Iran, Oman close in on interim Hormuz deal, but Tehran says strait to remain closed

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At least five people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza over the last 24 hours, according to local health authorities.

The latest killings take the death toll since October's "ceasefire" to at least 1,303.

At least 73,438 people have now been killed in Gaza since Israel began its genocidal war in October 2023.

Stephen Doughty, the UK's minister of state for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan, has condemned Israel's "outrageous" seizure of an UNRWA training centre in occupied East Jerusalem.

Israeli forces are continuing to occupy the centre after storming the premises on Tuesday.

"This UN facility has offered generations of Palestinian refugees education & opportunity," Doughty wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.

"Israel must comply with its obligations and respect [the] inviolability of UN premises," he said.

The forcible entry into & reported seizure of @UNRWA’s Kalandia Training Centre in Jerusalem is outrageous. This UN facility has offered generations of Palestinian Refugees education & opportunity. Israel must comply with its obligations & respect inviolability of UN premises.

— Stephen Doughty HC MP (@SDoughtyMP) August 26, 2026

The Trump-backed Board of Peace's Gaza envoy warned on Wednesday of a "point of no return" should the organisation fail in its attempt to end the war.

In a statement to the UN Security Council, Nickolay Mladenov said failure would mean "no roadmap to return to, there will be no administration to deploy, and there will be nothing left on the ground to rebuild. That would not be a setback. It would be a point of no return for everyone".

The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on British activist group Palestine Action, designating it as a "transnational terrorist group".

The Treasury added the direct action group to its SDN list, which freezes its assets in the US and blocks American organisations and individuals from dealing with it.

The UK government last year proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group after activists broke onto a military base in protest at British arms sales to Israel.

The Netherlands' foreign minister has doubled down on his country's sanctions against Israel after his Israeli counterpart announced the expulsion of Dutch personnel from a ceasefire monitoring centre for Gaza.

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen told local media this week that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar's announced expulsion of Dutch observers from the Kiryat Gat observatory was "unnecessary", and that his country would uphold its sanctions against Israel.

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S President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he believes Iran's supreme leader, who has not been seen in public since taking over after his father's killing in February, remains alive.

"I don't think he's dead. He was very seriously wounded. The left side of his body, the arm, the leg, the whole thing. He was very seriously wounded. But I don't think he's dead," Trump said in an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan received a phone call from his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan regarding the situation in the region.

During the call, they "discussed efforts made to reduce regional tensions, within the framework of continuous coordination and unification of efforts aimed at enhancing the security and stability of the region," according to Qatar News Agency (QNA).

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday said that the United States would achieve nothing with its new round of economic sanctions, local media reported.

"With the measures that the government's economic sectors have foreseen, America will not achieve anything with economic pressure at this stage, just as it was unable to achieve anything in the war," Pezeshkian said, according to ISNA news agency.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday laid out plans for the "economic asphyxiation" of Iran, warning of dire consequences for countries that do not join the campaign.

Iran's leaders, however, have dismissed the impact of the new measures, having already endured decades-long crippling sanctions since shortly after the 1979 revolution.

"Our principle is understanding and resolving issues through interaction and negotiation, but at the same time, we will stand firm against economic pressures, as we have done so far and will continue to do," Pezeshkian added.

Iran and Oman have reached agreements on their share of the Strait of Hormuz and its revenues, Iran's Revolutionary Guards spokesperson said, according to a report by the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Wednesday.

The spokesperson said the US was obstructing negotiations between Oman and Iran, leading to them being delayed.

Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on a new framework for managing ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz that would exclude military vessels, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV late on Tuesday night.

"If the understanding becomes binding, no military vessel will be permitted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz," he said. "No military vessel at all."

Gharibabadi didn't provide further details about military traffic. He described the proposed commercial route through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping waterway.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Ahmed al- Sharaa spoke by phone and discussed deepening political dialogue and cooperation in trade and other areas, the Kremlin says.

It says in a statement that the two leaders had noted the importance of an 9 August memorandum of understanding to settle the future ​of Russia’s bases at Tartus and Hmeimim after 18 ‌months of negotiations.

Iran's army on Wednesday said all weapons systems that were damaged so far in the US-Israeli war have been "rebuilt" and that new systems have been imported to the country.

"Systems in all branches of the military, including those that were damaged, have been rebuilt, and new systems have also been imported," said army spokesperson, Mohammad Akraminia, according to state TV.

"New systems have come through the defense industry and the army, and some have also been imported from abroad, and this equipment has enhanced our combat capabilities," he added.

"We took serious measures in the field of reconstruction and redeployment of systems that had been damaged by the enemy," the army spokesman said, adding that the country has now changed its military doctrine from defensive to offensive.

"Pre-emptive attack, based on international law and the Charter, is a legitimate action; of course, when it is accompanied by the principle of proportionality and necessity," he continued.

Iran said Qatar has told Tehran it is unaware of the fate of Iranian pilots missing since their aircraft were shot down after entering Qatari airspace, and urged Doha to step up efforts to determine their status, according to state media.

Tehran said it had followed up through diplomatic and military channels but had yet to receive a clear response from Qatar on the pilots' fate. 

