Iran, Oman agree Hormuz shipping route

We're closing this live page now.

Join us back here from 0700 tomorrow for more live coverage of developments in the Middle East.

Thanks for following.
 

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said on Wednesday that they attacked two Saudi oil tankers, as the rebels pressed on with their maritime blockade of the kingdom.

These were the eighth and ninth Saudi oil tankers targeted since the start of the blockade last month, according to figures given by a Houthi military spokesman.

Saudi authorities had no immediate comment on the report.

The group "successfully targeted the Saudi oil tanker Wafa in the northern Red Sea, off the coast of Yanbu, with a number of ballistic missiles," Yahya Saree said, in a video statement.

In a later statement, Saree said the rebels targeted the "Saudi oil tanker Daisy in the Gulf of Aden with a ballistic missile", referring to the waterway that connects to the Red Sea.

The Houthis declared they will escalate attacks in the northern Red Sea because Saudi Arabia is diverting its oil tankers there from the south in response to their blockade.

The blockade has threatened top oil exporter Saudi Arabia's ability to get its supplies to the world following Iran's parallel blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off the kingdom's only other maritime route.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview aired by state TV on Wednesday that interaction with the country's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is currently "very difficult".

Mojtaba has not made any public appearances since he became supreme leader, replacing his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in one of the first strikes launched against Iran by the US and Israel.

A "significant" part of the new route through the Strait of Hormuz agreed by Iran and Oman will pass through Iranian waters, Iran's deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi has said in an interview with Iranian state media.

His comments suggest that the two countries have abandoned a proposal for two separate routes in favour of a single lane passing through both Omani and Iranian waters.

Gharibabadi said that the route is likely to be only a temporary solution lasting for two to four months, though it could potentially be used for longer.

Israel's military chief on Wednesday said the country's forces will target Hamas in Gaza in violation of the ceasefire, despite the group agreeing to surrender its weapons.

"In the Gaza Strip, we have struck Hamas, significantly weakened it, and fundamentally changed the security reality," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said while visiting troops in Gaza, according to a military statement.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will continue to operate proactively and according to the principle we established - to remove threats and, in every situation, protect the communities and their residents and safeguard their security."

Talks between Lebanon and Israel in Rome have ended for the day and will resume tomorrow, Axios reporter Barak Ravid has reported, citing a US official. 

"Discussions focused on a range of political and military issues and were extremely productive. The technical teams made progress on determining key details on implementation of the Trilateral Framework," he quoted them as saying,

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel did not agree to the US-backed plan for Gaza, even after receiving assurances that an Israeli pullout would only happen after Hamas disarms.

The Palestinian group, meanwhile, reiterated its commitment to the roadmap published by US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace last week, which includes provisions for the group to hand over its weapons and an Israeli withdrawal.

In a video posted to his social media accounts on Tuesday night, Netanyahu said Trump's team "believes that they can bring about the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza".

"We are checking this. They sent us a draft - we did not agree to it, it is not our draft. We sent our comments," he said.

After Israel voiced objections to the initial roadmap, the Board of Peace met with Netanyahu on Monday, assuring him that the Israeli military would only be required to leave its current positions in Gaza after Hamas's "complete" disarmament.

The Turkish government Wednesday presented a limited amnesty for PKK Kurdish fighters, a first legislative step to bring an end to decades of deadly fighting.

Most of parliament's members signed on to the text, indicating their support when it likely comes up for a vote in the coming days.

But the proposed law does not specify what will become of Abdullah Ocalan, the 77-year-old founder and longtime leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who has spent 27 years in solitary confinement on a prison island.

Ocalan has gone along with an almost two-year-old peace initiative, and in May 2025 the PKK dissolved itself and laid down its arms after four decades of armed conflict seeking greater autonomy for the country's Kurdish minority.

"Today, we are turning a new page in Turkey's political history," said Tuncer Bakirhan, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish DEM party.

"It is a milestone for peace, democracy, and our shared future," he added.

 Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, and a joint announcement is being finalised, provided certain third parties did not interfere, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday.

Baghaei added that any such agreement between Iran and Oman would not, by itself, guarantee security in the strategic waterway.

The proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters on Wednesday, in one of the biggest concessions yet to Iran.

The United States has removed counterterrorism sanctions from two aircraft and three airlines with links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to details posted to the US Treasury Department's website on Wednesday.

At least one person has been killed and 11 others injured in an Israeli drone strike on the southern Lebanese town of Tibnin on Wednesday afternoon, according to Lebanon's state-run news agency.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed and several others were wounded in a bomb explosion in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

The blast was triggered by an improvised explosive device that triggered when occupying Israeli forces entered a building in the village of Majdal Selm.

Hello and welcome to our new live page.

Here's a recap of today's key events:

• Diplomatic efforts are continuing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with both Iran and US signaling progress in the talks.
• Israel has launched fresh attacks across southern Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire agreement despite ongoing talks between the two sides in Rome.
• Two Israeli soldiers have been killed and several others wounded in a bomb explosion after entering a booby-trapped house in the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Selm.
• Arab foreign ministers are meeting in Amman to discuss Israeli violations in Jerusalem.
• Israeli forces have carried out sweeping raids in several areas of the occupied West Bank, including the Qalandiya refugee camp.