LiveIsrael threatens entire Iran train network; Trump warns Iran could be ‘taken out’ on Tuesday

Singapore faces risk of slower growth, higher inflation as Middle East conflict drags on: DPM Gan

Singapore’s economic growth in the coming quarters is likely to be affected by the ongoing conflict, and inflation is expected to be higher than earlier estimated, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong on Tuesday.

He told Parliament that the impact of supply disruptions and higher prices of energy as well as raw materials will cascade through the economy, pushing up business and transport costs and consumer prices.

Singapore will not be able to insulate itself completely from the crisis, and must respond with a coordinated, multi-agency effort to cushion the impact on its people and economy, he added.

DPM Gan noted that while many sectors will be hit, some will feel it more than others.

DPM Gan, who also heads the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), said the ministry will continue to monitor economic developments closely and will update its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast in May.

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PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Bridge connecting Saudi Arabia, Bahrain temporarily closed: Authorities

The major traffic artery connecting Saudi Arabia and the island nation of Bahrain was temporarily closed as a precaution, authorities said Tuesday, after security alerts were issued in the area.

“The movement of vehicles across King Fahd Bridge has been suspended as a precautionary measure,” said the General Authority for King Fahd Causeway in a post online. The causeway is a 25km series of bridges connecting the two countries.

Meanwhile, a petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia’s eastern city of Jubail was also hit in overnight attacks, a source on the ground told AFP on Tuesday.

Jubail is home to one of the world’s largest industrial cities, where steel, gasoline, petrochemicals, lubricating oil and chemical fertilisers are produced.

“An attack caused a fire at the SABIC plants in Jubail. The sounds of explosions were very loud,” the source told AFP, referring to the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation.

Israel threatens entire Iran train network

Israel’s military issued a warning to Iranians not to use trains, saying that doing so “endangers your life”.

The military’s Farsi channel on X said: “Dear Citizens, for the sake of your security, we kindly request that from this moment until 21:00 Iran time, you refrain from using and traveling by train throughout Iran.

"Your presence on trains and near railway lines endangers your life.”

PHOTOS: ARASH KHAMOOSHI/NYTIMES, SCREENGRAB FROM IDFFARSI/X

News analysis: Who will blink first in the Middle East conflict?

Iran’s hardline regime is known to have compromised only twice in its 47-year history. And US President Donald Trump is well-known to climb down after issuing outsized threats, all in the name of negotiations.

As it stands, the US has threatened to launch massive strikes after 8am on April 8 (Singapore time) and destroy Iran’s infrastructure – power plants and bridges – by midnight.

Iran has not publicly flinched. Even as talks facilitated by regional mediators continue behind the scenes, it says it will bomb Arab nations’ energy and water facilities if attacked.

Mr Trump’s conditions for a ceasefire, after several flip flops during the war – which is into the 39th day – have boiled down to two key asks: Iran must never own a nuclear weapon and it must let ships sail the Strait of Hormuz freely again.

So, will Mr Trump force Iran to capitulate or will he blink first as the clock ticks down on his latest ultimatum?

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PHOTO: REUTERS

Malaysian ship secures safe transit through Hormuz

One of seven Malaysian-owned commercial vessels previously stranded in the Strait of Hormuz has been “granted safe passage” and is heading to its destination, Bloomberg reported Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying.

Iran has cleared seven Malaysian tankers to traverse the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a flashpoint of the war in the Middle East.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on details of the vessel that sailed through and the others still stranded.

“Malaysia remains firmly committed to the principle of freedom of navigation, safety and security of maritime passage, in accordance with international law,” the ministry said Tuesday in a statement.

Separately, the Strait of Hormuz’s closure and the resulting surge in global oil prices have handed financial windfalls to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia, while other states that lack alternative shipment routes have lost billions of dollars, a Reuters analysis found.

Although Iran has control over the Strait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates can bypass it via pipelines and ports. By contrast, oil from Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar has been trapped as the countries lack alternative routes to international markets.

Parliament to discuss Middle East conflict

Singapore’s MPs filed over a hundred questions for the Government to answer today, with the bulk of them related to the conflict in the Middle East.

Three ministers - Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who is also Trade and Industry Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam, and Acting Transport Minister and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow - are scheduled to make statements on the situation.

They are expected to discuss measures to cushion the war’s impact on Singaporeans.

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PHOTO: MDDI

Philippines says second national confirmed killed in Middle East war

The Middle East war has claimed its second Philippine victim, Manila said on Tuesday.

A missile struck the home of a Filipina living in Israel and she was killed in the port city of Haifa on Sunday “alongside her Israeli husband and elderly parents-in-law”, the foreign affairs department said, without naming the victims.

Israeli news outlets identified the Filipina victim’s given name as Lucille-Jean, saying that she and her family had been pulled from the rubble of their collapsed residence following an hours-long rescue effort.

Ms Mary Ann Velasquez De Vera, a 32-year-old caregiver, became the war’s first Philippine fatality on March 1 as she attempted to escort her elderly ward to an Israeli bomb shelter.

At least two million Filipinos who live in the Middle East have found themselves in the crossfire since the United States and Israel launched their attack on Iran on Feb 28.

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PHOTO: EPA

Oil shock sends Philippine inflation surging to 20-month high

The Philippines’ inflation spiked in March to the highest in nearly two years as the war choked energy supply and pushed up fuel prices.

Consumer prices accelerated 4.1 per cent last month from a year ago, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Tuesday. That exceeded the median estimate of 3.8 per cent in a Bloomberg News survey and the 2.4 per cent recorded in February.

The South-east Asian nation is vulnerable to the Iran war because it imports almost all of its oil needs from the Middle East. Oil prices have surged after Iran tightened its grip over traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz, forcing nations like the Philippines to scramble for supply.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has said inflation would likely breach the 4 per cent ceiling of its target range this year.

Still, it maintained its policy rate in an off-cycle meeting last month, saying that monetary policy has “limited effectiveness” against supply shocks.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s government has been trying to blunt the impact of the oil shock by delaying transport fare hikes and negotiating with manufacturers to stabilise costs of basic goods.

PHOTO: EZRA ACAYAN/NYTIMES

Qatar LNG ships appear to abort bid to exit Strait of Hormuz

Two loaded liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers that had seemingly aborted an attempt to exit the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz are now headed in the direction of Qatar.

The Al Daayen switched its intended destination to the emirate’s Ras Laffan late Monday, and is now traveling westward into the gulf, ship-tracking data show. Rasheeda signaled it’s waiting for orders while sailing in the same direction. Both tankers had said they were headed to Pakistan late on Monday.

Traders have been monitoring the tankers, as no LNG cargo has passed through Hormuz since the US and Israel began strikes on Iran in late February, although an apparently empty LNG carrier passed through the chokepoint over the weekend.

Transit through Hormuz would be a shot in the arm for Qatar, even as the country’s Ras Laffan export plant has been shut for more than a month due to Iranian attacks. It would allow the emirate to send more shipments that are already loaded and waiting within the Persian Gulf, or offload fuel from storage.

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Air New Zealand raises fares, cuts flights as fuel costs bite

Air New Zealand said on Tuesday that it would slash flights across May and June, and hike fares as jet fuel costs surge amid the Iran war.

The airline said the flight consolidations, its second such move in nearly a month, would affect around 4 per cent of flights and 1 per cent of total passengers due to travel across May and June.

“Like airlines globally, we’re experiencing jet fuel prices that are more than double what they would usually be,” its spokesperson said.

Affected customers will be notified from 2100 GMT Monday (5am Tuesday, Singapore time), with all notifications completed by the end of the week.

PHOTO: REUTERS