US-IRAN WAR: CEASEFIRE IS 'OVER'

Iran's judiciary said that no American prisoner had been released or exchanged from its prisons, Iranian state media reported on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump said a US citizen detained during the Biden administration in 2024 had been freed.

The judiciary said checks showed no convicted American prisoner, person accused of spying for the United States matching Trump's description, or any other American detainee had been released from Iranian prisons or exchanged.

The White House on Thursday said Iran continues to talk to the US and wants to make a deal.

"The reason for the recent strikes over the course of the last several days is because Iran violated the memorandum of understanding that we struck with them," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.

"Specifically, in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and unfortunately they have made the tragic decision for them to do that.

Leavitt said that the Strait of Hormuz is open for ships that are not traveling to or from Iranian ports and that the US Navy remains there "to ensure that can take place."

Iranian news agencies on Thursday reported that the United States launched strikes around Iran's Gulf island of Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz, as renewed hostilities flared between Washington and Tehran.

The Fars news agency reported an "American missile strike in the vicinity of Qeshm", citing local authorities, while Tasnim said one of its correspondents reported locations around the island "were struck by projectiles from the American enemy".

Iranian state TV also reported that the port city of Bandar Abbas was targeted by the "American enemy's aggression" on Thursday evening.

Dubai Media Office said there had been no sounds of explosions in downtown Dubai, after witnesses earlier reported hearing booms in that area.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz told his US counterpart Pete Hegseth early Thursday that Israel is determined to keep its forces in "security zones" it has carved out inside Lebanon and Syria.

In a statement, Katz's office said the two men spoke overnight and the minister "emphasised Israel's determination to remain in the security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon in order to protect Israel's borders and the communities near the border from the threats".

"We have never asked the United States to act in our place along our borders," Katz said.

Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US war on Iran continued to drive “negative consequences” on the global economy, Al Jazeera reported, adding that the Kremlin is in touch with Iranian officials regarding the ongoing escalation with the US.

“All of this is fraught with continuing negative consequences for the global economy, which cannot but cause concern,” Peskov said, calling the economic situation “rather dire”.

Peskov gave no details of the contact but told reporters that Iranian authorities have not requested a phone call with President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has called on Iran and the US to refrain from escalation.

Iran has asked Yemen's Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, three sources told Reuters on Thursday, posing a potent new threat to global energy supplies.

The idea has been discussed within the Islamic Republic's leadership, and the message has been conveyed to Iran's Houthi allies, two senior Iranian sources and a regional source familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The sources said the Houthis had been informed recently of Tehran's request, which has not been previously reported.

They did not give further details on how it had been conveyed or whether it was after US President Donald Trump's threat to attack Iranian power infrastructure on Tuesday.

Iran's foreign ministry and a spokesperson for the Houthi group were not immediately available to respond to Reuters' request.

India has ordered shipowners, ship managers and recruitment companies not to deploy the country's seafarers on vessels undertaking trips through the Strait of Hormuz amid renewed fighting in the region.

"No deployment of Indian seafarers on vessels undertaking voyages involving passage through the Strait of Hormuz until further orders," the Directorate General of Shipping said in an order issued late Wednesday.

"In view of the heightened security situation in the Persian Gulf region ... the Directorate considers it necessary to adopt enhanced precautionary measures to safeguard the interests of Indian seafarers serving on board ships operating in the region," the order said.

Vice President JD Vance has accused Israel of funding campaigns to ruin US negotiations with Iran to end the war, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday.

"You have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal," Vance told the Joe Rogan podcast.

"A bunch of people who have quite literally been paid by a former Trump campaign person who was himself paid by certain elements within the Israeli government. And those people are attacking me viciously," he said.

There was no immediate response from Israeli officials to the allegation.