War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran has not decided to resume talks with the United States, and messages being exchanged via Qatar and Pakistan do not amount to negotiations, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview, according to AFP.

Araghchi told Iranian news outlet Shahrara News that separate talks with Oman were focused on defining a sea route through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States would have to meet conditions for shipping to resume through the waterway.

Yemen’s government said Houthis fired six ballistic missiles at the Red Sea port of Mocha, killing at least four civilians, according to Reuters.

The Yemeni armed forces aligned with the government said in a statement that the Houthi attack on Mocha targeted a civilian facility and economic and maritime installations, killing one port security guard. Two sailors were also missing and eight civilians were wounded, the armed forces said.

A military source told Saba News Agency the Houthis hit Mocha with six missiles, resulting in the death of four civilians and the burning of several fishing boats.

The Houthis said they used ballistic missiles to attack what they described as a military build-up of weapons and warships belonging to Saudi-backed forces and “mercenaries” in Mocha, destroying boats and weapons.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stressed Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz “will remain Iranian”, after US President Donald Trump said he would “soon” declare the waterway part of American territory, AFP reports.

“The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” Gharibabadi said on X, adding that the route “will be opened and closed only at Iran’s command”.

Trump had said that after the United States defeats Iran, “pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States”.

United Arab Emirates’ state-owned oil giant ADNOC said one of its vessels came under attack in the Hormuz strait, the latest incident in the waterway at the centre of the US-Iran conflict, AFP reports.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) “confirmed that one of its vessels was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on the evening of Friday, August 14”, according to the official WAM news agency, but reported no injuries.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has said no decision has yet been made to resume negotiations with the United States, the Iranian Student News Agency reported, adding that mediator Qatar and Pakistan were in contact with Iran and exchanging messages, but that this did not amount to negotiations.

US President Donald Trump urged Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Reuters reports.

In a speech in Garden City, Trump said Americans who had to “pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” should remember that this was the cost of ensuring “a very evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon.

“What we’re doing is a great service for the world, not only for ourselves … and we’re really doing a great job,” said Trump, adding he would never apologise for attacking Iran.

President Donald Trump has said he would “soon” declare the Strait of Hormuz waterway part of US territory, claiming that Iran was being heavily defeated, AFP reports.

“Pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. It’s true,” he said with a chuckle during a political rally at a police academy in New York state.

US President Donald Trump tells Fox News that the United States will hit Iran hard economically as Washington and Tehran struggle to reach a deal to end a nearly six month conflict, according to Reuters.

His comments came a day after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was going to apply measures that have “never been seen” on Tehran as soon as next week.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has discussed Israeli attacks in the country’s south with US General Joseph Clearfield, head of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon (MCG4L), according to Al Jazeera.

Berri accuses Israel of systematic violations and attacks against Lebanon, including the destruction of villages, farmland and forests, as well as damage to heritage sites, since November 2024.

He has demanded that Israel end its military campaign and withdraw to the international border, as per the US-brokered ceasefire.

President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns over the living conditions and mental health of personnel on a US aircraft carrier deployed in the Middle East and says the ship will soon rotate out.

Asked by reporters whether family members are worried about the situation on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump responds, “No, they’re not.”

Trump also rejects that the ship — now in its ninth month at sea — has been deployed for too long. “No, no, no, not nearly enough,” he says.

Additionally, he has confirmed reports that the Lincoln is due to be rotated with a replacement aircraft carrier as the United States remains locked in a stalemate with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz and the country’s nuclear programme.

“That ship is moving right now or very shortly and it’s being replaced with another very similar ship,” Trump says.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has denounced statements by the European Union’s on human rights in Iran, claiming the bloc “lacks any moral standing” to lecture others on the matter, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reports.

It adds that Tehran’s top diplomat made the comments in a telephone conversation with his Greek counterpart, Georgios Gerapetritis, where both sides discussed bilateral relations and regional and international developments.

According to the report, Araghchi has criticised the EU’s “double standards and hypocrisy” regarding human rights, particularly support for Israel and “their (the EU) indifference toward the genocide of Palestinians and the war crimes committed by the Israeli regime in Lebanon and Iran”.

