Top updates: Iran fires at three ships in Strait of Hormuz hours after Trump extends ceasefire

Iran opened fire on three container ships in the Strait of Hormuz hours after United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he was extending the ceasefire with Tehran until the country comes up with a proposal to permanently end the war in West Asia.

Trump made the announcement hours before a two-week ceasefire, which began on April 8, was due to expire.

However, Mahdi Mohammadi, advisor to the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, said that the extension of the ceasefire “means nothing”, Al Jazeera reported. “The losing side cannot dictate terms,” he asserted. “The continuation of the siege is no different from bombardment and must be met with a military response.”

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

• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated on Wednesday that it opened fire on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz after it “ignored the warnings of the Iranian armed forces”, reported the AP. The ships, MSC Francesca and Epaminondas, were “seized” off the coast of Iran, reported the Iranian state-owned news agency Tasnim.
• A third ship, named Euphoria, was also “grounded off the coast of Iran” by the military later.
• On the ceasefire, the US president said: “Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of [Pakistani...

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