Tensions surrounding the U.S.-Israel war with Iran intensified Monday as Washington pressed for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks raised concerns about a wider conflict.
Iran said it had reached an understanding with Oman on a shipping route through the strait, a major passage for global oil supplies. Iranian officials said details were being finalized for a joint statement. Earlier proposals suggested ships could enter near Iran and exit near Oman without paying temporary fees. The United States has made an acceptable agreement on reopening the waterway a condition for lifting its blockade of Iranian ports.
President Donald Trump again threatened Oman, telling a Fox News reporter that the United States could bomb the country if it obstructed American objectives. Trump made a similar statement in May. He also dismissed the expiration of a 60-day negotiating period, saying there was no fixed timeline, while indicating that Washington maintains a back channel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres urged the United States and Iran to resume negotiations, arguing that the conflict has no military solution and calling for less inflammatory rhetoric.
Elsewhere, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement claimed missile attacks on a ship and four military boats near the Bab el-Mandab Strait. The group said the boats were Saudi-owned, but offered no evidence, and the claims were not independently verified.
In northern Iraq, drones targeted the office of Kurdish regional Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the home of a senior intelligence official. No casualties were reported, and no group claimed responsibility. Kurdish authorities described the strikes as an escalation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the attack and suggested it could have been intended to create tensions between neighboring parties. U.S. forces are withdrawing from the Kurdish region under an agreement with Baghdad.