Iranian merchant union says 44 seafarers killed since war began 

At least 44 Iranian seafarers have been killed and 29 wounded since the start of the war, according to the head of Iran’s merchant marine union, Al Jazeera reported. Saman Rezaei, general-secretary of the Iranian Merchant Mariners Syndicate, told Al Jazeera on Friday that the dead included 22 civilian sailors, 16 fishermen and six dock workers killed between February 28 and April 1. Al Jazeera said it could not independently verify the list of deaths, which Rezaei said had been compiled by Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organisation and members of his union.