Thursday 05 / March / 2026
Some 20,000 seafarers and around 15,000 cruise ship passengers are stuck in the Persian Gulf amid the Middle East war triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, the French AFP newspaper has said, citing the UN's International Maritime Organization.
The IMO's secretary-general, Arsenio Dominguez, told AFP that his agency "is ready to work with all stakeholders to help ensure the safety and well-being of the seafarers affected."
His remarks came as Greek seafarers began a 24-hour strike affecting local ferry services in protest at the stranding of crews in the Gulf amid the war.
They have also called for the area to be declared a war risk zone to enable their repatriation.
Debris from intercepted drones injure 6 in Abu Dhabi
Debris fell at two locations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital of Abu Dhabi on Thursday, causing minor and moderate injuries to six Pakistani and Nepali nationals, the UAE's media office reported.
Doha comes under renewed aerial attack
Several blasts have rocked the Qatari capital of Doha after the Gulf country's Defense Ministry said its military was at work intercepting an incoming missile attack.
This comes just hours after Qatari Premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani took Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, for Iran's actions as it attacks Gulf countries with missiles and drones in retaliation for the US and Israeli air campaign against it.
Al Thani told Araghchi that Iran was seeking to "harm its neighbors and drag them into a war that is not theirs."
Doha-based journalists from the French AFP news agency said Thursday's blasts were some of the most intense in the city since the Middle East war erupted on Saturday.
