FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
A ship was hit overnight in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran said it would not return to peace talks unless US President Donald Trump stopped repeated threats to restart war. At the same time, millions of Iranians attended funeral ceremonies for their slain leader, vowing revenge.
The UK's maritime safety agency, UKMTO, said a tanker was hit by a shell that caused a fire about eight nautical miles off the coast of Oman. This is the first reported incident in the Strait of Hormuz since the start of mourning ceremonies last week for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Three sources told Reuters that the ship hit was a Qatari tanker carrying liquefied natural gas. They said the crew was safe, but the engine room was engulfed in flames and filled with smoke. Meanwhile, Axios reported that Iran had fired on two ships.
The incident brought into focus the uncertainty that continues to prevail over navigation in the Persian Gulf, more than four months after the United States and Israel launched the war, which, according to them, was aimed at hindering Iran's ability to threaten neighboring countries.
During the week of mourning for Khamenei, who was killed along with his daughter, niece, son-in-law and daughter-in-law on the first day of the war, the Iranian leadership has shown that it continues to keep the situation in the country under control.
During the funeral ceremonies, participants vowed revenge for Khamenei's assassination. Some of them carried banners reading: "KILL TRUMP."
The fighting has been halted by an interim peace deal reached last month, which provides for a 60-day period for negotiations towards a final agreement. The latest round of indirect talks, held in Qatar last week, ended without concrete signs of a lasting peace.
For his part, Trump has repeatedly warned that the bombing could resume. Most recently, on Monday, he told reporters in the Oval Office:
"Either we make a deal, or we finish the job. Okay. And it won't be hard to finish the job. I would prefer to make a deal, because I don't want to affect 91 million people. We can blow up their bridges in an hour, we can cut off their power supply," he said.
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