US Continues Maritime Blockade Of Iran As Tehran, Muscat Discuss New Route
The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said on August 2 that its naval forces had redirected 35 commercial vessels, disabled two, and boarded two others in Middle Eastern waters amid Washington's resumed maritime blockade of Iran.
The CENTCOM update came as Iranian officials said Iran was in the final stages of talks with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, with negotiators from the two countries trying to work out a joint mechanism to manage the strait.
However, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the "understanding between Iran and Oman" did not mean the key waterway would be reopened and instead concerned an "unrelated" new route.
Baqaei blamed the difficulties in reopening the Strait on the United States, saying that, because of Washington's maritime blockade, reopening it was "an entirely different equation."
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has long been one of the central issues in the war between the United States and Iran and one of the main obstacles to a negotiated settlement aimed at ending the broader conflict in the Middle East.
From the early days of the war, Tehran kept access to the waterway restricted, disrupting global oil markets and sending prices soaring. In the following months, it also sought to impose a toll on vessels passing through the Strait, a move that the United States described as unacceptable.
With reporting by Reuters and CNN.
US Treasury Secretary Bessent Says Deal On Opening Strait Of Hormuz May Come As Early As August 4
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says a deal with Iran on opening the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy shipping lane, is near.
"We are in talks with the Iranians, and I think there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in live interview on CNBC on August 4. He gave no further details.
Talks to end the conflict between the United States and Iran in recent weeks have focused on the free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
More than 20 percent of the world's oil and gas supplies moved through the strait prewar, but Iran has at times effectively shut down the waterway, including with attacks on ships it said had not received proper approval from Tehran. Iran has also threatened to impose fees or tolls on ships in the strait.
The United States and other countries have insisted the strait is an international waterway and is not under the control of any nation.
Washington reimposed a naval blockade on Iran in the strait following the collapse of a US-Iran truce signed in June.
Saudi Aramco Profits Jump 44 Percent As Oil Prices Rise
Saudi oil giant Aramco announced on August 4 that its net profit rose 44 percent in the second quarter of the year, as energy prices increased amid the conflict in the Middle East.
According to the company's financial results, Aramco's net profit reached 122.6 billion Saudi riyals ($32.7 billion) between April and June, up from 85 billion riyals during the same period last year.
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said the company had been able to maintain operations despite an unprecedented disruption to oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz by relying on its East-West pipeline, storage capacity, and export terminals.
The announcement came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized major oil companies for profiting from higher energy prices caused by the Middle East conflict, saying they were making "too much money" and urging them to lower prices.
Iranian President Rejects Resignation Rumors
Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian said in a video published by several Iranian news agencies that he has no intention of resigning, dismissing weeks of speculation about his political future.
In the video, Pezeshkian said that if he ever decided to step down, he would announce it officially.
"For now, I will stand firm," he said.
He also rejected speculation of a rift between himself and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, saying: "They want to create the impression that there is a disagreement. The leader says one thing, and they claim I say something else."
The video, titled Report to the People, is expected to be released in full in the coming days.
Since the reported killing of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes on February 28 and the announcement of his son as his successor, unconfirmed reports have circulated that Pezeshkian was preparing to resign.
More recently, Mohammad Baqer Kharazi, secretary-general of the Hezbollah Iran party and the brother-in-law of Masud Khamenei, another of Ali Khamenei's sons, claimed Mojtaba Khamenei had "officially and publicly warned" that if Pezeshkian submitted another resignation, it would be accepted.
Kharazi did not say when or to whom the supreme leader had allegedly made the warning.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since being announced as his father's successor. Apart from several written statements attributed to him, no verified video or audio recordings of him have been released.
UKMTO Says Cargo Vessel Struck In Strait Of Hormuz
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre said a cargo vessel has been struck by an "unknown projectile" in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman.
Issuing a warning about the incident, which was reported at 10 p.m. UTC on August 3, the monitor said "UKMTO has received a report of an incident 20NM northeast of Al Khasab, Oman. A cargo vessel has broadcasted on VHF 16 that they have been hit by an unknown projectile."
It added that authorities are investigating the attack.
Meanwhile, Kpler data shows that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains remarkably slow, with only six vessels, including three tankers and three bulk carriers, passing through the strait on August 3, down from seven the previous day.
We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.
Iran Claims It Was ‘Prepared To Strike’ Ukraine, But Reconsidered
Iran was ready to hit Ukraine after Kyiv targeted an Iranian cargo vessel in the Caspian Sea last month but called off the attack, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said.
“We were prepared to strike three locations in Ukraine, but after they said the attack had been a mistake, we suspended our response in order to examine their claim,” Mohsen Rezaei told state TV on August 3.
“In any case, they will have to pay the price for their attack,” Rezaei added.
