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New Delhi says attack that sank Indian-flagged ship off Oman’s coast ‘unacceptable’

New Delhi condemned an attack that sank an Indian-flagged vessel transiting through Omani waters as “unacceptable” on Thursday and said commercial ships should not be targeted amid the US-Israeli war with Iran. The attack on the dhow — a wooden vessel — occurred while it was sailing from Somalia to the United Arab Emirates in the early hours of Wednesday, causing a fire on board that eventually led to the ship sinking, New Delhi said. All 14 crew members were rescued by the Omani coast guard and taken to Diba port, India added. India did not specify the nature of the attack or identify who was responsible. However, British maritime risk management group Vanguard said the explosion was believed to have been caused by a drone or missile strike. The vessel was carrying livestock cargo, Vanguard said. “The attack on an Indian-flagged ship off the coast of Oman yesterday is unacceptable and we deplore the fact that commercial shipping and civilian marin...

Iran warns of 'ferociously' respond to any US attack, even limited strikes

Iran said Monday that a US attack of any scale would spur the Islamic republic to respond "ferociously", after President Donald Trump said he was considering limited strikes against the country. The United States has built up forces in the Middle East to pile pressure on Iran to make a deal at negotiations due to restart on Thursday, with Trump weighing a limited strike if no agreement is reached. On Monday Iran's foreign ministry reiterated that any strike, even limited, would be "would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period". "And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defence ferociously so that's what we would do," ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a briefing in Tehran attended by an AFP journalist. The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland on Tuesday under Omani mediation. Further talks, confirmed by Iran and Oman but not by the United States, are scheduled for Thursday. The European Union, which has been sidelined in mediation on Iran, called for a diplomatic solution ahead of the talks. "We don't need another war in this region. We already have a lot," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers. "It is true that Iran is at its weakest point that they have been. We should be really using this time to find a diplomatic solution." Iran's clerical authorities have faced recent steep challenges, including a wave of mass protests that peaked in January, last year's 12-day war with Israel, and the weakening of Iran's regional proxies.  Fears of conflict  Iran has, however, insisted only discussions on the country's nuclear programme are on the table at mediated talks. The West believes the programme is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the negotiations for Iran, while the United States is represented by envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump is wondering why Iran has not "capitulated" in the face of Washington's military deployment, Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News broadcast over the weekend. Baqaei responded Monday by saying that Iranians had never capitulated at any point in their history. Trump had initially threatened military action over the violent crackdown on the protests that rights groups say saw thousands of people killed by security forces, but his attention soon shifted to Iran's nuclear programme. Scattered anti-government protests have continued in the country, despite the threat of suppression and arrests. Students rallied to commemorate those killed in competing pro- and anti-government demonstrations as the university semester restarted over the weekend. Iranians' fears of a new conflict have grown and the concerns have also prompted several foreign countries to urge their citizens to leave Iran. India on Monday joined Sweden, Serbia, Poland and Australia in calling for its citizens -- estimated at 10,000 in the country by the foreign ministry -- to leave Iran.

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