Global stocks edged up on Wednesday as falling oil prices pushed bond yields lower on hopes that the vital Strait of Hormuz could soon reopen, while investors awaited another pivotal earnings report from AI heavyweight Nvidia.

Iran said it had restarted talks with Oman to manage the Strait, as it faces heightened economic pressure from US President Donald Trump in the nearly six-month conflict that has roiled oil markets and stoked global inflationary worries.

Brent crude futures fell for a third straight day on Wednesday, sliding more than 2% to $86.45 per barrel on the prospect of more supply coming through the Strait, which handled a fifth of the world's traded oil before the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian affirmed on Wednesday that the government's approach is based on understanding and resolving issues with the United States through negotiation, stressing at the same time "standing firmly in the face of economic pressures, as the country has done so far and will continue to do."

Pezeshkian added that the United States, "thanks to the measures prepared by the government in the economic sectors, will not achieve its goals through economic pressure, just as it was unable to achieve anything during the war," according to Iranian television.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a diplomatic deal was not possible with the "savages" who rule Iran as he hailed US President Donald Trump's new campaign of economic pressure.

Recounting a recent meeting with Trump, Netanyahu told an event late Tuesday that they had discussed the possibility of diplomacy with Iran and said: "I doubt, however, that an agreement can be reached with that group there, with those savages. I tell you—an agreement cannot be reached."

Two supertankers carrying 4 million barrels of Saudi crude are bound for China after loading the cargoes via ship-to-ship transfers off Oman, shipping data showed on Wednesday. 

Sri Lanka's maritime authorities were monitoring a fleet of 11 US-sanctioned Iranian oil tankers just off the island's southern coast, officials said Wednesday.

The vessels are in limbo—they cannot return to Iran because of a United States blockade on ships using Iranian ports.

The ships were spotted close to the Galle harbour where an Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, was sunk by a US submarine in March, killing 104 sailors. Sri Lanka's navy rescued 32 Iranian sailors from that frigate.

"We have deployed reconnaissance aircraft and patrol boats to monitor these Iranian vessels outside our 12-nautical-mile territorial waters," a military official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The vessels had not sought permission to enter Sri Lankan territory and were entitled to freedom of navigation in international waters.

"There is no indication of any ship-to-ship transfer of oil or illegal discharge of pollutants, so there is no basis for Sri Lankan authorities to take action against them," he said.

Many Iranian merchant vessels moved east towards the Strait of Malacca and Singapore after the US sanctions, while several remained near Sri Lankan waters, authorities said.

Sri Lankan officials said Washington had not formally notified Colombo about sanctioned Iranian-flagged vessels.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek and pay state visits to Kyrgyzstan and Egypt from Sunday, Beijing's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The tour, which lasts until 3 September, will be Xi's second overseas trip this year following a visit to North Korea in June.

Most British households will see their energy costs rise from October after energy regulator Ofgem announced a 4% hike in its domestic price cap as the war in Iran pushes up wholesale costs.

The rise will be a blow to the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has pledged to ease cost-of-living pressures, and more than wipes out measures he announced last month to cut tax on electricity bills.

"High international gas prices are continuing to drive energy costs in the UK. We welcome the government’s intervention to remove VAT from electricity bills, without which customers would have faced even higher costs this winter,” said Neil Kenward, Ofgem’s director general for markets.

The increase, a £60 rise to £1,723 ($2,348) from the previous cap for July to September, will hit around 22 million households on variable tariffs, with the price cap covering around 65% of customers.

The Israeli military continued to strike southern Lebanon, National News Agency reports.

An Israeli tank fired shells at al-Mansouri, south of Tyre. Moreover, Israeli forces carried out explosions on the outskirts of Sarbine in the Bint Jbeil district.

Nighttime air strikes also happened on al-Qantara in the Marjayoun district, and sporadic artillery shelling at the outskirts of Haddatha earlier this morning,  according to NNA.

After almost six months of military stalemate, the US is reverting to economic warfare in its bid to force Iran's surrender.

In what was bombastically marketed as "economic D-Day", Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday announced new sanctions to "asphyxiate" the country and sever its links to the global economy.

Here's what you need to know as one of the most sanctioned countries in the world prepares to face yet more sanctions.

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Preliminary data showed on Wednesday that five ships shipping primary goods crossed the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, a number that did not change much from the previous day, but much less than the 10-day average of 15 ships.

Preliminary data released by ship tracking Kepler at 04:08 GMT showed that two tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas and a tanker carrying bitumen (raw asphalt) exited the strait, while two empty tankers entered the waterway.

These numbers may change, as some ships usually turn off their transponders during the voyage.

Three trade sources and a bidding document seen by Reuters reported on Wednesday that Qatar Energy Company launched a second bid this week to sell Al-Shaheen crude and Qatar Marine crude via ship-to-ship transfers outside the Strait of Hormuz. The crude oil will be unloaded during the first half of October.

The deadline for submitting offers is 12:00 noon Doha time (09:00 GMT) today, Wednesday.

In the previous tender, Qatar Energy offered Al Shaheen Crude, Qatar Offshore Crude and Qatar Onshore Crude for loading in September and October on an FOB basis from their respective loading ports in Qatar.