Greek-owned tanker leaves Persian Gulf for India after Hormuz passage

The United Arab Emirates said on Friday it retains the right to defend itself against Iran after accusing Tehran of carrying out more than 3,000 missile and drone attacks since February 28.

Speaking at a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in India, UAE Minister of State Khalifa bin Shaheen Almarar said Emirati air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones targeting civilian infrastructure including airports, ports, oil facilities and residential areas.

He also accused Iran of disrupting international shipping routes and using the Strait of Hormuz as a tool of “economic blackmail.”

Ahmad Alamolhoda, firebrand Friday prayer leader of the religious city of Mashhad, said the United States would suffer greater losses if fighting resumes, adding that Iran’s forces were better prepared than at the start of the war.

“If America wants to continue the war, it will certainly suffer a greater defeat,” Alamolhoda said.

“We were somewhat caught off guard at the start of the war, but now our fighters are more prepared.”

Alamolhoda also said US air defense systems failed to intercept Iranian missiles and argued the conflict had damaged Washington’s standing as a global power.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he told Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar that Tehran would continue its “historical duty” in securing the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route.

“In fruitful engagement with my host Dr. S. Jaishankar, discussed regional developments and clarified that Iran will always carry out historical duty as protector of security in Hormuz,” Araghchi wrote on X.

Araghchi added that “Iran is a reliable partner of all friendly nations, who can rely on safety of commerce.”

A support vessel owned by Malaysian firm Vantris Energy passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, shipping data showed, becoming the fourth Malaysian-linked ship to transit the waterway since the outbreak of the US-Iran war.

The Sapura 1200 was among seven vessels Kuala Lumpur sought Iranian permission to move through the strait, which has been largely restricted since fighting erupted in late February, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The vessel hugged Iran’s coastline before entering Oman’s Muscat port, according to LSEG shipping data.

Competition for jobs in major Iranian cities has intensified since the ceasefire, with the number of job seekers rising faster than available positions, Nournews reported citing data from recruitment platform Job Vision.

Shiraz recorded the sharpest increase among surveyed cities, with competition for jobs rising 4.8-fold, followed by Mashhad at 3.5 times and Qom and Isfahan at 3.4 times, according to the outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Tehran registered a 2.7-fold increase in competition among job seekers, as pressure on Iran’s labor market deepened after the truce.