U.S.-Iran war appears to pause as Trump gives "diplomacy a chance"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters before leaving for a visit to Washington on Monday that he would discuss with President Trump "all the issues on the agenda, primarily Iran."

"Our goal is to maintain our security and also expand the circle of peace around us," Netanyahu said. "I am embarking on this mission with one clear goal - to ensure the security, strength and future of our precious State of Israel."

Netanyahu, who will also attend the funeral of former U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, said he would "pay my last respects to our friend, a true friend of mine and of the State of Israel."

Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and a key maritime chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz, dropped to its lowest level in months on Sunday after Iran's Houthi rebel allies in Yemen traded fire with Saudi Arabia, according to shipping intelligence firm Kpler.

The Houthis attacked oil installations along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast on Saturday and said their blockade of Saudi ports would remain in effect. The Houthis imposed their blockade last week in response to Saudi attacks on their infrastructure.

Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb had increased last week, as an alternative route for energy products with the Strait of Hormuz largely gridlocked, but Sunday saw only 11 commodity ships transit the passage, which Kpler said was the lowest level in months.

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has not rebounded.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he wants to avoid opening a "new front" after Ukraine's military struck an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea on Saturday.

"We have to be careful. We have to do everything we can to not open a new front in any way," Zelenskyy told Britain's Sky News on Monday. "But we have to be honest: the Iranians and the North Koreans have already attacked us."

Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian diplomatic representative in Tehran on Saturday to condemn the Ukrainian attack on an Iranian ship, which the ministry said killed one sailor and wounded another.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that the attack "cannot go unanswered."

Ukraine's security services said the target was "cargo ships that are subject to international sanctions and were used to transport military cargo between Iran and Russia."

Zelenskyy alluded to the attacks in a social media post, reporting "very good results from long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea."

Iran has supported Russia's war in Ukraine, selling drones including th