US says it will permit the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products already loaded on vessels until 11 April, this a move to combat soaring price of oil. With Iran threatening to attack shipping in the Straits of Hormuz, US Navy is to provide escort to ships through the Straits. A US Air Force refuelling tanker crashed in Iraq with Iran claiming to have shot down the plane. The Air Force however says it was not because of enemy fire.
Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader vowed to maintain the country’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and called for all US bases in the Middle East to close. A French soldier died in an attack in Northern Iraq.
