05 June,2026 10:52 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Israeli strikes overnight in the south Lebanon city of Tyre killed several people. PIC/AFP
The United States (US) on Friday imposed sanctions on a network allegedly exporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Iran to South and Eastern Asia by falsely flagging it as originating in Oman, the Treasury said.
The network used front companies in the United Arab Emirates and China and a "shadow fleet" of vessels, according to a Treasury statement.
The system, designed to evade existing US sanctions, moved LPG worth hundreds of millions of dollars, it added.
The US has tightened sanctions on Iran since it jointly launched its war on the country with Israel in late February.
In addition, Washington on Friday also sanctioned an Iranian currency exchange house and individuals associated with it for allegedly helping Iran facilitate billions in financial transactions.
"These sanctions are part of the Administration's Economic Fury campaign, which maintains maximum pressure on the Iranian regime and disrupts its ability to generate revenue for weapons development, support for terrorist proxies, and regional aggression," said US State Department Spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
Israel's air force struck different parts of southern Lebanon on Friday as the military issued evacuation warnings for nine villages, including one that has been spared much of the destruction and was sheltering thousands of people displaced by the three-month war.
Six people were killed, Lebanon's state news agency reported. The warnings forced hundreds of families to flee the village of Anqoun and the area of Aarnaya, on the edge of the predominantly Christian village of Maghdoucheh, near the southern port city of Sidon.
The strikes came a day after the Hezbollah militant group rejected the latest ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government, and demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a strong ally of Hezbollah who has been acting as a mediator on behalf of the group, said in his first comment on the agreement reached in Washington this week that he accepts Hezbollah's withdrawal from the areas south of the Litani River as long as it coincides with the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
The river, located about 30 kilometres north of the border with Israel, forms the boundary of a 2006 UN-established buffer zone in which Hezbollah is banned. Israeli troops have currently pushed far past the Litani River into southern Lebanon.
Berri added in a statement that the ceasefire should be "complete and comprehensive" without any restrictions or conditions on land, at sea and in the air, and "without bulldozing and demolishing everything that exists." He was referring to wide areas that have been demolished by Israeli troops.
Berri criticised the creation of "pilot zones" in the agreement as well as calls for a unilateral ceasefire by Hezbollah and its withdrawal from border areas south of the Litani River.
Astronauts working on the International Space Station briefly sheltered in a docked capsule Friday as Russian colleagues assessed leak repairs, NASA said.
Five astronauts had briefly entered the docked Dragon spacecraft as a precautionary measure -- the capsule functions as a lifeboat of sorts in the case an evacuation is needed.
NASA gave the all clear and the astronauts were able to return to their stations.
A NASA spokesperson told AFP that Roscosmos cosmonauts took measurements of the leaks and were now assessing data.
"With today's operations, they wanted to be extra safe, extra precautionary, and have the crew move into the safe haven posture," the spokesperson said.
NASA Spokesperson Bethany Stevens then said on social media, "NASA has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station."
In a statement cited by Russian state media, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said that while pressurising the transfer chamber, known as PrK, a leak was recorded.
(With AFP and AP inputs)
