29 April,2026 10:09 AM IST | Washington | mid-day online correspondent
US Marines intercepted M/V Blue Star III in the Arabian Sea, confirmed no Iran port call, and released the vessel. PIC/X
The US military said Tuesday in a social media post that it boarded and released another commercial ship that was suspected of heading for Iran.
The post by US Central Command on X included a video showed marines fast-roping from a helicopter onto the vessel, which it said was the Comoros-flagged M/V Blue Star III. It happened in the Arabian Sea, east of the Strait of Hormuz.
"US forces released the vessel after conducting a search and confirming the ship's voyage would not include an Iranian port call," the command said.
The command said it has now redirected 39 vessels since start of the blockade on ships going to and from Iranian ports.
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross has arrived in Iran to meet with officials and local affiliates and assess the war's humanitarian consequences.
Mirjana Spoljaric will also discuss efforts of the Geneva-based humanitarian organisation to ship more relief supplies to Iran, notably through the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
The ICRC says it delivered more than 170 tons of essential relief items to help people affected by the conflict this month, with more medical items and forensic supplies on their way.
Her visit is part of a trip through the region that involves bilateral discussions to help ensure respect for the rules of war, the organisation said.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said on Tuesday that GCC states have rejected Iran's illegal measures to close the Strait of Hormuz and obstruct navigation through the waterway.
The statement was made at the 19th Consultative Meeting of GCC leaders held in Saudi Arabia's port city of Jeddah on Tuesday.
Albudaiwi said the leaders also rejected any measures that would negatively affect navigation through the strait, including the imposition of fees on ships passing through it, reports Xinhua news agency.
The leaders stressed the need to restore security and freedom of navigation in the strait and return conditions there to what they were before February 28, he added.
Albudaiwi said the GCC leaders directed the GCC General Secretariat to expedite the completion of requirements for all joint GCC projects, including transport and logistics services, and to accelerate the implementation of the GCC railway project.
He said the leaders also highlighted the need to take steps toward establishing an oil and gas pipeline project and a water interconnection project. They also called for moving forward with studies on establishing areas for GCC strategic reserves, he said.
India has condemned the attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital to its energy and economic security, and called for restoring free navigation.
"Commercial shipping must not be the target of military attacks, and such attempts are deplorable", India's Deputy Permanent Representative Yojna Patel told the Security Council on Tuesday.
Patel did not mention any country by name but alluded to Iran by recalling that India co-sponsored a Council resolution brought by Bahrain that condemned in the "strongest terms" Tehran's attacks on its Middle East neighbours.
"It bears mention in this context that India had co-sponsored UNSC resolution 2817, which was adopted on 11th March", she said.
Iran has attacked Indian ships and a vessel bound for it, and in assaults on ships of other countries, at least three Indian sailors have died.
The US has also set up a blockade in the Hormuz region.
Britain's King Charles and Donald Trump hailed their countries' longstanding ties at a White House state dinner Tuesday, despite the US president claiming the monarch agreed with him on Iran's nuclear weapons.
Over a lavish meal, Charles echoed the tone of his earlier speech to Congress in which he urged London and Washington to stick together, without directly mentioning the tensions over the US-Israeli war with Tehran.
But in his toast to a gala dinner attended by tech titans and golfer Rory McIlroy, Trump made his first public comments on the sensitive topic during the four-day visit by the British royals.
"We have militarily defeated that particular opponent," Trump said at the White House dinner. "Charles agrees with me even more than I do, we're never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon."
Trump has repeatedly lambasted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his opposition to the Iran war, and there is no indication that King Charles has shown support for the US leader's stance.
Nevertheless, both leaders strongly praised the "special relationship" between Britain and Washington, putting aside however briefly the transatlantic tensions.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will face tough questions from lawmakers about the Iran war on Wednesday during his first testimony to Congress since the start of the conflict.
Hegseth's appearance before the House Armed Services Committee will be for a hearing on President Donald Trump's USD 1.5 trillion defense budget request.
Lawmakers from both parties have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the information provided in classified briefings on the war, setting up a potentially fiery public hearing in which top US military officer General Dan Caine is also set to testify.
(With AP, IANS, and AFP inputs)
