TEHRAN -- Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has appointed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president's office, in a post on social media platform X. (Iran-SNSC-New Head)
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TEHRAN -- The Navy Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Alireza Tangsiri, said on Tuesday that any vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz must fully coordinate with Iranian maritime authorities.
Writing on X, Tangsiri said IRGC naval forces had blocked a foreign container ship, identified as the "SELEN," after it failed to comply with required protocols and obtain a transit permit. (Iran-Hormuz Strait-Control)
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DOHA -- QatarEnergy on Tuesday declared force majeure on several long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts following recent attacks on gas facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Al Jazeera reported.
The report said the declaration affects customers in Italy, Belgium and South Korea.
The move comes after recent attacks on Qatar's main LNG production hub disrupted about 17 percent of the country's LNG export capacity, according to Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs and QatarEnergy CEO Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, who announced the damage on March 19. (Qatar-QatarEnergy-LNG)
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CAIRO -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Tuesday discussed efforts to de-escalate regional tensions during separate phone calls with his Kuwaiti and Jordanian counterparts, as conflict continues across the Middle East.
Abdelatty and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah emphasized the need to prioritize diplomacy and intensify efforts to contain current tensions, according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. (Egypt-Phone Calls-Mideast Tension)