He additionally rejects the EU’s “interventionist statements” on human rights in Iran, declaring, “The European Union, due to its performance in the field of human rights, lacks any moral standing to lecture others,” Tasnim adds.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has accused Lebanese authorities of subjecting the country’s armed forces to undue pressure by implementing a framework deal agreed with Israel to end hostilities, AFP reports.

“How can you accept this ongoing humiliation of the Lebanese army, exposing it to bombardment and Israeli pressures, instead of acting as its protectors?” Qassem says in a speech.

“Israel is attempting to bind Lebanon to an inquiry committee that oversees the army’s deployment, operations, and internal details. Where is the patriotism? Where is the dignity of the army that ought to be preserved?”

Yemen’s Houthis claim they targeted an Aramco facility in the Saudi city of Najran with a drone, Reuters reports citing the group’s SABA news agency, which cited a military source.

The source says the attack was in response to what it described as Saudi military aircraft violating Yemen’s sovereignty by entering airspace over the northeastern part of Saada governorate.

There has been no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities or Aramco. It is not immediately clear from the report whether the facility was hit.

US Central Command (Centcom) says its forces have redirected 62 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two to ensure compliance with a blockade of Iranian ports.

Some sailors have reportedly tried throwing themselves into the sea, basic supplies can run short and sanitation is going awry: life on America’s giant Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is increasingly difficult as the Iran war drags on.

The ship — now in its ninth month of deployment — is expected to be replaced in the Middle East by another carrier, the George Washington, in a move sure to be welcomed by the Lincoln’s crew and their loved ones.

But concerns about conditions on the Lincoln have prompted lawmakers to demand answers from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who insists the situation has been “misrepresented”.

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Israeli drones are reportedly flying at low altitude over the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and surrounding towns, Al Jazeera reports Lebanon’s National News Agency.

It adds that Israeli forces dropped explosive material over the Ali al-Taher forest on the outskirts of Upper Nabatieh earlier today, with the area seeing renewed Israeli army operations for weeks, threatening the fragile ceasefire.

Crude oil prices have climbed over renewed attacks on tankers and a war of words between the Trump administration and Iran’s leadership, Reuters reports.

Brent futures are up 80 cents, or 0.92 per cent, to $87.87 a barrel as of 1548 GMT (8:48pm PKT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures are up 43 cents, or 0.53pc, to $81.69 a barrel.

Two vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz today — a grain ship entering Iranian waters and an empty dry bulk ship going in the opposite direction — Al Jazeera reports citing ship tracking firm Kpler.

Data shows that no crude oil shipments have been made and a separate empty liquefied petroleum products tanker is sailing into the Gulf via the strait.

Nine vessels passed through the strait a day prior, up from five on Wednesday, but below the average of 12 for August.

Some ships may pass through undetected with their transponders off, but the figures are nowhere near the more than 130 ships that traversed the Strait of Hormuz daily before the US-Israeli war on Iran in February.

The Foreign Office has said that during bilateral consultations between Pakistan and France in Paris, both sides exchanged views on regional and international developments.

Both nations have also agreed to bolster coordination in international fora, such as the United Nations, according to a statement.

China’s exports of electric trucks to other Asian countries have spiked, adding to a surge in domestic sales as higher fuel costs as a result of the Iran war accelerate regional electrification, Reuters reports.

China’s rapid adoption of electric trucks (e-trucks), from lighter vehicles to tractor-trailers, has partially shielded the world’s biggest auto market from the impact of the conflict. Now other countries are scrambling to follow.

In the four months after the US and Israel started the war on Iran in February, China’s exports of heavy e-trucks more than doubled from the same period last year to 16,823 vehicles.

Half went to South and Southeast Asia, with shipments to South Asia up more than fivefold and to Southeast Asia nearly tripling.

US consumer sentiment has dropped sharply in August, new data shows, ending months of recent gains as prolonged inflation and uncertainty over the US war against Iran hit the economy, AFP reports.

“Consumer sentiment fell about eight per cent this August, ending two consecutive months of improvement,” says University of Michigan survey director Joanne Hsu.

Preliminary data shows consumer sentiment at 51.0 points, down from 55.2 and well off from market expectations.

Expectations for inflation in the year ahead have ticked up from 4.2pc in July to 4.3pc in August, the survey shows.

“The current reading substantially exceeds the 3.4pc seen in February before the Iran conflict began, along with all 2024 readings,” says Hsu.