A vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while leaving the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday morning, a day after a 60-day memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran expired.
The UKMTO said it received a report that the attack damaged the engine room and caused a crew casualty, with the remaining crew being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard.
The attack comes as president Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that Iran would not make the type of deal with his country that he thought was “necessary”.
Meanwhile, Iran said it would shift its policy from defensive to "fully offensive" due to the deadlock in efforts to agree a permanent end to its war with the US.
“Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region, as Iran will be ready to make decisions and take action on difficult decisions”, an Iranian official told Reuters.
Trump has separately threatened to attack Oman – a US ally – if it "gets in the way" of his efforts to force a peace deal with Iran.
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Key Points
- One dead as vessel struck by projectile in Strait of Hormuz
- Trump says Iran won't make deal he thinks is needed, threatens to bomb Oman
- Iran threatens to go on offensive in Strait of Hormuz if diplomacy with US fails
- Iran says it is near finalising a deal with Oman
- Trump orders Pentagon to scale back exercises with South Korea as war stretches limits
Israeli minister calls for killing of ‘30 to 40’ people in Gaza every night
06:02 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarAn Israeli politician has publicly advocated for killing “30 to 40” people in Gaza every night.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security in prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, made the comment while speaking on the first episode of the podcast The 8 October.
More here.
Israeli minister calls for killing of ‘30 to 40’ people in Gaza every night
Watch: Trump says US has ‘total control’ of Strait of Hormuz
05:15 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarSyrian military airport attacked
05:00 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarThe Abu al-Zuhour military airport in northern Syria has been hit by at least four airstrikes this morning, according to Al Jazeera.
The attack in the Idlib province, allegedly carried out by Israel, hit the airport's runway, causing material damage, it said.
Syria has so far not issued any official statement on the strikes.
Oil crosses $90 a barrel
04:40 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarOil prices rose this morning as a deal to end the Middle East war seemed further out of sight with Iran saying it will adopt a more offensive stance and the US ruling out extending a ceasefire agreement, heightening worries about energy supply.
Brent crude futures climbed 27 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $91.14, after rising to their highest since 30 July.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 42 cents to $85.04 a barrel, after gaining more than 1 per cent earlier in the session to $85.37, their highest since 31 July.
"Oil has jumped to start the week as U.S.-Iran relations look increasingly shaky. A deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz still does not appear to be in sight, and shipping numbers remain at a trickle," said chief market analyst at KCM, Tim Waterer.
One dead as vessel struck by projectile in Strait of Hormuz
04:35 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarA vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting outbound in the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said this morning.
The UKMTO said it received a report that the attack damaged the engine room and caused a crew casualty, with the remaining crew being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard.
Trump again threatens to ‘bomb the s*** out of’ ally Oman
04:24 , Alisha Rahaman SarkarDonald Trump has threatened to launch an attack on Oman – a Middle East ally – over control of the Strait of Hormuz, which remains largely blocked amid the ongoing conflict between Washington and Iran.
A 60-day period to negotiate a ceasefire deal expired on Monday with no news of an extension and talks deadlocked in the same position as two months ago.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s**t out of them,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News, after reports Oman and Iran are working out their own solution to control the strategic waterway.
More here.
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Trump again threatens to ‘bomb the s*** out of’ ally Oman over Strait of Hormuz
ICYMI: JD Vance says keeping gas prices low is 'goal number one' of Iran war
04:00 , Rachel DobkinFury erupts at Fox host who blasted ‘weak’ sailors on USS Abraham Lincoln
03:30 , Jasmine FernándezFox News presenter Joey Jones is under fire following a three-minute on-air outburst targeting service members deployed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln who recently voiced concerns about deteriorating shipboard conditions.
“How weak are you?” Jones asked while co-hosting Fox News’s The Big Weekend Show, reacting to a segment that originally aired Thursday on CNN.
On social media, critics immediately turned the host’s own framing against him.
“Put him on that ship for the same length of time under similar conditions”, one X user posted.
Read on...
Fury erupts at Fox host who blasted ‘weak’ sailors on USS Abraham Lincoln
Watch: Kim-praising Trump asks South Korea, 'Why are we helping you?' in tiff over Iran aid
03:00 , Dan HaygarthFull story: Fallout from war in Iran is leaving millions vulnerable to hunger
02:00 , Dan Haygarth
Fallout from war in Iran is leaving millions vulnerable to hunger
Trump says Iran won't make deal he thinks is needed, threatens to bomb Oman
01:00 , Dan HaygarthPresident Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran would not make the deal he thinks is needed to end a war with the US and should surrender as talks between the countries remained stalled.
"They're not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary. Look, we're in there for one reason: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Asked whether the US was seeking to extend an interim deal with Iran, Trump said "no."
The interim deal agreed to in June declared an "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts", but quickly unraveled, with Trump saying it was "over" on 7 July and Iran's foreign ministry declaring it "suspended" a week later.
Under that memorandum of understanding, Iran and the US committed to negotiating a final deal — covering broader issues such as the fate of Iran's nuclear programme — in a maximum of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.
