Iran is demanding financial compensation for the war before it reopens the Strait of Hormuz, a last-minute concession that dampens hopes of an imminent deal.
Speculation had been building for days that an agreement was emerging that would restore safe passage in the vital sea lane, following direct negotiations between Oman and the Islamic republic.
But Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said that while a deal was close, reopening the strait would depend on other conditions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US President Donald Trump’s 15-point plan for Gaza, stating that no military pull-out will happen until Hamas is “genuinely” disarmed.
Trump’s Board of Peace said last month it had reached an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.
But Hamas said handing over its heavy weapons was contingent on Israel ending “all forms of aggression” and withdrawing its forces from Gaza.
US President Donald J. Trump, in Operation Epic Fury, provided the only — and truly bold — confrontation with the Iranian regime by any American president. No prior leader dared to act with such resolve, or really at all. Many, in fact, actually helped finance Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine is reportedly looking for an “off-ramp” to the Iran War and discussing his concerns about the options available for escalating the conflict in private conversations.
The details come from a CNN report, which also says Caine is not the only Trump administration official to privately be eyeing a way to exit the conflict. The report comes as the U.S. wades into its sixth month at war with Iran, as U.S. and Iranian officials have cycled through on-and-off negotiations for peace after the ceasefire, inked in April, crumbled in early July.
Iran is considering banning US and Israeli ships from sailing through the Strait of Hormuz in a move likely to anger Donald Trump.
Under a draft plan being reviewed by Iran’s parliament, US and Israeli-flagged vessels, or “other hostile states or entities linked to them” would be blocked from the waterway.
The proposal, reported by Iranian state media PressTV, would threaten to derail talks between Iran and Oman to reopen the strait.
“I am confident that within the Chinese system, if there are private sector actors, and we gave the Chinese the name of the company we believed may be dealing with the Iranians, that I am confident the Chinese leadership will make sure that private sector actors do not transact in those kind of weapons,” Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent told Edward Lawrence of Fox Business on July 30.
Bessent was reacting to a July 28 Reuters report that a “Chinese supplier,” acting through a Hong Kong intermediary, was planning to sell Iran up to 400 shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, commonly known as MANPADs (man-portable air-defense systems).
President Donald Trump has denied reports that the US is suffering a munitions shortage and vowed in a social media post to seek “long term jail sentences” for those suspected of leaking information.
“The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types,” Trump posted on Thursday morning. “Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed.”
Trump and the Pentagon face mounting questions about the state of the military’s arsenal, with the war now in its sixth month and a peace deal remaining elusive.
A U.S. Air Force F-22 stealth fighter receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker while in the skies over the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/QlH0a7N9wD
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 4, 2026
Iran says it has reached an agreement with Oman on a route for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei did not give any further details on the agreement, which he said was “in the final stages”.
Baqaei warned, however, that a deal with Oman would not guarantee safe navigation through the strait, arguing security remained impacted by the US blockade of Iran’s ports. The US and Oman have not commented on the proposal.
It has been more than five months since Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei booked a well-deserved passage to hell, courtesy of a US-Israeli airstrike in Tehran.
Killed alongside the geriatric butcher were his daughter, a grandchild (sex not disclosed), his son-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Among the injured was Khamenei’s eldest son – and, as it turned out, his heir – Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, who, according to Reuters, suffered severe and disfiguring facial injuries as well as a significant injury to one or both legs in the strike.
The United States is confronting tough choices over Iran, with an array of unattractive options to address Iran’s tactics and strategy. Iran lacks sufficient incentive to negotiate — the current Iranian negotiators appear to accept the degradation of its military-industrial complex, destruction of its conventional navy and air force, decapitation of echelons of leadership, strangulation of its economy, and the world’s opprobrium over the murder of tens of thousands of its own citizens. Not even an offer of $300 billion for economic development, plus releasing $100 billion of blocked funds worldwide are inducement to talk seriously.
Many were surprised last week when the US state of Minnesota reported that more than 30 of its state water systems had faced a “co-ordinated cyber-attack”.
Days later the FBI warned cyber-attacks had been reported in seven states and “some of that activity degraded water operations”.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) is reportedly probing a possible Iranian connection to the Minnesota attacks, according to US media. Cisa would not comment.
🚨 NOW: Cyberattacks are now slamming into water systems and other infrastructure in 7 STATES
30 water systems targeted in Minnesota, 9 targeted in Michigan
PRESIDENT TRUMP: "In Minnesota, they blame it on Iran. I blame it on MINNESOTA, because they're grossly incompetent!" pic.twitter.com/eV3V5pyxEw
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 4, 2026
Trump’s latest threats came after Iran denied it was in negotiations with the U.S. after the memorandum of understanding signed in June, pausing the war, collapsed in early July.
In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous! They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about, and they’re only dealing with ‘Oman.’
Donald Trump says he has cancelled strikes against Iran, provided a deal is struck “rapidly” with the country.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president said he had been asked by Iran and other countries in the Middle East to “hold off” on any attack as the “perimeters” of a deal had been agreed.
Trump’s comments came after reports that the US and Israel may have been planning new, intense strikes on Iran.
The scope of cyberattacks on U.S. water systems has grown to include at least seven states and may be far wider, officials and experts warned, as the authorities raced to safeguard the nation’s water supply against an assault that increasingly appeared to be the work of Iran.
While there were no indications that any water supply had been altered or made unsafe to drink, state and local officials throughout the country were on high alert for potential problems in vulnerable computers that are commonly used to monitor and adjust water quality, including chemical-treatment levels and water pressure. Minnesota first publicly reported the attacks, and now Michigan says its systems have also been targeted.
The top U.S. general in Europe privately warned the Pentagon this week that he lacks sufficient naval forces to continue protecting Israel from incoming ballistic missiles, officials said, illustrating how the ongoing Iran war has imposed constraints on the military.
Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of U.S. European Command, sent written notification to senior Pentagon officials saying that without another Navy destroyer he will be forced to choose defense of the United States “homeland” over that of Israel, said the officials, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the correspondence.
