Oman
Oil rises for second day as Hormuz disruption fears deepen
Oil rose for a second day as US-Iran hostilities deepened fears of prolonged disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent near $91 and only five commercial vessels a day crossing the waterway.
US says it has diverted 70 ships enforcing Iran blockade
US Central Command says it has diverted 70 commercial vessels and disabled three since resuming its naval blockade of Iran, which Tehran says has halted its oil exports.
Asia's nuclear arms race stops being hypothetical
China has told Japan not to test its patience over nuclear weapons, in an exchange that has moved an Asian arms race from something strategists war-game to something foreign ministries now argue about in public. Beijing's warning followed months...
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Arabian Drilling signs Oman contract with Masirah Oil for up to four offshore wells
Arabian Drilling Company has signed a contract with Masirah Oil Limited and Northern Offshore Ltd to drill two firm wells and two optional wells offshore Oman, the Saudi-listed drilling contractor announced on August 19.
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Iranian mobile roaming cut in UAE, disrupting banking access for expatriates
Iranian mobile operators' roaming has reportedly been cut in the UAE, leaving Iranian residents and travellers unable to receive calls.
Iran says Hormuz will stay shut until US lifts oil sanctions
Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf says the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until the US lifts oil sanctions, frees blocked assets and ends its blockade, tying the vital shipping route to a disputed accord he says Washington has failed
Iran says no 60-day deadline in Islamabad understanding with US
Iran's foreign ministry says there is no 60-day deadline in its Islamabad understanding with the US and that it will not set policy under time pressure, distancing Tehran from the Western reading of a mid-June memorandum due to lapse on August 17.
RAGOZIN: Ukraine’s “tide is turning” PR push has backfired
The PR surge which heralded that the “tide is turning” in the Ukrainian conflict is ending up in a debacle. Ukraine can inflict tangible damage on the Russian economy but Russia can take it and give it back in spades.
Russian view, Tehran's Hormuz trap
The US military strategy has run into a dead end. Alternating strikes and ceasefires have done nothing to shift Iran's stated resolve, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has given Tehran the leverage to press its terms.
Russia swings 93% of its rail trade to friendly states as it maps corridors to the Indian Ocean
Russia is stitching together a web of new railway corridors from the South Caucasus to the Indian Ocean, redirecting freight away from Europe towards Asia and the Global South.
US munitions stockpiles run low as Iran war outpaces Ukraine as main drain
US military munitions stockpiles have shrunk sharply since the war with Iran began, with the five-month-old conflict now the main driver of depletion even for weapon systems the US had previously donated heavily to Ukraine.
Iran's war spills into Saudi Arabia and Libya even as Hormuz talks edge toward a deal
Three threads are currently running in parallel: a genuine, if heavily caveated, diplomatic opening over Hormuz; a US naval blockade that keeps tightening even as those talks proceed; and a regional military campaign against...
Iran holds the cards as a Hormuz deal takes shape on its own terms
Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, with a joint announcement being finalised, Iran's foreign ministry said on August 5. But the emerging deal would hand...
Iran's Pezeshkian says Tehran does not seek to widen regional tension
Iran does not want tension and insecurity to spread across the region but will act with full force to defend its security and territorial integrity, President Masoud Pezeshkian said at the launch of a national family-medicine programme.
Iran ties Hormuz reopening to end of US strikes and naval blockade
Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz while US military action and its naval blockade continue, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said, calling a safe-passage deal with Oman necessary but not sufficient.
Iran says talks with Oman on new Strait of Hormuz shipping route nearing conclusion
Iran says talks with Oman on a new Strait of Hormuz shipping route are nearing conclusion, but stresses any deal would not by itself reopen the waterway.
Iran issues Gulf-wide energy hit list if Trump carries through on threats to destroy Iran’s energy sector
US President Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s energy sector in a joint operation with Israel, prompting Tehran to issue a hit list of some of the most valuable assets in the Gulf if he carried through with the threat.
Iran's foreign ministry defends Hormuz blockade, tanker strikes as lawful self-defence
Iran's foreign ministry has defended its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on tankers as lawful self-defence against US aggression, citing the UN definition of aggression. The US military rejects Iran's claim to control the strait.
Emerging-market ratings have absorbed the Iran war so far, but the buffers are thinning - Fitch
Emerging-market sovereign ratings have proved largely resilient to the US-Iran war in the first half of 2026, Fitch Ratings finds in its Global Emerging Markets Credit Brief for 3Q26 even though the outlook for a third is deteriorating.
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UPDATE: Iran's IRGC says it struck two tankers attempting to cross Strait of Hormuz
Iran's IRGC says it struck and stopped two oil tankers attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz under US air escort, with four others turning back. The claim could not be independently verified, and the US military has given a competing account.