the Iranians to give is a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.
West Asia conflict threatens to push 2.5 million people in India into poverty: UN report
The conflict and military escalation in West Asia threatens to push 2.5 million people in India into poverty and the country is projected to experience some loss in its human development progress, according to estimates and projections by the United Nations.
The United Nations Development Programme, in a report titled ‘Military Escalation In The Middle East: Human Development Impacts Across Asia And The Pacific’ noted that the conflict is “widening human development pressures across Asia and the Pacific.
Through higher fuel, freight, and input costs, the shock is diminishing household purchasing power, raising food insecurity, straining public budgets, and weakening livelihoods.”
The preliminary assessment, issued Tuesday, estimates that globally 8.8 million people are at risk of falling into poverty and the West Asia military escalation could cost Asia-Pacific up to USD 299 billion.
In India, poverty is expected to rise from around 400,000 to 2.5 million, the report said.
(With inputs from agencies)
