HEADLINES

• Iran has released a video of its commandos storming a huge cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. READ MORE BELOW

• Washington said it had boarded another tanker, the Majestic, in the Indian Ocean on Thursday. READ MORE BELOW

• US President Donald Trump said he had ordered the Navy to "shoot and kill" Iranian boats laying mines in the strait. READ MORE BELOW

• The US will host a second meeting between Lebanese and Israeli envoys on Thursday, with Beirut seeking the extension of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, a day after Israeli strikes killed at least five people including a journalist. READ MORE BELOW

• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump was "not going to set a deadline" for the latest Iran ceasefire as she spoke with reporters in DC.

• Without providing any evidence, Trump said the US had "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz, and that it was "sealed up tight" until Iran made a deal.

• About 10.7 million barrels of Iranian crude exports crossed through the Strait of Hormuz and exited the area blockaded by the US Navy between April 13 and 21, data analytics firm Vortexa said.

• The Pentagon blasted as false a Washington Post news report saying that the department assessed it could take six months to completely clear the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian-laid mines.

• The Iranian judiciary website said it hanged a man after he was convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and alleged collaboration with Israel. 

• Italy is ready to deploy up to four vessels, including two minesweepers, as part of an international mission to clear the Strait of Hormuz, the navy's chief of staff said.

• British defence minister John Healey and his French counterpart Catherine Vautrin said they were confident that real progress could be made on the key Strait of Hormuz, as the two countries hosted a meeting with military planners on the issue.

• More than 30 million people will be pushed back into poverty by the impacts of the Iran war including disruptions to fuel and fertilizer supplies, UN development chief Alexander De Croo said.

• Some form of ongoing UN presence might continue after a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon ends later this year, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said.

Iran storms cargo ship

Iran showed its tightened grip over the Strait of Hormuz with video of its commandos storming a huge cargo ship, after the collapse of peace talks that Washington had hoped would open the world's most important shipping corridor.

State television broadcast footage overnight of masked troops pulling up in a grey speedboat alongside the MSC Francesca, climbing a rope ladder to a shell door in the hull and jumping through brandishing rifles.

The footage, presented with an action-movie-style soundtrack and no commentary, also included views of another ship, the Epaminondas. Iran said it had captured both on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to cross the strait without permits.

Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said the merchant vessels attacked in the strait had "faced the law". Iranian speedboats and marine drones were sheltering in sea caves off an island near the strait and keeping the US Navy from approaching, he said.

US boards another tanker

Washington, which has been confronting Iranian ships in international waters to enforce a blockade of its own, said it had boarded another tanker, the Majestic, in the Indian Ocean on Thursday. 

That appeared to be a reference to a supertanker, also called the Phoenix, last reported off the coast of Sri Lanka carrying 2 million barrels of crude.

In an early morning post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said he had ordered the Navy to "shoot and kill" Iranian boats laying mines in the strait, and step up demining activity. 

His post did not mention steps to deal with the other means Iran has used to block shipping along the route: mainly speedboats, missiles and drones.

No sign of talks

Tehran says it will not consider opening the strait, normally the route for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, until the US lifts its blockade of Iran's shipping, which Washington imposed during the ceasefire and Tehran calls a violation of that truce.

Trump cancelled threats to restart attacks on Iran in the ceasefire's final hours on Tuesday, but refuses to lift the blockade. There has been no formal extension of the ceasefire, and no plans have been announced for further talks.

Iranians, who endured six weeks of US and Israeli bombardment before the ceasefire on April 8, described a nerve-wracking environment under threat of renewed attack.

Pakistan, which hosted talks this month and had been preparing for a second round before it was called off on Tuesday, was still in touch with both sides, a Pakistani government source said.

Iranian officials were still declining to commit to sending a delegation, citing the US blockade and other reasons, the source added.

The US was separately due to host a second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, with Lebanon seeking an extension of a ceasefire reached last week in a war that has run in parallel to the Iran war.

Israeli strikes killed five people including a journalist in Lebanon on Wednesday, the deadliest day there since the US-brokered truce took effect. Iran says maintaining the Lebanon ceasefire is a pre-condition for talks on the wider war.