Bangkok Post – War in the Middle East: latest developments

PARIS – Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

– Iran sends response –

Iran has sent its response to a US proposal to end the war in the region via Pakistan, Iranian state media reported.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran sent today (Sunday) through Pakistani mediators its response to the latest text proposed by the United States to end the war,” the official IRNA news agency said, without offering details.

– Drone attacks on ships –

Drones were launched at several targets in the Gulf, with one hitting a freighter sailing towards Qatar from Abu Dhabi.

Qatar’s defence ministry said a small fire was sparked on the commercial vessel but there were no casualties.

Kuwait’s military said it repelled a dawn drone attack.

– Iran’s ‘pressure card’ –

Qatar’s prime minister told Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi in a phone call that using the Strait of Hormuz as a “pressure card” will only deepen the Middle East crisis, the Qatari foreign ministry said.

– Paramedics killed –

Lebanon’s health ministry said two paramedics from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee were killed and five others wounded in Israeli strikes on the country’s south despite a ceasefire.

– ‘Unidentified aircraft’ hit ship –

South Korea said that one of its cargo vessels damaged days ago in the Strait of Hormuz was hit by “two unidentified aircraft” and analysis was being conducted on engine debris and fragments to determine the origin of the attack.

Iran denied responsibility for the May 4 attack. But US President Donald Trump at the time said Iran had “taken some shots” at the cargo vessel.

– Iran threatens US sites –

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to target US sites in the Middle East and “enemy ships” if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported.

“Any attack on Iranian tankers and commercial vessels will result in a heavy attack on one of the American centres in the region and enemy ships,” it said, a day after US attacks against two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

– Rubio meets Qatari leader –

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met the leader of ally Qatar to discuss “security across the Middle East”, the State Department said.