Iran must plan to overcome 'unjust sanctions', says Iranian parliament speaker
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran must plan to overcome the "unjust sanctions", after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced what he described as the toughest sanctions ever imposed on Iran, according to Qalibaf's channel on Telegram.
- Hormuz ship crossings halve amid heightened Middle East shipping risks
- 'Sanctions and pressure' on Iran not a solution, says China
- Iran must plan to overcome 'unjust sanctions', says Iranian parliament speaker
'Sanctions and pressure' on Iran not a solution, says China
China said that US "sanctions and pressure" would not resolve the Middle East conflict, after Washington urged governments including Beijing to join efforts to isolate the Iranian economy.
"Sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a news briefing, calling on "all relevant parties to take responsible measures and resolve the problem through political and diplomatic means".
Welcome to the FRANCE 24 liveblog covering events in the Middle East. You can catch up on yesterday's developments here.
Oil prices set for second weekly rise as Iran war disrupts supply
Oil prices were little changed on Friday but were on track for a second weekly rise as the stalemated US-Iran war continues to disrupt supply from the key Middle East producing region.
Brent crude futures rose 4 cents to $93.82 a barrel by 0142 GMT, after climbing 2.4% in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 6 cents to $86.78 a barrel, after climbing 2.3% in the prior session.
During the previous five days of gains, Brent gained more than 7% and WTI climbed more than 8%, reaching their highest since July 24.
Hormuz ship crossings halve amid heightened Middle East shipping risks
Ship crossings at the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint were down on Thursday from the previous day, initial shipping data showed, amid growing concern over risks to shipping in the Middle East, with US-Iran peace talks remaining in limbo.
Thursday's tally of seven commodity ships was half that of Wednesday, Kpler data showed. Of these, four ships were entering and three exiting the waterway used by nearly a fifth of global shipments of crude oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.
No very large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers were in the mix.
However, one very large gas carrier – carrying propane and butane – did transit out of Hormuz via the Iranian route, the data showed.
Yesterday's key developments:
• The USS George Washington aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the Middle East to replace the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln after apparently deteriorating living conditions on board sparked fresh criticism of President Donald Trump's war against Iran.
• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the country's allies that they were either "with us or against us" on economically isolating Iran, after Trump announced a fresh slew of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
• Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said that they targeted an airport and a facility belonging to state-owned oil giant Aramco in Saudi Arabia's southern Najran region, near the Yemeni border.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
