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Theme: Strait of Hormuz

Wire

US President Donald Trump blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for high gasoline prices on Monday, according to G1. Trump said, in a post on the Truth Social network, that gasoline is being driven up by Russia's refineries hit by Ukraine, and no longer by the Strait of Hormuz, from which record numbers of barrels are coming out on an almost daily basis, according to Gulf News, in a text from the AFP. Prices have been high since the start of the year, when the United States launched its attack against the Iranian regime alongside Israel and Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation, according to G1.

5 Oct · 14:22

A Kpler analyst suspects there is a toll being paid to Iran for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera. Provisional data from the consultancy show crude exports from the region exceeded pre-war levels on four days in the final week of September, reaching between 19.5 and 22.5 million barrels per day. Abdul Khalique, head of the Liverpool John Moores University Maritime Centre, told Al Jazeera that no public proof confirms a systematic, state-run Iranian toll system.

5 Oct · 10:21

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Ali Fadavi said the US moved more than 1,000km away from Iran's borders, according to Middle East Eye. Fadavi added that American vessels are not present in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman or the northern Indian Ocean, according to Middle East Eye.

5 Oct · 04:21

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz will only reopen when the United States meets seven conditions of the Islamabad Memorandum, according to Iranian state media cited by the Hindustan Times. Iran presented a proposal at the United Nations General Assembly to reopen Hormuz within seven days if the conditions are met, and the United States replied through Qatari intermediaries, according to the Hindustan Times. Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US response is under review and that some points still need to be communicated to Washington through mediators.

4 Oct · 10:21

At least three tankers were struck by unidentified projectiles in and around the Strait of Hormuz since October 1, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) warnings. In its weekly review released on October 2, UKMTO said 91 incidents of damage to vessels have been reported since February. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is “ironclad” and that US President Donald Trump has “all the options he needs on the table” if Iran continues to “play games” with the strait, according to the Associated Press, in a report carried by the Times of Israel.

3 Oct · 22:22

Crude shipments from the Gulf region returned to pre-war levels between September 1 and 28, with at least 16.5 million barrels per day, according to maritime intelligence and research firm Kpler, in a report by The Times of India. Before the war, 83% of the region’s crude crossed the Strait of Hormuz; in September, 40% was exported through pipelines in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) without crossing the strait. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said member countries had released 325 million barrels of oil and oil products from strategic reserves, out of 400 million barrels pledged in March.

3 Oct · 20:23

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Iranian broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) that Ukraine will need to embrace a neutral, non-nuclear status, reject its nationalist policy course and recognize the four new Russian regions for a lasting political settlement, according to TASS. Medvedev said Russia and Iran are developing joint activities in defense and attach great importance to this, and that Iran plays a key role in ensuring security in the Strait of Hormuz in terms of geography and international law.

3 Oct · 18:23

Iran has received an official US response to its latest proposal to end the seven-month war, according to Iranian officials cited by the Hindustan Times. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented the response to President Masoud Pezeshkian at a Cabinet meeting, according to government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, who spoke to the state-run IRNA news agency. Araghchi proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz within a week if the US suspended its blockade of Iranian ports, released frozen Iranian assets and waived sanctions on Iranian oil sales.

1 Oct · 08:22

Three Liberian-flagged oil tankers were struck by unknown projectiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, according to Marisks, cited by Reuters. The vessels were moving through the strait with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders turned off to avoid detection, according to a Marisks report released on Wednesday, and the tanker Al Ruwais had conducted a ship-to-ship transfer off Sohar, Oman, in late September to discharge diesel, according to Kpler data, according to Middle East Online.

1 Oct · 04:21

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said it has redirected 125 commercial vessels since mid-July, when the country resumed its naval blockade against Iran, according to TASS. The command said its forces redirected the vessels “to ensure strict compliance,” in a tally dated September 30. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is operating in the Arabian Sea in support of the blockade, according to Iran International, citing CENTCOM. President Donald Trump said the United States has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, a situation he described as “always subject to change”.

30 Sep · 20:22

Iran’s conditions for fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz [include an end to US military and economic pressure, the release of frozen or restricted assets and agreement on a safe shipping route], according to the Anadolu Agency. The proposal was conveyed to Washington through Qatar, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has received the US response, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani confirmed on Wednesday. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran is making every possible effort to ensure the success of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, and Iran says the Strait of Hormuz will not fully reopen until its conditions are met and US commitments implemented. According to the Hindustan Times, the government of Donald Trump had publicly rejected Tehran’s latest proposal to end the war, which the outlet describes as being in its seventh month.