Monday marks 60 days since the MOU was signed. Hours before, Trump told a Fox News reporter during a phone interview that Iran "should put up the white flag of surrender."
Separately, Oman and Iran have been in talks to try to reach an agreement to restore commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which carried 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran began in late February.
"If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them," Trump told Fox.
When asked later in the Oval Office if he was out of patience with Oman, Trump told reporters: "No, I don't think they behaved very well, but we'd handle them very easily, just like we do other things."
The dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz has driven up fuel prices and put pressure on Trump to end a war that is unpopular at home ahead of the November midterm elections that will decide control of the US Congress.
Full story: Trump again threatens to ‘bomb the s*** out of’ ally Oman over Strait of Hormuz
Monday 17 August 2026 23:59 , Dan HaygarthTrump again threatens to ‘bomb the s*** out of’ ally Oman over Strait of Hormuz
Erdogan urges Trump to continue talks with Iran, offers support
Monday 17 August 2026 23:33 , Dan HaygarthTurkish president Tayyip Erdogan urged Donald Trump in a call to continue talks with Iran to de-escalate tensions between the two countries, and offered Ankara's support in peace efforts, the Turkish presidency said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the presidency said Erdogan and Trump also discussed the war in Gaza, a defence pact signed between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and bilateral ties. It added Erdogan told Trump that Israel's attacks on Palestinians in Gaza had increased at a time when the second phase of Trump's peace plan was supposed to come into effect.
Trump approval falls to 33%, lowest of his presidency, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Monday 17 August 2026 22:30 , Dan HaygarthDonald Trump's approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency, with an overwhelming majority of Americans concerned the US war with Iran will last a long time, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday.
Just 33 per cent of respondents in the four-day survey said they approved of Trump's performance in the White House, while 64 per cent disapproved. Trump's approval rating, down from 35 per cent in a poll that closed earlier this month and lower than at any point in his current term, has now tied the lowest level of his prior term reached in December 2017.
After returning to the White House in 2025 with just under half the country approving of his presidency, Trump's popularity this year took a hit after he ordered strikes on Iran alongside US ally Israel. The ensuing conflict paralyzed a fifth of the global oil trade, triggering a surge in the price of gasoline that is weighing on U.S. households - and on Trump's Republican allies defending congressional majorities in November midterm elections.
Watch: Trump insults female CNN reporter as he denies conditions are deteriorating on the USS Abraham Lincoln
Monday 17 August 2026 22:00 , Bryony GoochIran threatens to go on offensive in Strait of Hormuz if diplomacy with US fails
Monday 17 August 2026 21:30 , Dan HaygarthIran will shift to a "fully offensive" military posture because efforts to negotiate a permanent end to its war with the U.S. have stalled, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, as Washington ruled out extending a temporary ceasefire agreement.
Progress towards peace talks and a resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, with no sign that the warring parties are moving towards ending the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched with attacks on Iran on 28 February.
"Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region, as Iran will be ready to make decisions and take action on difficult decisions," the Iranian official said, adding that Tehran would conduct a "timely and precise" military attack to break the US naval blockade if diplomacy failed.
Monday marked the day by which Iran and the US were expected to reach a final peace agreement under a memorandum of understanding signed in June and aimed at ending the war.
Signed on 17 June, the MoU set a 60-day timeframe for the U.S. and Iran to reach a broader deal on Iran's nuclear programme and U.S. sanctions.
The agreement, which declared the "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts", quickly unravelled over a dispute about control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.
Asked by reporters on Monday if the U.S. was seeking to extend June's interim agreement, president Donald Trump said no.
Kushner says Iran, US conversations are robust but no understanding yet
Monday 17 August 2026 21:00 , Bryony GoochUS president Donald Trump's envoy Jared Kushner on Monday said conversations between the US and different areas of the Iranian government were probably more robust than ever, but the two sides had not yet reached an understanding.
Kushner, who is visiting the Middle East, made the comments in an interview with Fox News.
Drone attacks target Iraqi officials
Monday 17 August 2026 20:45 , Dan HaygarthTwo officials in northern Iraq were targeted in drone attacks that the regional counterterrorism service said were launched from the border with Iran.
One was fired at the office of Masrour Barzani, prime minister of Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, and the other targeted the home of a top regional intelligence official, the counterterrorism service said.
There were no casualties. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Since the beginning of the US-Iran war, Iran and Iranian-backed Iraqi militant groups have launched regular attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic facilities in Iraq and on bases of exiled Iranian Kurdish dissident groups, but Monday's direct attack on regional government buildings was unusual.
Barzani on X called the attack "a dangerous escalation and a direct threat to the security and stability of the Kurdistan Region."
US forces currently stationed in the Kurdish region of Iraq have begun withdrawing ahead of a 30 September deadline agreed upon between Washington and Baghdad to end the U.S. military presence in Iraq.
Iran says it is near finalising a deal with Oman
Monday 17 August 2026 20:15 , Dan HaygarthIran said it has reached an agreement with Oman over a plan for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between the two countries, and they are now working to finalise details for a joint statement.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran, Iran's capital, that "an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route."
