Iran-US war life: Tehran warns of more fighting after Germany says it expected Trump’s withdrawal of US troops

Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Sarv Shakti, loaded with 46,313 ⁠metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas for India, ⁠crossed ​the ⁠Strait of Hormuz ⁠on Saturday, India’s shipping ​ministry ⁠said.

The vessels ‌with 20 crew members on ‌board, 18 ‌of them Indian, is expected ⁠to arrive at the Indian port of Visakhapatnam on May 13, it said ‌in a ​statement said.

Two top Republican lawmakers expressed concern on ​Saturday about the Pentagon’s decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Nato ally Germany.

“We are very concerned by the decision to withdraw ⁠a U.S. brigade from Germany,” U.S. Senator Roger Wicker and U.S. Representative Mike Rogers said in a joint statement.

Wicker, a Republican elected from Mississippi, and Rogers, from Alabama, chair the ⁠Senate and House Armed ​Services Committees, ⁠respectively.

Their statement was issued a day after the Pentagon announced the withdrawal and said the ⁠move was expected to be completed over the next ​six ⁠to 12 months.

Wicker and Rogers said that any significant change to the US military’s presence in Europe must be reviewed and coordinated with Congress and US allies.

“We expect the Department to engage with its oversight committees in the days and weeks ahead on this decision and its implications ‌for U.S. deterrence and transatlantic security,” they said ​in the statement.

Iranian authorities must release Nobel Peace Prize ⁠laureate Narges ​Mohammadi ⁠to her dedicated medical team ⁠so she can ​urgently ⁠receive treatment ‌as her life remains at risk, the ‌head of the ‌Nobel Peace Prize committee told Reuters on ⁠Saturday.

The health of Mohammadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her campaign for human ‌rights in Iran ​in 2023, ‌has “deteriorated seriously”, said ⁠Joergen Watne Frydnes, ⁠citing her family ‌and lawyer.

Lebanese ​armed forces commander general Rudolf Haykal and US general Joseph Clearfield met in Beirut to discuss ⁠the ​security situation ⁠in Lebanon and regional developments, ⁠the army ​said ⁠on Saturday ‌in a statement.

Clearfield heads a committee ‌monitoring a US-backed ceasefire in fighting between Israel ⁠and Iran-backed Hezbollah. The participants at the meeting underlined the importance of the Lebanese army’s ‌role and the ​need to ‌support ⁠it during the current ⁠phase, the statement ‌said.

China has issued an injunction to block US sanctions imposed on five Chinese refiners accused of buying Iranian oil, according to Xinhua, Beijing’s state news agency.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce named the five as Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, and so called ‘teapot’ refineries Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group, Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group, Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical and Shandong Shengxing Chemical.

In April, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Hengli Petrochemical, accusing it of buying billions of dollars in Iranian oil, in an escalation of Washington’s long-running effort to curb Tehran’s oil revenue.

The Trump administration last year imposed sanctions on the other four refineries named by the ministry, among others.

The US sanctions violate “international law and the basic norms of international relations,” the ministry said, announcing that it had imposed the injunction.

The US president and the German chancellor have locked horns. Spain has shunned Washington. The Nato alliance is more fragile than it has ever been.

Western powers are determined to see off Russian military “hard” power; they are familiar with “soft power” operations to undermine democracies. But how to deal with the Kremlin’s relationship with Donald Trump is now an emergency.

Working out a response to internal frictions within Nato has become a conundrum, not only for leaders in the alliance but for the military officials who have to figure out how to keep the military machine operational.

A weakened Nato serves only the interests of the enemies and rivals of the West.

Top of the list of beneficiaries is Vladimir Putin, but China will enjoy the latest spats between Trump and Germany’s Friedrich Merz almost as much.

The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:

Poland’s prime minister has said Nato is “disintegrating” in a post on X.

Donald Tusk wrote on social media: “The greatest threat to the transatlantic community are not its external enemies, but the ongoing disintegration of our alliance. We must all do what it takes to reverse this disastrous trend.”