30 Sep · 10:24

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he expects a formal answer on Tuesday from the United States (US) to Tehran’s proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, according to France 24, citing Iranian state media. Araghchi said the current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz and the reopening depends on conditions communicated to the other side. US President Donald Trump called reports of an offer to Iran untrue and a hoax and said he offered nothing, according to the Hindustan Times.

29 Sep · 04:21

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan in Washington on September 28 to discuss regional security, including shipping safety in the Strait of Hormuz and the situation in Yemen, according to Al Jazeera. Rubio said they also discussed Iran, Gaza and Sudan, while the Saudi state agency SPA reported that the two discussed political and security developments in the region and the situation in Yemen.

29 Sep · 02:21

Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said the United States would be forced to leave West Asia after suffering “painful blows”, in a statement carried by state television, according to AFP, in a text republished by The Hindu. In a written statement attributed to him, Khamenei said that “today, having suffered painful blows at the hands of valiant fighters and the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz, they [the enemies] do not venture beyond the Arabian Sea”, according to The Hindu. Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the start of the war in late February, made the remarks despite attempts to revive talks aimed at ending the fighting, Middle East Eye noted.

28 Sep · 12:23

QatarEnergy extended force majeure notices and will not be able to deliver liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to Italian utility Edison or some Asian clients while the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, according to Reuters. Edison said QatarEnergy would cancel a further six cargoes, taking the total undelivered shipments to 35. Qatar exported just 18 LNG cargoes to end-August, down from 509 in the same period last year, according to data intelligence firm ICIS.

28 Sep · 10:22

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) rejected the claim that Iran fully controls the Strait of Hormuz, saying in a post on X that such claims “are false” and that Iran “has no navy because American forces sank it”. According to CENTCOM, more than 1 billion barrels of oil have recently passed through the strait, demonstrating that Iran does not control the waterway, Middle East Eye reported.

28 Sep · 10:22

Iran stood firm on Sunday on the conditions of its plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, despite US President Donald Trump's rejection of the proposal. The plan calls for a cessation of all hostilities in West Asia, including in Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and a return to the conditions of the ceasefire deal that fell apart a few months ago. Trump said in an interview with Axios that the United States will hold another round of talks with Iran next week. Araghchi said the country is fully prepared for the war to be resumed, including an apocalyptic war, and at the same time ready for diplomacy.

27 Sep · 14:21

US Central Command denied the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claim to have captured an American underwater drone in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Middle East Eye. Spokesperson Tim Hawkins said the US maintains “positive control of all of our operational drone assets” and called the claim “clearly desperate”. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is prepared for a renewed conflict with the US while keeping the door open for diplomacy, after President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to Sputnik Globe. Araghchi wrote that “our conditions are clear, and any measure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz depends on their fulfilment” and that “only a negotiated solution can pull the parties out of this impasse”, according to G1. Trump told Axios he expects American negotiators to hold more talks with Iran this week, according to Middle East Eye. In Bandar Abbas, Basij forces and residents held a parade of the Janfada drill to show preparedness against potential enemy aggression, according to Mehr News.

27 Sep · 12:21

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed it is leading the investigation into an incident overnight near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, with five men arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, according to Le Monde. The five were initially arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act near an air base in southwestern England used by the US Air Force. RAF Fairford is also being used by the US for strikes on Iranian missile sites targeting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to France 24.

27 Sep · 12:21

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced the capture of a Remus 600, a US-made unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) the force called “terrorist”, in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Mehr News Agency. According to the force, it is the second vehicle of its kind seized in September 2026: on September 8, 2026 it had announced the interception and capture of another advanced US unmanned underwater vehicle near the entrance to the strait. Xinhua also reported the IRGC announcement, made on Sunday, September 27, 2026, about the capture of another “advanced smart” unmanned underwater vehicle belonging to the US Army in the Strait of Hormuz.

27 Sep · 08:21

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met and held talks in New York late on Saturday on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly, according to Mehr News. The two discussed bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments, the Iranian account says, and Araghchi told Fidan that the current situation, including insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz, is a direct result of US and Israeli aggression that began on February 28 and has continued in various forms.

