Israel shifting to strikes on economic targets in Iran - Times of Israel

Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has targeted a container ship it identified as "Express Room", calling it an Israeli-owned vessel navigating under a third country's flag.

A Liberian-flagged vessel named "Express Rome" was sailing in the Persian Gulf en route from Khalifa Port in the United Arab Emirates to Dammam in Saudi Arabia, according to MarineTraffic data from around 10 hours earlier.

On March 11, the IRGC similarly claimed it had struck the same container ship.

Talks with Iran are continuing and progressing well, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.

"Despite ⁠all of the ‌public ​posturing you hear from ​the regime and ⁠false reporting, talks ‌are continuing and ​going well. What is said ‌publicly is, of ​course, much different than what's being communicated ​to us privately," she said.

She said the movement of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, including 10 previously announced vessels and a further 20 expected in the coming days, was the result of direct and indirect talks between the United States and Iran.

Leavitt said President Donald Trump wants to see a deal by April 6 and that the timeline is nearing its end.

She added that President Donald Trump would be interested in calling on Arab countries to help cover the cost of the war.

United Nations experts said on Monday that any effort to end the war between the United States, Israel and Iran must prioritize the human rights of people in Iran, warning that recent strikes have worsened an already severe situation.

“The people of Iran are under attack from outside and from within,” the experts said.

They said military strikes by the United States and Israel had increased civilian casualties, displacement and pressure on infrastructure, while longstanding human rights concerns persisted.

“The US-Israeli military strikes not only violate the UN Charter but have dramatically worsened these conditions and intensified internal repression,” they said.

The experts also pointed to executions, restrictions on civil liberties and limited access to information, including a prolonged internet shutdown.

“An end to the war is urgent and necessary but it will not on its own resolve Iran’s human rights crisis,” they said.

They called for any diplomatic process to include the release of detainees, restoration of internet access, accountability for violations and broader protections for civilians.

Iran's security forces killed thousands of protesters in Mashhad and Isfahan during the January 8–9 protests, among the deadliest days of the nationwide uprising.

The third episode of “A Massacre in Iran” examines the nights of killings in Mashhad, Najafabad, and Isfahan, including previously unseen footage.

Narrated by Iran International’s Farnoush Faraji, the documentary draws on eyewitness accounts and local sources.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said Tehran, in separate letters to the UN secretary-general and the Security Council, urged the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait to prevent the use of their territories for attacks against the country.

“Iran has expressed its strong and unequivocal protest against the aforementioned illegal actions and strongly calls on the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait to observe the principles of good neighborliness and to prevent the continued use of their territories against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” state media quoted Amir Saeid Iravani as saying.

He added that Iran reserves the right to take all necessary measures, including self-defense, to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.