Thane: Three persons have been arrested for allegedly breaking into a house and decamping with gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 36 lakh in Navi Mumbai, police said on Saturday.

The crime branch made the arrests on March 10 within 24 hours of the burglary that occurred at a residential building in the Kalamboli area, an official said.

According to the police, the accused broke into the flat on the evening of March 9 and stole gold and silver ornaments and cash worth about Rs 36 lakh.

A case of theft and break-in was registered, and following investigation, the crime branch zeroed in on the trio and apprehended them from Daighar village in Thane district, the official said.

The accused, Pawan Rohidas Jadhav (25), Sumit Rohidas Jadhav (22), and Shivaji Jagan Rathod (23), were caught with the stolen valuables, he said.

New Delhi: Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Fathali’s words of reassurance that India will receive safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will certainly gladden Indian hearts. The Iranian envoy to India told reporters that “changes would be seen in two-three hours,” suggesting that ships carrying Indian oil and Indian nationals may be safe while going through the Strait.

The reality isn’t that simple. India is dependent on 40% of its oil from the Strait of Hormuz, but there’s a catch. Energy experts say that Indian ships do not pick up oil from the Strait but have so far outsourced it to foreign tankers.

The main reason for this is insurance. Due to the Strait being so geopolitically sensitive, insurance costs are very high, and therefore Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) or BPCL prefer to outsource it.

There is another advantage to outsourcing the oil to foreign tankers – Indian oil companies do not have to own the fleet.

India could attach its flag to the foreign tankers, but naval regulations state that there must be a minimum number of Indian crew members on the ship, along with other regulations that have to be met before the Indian flag can be put on the tanker.

If there is no flag, there is no way that an Iranian ship can detect if a ship is carrying Indian oil or not.

Coming to Indian crew members, India is one of the top three nations in the world that supplies sailors.

Government data shows the number of Indian sailors has grown from around 1.25 lakh a decade ago to more than three lakh now. Indians now comprise around 10–12% of the total number of sailors in the world.

The problem for India is that most of the Indian crew members work on oil tankers, containers, LPG vessels and bulk carriers on foreign tankers and are at great risk when naval warfare takes place.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has confirmed three Indian seafarers died, with four others injured in maritime attacks around the strait amid escalating hostilities. Naval experts believe the figure is likely to be much higher.

Despite these problems, some level of coordination seems to be taking place between India and Iran.

Agency reports said that on Thursday, the Suezmax tanker Shenlong, carrying Saudi crude, arrived at a port in Mumbai after transiting the strait. The Liberia-flagged vessel was the first crude carrier to reach India from the Middle East since the war between Iran and the United States and Israel broke out in late February, according to LSEG data.

The customer is state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp.

But the lack of a formal agreement between the Iranian Navy and tankers carrying Indian oil suggests the Iranian envoy’s assurance does not guarantee a safe maritime corridor.

An MEA official says talks are on to make this happen, but so far Iran has not provided such assurance. In turn, Iran wants assurance from New Delhi that it will provide a joint statement from BRICS nations condemning the US-Israeli aggression.

India currently holds the chairmanship of BRICS, and so far there has been no joint statement. This has not been viewed well by Iran, which is a full member of BRICS.

Tehran, March 14: Iran on Saturday accused the United States of double standards over Russian oil, saying that Washington was now “begging” countries to purchase the same crude it had earlier tried to block through pressure and sanctions.

In an X post, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi slammed the US, alleging that it had spent months pressuring India to halt imports of Russian oil but had now shifted its position as tensions with Iran disrupted global energy markets.

“The US spent months on bullying India into ending oil imports from Russia,” Araghchi wrote on X. “After two weeks of war with Iran, the White House is now begging the world — including India — to buy Russian crude.”

He also took aim at European governments, accusing them of supporting what he described as an “illegal war” against Iran in the expectation that such backing would help them secure stronger US support in their standoff with Russia.

“Europe thought backing illegal war on Iran would win US support against Russia. Pathetic,” Araghchi said in the same post.

The Iranian foreign minister shared his remarks alongside a headline from the Financial Times, which reported that the surge in global oil prices was providing Russia with a major boost in revenue.

Araghchi’s comments came after the Trump administration on Thursday announced a 30-day waiver allowing countries to purchase certain Russian oil cargoes currently stranded at sea.

The measure was introduced as part of efforts to ease volatility in global energy markets after crude prices surged beyond $100 per barrel amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The waiver was announced after benchmark oil prices crossed the $100 per barrel mark following supply disruptions linked to the war and Iran’s decision to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime route through which a significant portion of the world’s oil shipments pass.

According to the US Treasury Department, the temporary licence permits the delivery and sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products that had already been loaded onto vessels as of March 12. The authorisation will remain valid until midnight Washington time on April 11.

The latest move comes after a similar 30-day waiver issued on March 5 that allowed India to purchase Russian oil cargoes that were stuck at sea, giving importers limited flexibility to secure supplies during the ongoing crisis.

Amid the disruption, Iran has now granted safe passage to Indian-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz despite the wider restrictions imposed on global shipping, and an LPG tanker sailing to India crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.

The development follows a series of high-level diplomatic engagements between India and Iran, including phone conversations between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday to review the rapidly evolving situation in the West Asia region.