27 Sep · 04:21

The Strait of Hormuz now has only a handful of ships sailing each day, either at their own risk or escorted by the US Navy, a tiny fraction of the traffic that passed through the waterway before the first strikes on Iran earlier in 2026, according to El País. Qatar, the world’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been forced to cancel the bulk of its sales to the European Union (EU) and Asia citing “force majeure” over the closure of Hormuz. Continental reserves of LNG, key for industry and heating, are at their lowest in more than a decade and about 20 percentage points below where they usually stand at this time of year.

27 Sep · 00:22

Under the proposal Donald Trump rejected, Tehran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear negotiations in exchange for the end of the naval blockade, relief on restrictions to Iranian oil exports, the release of frozen assets and a ceasefire that includes an end to Israel’s combat operations in Lebanon, according to RT. Trump told reporters Tehran wants a deal because it is “losing so badly” under the American blockade.

26 Sep · 22:21

Donald Trump said on Saturday that he rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days. He said he “would also like to make a deal”, but that this one would not be acceptable, and said Iranians want the deal immediately because they are losing badly. Iran offered this week to reopen the strait and resume talks on its nuclear programme within seven days, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at the UN General Assembly that normal maritime passage can be restored within seven days if the necessary conditions are met, with the choice resting with the United States.

26 Sep · 14:23

Donald Trump rejected Iran’s offer of a seven-day ceasefire to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Guardian. The rejection was reported by The Wall Street Journal based on unnamed U.S. officials. The plan called for releasing $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets, lifting sanctions on Iranian oil and ending the naval blockade on the country’s ports, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters. By Saturday, the United States had still made no public response, though reports indicated Trump had rejected the proposal.

26 Sep · 06:21

A spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, said the country’s advanced missiles are capable of destroying the multilayered air defense systems of the United States, according to the Mehr news agency. Mohebbi also said that the United States, despite having the world’s largest navy, was unable to keep the Strait of Hormuz open even for a few hours. According to him, only oil tankers of Iran’s trading partners are permitted to pass through the strait, and only with Tehran’s permission.

26 Sep · 01:51

Iran treated the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as the implementation of a memorandum of understanding already signed with Washington. According to the Russian agency TASS, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS that the resumption of normal shipping through Hormuz should follow the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington and that Iran remains committed to the text and willing to implement it. According to Sputnik Globe, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has sent Washington, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan to reopen the strait and restart negotiations if the United States fulfills the agreed conditions, and under the plan the strait would reopen on day six and talks on a final agreement would begin on day seven. Also according to TASS, Pezeshkian conditioned a meeting with Donald Trump on the United States showing that it does not intend to overthrow the Iranian government. On the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the foreign ministers of Oman and Iran discussed efforts to ensure safe navigation through Hormuz.

26 Sep · 00:51

Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear programme in seven days is conditioned on the United States lifting its naval blockade, waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observing a ceasefire that would include Lebanon, according to The Hindu. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi detailed the proposal on September 24 at a private gathering on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, according to one attendee. Pezeshkian hosted the prime minister of Qatar on September 25; Qatar has served as a mediator, including during hours of indirect Iranian-U.S. talks at the U.N. this week.

25 Sep · 22:55

Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at the United Nations (UN) on Friday: if the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days. The timeline starts only when the United States accepts the plan — “if they accept this plan tomorrow, the seven-day period will start from tomorrow,” he said. According to Tehran, the steps required of Washington are all already in the Memorandum of Understanding.

25 Sep · 17:52

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran will show no flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the United States accepts its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which calls for lifting the naval blockade on Iranian ports, in a report carried by Middle East Eye. The same official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the waterway would remain closed until “all of Iran’s conditions” are met by Washington.

25 Sep · 14:31

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will take “the necessary measures” to safeguard its national interests in response to what it called Colombia’s unjustified and hostile approach, according to Sputnik. The reaction follows Bogotá’s severing of diplomatic relations with Tehran, in force since 19 September 2026, according to Sputnik, which cited Colombian national security concerns, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s obstruction of inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

25 Sep · 11:53

India and Liberia announced the creation of a “group of friends” on the safety and security of shipping and seafarers, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), according to The Hindu. India’s Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, called attacks on civilian shipping “simply indefensible”, cited repeated attacks in the Gulf, the Red Sea and surrounding waters, and pointed to two recent cases: an attack two days earlier on an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier in the Gulf of Oman that killed an Indian sailor, and an attack ten days earlier on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz that left a crew member missing, according to Firstpost.

