Dubai, Apr 16 (AP) Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group, said that in negotiations with Iran, the US is making “impossible demands for any independent country to accept”.
During a video speech Thursday, he said the ongoing two-week ceasefire was a result of “failures” by the US and Israel to achieve their goals in the Iran war.
“If negotiations succeed, it will either result in a longer period of stability or an end to the aggression,” he said, adding that the US entered negotiations based on their own terms built on “arrogance and pride”.
Fuel costs, labour strife lead Lufthansa to shut down CityLine feeder airline
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Lufthansa said Thursday that labour disputes and high fuel prices are forcing it to immediately shut down its feeder airline CityLine earlier than planned and take its 27 older, less fuel efficient planes out of service. The decision accelerates a shutdown that had been expected for next year.
CityLine's primary role was bringing passengers to Lufthansa's mid- and long-haul hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, Germany. Fuel prices have soared since the outbreak of the Iran war in February and the blocking by Iran of the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage way for crude oil and fuel products from Persian Gulf producers.
CityLine will halt operations Saturday.
Difficult days for sailors trapped on ships unable to travel through Hormuz
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Germany's largest shipping company Hapag-Lloyd says it's feeling the impact of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as 150 sailors are trapped there on six of its vessels.
“Five and a half weeks in a war zone — that's something relatively new. And of course, these are difficult days and weeks for our colleagues,” Hapag Lloyd spokesperson Nils Haupt told The Associated Press.
“We've been able to rotate some of them in the meantime, but you can easily imagine that after such a long time, monotony naturally sets in on board and the most important thing now in this situation is to maintain that team spirit,” he added.
Hapag-Lloyd is in contact with the captains and crews at least once a day asking how the crew is doing and what they can do to help.
It's helpful, Haupt says, that thanks to modern satellite technology, the sailors are able to keep up communication with their families.
Pentagon urges Iran to make deal
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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon that “ultimately, they need to come to the table and make a deal”.
He said the US will ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon.
“We'd prefer to do it the nice way through a deal led by our great vice president and negotiating team. Or we can do it the hard way,” Hegseth said.
Iran has repeatedly insisted that it doesn't seek a nuclear weapon and that its programme is for peaceful purposes.
Later in the news briefing, Hegseth said to Iran's government: “I pray you choose a deal, which is within your grasp for the betterment of your people and for the betterment of the world.”
Israeli defence minister says Iran faces stark choice
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Israeli defence minister Israel Katz warned Tehran it could opt “between a bridge to the future and an abyss of isolation and destruction”.
If Iran chooses the latter, it will “quickly discover that the targets we have not yet struck until now are even more painful than what we have already struck”.
Katz sought to frame Israel's campaign against the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon as part of a wider confrontation with Iran.
He was speaking at a memorial ceremony at the ministry Thursday.
Europe has maybe six weeks' of jet fuel left, energy agency head tells AP
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Europe has “maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left,” the head of the International Energy Agency said Thursday in a wide-ranging Associated Press interview, warning of possible flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol painted a sobering picture of the global repercussions of what he called “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” stemming from the pinch-off of oil, gas and other vital supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
“In the past there was a group called Dire Straits.' It's a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world,” he said.
The impact will be “higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices,” Birol told the AP, speaking in his Paris office looking out over the Eiffel Tower.
Caine says the US will pursue Iranian ships broadly
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Speaking at the Pentagon, Joint Chiefs chairman Gen Dan Caine said US forces “will actively pursue any Iranian flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran” - anywhere in the world.
He issued a clear warning to any targeted vessel attempting to circumvent a US blockade: “Turn around or prepare to be boarded... We will use force.”
Caine described the effort as a “blockade of Iran's ports and coastline” with enforcement “inside Iran's territorial seas and in international waters”. He noted that US forces in other areas of the world, including the Pacific, also would pursue vessels tied to Iran.
The blockade “applies to all ships, regardless of nationality, heading into or from Iranian ports” and includes “dark fleet vessels carrying Iranian oil”. He defined those as “vessels or those illicit or illegal ships evading international regulations, sanctions or insurance requirements”. (AP) SCY
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