Indicating that India-bound vessels could soon receive safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s ambassador to India on Friday said that Tehran will try its “best to remove the problems”, The Indian Express reported.

“I think you can expect good news in the near future,” the newspaper quoted Mohammad Fathali as telling reporters in New Delhi about whether Iran would allow India-bound ships safe transit through the strait.

“India and I are friends…We have common interests, we have common faith,” Fathali said. “Suffering of the people of India is our suffering and vice versa. And for this reason, the Government of India helps us, and we should help the Government of India…”

Since the conflict in West Asia began on February 28, Iran has effectively blocked the strategic Strait of Hormuz for most international commercial vessels. The narrow waterbody that connects the Gulf to the Arabian Sea and is the world’s biggest oil chokepoint. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through it.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

  • About 1.7 lakh passengers have returned to India from West Asia since the conflict started, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday.
  • United States President Donald Trump on Friday said that Washington had bombed “every military target” on Iran’s Kharg Island. The island is an 8-km stretch of land off the Iranian coast that handles about 90% of the country’s crude exports. Trump also threatened to attack the island’s oil infrastructure if Iran continued blocking ships from traversing the Strait of Hormuz.
  • “Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every military target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” Trump said. “Our weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated that the world has ever known but, for reasons of decency, I have chosen not to wipe out the oil Infrastructure on the Island.”
  • In India, IndiGo airline said it will levy fuel charges ranging from Rs 425 to Rs 2,300 on domestic and international flight tickets from Saturday, citing the rise in the price of jet fuel. The charges will be Rs 425 for domestic flights and those within the Indian subcontinent, Rs 900 for flights to West Asia, Rs 1,800 for South East Asia, China and Africa, and Rs 2,300 for Europe.
  • Akasa Air also said that it will introduce a fuel surcharge ranging from Rs 199 to Rs 1,300 on domestic and international routes for booking made from Sunday.
  • Lebanon condemned an Israeli strike on a primary healthcare centre in Burj Qalawiya in the southern part of the country that killed 12 medical staff, Al Jazeera reported. The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health also reiterated its “condemnation of the ongoing violent approach against health workers, which contradicts all international humanitarian laws”, Al Jazeera quoted the country’s National News Agency as saying.
  • A missile struck a helipad inside the US embassy compound in Baghdad, AP quoted two security officials from Iraq as saying. The embassy complex, which is one of the largest US diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones fired by Iran-aligned militias.

The conflict

The conflict in West Asia began on February 28 after Israel and the US launched a joint operation to “degrade the capabilities” of the Iranian government.

Tehran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in other Gulf countries and some ships.

The joint attacks by Israel and the US on Iran came amid tensions between the three countries over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance.

Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Also read: The Iran war is starting to hit India’s small manufacturers