25 Sep · 11:53

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the state of Iran’s negotiations and agreements with Oman to ensure safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, according to TASS. According to Moscow, the two agreed that only a diplomatic settlement can end tension in the Middle East, The Jerusalem Post reports, citing Reuters.

25 Sep · 08:23

Imagery and intelligence support from Chinese groups has helped Iran threaten ships in the Strait of Hormuz and launch precision strikes on U.S. military bases in the Middle East, CNN reports, citing sources the network does not identify. The imagery allowed Iran to hit a U.S. base in Jordan in July 2026, a strike that killed three American service members with a level of precision that U.S. officials believe was beyond Iran’s capabilities. In May 2026, the U.S. government sanctioned three Chinese satellite companies for providing imagery that, according to Washington, “enables Iran’s military strikes against U.S. forces in the Middle East.”

25 Sep · 07:23

Iran’s seven-day roadmap to end the war with the United States provides for an end to hostilities on all fronts, the release of at least US$ 12 billion in frozen assets, relief from sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the naval blockade, with the Strait of Hormuz reopening on the seventh day, Al Jazeera reports. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the plan was delivered to Washington through intermediaries and that a deal should be sealed before the U.S. midterm elections, he told Al Jazeera.

25 Sep · 06:24

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband in New York on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly, Mehr News Agency reports. Miliband said the United Kingdom “will not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on UK soil” and urged de-escalation and diplomacy instead of prolonging the war, stressing the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to the BBC. Senior Iranian officials say Washington has four to five days to respond to Tehran’s conditions for reopening the strait, according to The Guardian.

25 Sep · 04:51

Ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Gulf of Oman have reached their limits after Saudi Arabia diverted exports from the Red Sea, according to Reuters via The Hindu. Saudi crude exports via the Strait of Hormuz were on track to rebound to 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, up from about 900,000 bpd in August, according to data from analytics firm Kpler cited in the report. State-run Saudi Aramco has sold more than 60 million barrels for transfer off Sohar, Oman, this month and next, since its East–West Pipeline was attacked on September 13.

25 Sep · 02:06

Colombia severed diplomatic relations with Iran effective 19 September 2026, according to The Rio Times, which cited Colombian radio station Caracol and the country’s Foreign Ministry statement. The government cited human rights violations, alleged Iranian links to terrorist and narcoterrorist groups, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and obstruction of the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and kept consular relations, according to the Venezuelan state outlet teleSUR, which also cited the ministry’s statement.

25 Sep · 01:55

Yemen’s Houthis said on Thursday, September 24, 2026, that they had launched missiles and drones at a “sensitive target” in Riyadh and at Aramco facilities in the Red Sea city of Yanbu, according to Al Jazeera; oil rose the same day: Brent futures for November ended above US$106.50 a barrel, after earlier exceeding US$108 and settled at US$106.60, up US$3.52, or 3.4%, according to The Vibes; according to Middle East Eye, vessel transits in the Strait of Hormuz fell to nine on Thursday, from 14 the day before and a 10-day average of about 18, preliminary ship-tracking data showed.

25 Sep · 00:23

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Thursday, 24 September 2026, that Tehran had given the United States a proposal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks on ending the war within seven days. The text has not been released. Regional sources cited by The National describe a regionwide ceasefire of up to 60 days, a phased reopening of the Strait and an end to the US blockade. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a Fox News interview that the choice rests with Washington: “It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not.”

24 Sep · 19:55

Three commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, below the 10-day moving average of about 15, according to preliminary Kpler data cited by Reuters and carried by Middle East Eye. All three were exiting the waterway, and the figure may change because some ships switch off their transponders on the crossing; the ballast liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Al Mafyar reappeared inside the strait on Tuesday, after last being seen outside it on 19 September 2026, according to Kpler and LSEG data. At Bab el-Mandeb, 22 commodity vessels crossed on the same day, against an average of about 26 over the previous 10 days. Before the US–Iran war that began on 28 February 2026, the strait handled about 125 large commercial vessels a day — the equivalent of a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Maritime risk consultancy Marisks said on Tuesday that the Isle of Man-flagged crude oil tanker LR Stephanie was struck by an unidentified projectile while entering the waterway on Monday, 21 September 2026, injuring two crew members, and that the Liberia-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier Al Maryah, managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), was struck while outbound on Sunday, 20 September 2026; neither incident has been claimed, according to the Reuters dispatch.

