Iran warHighlights: US sanctions Iranian crypto exchange BitBank over Strait of Hormuz payments

The US Treasury sanctioned Iranian cryptocurrency exchange BitBank, controlled by sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani.

Washington accused BitBank of processing payments for ships seeking safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

BitBank allegedly routed hundreds of millions of dollars to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

BitBank was allegedly used to transfer payments to Iran’s newly established Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority.

Treasury described BitBank as a key part of Iran’s digital-asset-based sanctions-evasion network.

"Our fighters will not open the Strait of Hormuz until they bring the criminal Trump and the bloodthirsty Netanyahu down from the seat of power," Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, the political adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said according to Iranian state broadcaster IRNA. (CBS)

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the situation in the Middle East during a phone call on Thursday.

The conversation focused on developments in the Middle East amid the ongoing conflict involving the US and Iran.

The call came days before Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump are expected to meet in Washington.

Beijing is seeking to mediate in the conflict between Tehran and Washington.

US officials met Yemen’s Houthis in Oman over the weekend, Reuters reported citing five sources familiar with the meeting.

The meeting was reportedly held at the US Embassy in Muscat, with Oman helping organise the talks.

The talks came days after the Houthis seized a strategic stretch of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including the port of Mocha and Perim Island.

Houthi representatives reportedly told US officials they would not attack American vessels and remained committed to the 2025 US-Houthi ceasefire.

One source said the Houthis also pledged not to attack Israeli ships or commercial vessels, except those belonging to Saudi Arabia.

The US delegation was represented by embassy personnel, according to two sources. (Reuters)

Saudi Civil Defense said debris from an intercepted Houthi drone killed one person and injured two others in Taif province.

The person killed was Yemeni, while the injured were a Saudi citizen and a Pakistani national.

Drone debris also damaged vehicles and buildings, according to Saudi officials.

The statement did not specify when the incident occurred.

The incident comes amid escalating tensions between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis on Wednesday of attempting to target Mecca with a drone.

The Houthis denied targeting Mecca, while Iran condemned attacks on Islamic holy sites and urged against escalating tensions.

UN-backed human rights experts cited the two strikes as the basis for its war-crimes allegations against the US.

The two US strikes in Iran allegedly killed at least 178 civilians, including women and children.

The strikes took place on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

One strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, southern Iran.

The Trump administration has not directly accepted responsibility for the school strike and has not released findings of a Pentagon investigation.

The UN-backed team said the school was a “clearly identifiable” civilian target.

The second strike targeted a sports complex and residential area in Lamerd, southern Iran.

The experts said missiles used in the Lamerd strike dispersed tungsten pellets over the area.

China has privately asked Iran to use its influence over Yemen’s Houthis to help curb the group’s activities, according to Reuters citing three Iranian sources.

The request came after Saudi Arabia appealed to Beijing to intervene, the sources said.

Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by phone with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi about the changing security situation in the Middle East, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

During their conversation on Tuesday, the two officials agreed that carrying out the memorandum of understanding reached between Iran and the United States would be the most effective way to ease tensions in the region, according to a statement issued on Thursday. Grossi also offered technical assistance from the IAEA to support implementation of the agreement, should it be required, the statement said.

Iran gave a Swedish diplomat in Tehran 48 hours to leave the country on Thursday after Sweden expelled a staff member from the Iranian embassy in Stockholm.

The Swedish ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry in Tehran to protest against the Swedish decision, which is "unjustified and contrary to international law", Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement broadcast by state television.

(AFP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has discussed regional developments in a telephone call with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, while visiting Beijing, according to the Tasnim news agency.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Thursday that Seoul had not yet decided whether to deploy military forces to the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.

Cho made the remarks to reporters before leaving for Washington, where he is due to hold talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

His comments came after South Korea’s presidential Blue House said Seoul was reviewing practical ways to contribute to operations in the strait, including possible military measures.

Reuters had previously reported that options under consideration included deploying a maritime patrol aircraft, a logistics support vessel or a mine detection and clearance unit.

The Blue House has also rejected suggestions that South Korea had provided no assistance related to Hormuz, saying such claims were “not true.”

US officials met representatives of Yemen's Houthis in Oman over the weekend, five sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, days after the Iran-backed militia seized a strategic stretch of the Red Sea coast in a sweeping offensive that routed Saudi-backed forces.

The meeting, which has not been made public, was held at the US Embassy in Muscat, three of the sources said on the condition of anonymity. Two sources said that Oman's government, a longtime regional mediator, helped organise the meeting.

Trump is expected to meet leaders or foreign ministers from the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. The State Department sent initial invitations Wednesday, Axios reported.