Iran makes dramatic new demands around Strait of Hormuz

Iran issued dramatic new demands around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the United Arab Emirates said one of its ships was targeted by an Iranian missile. Yemen’s military attacked the country’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

Here’s a look at developments across the Middle East.

Iran says the strait won’t open until the US ‘corrects’ its behaviour

Iran’s politburo-like body known as the Supreme National Security Council said the Strait of Hormuz would not open until the United States “corrects its behaviour”, issuing new demands that could shake up talks on a deal to manage the waterway.

Iran’s state broadcaster published the statement by the council’s secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a commander in the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

The US must never threaten Iran again, the statement said, and must permanently end the war with Iran and its armed allies in the region. The US must lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw its military from the area. It also must “completely compensate” Iran for war damage, lift sanctions and “unconditionally” release frozen assets.

There was no immediate comment from the US, which has wanted an acceptable deal first on the strait before ending the blockade. According to the interim deal signed in June, a schedule to end sanctions and plan on compensation would be part of the final deal, and negotiations would address frozen assets.

A 60-day period to negotiate a final deal will end in just over a week but could be extended.

Iran has said it is close to reaching a separate deal with Oman to manage the strait, which runs between the two countries.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said they were close to reaching an agreement on navigation, “specifically the determination of a transit route”. But the waterway’s reopening was contingent on other conditions, he said in remarks shared on social media, and blamed the situation on what he called the US violation of the interim deal.

Oman, a mediator Gulf Arab country that has said relatively little on the talks, said in a statement that the discussions were ongoing “in a positive and constructive atmosphere”, and condemned attacks on ships on the strait.

The strait, crucial to global supplies of oil and natural gas, had been considered an international waterway before the war. Ship transits remain low.

Iran attacks a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, the UAE says

A vessel owned by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned ADNOC oil and gas company was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Emirati authorities said. The Foreign Ministry said Iran fired the missile as part of attacks on commercial shipping.

ADNOC said in a statement there were no casualties following the attack early on Saturday (Tehran time). The company said more than a dozen of its vessels had been attacked by missiles and drones while transiting the strait since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran in February. One crew member had been killed and 20 others wounded, it said.

ADNOC didn’t elaborate on the attack’s location or any damage.

Later, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said a vessel east of the town of Khasab, Oman, had been struck by a projectile that caused a fire that was put out, with the vessel and crew safe. It was not clear whether this was the ADNOC incident.

A defence deal is not aimed at any third country, Turkey says

A defence agreement that Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed on Friday was not aimed against any third country, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said. It says an attack on one would be considered an attack on all three.

Fidan told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency that the countries did not view any state as an adversary unless it took hostile action against them: “We don’t have anything written down – nothing we’ve signed – that defines a common threat.”

Asked how the mutual defence mechanism would work, Fidan said a member would formally request help and the two countries’ assistance could range from intelligence-sharing to logistics support or the deployment of military units. The mechanism would establish a secretariat to be based in Saudi Arabia, Fidan said.

He said other nations, which he did not name, had expressed interest in joining the agreement, adding that he expected Egypt, which he described as a “natural partner”, to participate “at the next stage”.

Yemen’s military attacks Iran-backed Houthis

The attacks were in response to the Houthis’ recent strikes in central and eastern Yemen. Colonel Majed al-Nazili, spokesperson for Yemen’s military, said the attacks targeted the rebels’ “sites and capabilities” on multiple front lines, without elaborating.

The escalation between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government and its backer, a Saudi-supported coalition, threatens to reignite Yemen’s civil war following a 2022 truce.