• LPG prices rise in India after Hormuz disruptions.
• Modi urges citizens to prefer metro travel, carpooling.
• Modi urges virtual meetings to save energy and fuel.
  

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the people of India to cut down on petrol and diesel consumption amid supply disruptions due to the Middle East war.

India is one of the few countries in the region that has not increased the prices of petrol and diesel for domestic consumers or rationed supplies.

But it has increased prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) — a primary cooking fuel in this country — after disruptions following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which led to Iran’s near-total blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“We have to reduce our use of petrol and diesel. In cities with metro lines, we should try to travel by metro…If we must use a car, then we should try to carpool,” he said, addressing a gathering in southern Telangana state.

He added that restrictions on use were also necessary to save foreign currency spent on fuel imports.

“We must also place a strong emphasis on saving foreign exchange, as petrol and diesel have become so expensive globally.”

Modi also urged people to resume energy-saving schemes that were in place during the Covid pandemic.

“We should prioritise work from home, online conferences, and virtual meetings again,” he said.

• Proposal put forward by US would formally end war.
• Qatari tanker passes Strait of Hormuz towards Pakistan.
• US criticises allies over lack of support to reopen strait.
  

Iran has sent its response to a US proposal to begin peace talks to end the war, the Irna news agency reported on Sunday.

The Irna report said the response, sent to mediator Pakistan, would focus at this stage on ending the war, but no details were immediately available.

After some 48 hours of relative calm following sporadic clashes last week, hostile drones were detected over several Gulf countries on Sunday, underlining the threat still facing the region despite a month-old ceasefire.

The proposal put forward by the United States would formally end the war before the start of talks on more contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme.

Trump under pressure to end war

With US President Donald Trump due to visit China this week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the war, which has ignited a global energy crisis and poses a growing threat to the world economy.

But, despite diplomatic efforts to break a deadlock between the two sides, the threat to shipping lanes and the economies of the region remained high.

On Sunday, the UAE said it intercepted two drones coming from Iran, while Qatar condemned a drone attack that hit a cargo ship coming from Abu Dhabi in its waters. Kuwait said its air defences had dealt with hostile drones that entered its airspace.

Tehran has largely blocked non-Iranian shipping through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried one-fifth of the world’s oil supply and which has emerged as one of the central pressure points in the war.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al‑Thani, who discussed Pakistan’s mediation efforts to end the war with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Miami on Saturday, told Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that using the Strait of Hormuz as a “pressure tool” would only deepen the crisis.

He told Araghchi in a phone call that freedom of navigation should not be compromised, the Qatari foreign ministry said on Sunday, without specifying the exact date of the call.

Iranian lawmakers have said they are drafting a bill to formalise Iran’s management of the strait, with clauses including forbidden passage to vessels of “hostile states”.

Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the strait since a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire began a month ago. The UAE came under renewed attack on Friday, and sporadic clashes were reported between Iranian forces and US vessels in the strait.

US berates allies for not helping to reopen strait

Washington imposed a blockade on Iranian vessels last month but Tehran has so far taken its time before responding to calls to end a war that surveys show is unpopular with US voters facing ever-higher gasoline prices.

A CIA assessment indicated Iran would not suffer severe economic pressure from a US blockade for about another four months, according to a US official familiar with the matter.

A senior intelligence official characterised as false the “claims” about the CIA analysis, which was first reported by the Washington Post.

The US has also found little international support in the conflict, with Nato allies refusing calls to send ships to open the Strait of Hormuz without a full peace deal and an internationally mandated mission.

After meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday, Rubio questioned why Italy and other allies were not backing Washington’s efforts to reopen the strait, warning of a dangerous precedent if Tehran were allowed to control an international waterway.

Britain, which has been working with France on a proposal to ensure safe transit through the strait once the situation stabilises, said on Saturday it was deploying a warship to the Middle East in ​preparation for such a multinational mission.

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force has stated that Iran’s advanced missiles and aerospace drones are fully locked on American targets and enemy ships across the Persian Gulf region, with forces standing by for the final order to strike.

“The missiles and aerospace drones are locked on the enemy and we are waiting for the firing order,” Brigadier General Seyyed Majid Mousavi said in a statement posted on social media on Saturday evening.

The senior IRGC commander’s statement comes amid escalating US provocations in the Persian Gulf and sends a crystal-clear message that the Islamic Republic will not tolerate further American aggression.

This firm warning follows the IRGC’s recent decisive response to hostile American actions. After US forces launched strikes on Iranian ships and tankers near Jask, the IRGC Navy swiftly mounted a precise and overwhelming counter-operation using anti-ship ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and high-explosive drones.

The Iranian strikes inflicted heavy damage on enemy assets and forced the US vessels to flee the area in disarray.

Iranian officials have condemned these reckless US maneuvers as a dangerous threat to regional maritime security and international navigation.

The IRGC Navy has stressed that the only safe and authorized corridors for transit through the strategic Strait of Hormuz are those designated by the Islamic Republic. Any deviation or hostile move by foreign forces will be met with firm, immediate, and decisive confrontation.

Exercising complete and intelligent control over this vital waterway, the IRGC Navy continues to protect Iranian vessels while safeguarding the security of the Persian Gulf.

The IRGC remains fully prepared and on high alert, ready to respond at a moment’s notice to protect Iran’s interests and the security of the Persian Gulf.