23 Sep · 00:05

Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura terminal recorded its busiest loading day since before the war on September 21, 2026, as six very large crude carriers loaded close to 12 million barrels at Ras Tanura and Juaymah, according to shipping analytics firm Kpler, as reported by Middle East Eye. The surge followed disruption to Aramco’s East-West pipeline, which lets Saudi crude reach the Red Sea coast without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Kpler said some of the six vessels had already been flagged over the previous six weeks for undeclared ship-to-ship transfers or unusual port calls, which the firm says points to a longer-running pattern of changing vessel behaviour.

22 Sep · 22:35

Iran’s state news agency, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), said an explosion was heard near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on the night of Tuesday, 22 September 2026, and that the cause and the impact were not immediately clear, according to Middle East Eye, which is covering the case in a live blog. No other source has confirmed the explosion so far.

22 Sep · 22:35

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on expectations that Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline is back in service, then erased much of the drop after US President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly he believes a deal with Iran is possible after November’s midterm elections. Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, fell 2.64 per cent to $97.69 a barrel at 3.09pm UAE time, while West Texas Intermediate dropped 3.20 per cent, according to The National, of Abu Dhabi. Earlier, Brent had fallen 3 per cent to $97.43 and US crude as much as 3.5 per cent to $92.40, according to NBC News. After Trump’s speech, US crude was back around $96 and Brent briefly rose above $100 again, NBC News reported. “I believe we will make a deal right after the election because it does not make sense for them not to,” Trump told the assembly. “Oil prices will come plummeting down, even lower than they were at the start of the conflict.” Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency called the reports about the reopening of Hormuz “unreliable and untrue”, according to NBC News, which says it has not confirmed them. Only two visible commercial vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, 21 September 2026, against about 125 a day before the war began on 28 February 2026, according to preliminary shipping data cited by The National. The US national average diesel price hit a record on Tuesday at $6.52 a gallon, up 82 per cent since the start of the year, according to NBC News.

22 Sep · 22:35

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she discussed with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York the diplomatic prospects for ending the war between the United States and Iran and for fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz. “There were no tolls or fees for passage before the war, and there should be none after the war,” she wrote on X, according to LaPresse and ANI. “Navigation must be free and unimpeded, both in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.” Kallas also said she raised with Araghchi domestic repression inside Iran, including the sharp rise in executions and death sentences.

22 Sep · 22:05

Iran handed the United States its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz in a meeting between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. According to Iran’s state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), in an account carried by The Tribune, the demands are the immediate lifting of the naval blockade, the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. The meeting was requested by Witkoff, the broadcaster said. Witkoff wrote on X, in a post carried by The Tribune, that the two sides held “lengthy talks” through mediators who “shuttled between the two sides throughout the day”: “They successfully completed a round of discussions that we hope will prove constructive and promising. The mediators will continue their work.” Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, told the Vedomosti newspaper that Washington will have to accept the new legal status of the Strait of Hormuz, which he said will be defined by Iran and Oman, according to TASS.

22 Sep · 22:05

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York and conveyed Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state television IRIB, cited by Middle East Eye: the immediate lifting of the naval blockade, the return of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war on all resistance fronts. The meeting confirms the direct contact that US president Donald Trump described earlier as a roughly three-hour meeting that was “very good” and “very productive”. The same day, the European Union (EU) high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Kaja Kallas, also met Araghchi to discuss free maritime passage in the strait and in Bab al-Mandab: “There were no tolls or fees for passage before the war, and there should be none after the war,” she wrote on X, according to Middle East Eye. Kallas said she also raised “domestic repression inside Iran, including the sharp rise in executions and death sentences”.

22 Sep · 20:35

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly that the Gulf is going through “one of the most dangerous phases” because of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and argued the crisis can be resolved through diplomacy, with the Strait of Hormuz reopened to navigation, according to Al Jazeera. He said the war is the “cumulative result of years” of postponing diplomatic solutions and called for a “regional system of collective security”, saying that without one “it has become possible for a war to erupt”. Sheikh Tamim called Israel’s expansion in the occupied West Bank “aggression” and said “what has transpired in Gaza is genocide in every sense of the word”.