Tehran said the vessel was carrying civilian cargo and the Ukrainian strike killed an Iranian sailor. But Ukraine said the ship was transporting components for drones and missiles from Iran to Russia.
There was no immediate response from Kyiv to Rezaei's remarks.
However, several days after the July 25 incident, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said he called his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi to say Kyiv sought to avoid escalation."
"Our goal is to counter Russian aggression, which is the root cause of all incidents, and it is Russia who bears full responsibility for all provocations and casualties," Sybiha said in a post to X.
Iran and Russia have forged a close military relationship in recent years. Tehran has provided Moscow with domestically produced combat drones that Russia has used in its war against Ukraine. Kyiv has said that has made Tehran complicit in Russia’s war.
Trump Says Iran Has ‘Last Chance’ To Strike Deal
US President Donald Trump said Iran has one “last chance” to strike a deal to end the five-month war otherwise the country faced “decapitation.”
“I think we're going to maybe get something, but I want to give them every last chance before decapitation,” he told reporters during an event in the Oval Office on August 3, reiterating a threat to launch a major attack on Iran.
Over the weekend, Trump said he decided to “hold off” on what he promised would be an unprecedented attack on Iran, saying “the perimeters” of a deal have been agreed with Tehran.
Earlier on August 3, Iran said it was not negotiating with the United States. In response, Trump called Iran's leadership “unbelievably duplicitous,” in a social media post.
Asked about the status of the negotiations, Trump told reporters that “they are going on right now,” adding that the two sides were speaking at the request of Iran as well as US allies in the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
“This is a last chance for them to sign a good document,” he said, referring to Iran.
An interim peace deal reached by Washington and Tehran collapsed in mid-July, just weeks after it was signed.
US Signs Deal To Boost Production Of Patriot, THAAD Systems
The United States has signed a deal with two American defense companies to boost the production of Patriot and THAAD air defense missiles.
In a statement on August 3, the Pentagon said the deal with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman would allow the production of Patriots to triple and THAAD systems to quadruple.
The five-month war against Iran has depleted US stockpiles of Patriot and THAAD interceptors, which are considered Washington’s most advanced air defense systems.
During the war, Iran has fired thousands of ballistic missiles and combat drones at US military installations across the Middle East as well as US allies in the Persian Gulf.
In an analysis published on July 27, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, said US stocks of Patriot and THAAD air defense missiles have been “diminished” by the conflict with Iran.
Before the war began in late February, the United States had over 2,300 Patriot and more than 450 THAAD interceptors. CSIS estimated that those figures have been halved or more.
"The air defense campaign has been largely successful with high -- though not perfect -- interception rates," but "this has required extensive use of interceptors," CSIS said.
Trump Tells Iran To Make A Deal Or Surrender
In a social media post on August 3, US President Donald Trump called on Iran to make a deal or surrender.
Trump dubbed Iran’s leadership “unbelievably duplicitous” after Tehran denied that it was in negotiations with Washington to end the five-month war.
"Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Late on August 1, Trump said he decided to "hold off" on what he promised would be an unprecedented attack on Iran, saying "the perimeters" of a deal have been agreed with Tehran.
But Iran’s Foreign Ministry on August 3 denied the country was in negotiations with the United States. The ministry said it was only holding talks with Oman to discuss shared control over the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy chokepoint.
Tehran effectively closed the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil supplies passed before the war, in retaliation for the United States and Israel launching a bombing campaign on the Islamic republic in late February.
In his Truth Social post on August 3, Trump said Iran had asked for talks -- "some would say 'beg'" -- but was now giving "their usual blather" about controlling the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump insisted that the strait "is already completely controlled by the United States Navy and our 'Blockade' or, as some say, 'The United States Wall of Steel!' Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, or Total Surrender, is accomplished."
Washington reimposed a naval blockade on Iran following the collapse of a US-Iran interim deal signed in June.
Iran Denies Negotiations With US Taking Place
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has said that there are currently no negotiations under way between Iran and the United States.
In his weekly meeting with reporters on August 3, Baghaei said that what is currently under way are bilateral negotiations between Iran and Oman.
His remarks come as US President Donald Trump announced that talks with Iran will resume on August 3.
In response to Trump's remarks, Baghaei said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will be traveling to Najaf to take part in the Shia Muslim pilgrimage of Arbaeen. "and the rest of the negotiating team is in Iran."
A senior Iranian source also told Reuters that no talks were planned and that Araqchi would be unavailable at least until the end of the week.
Hassan Qashqavi, the spokesperson for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran's parliament, said that there is currently "no discussion" with the United States.
In an interview published by the Iran's state-run ISNA news agency, Qashqavi said that the Iranian government is not negotiating with Washington, especially on the nuclear issue.
Qashqavi said that the Islamic republic's current priority is "the lifting of primary and secondary sanctions in [the US] Congress and the return of Iran's frozen assets."