The United Arab Emirates on Friday blamed Iran for attacks on two vessels linked to its state-owned oil company as they passed through the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier.

Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait, frequently attacking commercial ships, and wants to charge users for passage, which the U.S. fiercely opposes.

Lebanon has formally abolished the death penalty, going against the grain in a region where Iran and Saudi Arabia are reportedly the second- and third-biggest executors globally, after China.

Here's a look at which countries in the Middle East and North Africa top the list of executioners, which have a moratorium on applying the death penalty, and whether others might follow Lebanon's example.

Human Rights Watch has called on the United Nations to keep an international force in Lebanon after its peacekeepers' mandate ends this year.

The peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, has roughly 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries, and has been in place since 1978.

More than 30 nations, including France, Britain and Canada, have condemned Iran's use of capital punishment, saying in a joint statement on Wednesday the Islamic republic was executing protesters to "silence dissent".

Russia and Ukraine swapped bodies of killed soldiers on Thursday, in one of the few areas of cooperation between the warring sides.

European stocks mostly rose Thursday as investors welcomed news of easing U.S. inflation, while oil prices fell back from recent gains amid uncertainty over the prospects for the Strait of Hormuz.

London's stock market, however, fell as shares in heavyweight mining companies retreated after copper giant Antofagasta downgraded its production outlook.

Libya has, within the span of a single day, had a senior intelligence official killed in a car bomb in the east and suffered drone attacks on a major oil refinery near Tripoli in the west.

Kuwait has arrested three Islamic State group members accused of plotting attacks on a Shia mosque as well as "vital facilities", a security source told AFP.

A senior Iranian official said on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz remains under the control of the Islamic republic after President Donald Trump claimed U.S. control over the strategic waterway.

"Today, you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic republic, and our country continues on its path in complete security," said Hossein Taeb, head of the paramilitary Basij forces affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, according to state television.

The Trump administration has said that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s comments that Israel will not withdraw from certain south Lebanon areas are inconsistent with a framework deal agreed to by Israel and Lebanon.

A U.S. State Department official reaffirmed that the U.S. “expects all parties to act in a manner consistent with the framework they agreed to,” which does not include a long-term or permanent Israeli presence in south Lebanon.