He did not elaborate, but details that have previously emerged suggest the deal would reopen the strait with ships entering through a route close to Iran and exiting through a route close to Oman.
Ships would transit without paying fees or tolls during an interim period.
The US has sought an acceptable deal on opening the strait before ending its blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran effectively closed the strait — through which roughly one-fifth of the world's traded oil supplies passed before the war — after Israel and the U.S. attacked the country on 28 Feb.
Baghaei conceded the talks with Oman have gone slowly, "but we had planned, and still plan, to finalise the understanding in the form of a package: the map plus a joint statement."
US oil reserves are so low amid Trump’s Iran war the caverns holding them could be damaged
Monday 17 August 2026 19:45 , Dan HaygarthAmerica’s emergency oil stockpile has dropped to its lowest level in 40 years, with experts warning that ongoing withdrawals for the war with Iran could permanently damage the underground caverns holding the crude.
Read more:
Trump’s Iran war leaves US oil reserves so low caverns risk damage
Turkey, Iran discuss efforts to open Strait of Hormuz, continue US-Iran ceasefire, Turkish diplomatic source says
Monday 17 August 2026 19:17 , Bryony GoochTurkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan on Monday discussed efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz and ensure the continuation of a ceasefire between Iran and the US during a call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi, a Turkish diplomatic source said, without elaborating.
Earlier, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran had decided to shift its policy from defensive to "fully offensive" due to the deadlock in efforts to agree on a permanent end to its war with the US, as progress towards peace talks and a resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic strait has ground to a halt.
Iranian leaders face mounting economic pressure
Monday 17 August 2026 19:15 , Dan HaygarthIran’s annual inflation rate reached 66 per cent in July, while consumer prices were 87.9 per cent higher than a year earlier, according to Iran’s Statistical Centre.
Food inflation hit 128 per cent year-on-year.
Economic grievances have repeatedly spilled into nationwide protests in Iran in recent years.
In January, nationwide protests over economic hardships were crushed by the IRGC and the Basij force, with thousands killed.
In recent months, Iran’s clerical rulers have responded to fears of renewed unrest with executions, arrests, summonses and lengthy prison sentences targeting journalists, lawyers, activists, human rights advocates and students, rights groups say.
Officials say the measures are needed to maintain stability during wartime. Critics say they could deepen the divide between the clerical establishment and a public frustrated by rising economic pressures.
Iran to go 'full offensive' as efforts to end war enter deadlock
Monday 17 August 2026 19:10 , Bryony GoochIran has decided to shift its policy from defensive to "fully offensive" due to the deadlock in efforts to agree a permanent end to its war with the United States, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday.
Progress towards peace talks and a resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, with no sign that the warring parties are moving towards ending the conflict that the US and Israel launched on 28 February.
“Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region, as Iran will be ready to make decisions and take action on difficult decisions," the Iranian official said, adding that Tehran would conduct a "timely and precise" military attack to break the US naval blockade if diplomacy failed.
There was no immediate response to those comments from Washington, but US president Donald Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News on Monday that Iran "should put up the white flag of surrender".
Trump claims Iran won't make 'kind of deal he feels is necessary'
Monday 17 August 2026 19:08 , Bryony GoochUS president Trump has claimed Iran won’t make the “kind of deal” he feels is “necessary”.
Regarding the expiration of the memorandum of understanding, reporters asked if he was any closer today to launching a final deal to end Iran's nuclear program.
He said: “Well, they want to make a deal, but they're not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary. Look, we're in there for one reason: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
“You understand that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won't have a nuclear weapon.
“And right now, them building one after what we did previously with the b2 bombers, going to be going to be a long time behalf. But Iran cannot have. It's very simple. They can't have a nuclear weapon.”
Kushner's talks with Israel, Hamas end without breakthrough on Trump Gaza plan
Monday 17 August 2026 18:45 , Dan HaygarthDonald Trump's envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner on Monday wrapped up two days of meetings with Israeli and Hamas leaders to break a stalemate over the US president's Gaza plan, but there were no signs of an imminent breakthrough as both sides dug in.
Kushner met prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel a day after meeting Hamas' political leader in Egypt in a bid to revive the plan, which has stalled as Israel has carried out air strikes and seized more territory in Gaza despite an October ceasefire, while Hamas has refused to give up its weapons.
Trump last month announced that Hamas had agreed to lay down its arms in phases, under a 15-point roadmap put forward by his so-called Board of Peace to advance the president's plan, as Israel's military withdraws from Gaza. Hamas said it agreed to the roadmap but implementation depended on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including halting attacks and withdrawing.
Iran official: Ceasefire with US not dead but 'in a coma'
Monday 17 August 2026 18:34 , Lucy LeesonAn official from Iran's foreign ministry has suggested its ceasefire and memorandum of understanding with the US could still be saved.
Abbas Baqerpour, director general of legal affairs, reportedly told IRNA news agency, the agreement, which expired today, was not dead, but rather in a "coma" and could be revived.
He said Iran is ready for a revival, but only if the US abandons its "habit of breaching commitments" and imposing sanctions.
