Iran-US war latest: Tehran allows Iraqi tankers through Hormuz after Trump declares Strait as ‘American territory’
Tehran has said it will grant a number of Iraqi tankers permission to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, following Donald Trump’s claims the waterway is “US territory”.
The agreement comes after repeated requests from Baghdad, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.
It comes as US president Donald Trump said he views the Strait of Hormuz as “American territory” and claimed Tehran was not ready to make the "right deal".
The president has promised to wage "Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale” on Iran in what he called the “toughest sanctions in history”. In response, Tehran accused Trump of threatening “economic terrorism”.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei on Saturday said that the imminent US announcement of new economic sanctions on Iran was an "assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations".
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has said that it is now time to end the war between Tehran and the US on Friday. "It is better that we bring the war to an end now as we are in a position of power and dignity," Pezeshkian said in a meeting with doctors in the country.
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Iran denounces new US plans for 'toughest sanctions in history'
Iran has strongly denounced US plans to announce new sanctions that could put further strain on the Islamic Republic's economy and have an impact on its most important trading partners including China.
After nearly six months of war, the conflict has reached a stalemate with sides not firing at each other but also showing no sign of pursuing peace talks.
Oil shipments are at a virtual standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran threatening to strike any unauthorised oil tankers that try to transit the vital waterway, and Iran's economy is already under immense pressure from sanctions.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday after threatening "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran.
Bessent has also urged cooperation with Washington by China, which buys more than 80 per cent of Iran's shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler. In response, Beijing has urged diplomacy.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Saturday the imminent US announcement of new economic sanctions was an "assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations."
"Such secondary sanctions find no foundation in international law," he said in a post on X.
Nicole Wootton-Cane22 August 2026 15:32
Mother of Palestinian girl found dead after Israel fired on family car wants inquiry
The mother of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl found dead days after Israeli forces fired on her family’s car in Gaza City wants an independent inquiry into her death.
The widely publicized recording of Hind Rajab’s January 2024 phone call with her mother and emergency dispatchers made her one of the Israel-Hamas war’s most prominent casualties.
Israel’s military this week admitted to firing at the family’s car as it fled an Israeli invasion and firing toward an ambulance dispatched to help them.
It said it would launch a criminal investigation into its troops’ conduct. All six people in the car and two paramedics were killed. But both Rajab’s family and emergency responders from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society doubt the Israeli investigation can deliver justice.
Sam Rkaina22 August 2026 15:15
Iran grants permission for number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through Hormuz
Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s visit to Iraq.
Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said on Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil through the Strait in recent days and Baghdad had discussed the export of Iraqi oil through Hormuz with Iranian officials.
The issue remained complicated, he added, speaking at the Baghdad Dialogue policy conference.
Sam Rkaina22 August 2026 14:12
Iranian official urges Qatar to move detained pilots to hospital on land
An Iranian military official has called on Qatar to transfer detained Iranian pilots to a hospital on land, saying they were being held on water and were in "poor physical condition", Tasnim news agency reported.
Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, said the location where the pilots were being held was unsuitable and requested that the International Committee of the Red Cross send an air ambulance to Qatar to expedite the return of injured and sick detainees to Iran.
Qatar denied last week that it was holding Iranian pilots, saying they had violated Qatari airspace earlier this year and failed to respond to attempts to contact them.
Sam Rkaina22 August 2026 13:31
Iranian army says threats will get a 'devastating response'
The chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, promised yesterday that Iran would respond to enemy threats militarily with "crushing, punishing and devastating responses".
Still, President Masoud Pezeshkian called for a diplomatic solution.
"It would be better to end the war today, when we are powerful and have dignity, and the whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasizes that America, contrary to all regulations, attacked our schools, hospitals, and infrastructure and is hated in the world," Pezeshkian said, according to the ISNA news agency.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 August 2026 12:30
US military presence in Middle East could be cut back after Iran war ends: report
The Pentagon is considering reducing US military presence in the Middle East following the conclusion of the Iran war, according to a report.
Troops could be withdrawn from the Persian Gulf, officials told The Washington Post, following months of attacks by Iranian forces that have targeted US bases across the region since the war began in late February.
The Pentagon’s policy office is evaluating US regional presence, with US Central Command (Centcom) and Joint Staff also looking at the situation, a senior Pentagon official told the outlet.
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US military presence in Middle East could be cut back after Iran war ends: report
The U.S. has around 50,000 troops stationed in the region and around 20 bases but the Iran war has come at a cost Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 August 2026 11:45
Here’s why Gaza peace deals keep unravelling
Donald Trump’s Board of Peace published a 15-point roadmap for Gaza in late July in which Hamas would hand its weapons to a committee of Palestinian technocrats, certified by an international verification body, and Israel would withdraw from the strip in phases.
After Israel officially rejected the plan on August 9, US envoy Jared Kushner flew to the Egyptian coast to meet Hamas representatives.
From there, he travelled to Jerusalem where it was proposed the weapons would instead be handed over under the supervision of an American general. This change to the disarmament process is a clear illustration of what has gone wrong with each agreement reached over Gaza since January 2025: none have established, in advance, who certifies compliance.
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I’m a legal expert. Here’s why Gaza peace deals keep unravelling
Trump's Gaza peace plan shares the fatal flaw of all previous dealsAlisha Rahaman Sarkar22 August 2026 11:00
Iran says Trump's sanctions 'assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty'
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said this morning that the imminent US announcement of new economic sanctions on Iran was an "assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations".
"Such secondary sanctions find no foundation in international law," he said in a post on X.
US president Donald Trump, who has warned of economic consequences against any country that provides "any type of lifeline to Iran," said yesterday that Washington was observing "what happens" in the conflict.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 August 2026 10:30
Iran asks Qatar to transfer 'detained pilots' to hospital on land
Iran has claimed that Qatar was holding its pilots captive in "poor physical condition" on water.
Iranian officials have called on Qatar to transfer the detained pilots to a hospital on land, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Qatar on Tuesday said that an Iranian delegation travelled to Doha and collected the remains of one of its pilots.
However, Tehran has claimed that three pilots who went missing after their aircraft entered Qatari airspace and were shot down in March were still in the country.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22 August 2026 10:00
Pentagon says more than 750 US troops wounded and 18 killed in Iran war
The Pentagon says 756 US service members have been wounded and 18 killed in the war against Iran since late February, bringing total US military casualties to 774.
The figures, per the Defence Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) data, were updated after the Pentagon added 50 wounded personnel to its casualty database.
The update comes amid renewed US strikes on Iran, stalled efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and US president Donald Trump’s announcement of a major new economic campaign against Iran.
