live China Warns Against Escalation As US Targets Iran Trade

US President Donald Trump has said there are no negotiations under way or scheduled with Iran, a day after his son-in-law Jared Kushner said contacts between Washington and Tehran remained robust.

"There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Trump wrote on Truth Social on August 18, after a 60-day deadline for the two sides to reach a final peace agreement expired the previous day.

Trump also said the Strait of Hormuz was "open and operating" and that mines had been cleared, while Tehran said the strategic waterway would remain closed until Washington met conditions set out in an interim June agreement.

Iran said its conditions include lifting a US naval blockade and oil sanctions, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and ending military operations.

Trump separately posted a map on Truth Social showing the Strait of Hormuz labelled "NEW U.S. Territory," further pushing an idea he first floated on August 14, when he said he would soon declare the waterway US territory. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded the following day, saying that the strait "will remain Iranian."

Trump returned to the idea on August 17, telling reporters at the Oval Office that it would be a good idea, before posting the map the following day. Gharibabadi reposted the map on X, dismissing Trump's claim as a "delusion" that would be corrected.

The strait, through which about a fifth of global oil supplies passed before the war, has been disrupted since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.

With reporting by Reuters

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has reiterated Tehran's position that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States "fulfills its commitments" under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran.

In remarks that came a day after the pact's 60-day deadline expired without a breakthrough, Qalibaf, who serves as Iran's chief negotiator, said Iran would deliver a clear message to what he called "the deluded America."

He listed conditions he said Washington had committed to under the MOU, including lifting the blockade of Iranian ports, releasing Iran's frozen assets, ending oil sanctions, and halting military threats and operations "on all fronts."

Until those obligations are implemented, Qalibaf said, "the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened."

Iran has denied involvement in a drone attack targeting the office of Iraqi Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the home of the region's intelligence chief, as Iraqi and US officials condemned the incident and called for an investigation.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei rejected allegations that Tehran was responsible for the attacks, describing the incident as suspicious and urging all parties to exercise greater vigilance.

Iranian media also reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, that there was no information indicating the drones had been launched from Iranian territory.

The Kurdistan Region's Counterterrorism Department said two drones launched from Iranian territory struck targets in Erbil on the evening of August 16. One reportedly targeted Barzani's office, while another struck the residence of the head of the autonomous region's intelligence service.

Officials said no casualties were reported.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into the attack.

The US special envoy for Iraq and Syria, Tom Barrack, strongly condemned the incident, calling it an aggression against a Kurdish partner and a direct threat to regional stability.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced that a ship was targeted by an "unidentified projectile" while leaving the Strait of Hormuz, damaging the ship's engine room and injuring one of the crew members.

The UKMTO also announced on August 18 that the rest of the ship's crew are receiving assistance with the help of the Omani Coast Guard, adding that authorities are investigating its details.

The incident comes as shipping traffic through the vital waterway remains severely disrupted. According to shipping data, the number of cargo ships that passed through the waterway on August 17 rose to six, up from just two the day before.

However, the volume of ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains far below the war began in late February. Before that point, more than 130 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz daily.

We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump said Washington is not seeking an extension of the expiring framework agreement with Tehran, voicing pessimism about the prospects for a satisfactory deal.

The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed on June 17, included a 60-day period for talks aimed at resolving the key issues of opening the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear ambitions.

However, the deadline passed with no sign of progress in negotiations.

"They're not going to make the kind of deal that I think is necessary," Trump told reporters on August 17, referring to Iranian officials.

Speaking to Fox News earlier in the day in a phone interview, he said that Iran should just "surrender."

"They should put up the white flag of surrender," Trump said.

He also issued a profane warning to US ally Oman, which has been working with Iran on a plan to restore commercial shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that lies between the two countries and has been effectively closed for most of the time since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.

"If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s**t out of them," Trump told Fox.

Gas production capacity at Iran's South Pars facility is down by roughly a third due to damage sustained in strikes during the war against the United States and Israel earlier this year, according to the head of the Iranian Petroleum Industry Federation.

Erfan Afazeli, speaking in an interview with Entebbe News Agency, said that "in the recent war, four of our refineries were affected by the enemy's attack, and this factor has [reduced South Pars' production capacity by] almost one-third due to the lack of processing facilities."

He announced that the reconstruction and repair of these refineries will take at least "one and a half to two years," adding that the resources needed for this purpose "are not fully available domestically, or at least are not a priority in the current circumstances."

Afazeli emphasized that the country will face a gas shortage in the fall and winter.

Israel targeted South Pars facilities in late March. US President Donald Trump said the United States and Qatar had no role in it.

However, in retaliation for these attacks, Iran targeted energy infrastructure in Qatar and Saudi Arabia with missile and drone attacks.

US President Donald Trump has again said the primary US aim in dealings with Iran is that Tehran must not develop or acquire nuclear weapons.

"The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon," Trump wrote in a short post on his Truth Social platform on August 17.

The comment coincides with the expiration of the memorandum of understanding signed between Washington and Iran on June 17, which gave a 60-day deadline for further talks to reach an agreement to end the war, now in its sixth month.

Iran and the United States have not negotiated an agreement on Tehran's nuclear program within the 60 days agreed by the two parties for a broader deal, and the initial stated goal of the memorandum -- to open the Strait of Hormuz -- has not been achieved.

Following the expiration of the 60-day deadline set out by a framework agreement between the Washington and Tehran, an Iranian official claimed on August 17 that "there is no 60-day deadline."

The deadline to reach a final deal, which had been repeatedly emphasized in the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) fell on August 17. Iran and the United States were unable to reach an agreement.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said the US government is responsible for the "gross violation of the memorandum of understanding" and said: "Due to the gross and widespread violation of the June 18 memorandum of understanding by the United States, no talks began just a few weeks after its signing, and as a result, the discussion of the 60-day deadline has completely lost its relevance."

"Despite America's previous breaches of promises, intensive negotiations between Iran and Oman are continuing in earnest to finalize a joint statement and establish a safe mechanism that protects mutual interests," Baqaei added, referring to efforts by Iran and Oman to propose new shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, control over which has been has been at the heart of tensions during the nearly six-month war.

In the MOU, the United States and Iran also committed to negotiating and reaching a final agreement within a maximum of 60 days, extendable by mutual agreement.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said that no negotiations with US officials are taking place and that messages have only been exchanged through mediators.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said on August 17 that they had targeted a Saudi landing ship along with four escort vessels in the Red Sea. There is no immediate comment from the Saudi authorities.

The group's military spokesman, Yahya Saree, posted on social media that the Saudi ship was attacked with missiles off Yemen's Mocha coast.

Meanwhile, quoting local media, Al-Jazeera reported that four people had been killed and eight injured in overnight attacks by Houthi rebels in the Yemeni cities of Marib and Mocha.

Local authorities say six ballistic missiles and four drones hit Marib, wounding four people. Reports suggest that the city of Mocha has also been under Houthi attacks for the past several days.

Earlier, six people were reported dead, including three Pakistanis, and 10 injured when the Yemen-based Houthis attacked a cargo ship south of the port of Mocha in the in the Red Sea.

Last month, the Houthis announced their blockade of Saudi ports.