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Iran’s main gas pipeline hit by sabotage, oil minister says

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Two explosions along Iran’s main south-north gas pipeline network on Wednesday were caused by sabotage, the Iranian oil minister told state TV, without naming any suspects.

Authorities also denied reports that the incident caused gas cuts to industries and offices in some provinces, state media reported.

“This terrorist act of sabotage occurred at 1 am on Wednesday morning in the network of national gas transmission pipelines in two regions of the country,” Minister Javad Owji said.

Only villages near the damaged pipeline were experiencing gas outages, which will be fixed later today, Owji said. Temporary restrictions had been planned ahead for maintenance, state media reported.

Owji pointed to a similar incident which took place in 2011, which he said was an act of sabotage that caused temporary gas outages in four different regions in the country.

While such attacks are rare in Iran, Arab separatist militants in Iran claimed in 2017 that they had blown up two oil pipelines in coordinated attacks in the country’s western Khuzestan province.

In December, Iran executed five people whom it accused of being saboteurs with links to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service in a decades-long shadow war that has seen Tehran accuse Israel of attacks on its nuclear and missile efforts, charges the latter has never confirmed or denied.

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Pakistan to host talks with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt amid Iran war diplomacy

Turkish Foreign Minister ⁠Hakan Fidan said the meeting would seek to establish a mechanism aimed at ​de-escalation.

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Pakistan ​will host Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt for talks from Sunday ‌on the Iran war as Islamabad positions itself as a potential venue for U.S.-Iran negotiations on the month-old conflict, Reuters reported.

The four countries’ foreign ministers will hold “in-depth discussions on a range of issues, ​including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region” during the two-day talks, ​Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Turkish Foreign Minister ⁠Hakan Fidan said the meeting would seek to establish a mechanism aimed at ​de-escalation.

“We would discuss where the negotiations in this war are heading and how ​these four countries assess the situation and what can be done,” he told broadcaster A Haber late on Friday.

The four nations have been involved in trying to mediate between Washington and ​Tehran in the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28, ​and all are acutely vulnerable to threats to energy supplies and trade routes.

Pakistan has conveyed to ‌Tehran ⁠a U.S. proposal for ending the war and offered to host talks, with Iranian officials indicating any negotiations could take place in Pakistan or Turkey.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said talks with Iran were going “very well,” but Tehran denies talking with ​Washington.

Iran has been reviewing ​the 15-point U.S. ⁠proposal, although one official has dismissed it as “one-sided and unfair”. Its demands range from dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme to curbing ​its missile development and effectively handing over control of the ​Strait of ⁠Hormuz, according to sources and reports.

Turkey’s Fidan told an Istanbul conference on Saturday that the world’s new “polycentric system” requires a solution to guarding vital energy and trade routes. ⁠He ​said Turkey’s high-level dialogue aims to swiftly chart ​out “actionable steps” to end the war before there is further destruction to the region and global economy.

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Twelve US troops wounded in Iran strike on base in Saudi Arabia, US official says

Earlier on Friday, ​the U.S. ​military ⁠said 273 of them had ​already returned to ​duty. ⁠Thirteen U.S. troops have been killed in ⁠the ​conflict.

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Twelve U.S. troops were wounded, ​two of them ‌seriously, in an Iranian military strike on Prince ​Sultan Air Base ​in Saudi Arabia, a ⁠U.S. official told ​Reuters on Friday.

The latest ​casualties add to the more than 300 U.S. ​military service members ​who have been wounded since ‌the ⁠war against Iran started on February 28. 

Earlier on Friday, ​the U.S. ​military ⁠said 273 of them had ​already returned to ​duty. ⁠Thirteen U.S. troops have been killed in ⁠the ​conflict.

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Trump extends deadline for striking Iranian energy plants to April 7

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U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new extension of his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy plants, after Iran rejected his ​15-point proposal to end the war he launched with Israel.

Iran gave no direct indication that it was ready for negotiation or compromise. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement reaffirming that all shipping “to ‌and from ports of allies and supporters of the Israeli-American enemies” to any destination was prohibited.

The war has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands of people and causing the biggest disruption in history to energy supplies, hitting the global economy with soaring oil, gas and fertiliser prices that have fuelled inflation fears.

The U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 during talks with Tehran about its nuclear programme that had not yet yielded a deal. Attacks on Israel by Iran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah then triggered an Israeli onslaught there that has displaced a fifth of Lebanon’s population.

On Thursday, Trump threatened during ​a cabinet meeting to increase pressure on Iran if it did not make a deal. He later posted on social media that he would pause threatened attacks on Iranian energy plants for 10 days until April 6 at ​8 p.m. Eastern daylight time (0000 GMT on April 7).

“Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well,” ⁠he added in his Truth Social post.

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