Iran executes 39 people as Hormuz crisis worsens

China's commerce ministry on Saturday described as "preliminary" the tariff, agricultural and aircraft deals agreed during U.S. President Donald Trump's two-day state visit to Beijing that concluded on Friday, marking China's first public characterization of the trade talks' outcomes amid questions over what the first U.S. state visit to China in nearly a decade delivered. The ministry said both sides agreed to establish an investment board and a trade board to negotiate product-specific tariff reductions and address non-tariff barriers in agricultural trade. Trump has claimed China agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft, though analysts have questioned the lack of a timeline, and the ministry confirmed arrangements on aircraft purchases and U.S. assurances on the supply of aircraft engines and parts without elaborating on volumes, values or specific timelines. Speaking aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though China gave no indication it would weigh in on the matter. Iran has effectively shut the strategic waterway, which carried one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supply before U.S. and Israeli airstrikes launched on February 28, creating what analysts describe as the biggest oil supply crisis in history and pushing crude prices to around $109 per barrel. The U.S. military said that as of Saturday, 78 commercial ships had been redirected and four disabled to ensure compliance with a U.S. port blockade, while Iran has said it will not unblock the strait until the U.S. ends its blockade, with a Tehran official announcing a mechanism to manage traffic along a designated route for commercial vessels cooperating with Iran. Pakistan has been mediating between Washington and Tehran, though talks on ending the war have been stalled since last week when Iran and the U.S. each rejected the other's most recent proposals. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran would welcome Chinese input but did not trust the U.S., which has curtailed previous rounds of talks by launching airstrikes. The conflict has exacted a heavy toll, with thousands killed in Iranian strikes and additional casualties in Lebanon from fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, though Israel and Lebanon agreed on Friday to a 45-day extension of their ceasefire. Iran's judiciary announced Saturday that 39 people had been executed for collaborating with Israeli or U.S. intelligence agencies since the war began.