MUSCAT, Apr 05 (AFP): Oman and Iran held talks on easing passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the Omani state news agency reported Sunday, with the key shipping chokepoint effectively closed due to war in the Middle East.
"Oman and the Islamic Republic of Iran held a meeting at the deputy ministers level in the foreign ministries of the two countries, with the attendance of specialists from both sides, during which the possible options were discussed regarding ensuring the smooth passage through the Strait of Hormuz," the news agency posted on X.
"The experts from both sides put forward a number of visions and proposals regarding it," it added.
Israel renews strikes on
Lebanon, forces Syria
border crossing to close
Israeli strikes on south Beirut and its suburbs killed at least four people on Sunday, a day after Israel threatened to hit Lebanon's main border crossing with Syria, forcing it to close.
The Israeli military also carried out deadly attacks on Lebanon's south, one of which killed seven people including a family of six.
Israel has launched airstrikes across Lebanon as well as a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when armed group Hezbollah entered the war in the Middle East on the side of its backer Iran.
Hezbollah on Sunday claimed to have fired a cruise missile at an Israeli warship off the coast, but the Israeli military told AFP it was "not aware" of such an incident. One of Israel's strikes in Beirut on Sunday killed at least four people and wounded 39 in the Jnah neighbourhood, the Lebanese health ministry said.
It landed about 100 metres away from a public hospital, a medical source told AFP. Another attack struck a building elsewhere in Jnah that the Israeli military had warned it would target.
Former UN nuclear watchdog
head urges stop to
Trump's bombing
A former director of the United Nations nuclear watchdog urged Gulf nations on Saturday to prevent Donald Trump from turning the region into "a ball of fire" after the US president's latest threat to Tehran.
"To the Gulf governments: Please, once again, do everything in your power before this madman turns the region into a ball of fire," Mohamed El-Baradei, who led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1997 to 2009, wrote on X.
In a separate post also referencing Trump's ultimatum to Iran that it will face "all hell" unless it strikes a deal, El-Baradei tagged UN and European Union accounts, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron.
"Nothing can be done to stop this madness?!" he wrote, also tagging the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries.
Trump said Saturday that Iran must make a deal or reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked since US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28 sparked a larger regional war.
"Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT," Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to a previous ultimatum issued on March 26.
"Time is running out -- 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them." El-Baradei, an 83-year-old former Egyptian vice president, led the IAEA during the start of public controversy surrounding Iran's nuclear program.