22 Sep · 19:05

The executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at an energy forum organised by Foreign Policy magazine that Europe faces a “very harsh winter”, possibly one of the hardest in recent years, with gas storage at historically low levels, according to the TASS news agency. Birol said European countries have decided to phase out Russian gas completely by 2027 and can no longer receive gas from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, pushing them to seek supply from the United States and Norway. European storage stood at 69% of capacity on September 17, 2026, below the 85% five-year average for the season, according to Reuters, which cites industry body Gas Infrastructure Europe.

22 Sep · 19:05

Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, according to a senior Iranian government official cited by Kyodo News and Reuters. The proposal, already conveyed to Washington through mediators, was approved by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council, Kyodo says; the official says Presidents Masoud Pezeshkian and Donald Trump will not meet in New York and that Washington must make its willingness to negotiate official before any step. Both agencies describe the same source, not independently verified.

22 Sep · 16:05

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that Iran can reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports. The official said the proposal was delivered to Washington through mediators on 16 September and that the Iranian delegation in New York has authority to revive diplomacy during the United Nations General Assembly; President Masoud Pezeshkian will not meet Donald Trump. The account comes from a single source speaking on condition of anonymity, and the US government had not confirmed the proposal at the time of publication.

22 Sep · 09:10

Saudi Arabia restarted its East–West pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, according to Reuters, which spoke to three sources briefed on the matter; the line is pumping at a low rate. The 1,200-kilometre pipeline runs from Abqaiq to Yanbu and lets the kingdom move crude without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It had been shut after drone attacks launched from Iraq. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said on 11 September that the conduit was halted “as a precautionary measure” after “multiple attacks” and that there were injuries, according to the state Saudi Press Agency; the following day the Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks and said the kingdom chose not to respond immediately, at the request of the Iraqi prime minister, according to the agency. Baghdad dismissed a military commander and opened an investigation after admitting the drones came from one of its provinces bordering Iran, according to BBC News.

22 Sep · 08:15

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, September 21, 2026, that his talks with Donald Trump in New York were “very constructive” and that there was a willingness to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded during the war, according to the Hindustan Times. In the account he gave to reporters, “several solutions” were discussed that would allow, without a comprehensive deal, more container ships and tankers to move through the strait, along with the situation in the Red Sea, a route that has gained weight for oil shipments with Hormuz closed and where the seizure of a strategic strait by the Iran-backed Houthis has complicated navigation. On Ukraine, Macron said he pressed Trump to speed up the delivery of missile interceptors to Kyiv, “a defensive measure”, and said in a post on X that the two discussed the prospect of an “energy truce and a moratorium in the Black Sea”. Before the meeting, Trump had blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for part of the surge in diesel prices because of attacks on Russian refineries and called on him to stop hitting Russian diesel, according to Le Monde. Macron also met Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

22 Sep · 06:40

On the eve of his final address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Secretary-General António Guterres told Al Jazeera the state of the world ‘is getting worse’, with the Security Council paralysed by geopolitical divisions and an ‘environment of impunity’ in which middle powers believe they can do whatever they want. He cited the combined effect of the war in Ukraine on food, fertiliser and energy exports through the Black Sea, alongside the difficulties in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb and attacks on oil installations in the region, as devastating for developing economies. Guterres, who leaves office on 31 December, said the Security Council ‘still essentially represents the world of World War II’ and called for reform. According to TASS, more than 70 world leaders and 45 heads of state are attending the high-level week; NPR notes this is Guterres’s last General Assembly as secretary-general.

21 Sep · 14:35

Kpler data cited by Reuters shows 22 tankers, mostly very large crude carriers, left the Strait of Hormuz in the week of September 13 carrying 42 million barrels of crude, with Saudi Arabia and Iraq accounting for 43% of the volume each. The VLCC Pinios was transferring 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude off Fujairah on Monday to another VLCC, the New Constant, which is expected to head to China. Houthi attacks on Aramco’s East-West pipeline have pushed the Saudi state firm to increase exports through the strait this month, and there have been no visible loadings from the Red Sea port of Yanbu since September 16.

21 Sep · 11:15

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