US-IRAN WAR: TRUCE AND TALKS

India has asked the US to extend its waiver on Russian oil, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter, as the ongoing conflict in the Persian Gulf disrupts energy supply.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations on Thursday said it received a report of an incident 38 nautical miles (70 km) northeast of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah.

It said the vessel was boarded by unauthorised personnel while at anchor and is now heading toward Iranian territorial waters.

Iran called on Brics member states to condemn what it says are violations of international law by the United States and Israel, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a statement on his Telegram account.

He also called on the Brics nations to prevent the politicisation of international institutions.

"The West's false sense of superiority and immunity must be shattered by all of us."

Brics nations include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.

The Israeli military issued an evacuation warning to residents of eight towns and villages in Lebanon's Bekaa region and the country's south ahead of possible strikes.

Hezbollah said that it has carried out multiple attacks targeting Israeli military positions in and around the southern Lebanese town of Biyyada, Al Jazeera reported, citing Lebanon’s National News Agency.

In statements reported by the agency the group said it struck Israeli soldiers and military vehicles inside the town, as well as forces moving from Biyyada towards Naqoura further south.

Hezbollah also claimed it hit an Israeli Merkava tank in the Tel al-Nahas area, located just outside Kfar Kila.

Israeli air strikes and artillery fire across several towns in southern Lebanon have left nine people injured, Al Jazeera reported, citing Lebanon's National News Agency.

The report said a series of overnight and early morning attacks hit multiple locations across the south of the country. In the Zibqin area, air strikes on residential neighbourhoods wounded nine civilians, including four women, all of whom were taken to hospitals in Tyre for treatment.

National News Agency also reported that a separate Israeli strike on the town of Aitit caused additional casualties.

The possibility that an entity other than Iran was responsible for the attack against a South Korean cargo vessel near the Strait of Hormuz is low, a senior official in Seoul was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency on Thursday.

South Korea is analysing intelligence shared by the US on the May 4 attack against South Korean shipper HMM's Namu vessel, which caused a fire and damaged the lower stern hull, Yonhap quoted a senior foreign ministry official as telling reporters.

"Once we go through the investigation and present the evidence, I trust that the Iranian side will respond in an appropriate way," the official said.

A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker managed by Japanese refining group Eneos has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data from LSEG showed on Thursday, the second instance of such a Japan-linked ship making it through.

Before the US-Israeli war on Iran largely disrupted oil supplies via the Strait of Hormuz, Japan relied on the Gulf for about 95% of its oil imports.

The Eneos-managed tanker is carrying 1.2 million barrels of Kuwait crude and 700,000 barrels of Emirati Das Blend oil loaded in late February, Kpler data showed. The vessel is expected to arrive in Japan on June 3, according to Kpler.

It was not immediately clear under what arrangements the tanker sailed through the Strait. Eneos, Japan's biggest refining group, declined to comment.