West Asia

The United States paused its attacks on Iran for a second straight day Sunday and Tehran said it had done so too, as efforts continued to bring the countries back to negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire. It was not clear why the US has paused after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran's firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon did not respond to questions Sunday. US President Donald Trump is "giving talks some space. He's giving it a little bit of room," Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News. "We've had both Oman and Iran, and a number of our other negotiators, engaged at every level, from the most senior levels all the way down to the technical level over the past few weeks, and particularly in the past few days." Waltz dismissed the idea that the US stockpile of interceptors crucial in defending against Iranian .

The US military has paused its airstrikes on Iran after nearly two weeks of intensifying bombing, while diplomatic efforts have pushed forward to try to avert a return to all-out war. But it remains to be seen whether the US and Iran are at an inflection point in a mercurial conflict that will reach the five-month point Tuesday. President Donald Trump both has threatened more strikes and said talks are pressing on, all while brushing off concerns that rising gas prices tied to the fighting could hurt Republicans in November's midterm elections. Adding to the uncertainty is the impact of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned visit with Trump next week in Washington. Israel, which launched the war alongside the US on Feb 28, has been notably absent from the renewed American attacks over Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor through which 20 per cent of the world's oil normally flows. "The Iranians understand that perhaps it could get

Business activity weakened as sales and output growth moderated while inflationary pressures intensified amid renewed tensions in West Asia

Before the war in Iran, roughly 15 million barrels of Persian Gulf oil were shipped each day through the Strait of Hormuz. Within a few years, much of that oil could bypass the strait. As Iran's chokehold over the strait drags on and oil prices surge, countries across the Gulf are planning to spend billions of dollars to build pipelines enabling them to redirect more supplies to ports along the Red Sea, Suez Canal and Gulf of Oman. At least seven major pipeline projects are under construction, in the planning stage or being discussed as possibilities, according to government officials, oil companies and analysts. Even alternatives to Hormuz can become vulnerable, as Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have shown this week with a stated blockade on Saudi-linked vessels attempting to transit the Red Sea. But the war has been a wake-up call for Gulf oil producers, who are determined to become less dependent on a transit point that hugs Iran's coast. Some alternative routes will take th

Iranian strikes have exposed the Gulf's dependence on desalination plants. Here's why these facilities are vital, vulnerable during conflict, and what a disruption could mean for the region

State-run oil refiners reported quarterly losses as higher crude oil prices, weak fuel marketing margins and LPG under-recoveries weighed on earnings

The legislation allows US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of as much as 100 per cent on the top five purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas, essentially targeting China and India

Fighting is spreading across West Asia as the US intensifies strikes on southern Iran, Tehran retaliates across the Gulf, and key energy and shipping routes come under growing threat

Trump has threatened to attack Iran's Pickaxe Mountain after reports claimed Tehran moved centrifuges to the underground site near its Natanz nuclear facility

Higher crude prices, a weaker rupee, elevated insurance costs and delayed fuel price hikes are expected to weigh on the June-quarter earnings of state-run oil marketing companies

The basic idea behind the liberalised FCNR (B) scheme and other such measures is to attract foreign-currency flows, which will help RBI build foreign-exchange buffers at a time of global uncertainty

The Houthis have declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, a move that could affect oil exports, shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and global energy markets

India's crude oil import bill climbed to $14.7 billion in June as elevated global crude prices amid supply disruptions outweighed a decline in import volumes

The rupee slipped to a two-month intraday low as higher crude oil prices and West Asia tensions weighed on sentiment, with likely RBI intervention helping limit losses

India on Sunday advised its nationals to postpone travel to Iran until the security situation improves and urged those already in the country to consider leaving through available commercial flights amid rising instability and conflict. In a revised travel advisory, the Indian Embassy in Tehran underlined that the "recent days have seen an increase in levels of instability and conflict in Iran", necessitating heightened caution for Indian nationals. "Indian nationals intending to travel to Iran for any purpose should postpone travel for the time being, until the security environment improves," the mission said. It advised Indians already in Iran to consider temporarily exiting the country using available flight options. Those choosing to remain in Iran have been asked to exercise the "highest possible level of caution", the embassy said. "They should carefully monitor the news to maintain full situational awareness, and should avoid locations seeing higher levels of military activ

The United States began a new round of airstrikes early Monday targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member, and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighboring Israel. Step by step, the US and Iran have inched closer to all-out war as last month's interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people. The U.S. military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the "controlled detonation" of a downed Iranian drone. US launches ninth night of Iran strikes ---------------------------------------- Earlier, the military said its strikes targeted Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to retaliate for Friday's killing of troops in Jordan. One service member was missing after that attack, and the military's new statement said "unidentified rema

The US military says two troops are dead and one is missing after Iranian attacks on a base in Jordan. They are the first US deaths due to direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war. A statement says they were killed Friday as the US and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. These are the first US deaths due to Iranian fire since the opening days of the war. It says four other service members who were were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals were later discharged. The dead were not identified.

Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in a new statement warned of "unforgettable lessons" if US continues attacks. The statement attributed to Khamenei, still unseen since the war began, was read out on state television. He also called US President Donald Trump's signature "worthless and invalid," after an Iranian negotiator earlier Saturday said Tehran was suspending its commitments to the interim deal signed by both countries about a month ago. The deal was aimed at permanently ending the war.

The United States and Iran exchanged strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets on Saturday as an Iranian negotiator said Tehran had suspended its commitments under the interim deal with the US -- snapping another fragile thread as the war shows no end in sight. The battle over the Strait of Hormuz intensified in a conflict increasingly focused on control of the essential waterway that previously carried a fifth of the world's crude oil. The widening strikes threatened civilians and services to them, while the global economy again was on alert. The US Central Command said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes hit "surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities." The US has violated its commitments under the deal that was signed about a month ago and now Iran is "no longer implementing them," Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, told state TV. Kuwait sees the most striking ...

The United States and Iran exchanged strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets on Saturday as their battle over the Strait of Hormuz intensified. The region has endured days of back-and-forth attacks in a conflict increasingly focused on control of the strait, an essential waterway that used to carry a fifth of the world's crude oil. The collapse of an interim ceasefire leaves no clear end in sight for the war that the US and Israel began more than four months ago. The US Central Command said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes had hit "surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities." The most significant damage on Saturday occurred in Kuwait after Iran struck a water desalination plant and an oil facility, according to the Kuwait authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Both declined to provide locations. The strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire