Netanyahu rejects US Gaza roadmap as army pulls back to Yellow Line Iran installs IRGC veterans as Hormuz stays shut Deaths on both sides as Russia and Ukraine trade overnight strikes Houthis strike Aramco refinery and hit al-Makha port twice Typhoon Dolphin hits Zhejiang as Hong Kong sets heat record Syria and Russia turn Hmeimim and Tartus into joint training centres Congo puts Ebola toll at 1,887 as outbreak becomes its largest Rhine nears split in two as heat and drought grip Europe Ankara says Mecca defence pact could widen to Egypt Oil climbs as doubts grow over Hormuz reopening Taiwan plans record 16 percent rise in defence spending China's inflation cools as its trade gap with Germany widens Zelensky says North Korea to send up to 50,000 troops to Russia Spain turns back travellers from Italy as Ceuta row deepens Germany widens drone defences after sightings over Patriot base Pentagon presses arms makers for faster deliveries as interceptor stocks thin Israeli army seals off Christian village Taybeh after settler attacks Apple tests Chinese memory chips for iPhones and MacBooks Chinese model Kimi K3 escapes containment in test World's seas hit hottest July on record as El Niño strengthens Ottawa approves federal aid as 102 wildfires burn in British Columbia Nagasaki marks 81 years as Takaichi leaves non-nuclear pledge open Moore Threads plans Hong Kong listing as China steers capital into AI BOJ debates faster rate hikes as weak yen lifts import costs US and Israel target Hezbollah's finances Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire and humanitarian corridors in Sudan Thai police say school shooter had viewed violent content online Costa Rican diplomat emerges as front-runner to lead the UN Australia widens curbs on Chinese rare-earth investors as US buys into miner US conditions could sink Saudi civil nuclear deal Vucic threatens to cut water to Kosovo's largest hydropower plant Turkey resumes Black Sea transits as shipowner prepares case against Ukraine Cheap Chinese open-weight models reshape the global AI market Myanmar's junta rejects ASEAN call to free Aung San Suu Kyi Sony and TSMC to invest $6.3bn in Kumamoto image-sensor plant North Korean hacking group builds AI tools for cyberattacks, report says Alleged crime boss Kinahan charged in Dublin after extradition from Dubai Data-centre backlash spreads from British towns to the Texas oil patch Lake Mead falls to its lowest recorded level Chinese provinces push deeper into African agriculture and mining Turkish parliament to pass Kurdish settlement law before summer recess DR Congo hands 15 prisoners to rebel alliance under Doha framework Iran resumes public executions UN expert says no one should be deported to Haiti Study links early social media use to weaker school results California city takes network offline after cyberattack halts 911 dispatch China's Xuelong 2 begins first ice station survey in central Arctic Moody's warns AI race leaves banks dependent on tech suppliers Up to 20,000 seafarers stranded in the Gulf by US-Iran war Dollar near two-month low as US inflation data looms US and Israeli physicists hail China's glueball evidence as triumph FIFA rejects calls for Infantino to resign as Tebas declares his era over Biden's cancer is spreading and very painful, his son says Netanyahu rejects US Gaza roadmap as army pulls back to Yellow Line Iran installs IRGC veterans as Hormuz stays shut Deaths on both sides as Russia and Ukraine trade overnight strikes Houthis strike Aramco refinery and hit al-Makha port twice Typhoon Dolphin hits Zhejiang as Hong Kong sets heat record Syria and Russia turn Hmeimim and Tartus into joint training centres Congo puts Ebola toll at 1,887 as outbreak becomes its largest Rhine nears split in two as heat and drought grip Europe Ankara says Mecca defence pact could widen to Egypt Oil climbs as doubts grow over Hormuz reopening Taiwan plans record 16 percent rise in defence spending China's inflation cools as its trade gap with Germany widens Zelensky says North Korea to send up to 50,000 troops to Russia Spain turns back travellers from Italy as Ceuta row deepens Germany widens drone defences after sightings over Patriot base Pentagon presses arms makers for faster deliveries as interceptor stocks thin Israeli army seals off Christian village Taybeh after settler attacks Apple tests Chinese memory chips for iPhones and MacBooks Chinese model Kimi K3 escapes containment in test World's seas hit hottest July on record as El Niño strengthens Ottawa approves federal aid as 102 wildfires burn in British Columbia Nagasaki marks 81 years as Takaichi leaves non-nuclear pledge open Moore Threads plans Hong Kong listing as China steers capital into AI BOJ debates faster rate hikes as weak yen lifts import costs US and Israel target Hezbollah's finances Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire and humanitarian corridors in Sudan Thai police say school shooter had viewed violent content online Costa Rican diplomat emerges as front-runner to lead the UN Australia widens curbs on Chinese rare-earth investors as US buys into miner US conditions could sink Saudi civil nuclear deal Vucic threatens to cut water to Kosovo's largest hydropower plant Turkey resumes Black Sea transits as shipowner prepares case against Ukraine Cheap Chinese open-weight models reshape the global AI market Myanmar's junta rejects ASEAN call to free Aung San Suu Kyi Sony and TSMC to invest $6.3bn in Kumamoto image-sensor plant North Korean hacking group builds AI tools for cyberattacks, report says Alleged crime boss Kinahan charged in Dublin after extradition from Dubai Data-centre backlash spreads from British towns to the Texas oil patch Lake Mead falls to its lowest recorded level Chinese provinces push deeper into African agriculture and mining Turkish parliament to pass Kurdish settlement law before summer recess DR Congo hands 15 prisoners to rebel alliance under Doha framework Iran resumes public executions UN expert says no one should be deported to Haiti Study links early social media use to weaker school results California city takes network offline after cyberattack halts 911 dispatch China's Xuelong 2 begins first ice station survey in central Arctic Moody's warns AI race leaves banks dependent on tech suppliers Up to 20,000 seafarers stranded in the Gulf by US-Iran war Dollar near two-month low as US inflation data looms US and Israeli physicists hail China's glueball evidence as triumph FIFA rejects calls for Infantino to resign as Tebas declares his era over Biden's cancer is spreading and very painful, his son says

Symbolic image: Iran installs IRGC veterans as Hormuz stays shut

Symbolic image

Iran installs IRGC veterans as Hormuz stays shut

18 sources

Iran's supreme leader has put two Revolutionary Guard veterans into top security posts while the Strait of Hormuz stays shut. Washington is betting on pressure, not new strikes.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei made Mohsen Rezaee, IRGC commander from 1981 to 1997, his representative on the Supreme National Security Council, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing statements published on Sunday, 9 August. Former IRGC deputy chief Mohammed Bagher Zolghadr, the council's secretary since March, becomes Khamenei's political adviser. The Financial Times and Bloomberg tie the shake-up to the Hormuz talks, after Tehran said an Oman deal was 'very close'.

Six conditions for reopening

On Friday, 7 August, on state broadcaster IRIB, Zolghadr set six US steps for reopening: ending all aggression against Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Palestine, no verbal threats, lifting the naval blockade and withdrawing US forces, paying war damages, lifting all sanctions and releasing frozen assets.

Washington waits it out

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US officials, that Trump has privately floated declaring victory without a nuclear deal and would extend the ceasefire indefinitely if Iran's nuclear work stays contained and shipping resumes. They expect him to lift the blockade only after a full reopening, and said he can wait while fuel prices hold.

Other opinions

Germany's FAZ frames the standoff as a Western failure and warns of a second chokepoint, with the Houthis pressing on Bab al-Mandab.