LIVE: Iran seizes two ships in Strait of Hormuz: Report

Iran hanged a man on Wednesday over alleged ties to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency as Tehran continues a series of executions during the war, and after nationwide protests in January.

The Mizan news agency of Iran's judiciary announced the execution of Mehdi Farid.

It described Farid as working for a “sensitive state organisation” and passing information to the Israeli spy agency.

It said Farid was convicted in Iran's Qom province.

There have been multiple executions of alleged spies recently, as well as protesters and those affiliated with an Iranian exiled opposition group.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard reportedly opened fire Wednesday on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, damaging the ship.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the attack happened around 7:55 am in the strait and targeted a container ship.

The UKMTO said a Guard gunboat did not hail the ship before firing. It said no one was hurt and there was no environmental impact from the attack.

Iran did not immediately acknowledge the assault.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Germany on Tuesday that the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are not distant events, they are stark realities with direct implications for India's security and economic stability.

Addressing the German Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence and Security on day one of his three-day visit to the country, he also asserted that the world today is faced with new security threats, and the technological transformation has made the situation highly complex and intricately connected.

A new approach with the willingness to adapt to the changing environment is the need of the hour, the minister said.

Singh also made a strong pitch for enhanced collaboration between the defence industrial ecosystems of India and Germany.

"For a developing country like India, which relies on the West Asian region for a significant share of its energy requirements, disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are not distant events, they are stark realities with direct implications for our security and economic stability," Singh said.

He reiterated that the two nations are not only strategic partners, but also consequential voices in shaping the global discourse of the present times.

"We are established democracies bound by shared values and dynamic economies driven by resilience, innovation and a determined industrial spirit. As lawmakers and esteemed members of the Committee, your guidance, voice and support can further strengthen and enrich the future course of our defence and strategic cooperation," the minister said.

Singh pointed out that the current geopolitical instability can no longer be viewed as regional matters.

Their consequences are global in scope, he said, describing them as not localised disturbances, but serious developments with far-reaching implications for energy security, food security and global economic stability, apart from the immense humanitarian cost they entail.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Tuesday urged for negotiations to shore up a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon and called on Israel to respect its neighbour's territorial integrity after talks in Paris.

Lebanon and Israel are to hold a new meeting in Washington later this week.

“We should allow time for negotiations and not let the war resume,” Macron said, adding that consolidating the truce in Lebanon was an immediate priority.

Broader regional stability, Macron said, “can only be achieved through an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the disarmament of Hezbollah,” an Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.

Salam said Lebanon remains committed to direct negotiations with Israel.

“We are continuing along this path, convinced that diplomacy is not a sign of weakness but a responsible act,” he said, adding that the talks would require sustained international support.

Still, Salam insisted that “there can be no lasting stability without a complete Israeli withdrawal” from Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah began firing missiles into Israel in early March, just two days after the US and Israel launched the war on Iran. Israel had responded with heavy bombardment and a ground invasion.

The meeting at the Elysee presidential palace came after the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, came under attack from small arms fire on Saturday, leaving one French peacekeeper dead and three others wounded, two of them seriously.

Both Macron and the UNIFIL force have blamed Hezbollah, which has denied involvement.

Macron said France is ready to maintain its military on the ground, alongside international partners, in a potential follow-up force that could take over from UNIFIL. The peacekeeper mission's term expires at the end of the year, in line with a vote of the UN Security Council in August.

The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group said in a statement Tuesday it had fired rockets and drones at Israeli forces for the first time since a 10-day truce took effect Friday “in response to the blatant and documented violations” by Israel, which it said include “attacks on civilians and the destruction of their homes and villages in southern Lebanon.”

US-Israeli bombardment eliminated Iran's supreme leader and much of the nation's top echelons, but the Islamic Republic's leadership didn't fall apart. Negotiations to end the war offer it a new test.

For decades, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei managed several powerful factions, bringing to heel those who challenged his authority.

It's now unclear who wields that kind of authority over the civilian figures and powerful generals from the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who appear to be in charge.

They have found unity — for now — by taking a tough line. But disagreements over how much to concede in negotiations with the US could reveal fault lines as Pakistani mediators try to host a new round of talks.

After Israeli strikes killed Khamenei the first day of the war, his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded him. But doubts persist over the younger Khamenei's role after reports he was wounded in the strikes. He has not appeared in public since.

The White House said in a statement that in light of the president's announcement that he was extending the ceasefire and awaiting a proposal from Iran, Vance and the US negotiating delegation would not be traveling to Pakistan on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 erased an early rise to fall 0.6per cent after the US vice president called off his trip to Pakistan for negotiations with Iran.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 293 points, or 0.6per cent, after erasing an earlier gain of 400 points, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.6per cent. Less than 10 minutes after the US stock market finished trading for the day, Trump said he would extend the ceasefire to give Iran time to submit a proposal to end the war.

Oil prices also wavered before Trump announced the extension, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude went from less than USD95 to roughly USD100 during the day. It settled at USD98.48, up 3.1per cent.