Starmer to visit Middle East after US and Iran reach ceasefire deal
Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US as he travelled to meet with leaders of countries in the Gulf, BBC reported.
The prime minister is expected to "discuss diplomatic efforts to support and uphold the ceasefire", according to No 10. He will return to the UK on Friday.
The ceasefire comes after Donald Trump threatened "a whole civilisation will die" if Iran did not agree to end the war and unblock the Strait of Hormuz - comments that led Downing Street to call again for "de-escalation".
700,000 oil barrels reach Thailand through Strait of Hormuz
On Wednesday, Thai energy conglomerate Bangchak Corporation said that an oil tanker transiting through the Strait of Hormuz last month arrived in the Bangchak Sriracha Refinery port Tuesday night in Thailand.
It arrived with about 700,000 barrels of crude oil saying now it holds enough oil to sustain about two months of production, AP reported.
US journalist Shelly Kittleson released after kidnap in Iraq, officials say
Iran-backed militia group Kataib Hezbollah said earlier on Tuesday that it would release Shelly Kittleson, who was taken on 31 March, on the condition that she leave Iraq immediately, BBC reported.
Rubio said the release "reflects the Trump Administration's steadfast commitment to the safety and security of American citizens, no matter where they are in the world".
He thanked Iraqi officials for help securing her release and said the US is now "working to support her safe departure from Iraq".
Intelligence report warned of Iran's 'persistent threat' to U.S. as White House downplayed the risk
The FBI warned U.S. state and local law enforcement of an elevated threat posed by Iran's government to targets in the United States last month even as the White House sought to downplay the likelihood of an attack, a law enforcement intelligence report shows, Reuters reported.
In the March 20 report, the FBI and other federal intelligence agencies cautioned that Iranian government "poses a persistent threat" to U.S. military and government personnel and buildings, Jewish and Israeli institutions, and Iranian dissidents in the United States. Despite those warnings, the FBI and National Counterterrorism Center had not identified broad threats to the American public, the report said.
U.S. President Donald Trump publicly has minimized the possibility of Iranian attacks on American soil in response to other intelligence assessments in recent months.
