Two tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, including an LNG carrier at risk of explosion, as huge crowds mourning Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ​thronged the holy city of Qom.

Qatar blamed Iran for the attack on a huge Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker, the Al Rekayyat, which reported being struck overnight by a drone that caused ‌a fire in its engine room.

The crew were safe and being evacuated, but maritime security sources briefed on the incident told Reuters the fire on board could put the ship at risk of blowing up.

A Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker, believed to be the supertanker Wedyan, was also damaged off Oman’s coast, maritime security sources said. The cause was not immediately clear.

“Mayday mayday mayday. This is vessel Al Rekayyat, LNG vessel Al Rekayyat. We are being hit by drone on port side, top of engine room,” the Qatari tanker’s captain said ​in a recorded radio call reviewed by Reuters. “Status: engine room fire and full of smoke. Unable to assess further damage.”

Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari called the incident an unacceptable attack on the ​security of international navigation and global energy supplies, and a clear violation of international law.

He called on Iran to immediately halt actions threatening regional security and maritime navigation, ⁠and said Tehran bore full legal responsibility for the attack and any resulting damage or consequences.

There was no immediate comment from Tehran, or any claim of responsibility. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial indications ​were that Iran had fired at two commercial vessels.

The incidents were the first reported attacks in the strait since mourning for Khamenei began last week, proof of the ongoing insecurity for Gulf shipping more than four months after the United ​States and Israel launched a war they said would stop Iran threatening its neighbours.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS TAKE TO STREETS IN QOM

Iran’s clerical rulers have exerted newfound control over the world’s most important energy shipping route, where they aim to install a permanent system to collect fees in what would amount to a huge shift of the balance of power in a region where Washington has long acted as guarantor of security.

At home, the leadership has used the mourning period to demonstrate its control after Khamenei was killed alongside his ​daughter, granddaughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law on the first day of the war.

The caskets of the slain leader and family were driven through the streets of the seminary city of Qom on Tuesday, where many hundreds of thousands of ​people carried flags and banners comparing Khamenei to martyrs whose deaths are foundational to the Shi’ite sect.

In chants they vowed to avenge Khamenei. Some bore placards and banners reading “KILL TRUMP”.

A similar huge funeral procession was held in the streets of Tehran on ‌Monday, following more ⁠solemn prayer events that began last Friday, attracting top figures in Iran’s leadership and dignitaries from abroad. Authorities say the leader’s body will be taken to Shi’ite holy cities in neighbouring Iraq, then brought back to Iran and laid to rest in a mediaeval shrine.

TRUMP: ‘MAKE A DEAL OR WE’RE GOING TO FINISH THE JOB’

The war has been paused under an interim peace deal reached last month, intended to provide a 60-day period for negotiations on a permanent deal. A round of indirect talks in Qatar concluded last week with no sign of headway towards a lasting peace.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to resume bombing, most recently on Monday when he told reporters in the Oval Office: “We’re either going to make ​a deal or we’re going to finish the job…. We ​can knock down their bridges in one hour, ⁠we can knock out their energy supply.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that under the terms of the interim ceasefire memorandum, negotiations on the final deal would “not commence if threats continue”.

“Honor your signature,” he wrote on X.

Oil prices , which have returned to around the pre-war level since last month’s interim deal let ships resume sailing through the strait, ticked ​up around 1% on Tuesday following the incidents in the waterway.

In launching the war four months ago, Trump said his aims were to destroy Iran’s nuclear and ​missile programmes, end its ability to ⁠threaten its neighbours and create conditions for Iranians to topple their leaders.

None of those objectives has been met, although Washington says a permanent deal will halt what it says is an Iranian programme that could make a nuclear weapon, which Iran says it never sought.

Despite five days of mourning, there has still been no sign in public of Khamenei’s son and successor Mojtaba, believed to have been disfigured by wounds in the same attack and yet to be shown in any image ⁠since the war ​began. Three other sons of the slain leader prayed at the casket on Sunday.

Iran’s leaders have portrayed the mass funeral gatherings as proof ​of national unity following the U.S.-Israeli attacks, although it is difficult to assess how deep that loyalty runs in a country where media and communications are tightly controlled.

Just weeks before the war started, Iran’s authorities killed thousands of demonstrators to put down some of the biggest anti-government ​protests in the country’s history, but there has been no sign of organised opposition in Iran since the war began.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) erased early gains on Tuesday as selling pressure wiped out an opening advance, bringing the benchmark KSE-100 Index into the negative by the close of trading.

The market opened strong, with the benchmark index jumping more than 600 points in early trading, touching an intraday high of 188,126 points, suggesting ongoing investor optimism.

However, as the afternoon progressed, the market was hit by profit-booking and selling pressure, and the index gave up its gains.

The KSE-100 Index closed at 186,255 points, down 1,199 points from the previous session.

The sudden turnaround occurred a day after the market had achieved substantial gains. The benchmark index gained 2,082 points on Monday to conclude at 187,454 points, continuing its bullish run.

Market players will continue to track economic trends, business results and policy announcements for direction in the coming sessions.

– A leading billionaire Arif Habib has pledged a Rs125 billion investment to resuscitate and upgrade Pakistan foreign Airlines (PIA), unveiling an ambitious plan to expand the national carrier’s fleet, re-establish foreign operations and make it into a competitive airline.

Addressing a function in Karachi, Habib said the investment is aimed at transforming PIA into a model national carrier that can compete in the regional and worldwide markets.

He said he reassured Chief of Army Staff and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that the airline will be restored to its previous status with consistent investment and professional management.

Flights in the US expected to resume

Habib expressed hope that the PIA flights to the United States would be resumed later this year after the completion of the relevant regulatory and operational processes.

He also claimed that no employee of the PIA would be laid off during the first year of the transaction under the sale and purchase agreement of the government.

Plan for fleet growth

The billionaire blamed the PIA’s demise on years of underinvestment, administrative inefficiencies and poor management, which he said had hit the airline’s foreign network hard.

He also announced plans to induct five additional aircraft every year in the coming years with an aim to increase the number of operational aircraft to 60 during the next five years.

Habib said PIA currently has 18 active aircraft in operation, with another four to five aircraft in the existing fleet to be restored and put back in service.

Share repurchase

Habib added that payment for 66.66 percent of the airline’s shares had also been paid under the government’s Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA).

He said the remaining 33 percent of the shares would be paid in one year, according to the provisions of the deal.

The investment plan is anticipated to be focused on fleet modernisation, operating efficiency and the expansion of PIA’s international footprint as part of the wider efforts to enhance the country’s national airline.