Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said yesterday they would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, vital to global trade, until the United States met Tehran’s conditions, including compensation for war damages.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks with Oman over transit and management of the strait were “approaching the final stages,” but stressed reopening was tied to “other conditions and compensation for the violation” of a June agreement. He denied direct negotiations with Washington, saying only “messages” were exchanged via intermediaries.
Iran’s security chief Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr listed demands: ending “war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq,” lifting a US counter‑blockade of Iranian ports, removing sanctions, releasing frozen assets, and paying war damages.
Transit through Hormuz has dropped sharply, with Iran targeting ships it accuses of skirting its preferred route. The UAE condemned what it called a “hostile Iranian attack” on an ADNOC tanker, while Oman denounced repeated strikes but said navigation talks were proceeding “positively.”
Meanwhile, Iran‑backed Houthi rebels said they had hit a Saudi oil facility on the Red Sea coast, after Riyadh reported extinguishing a fire. The Houthis also carried out separate strikes in Yemen that killed at least 11 government troops and wounded 32, including six civilians, a medical source in Mokha told AFP.
US forces have begun evacuating logistics centres from Harir base in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Iran’s Fars news agency citing Iraqi reports. Sources said engineering teams were pulling out equipment from a large complex in the eastern section of the base.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he expected Egypt to join a defence pact with Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, calling Cairo a “natural partner.” “I believe that at the next stage Egypt will also be among us in the alliance,” he said.
A drone strike last month hit US assets at an Egyptian Mediterranean port, marking the first such attack on Egyptian territory since the outbreak of the Iran war.
