President Donald Trump has again threatened Oman as Iran says it is working with its Middle Eastern neighbor on a plan to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Full reopening of the waterway has been a key US demand. Meanwhile, the 60-day negotiating period to find a peace deal between the United States and Iran was expiring, with no word of an extension and both sides seemingly as far apart as they were at the beginning. Here’s a look at Monday’s latest developments in the Iran war and the Middle East in general. Full coverage can be found here. Iran says it is close to finalizing the deal with Oman. Iran said it has reached an agreement with Oman on a plan for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between the countries, and the sides are now working to finalize details for a joint statement. Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that “an understanding has been reached on the transit route map.” He did not elaborate, but details that have previously emerged suggest the deal would reopen the strait with ships entering via a route close to Iran and exiting via a route close to Oman. The ships would transit without paying fees or tolls for a provisional period. The United States has sought an acceptable deal to open the strait before ending its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran effectively closed the strait – through which about a fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war – after Israel and the United States attacked the country on February 28. Baghaei admitted that talks with Oman have progressed slowly, “but we had planned, and still plan, to finalize the understanding in the form of a package: the map plus a joint statement.” Trump says US will bomb Oman if it gets in the way Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst that the US would bomb Oman if it “gets in the way,” using an expletive for emphasis. Audio of the interview was not provided by Fox News. This is not the first time Trump has threatened Oman. In May, he told reporters during a cabinet meeting that “Oman will behave like everyone else, or we will have to blow them up.” Trump also said the expiration of the 60-day deadline for talks to end the war was irrelevant and said there was no timetable, Yingst said. Trump said the United States has a back channel for talks with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Yingst added. Kushner meets Netanyahu on Gaza road map Middle East negotiator Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, the day after holding two-hour talks with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on disarmament. Netanyahu last week rejected a US-backed 15-point roadmap to advance the Gaza ceasefire deal. Subscribe to Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the day’s biggest headlines. Hamas says it has accepted the road map, which includes disarmament, and the group is urging mediators and the US-created Peace Board to “force” Israel to sign it. But Israel, which under the road map must gradually withdraw from Gaza, says Hamas must disarm completely before any Israeli withdrawal. Israeli troops occupy about 60% of the strip, and Netanyahu has previously threatened to continue advancing. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they attacked a ship and four military vessels on Monday in the Red Sea off the Yemeni city of Mokha, near the strategic Bab el-Mandab Strait. The rebels fired several ballistic missiles at the vessels, causing the ships to capsize and burn, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement. The rebels claimed that the ships belonged to Saudi Arabia, without providing evidence. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia, and The Associated Press could not independently verify the Houthi claim. Saree also said the rebels launched a drone attack against government forces in the central province of Marib. Iraqi officials targeted by drone attacks Two officials in northern Iraq were targeted by drone attacks that the regional counterterrorism service said were launched from the border with Iran. One was fired at the office of Masoud Barzani, prime minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, and the other targeted the house. from a senior regional intelligence official, the counterterrorism service said. There were no victims. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Since the start of the US-Iran war, Iran and Iranian-backed Iraqi militant groups have launched regular attacks on US 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 in 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 to withdraw ahead of a September 30 deadline agreed upon between Washington and Baghdad to end the US military presence in Iraq.
