Symbolic imageIran ties Hormuz reopening to US conditions after tanker strike
Tehran says a deal with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz is close but will not itself reopen the waterway. The UAE blames an Iranian missile for Saturday's strike on an Adnoc tanker.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday, 8 August, that the strait reopens only when Washington "accepts Iran's conditions" and abandons its "interventionist approach", and that this is independent of the Oman talks. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the conditions include US compensation for alleged violations of the 17 June memorandum of understanding; the Wall Street Journal reports a demand for a US withdrawal. Iran has closed the route for about a fifth of the world's oil and gas since the US and Israeli attacks that began in February.
Talks in Muscat
Oman called the negotiations on guaranteed passage positive and warned that attacks on shipping could wreck them, Koha reports. At issue is a new corridor the two countries would run jointly.
Riyadh steps in
Gulf states condemned the tanker attack, and Saudi Arabia openly joined a strike on Iran-backed militias in Iraq for the first time, FAZ reports, though Riyadh has pressed for de-escalation to protect its oil revenue.
Pressure inside Iran
Handelsblatt reports that Iran's president is defending the negotiations with the United States against critics at home.
Other opinions
The Guardian sees another round of Trump's ultimatum-and-retreat cycle; The American Conservative counts war day 162 and sets Iran's demands beside US petrol prices.