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booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riotsIran rejects US claim to Hormuz as ship attacks mount600 drones head for Moscow as Russia strikes Kyiv and Kryvyi RihDeath toll passes 50 after magnitude 7.7 quake off FloresIsraeli strikes kill 11 in south Lebanon, deadliest since June truceColombia asks Trump to suspend tariffs as quake toll climbsRhine hits record low at Kaub as Hungary sinks barges to cool reactorUS readies unprecedented economic measures against IranUS boat strikes pass 200 dead as Ecuadorean fishermen describe attacksBond traders struggle to price $70bn of credit backstops behind AI buildoutAlibaba says its open AI models passed three billion downloadsDeath toll rises to 68 after Lake Kariba ferry sinkingTaliban mark five years in power as UN warns of rights crisisEU aircraft join fight against Belgium's record wildfireUS presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupiedMokha port halts operations as Houthi missiles hit MaribSeoul proposes talks to end the Korean war as North rejects drillsChina-led perovskite solar plant outperforms silicon in three-month field testOpenAI revenue run rate passes $40bn as revenue chief departsHamas leader in Cairo as Kushner trip nearsWHO says Congo's Ebola outbreak is outpacing the responseTurkish parliament passes amnesty law for PKK membersMorocco detains scores near Ceuta as feared mass crossing fails to materialiseChina publishes ecology reports to bolster South China Sea claimsMyanmar says more than 300,000 Rohingya verified for repatriationPetrobras detects signs of oil off the mouth of the AmazonChina condemns Japanese politicians' moves at Yasukuni ShrineUS inflation cools as wages again lag behind pricesModi offers free exam coaching after youth protests in IndiaOil from grounded Russian tanker reaches Oman's coastPanama Canal cuts draught again as Mexico pitches rival corridorUkraine's idle ports cost $1.75bn as farm exports fallFormer Chinese premier Zhu Rongji diesAt least 20 killed in communal clashes in central NigeriaIran accuses Qatar of holding three of its pilotsXi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter ChinaVenezuela frees 131 more political prisonersMore Syrians in Germany lose refugee protectionAudit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defencesIndia drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firmsHichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumesParis prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hackReport details leverage behind Situational Awareness lossesArgentina has lost 30,633 companies under MileiAt least five dead in Indiana floodingIran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltrationCanadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signaturesIndia raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility earlyOpaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and MaltaBritain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stallThird drone debris find in a day on Turkish coastsForecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El NiñoSecondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riots
Bota
Symbolic image: Tankers reroute around Hormuz as Iran says Oman deal alone will not reopen straitSymbolic image

Tankers reroute around Hormuz as Iran says Oman deal alone will not reopen strait

4 sources

US Central Command says 35 commercial ships have been rerouted at the blockaded Strait of Hormuz as of Sunday. Iran's Foreign Ministry says a route agreement with Oman alone will not reopen the waterway.

What happened

  • CENTCOM said on Monday, 3 August, that it had also disabled two commercial ships and boarded two others during the blockade.
  • UAE exports through the strait fell nearly 53 percent in July to 950,000 barrels per day, from 2.01 million in June.
  • Ship crossings averaged 18.7 a day in July, down from 24.7 in June, according to data firm Kpler.
  • Combined loadings from the eight Gulf exporters averaged 4 million bpd in July, against a prewar 19 to 20 million.
  • OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to raise September output quotas by a further 188,000 bpd.

The view from outside

The German daily FAZ notes that physical fuel supply in Europe has held despite an IEA warning in April that jet fuel stocks would last only about six weeks; Slovenia was the rare case of state-capped sales volumes, aimed at cross-border tank tourism.

What could happen next

  • Trump said US-Iran talks on a peace agreement would begin on Monday, and that any deal must include immediate reopening of the strait.
  • Unclear whether the Iran-Oman route agreement is concluded, and who would guarantee safe passage through the strait.
  • OPEC+ increases stay largely on paper: Saudi Arabia pumped 7.34 million bpd in June, nearly 3 million below its quota.
  • FAZ asks whether acute supply shortages could still hit Europe in the coming months.
How the camps see it

  • Iran: Tehran says the strait is closed because of US and Israeli aggression, not any dispute with Muscat, and calls a route deal necessary but not sufficient.

  • United States: Washington keeps its naval blockade of Iranian ports running and says a peace agreement must include the immediate reopening of the strait and the end of Iran's nuclear programme.

Also involved

OmanGulf exporters

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