Trump threatens Oman as it works with Iran on a Strait of Hormuz deal,
and other Middle East news
[August 18, 2026]
U.S. President Donald Trump has again threatened Oman as Iran says it is
working with the Gulf Arab country on a plan to manage shipping through
the Strait of Hormuz. Fully reopening the waterway has been a key U.S.
demand.
Meanwhile, the 60-day negotiating period to find a peace deal between
the United States and Iran was expiring, with no word of an extension
and both sides seemingly as far apart as they were at the start.
Here’s a look at the latest developments Monday in the Iran war and the
wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Iran says it is near finalizing a deal with Oman
Iran said it has reached an agreement with Oman over a plan for ships to
transit the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between the two countries, and
they are now working to finalize details for a joint statement.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in
Tehran, Iran's capital, that “an understanding has been reached
regarding the map of the transit route.”
He did not elaborate, but details that have previously emerged suggest
the deal would reopen the strait with ships entering through a route
close to Iran and exiting through a route close to Oman. Ships would
transit without paying fees or tolls during an interim period.
The U.S. has sought an acceptable deal on opening the strait before
ending its blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran effectively closed the strait — through which roughly one-fifth of
the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war — after Israel and
the U.S. attacked the country on Feb. 28.
Trump says US will bomb Oman if it gets in the way
Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst that the U.S. would bomb Oman
if it “gets in the way,” using an expletive for emphasis.
Fox News did not provide audio of the interview.
This is not the first time that Trump has threatened Oman. In May, he
told reporters during a Cabinet meeting that “Oman will behave just like
everybody else, or we will have to blow them up.”
Trump also said the expiration of the 60-day deadline on talks to end
the war was irrelevant and said there was no timeline, Yingst said.
Trump said the U.S. has a back channel for talks with the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, Yingst added.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres wants Iran and the U.S. to
resume peace negotiations, saying there is no military solution to the
conflict, according to U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
Dujarric said the U.N. chief also thinks the countries need to “lower
the rhetoric that we’ve been hearing in recent days.”
Kushner meets with Netanyahu over Gaza road map
Mideast negotiator Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, met on Monday with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the day after he had a rare,
two-hour meeting with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt on
disarmament of the Palestinian militant group.
Netanyahu last week rejected a 15-point, U.S.-backed road map to move
the ceasefire deal forward in Gaza.
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Jared Kushner waits to walk into the ring after the lightweight
championship bout at UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White
House, June 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Hamas says it has agreed to the road map, which includes
disarmament, and the group is urging mediators and the U.S.-created
Board of Peace to “compel” Israel to sign on.
But Israel, which under the road map must gradually withdraw from
Gaza, says Hamas must fully disarm before any Israeli withdrawal.
Israeli troops occupy about 60% of the strip, and Netanyahu has
previously threatened to advance further.
Houthi rebels say they attacked boats in the Red Sea
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed that they attacked a ship
and four military boats on Monday in the Red Sea off the Yemeni city
of Mokha, near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The rebels fired a number of ballistic missiles at the vessels,
resulting in the capsizing and burning of the boats, Yahya Saree, a
military spokesperson for the Houthis, said in a statement.
The rebels claimed that the vessels belonged to Saudi Arabia,
without providing evidence. There was no immediate comment from
Saudi Arabia, and The Associated Press could not independently
verify the Houthi claim.
Saree also said the rebels launched a drone attack on government
forces in the central province of Marib.
Drone attacks target Iraqi officials
Two officials in northern Iraq were targeted in drone attacks that
the regional counterterrorism service said were launched from the
border with Iran.
One was fired at the office of Masrour Barzani, prime minister of
Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, and the other
targeted the home of a top regional intelligence official, the
counterterrorism service said.
There were no casualties and no immediate claim of responsibility.
Since the beginning of the war in Iran, Tehran and Iranian-backed
Iraqi militias have launched regular attacks on U.S. military and
diplomatic facilities in Iraq, and on bases of exiled Iranian
Kurdish dissident groups, but Monday’s direct attack on regional
government buildings was unusual.
Barzani on X called the attack “a dangerous escalation and a direct
threat to the security and stability" of the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appeared to be trying to
distance Iran from the attack. He said on social media that nothing
justified the attack on Barzani and that “Kurdish friends should be
vigilant against false-flag ploys to sow discord between neighbors.”
U.S. forces currently stationed in the Kurdish region of Iraq have
begun withdrawing ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline agreed upon between
Washington and Baghdad to end the U.S. military presence in Iraq.
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