Middle East live: Iran says Hormuz strait still closed despite transit corridor talks with Oman
LIVE Add Arena.im to your site 26/08/2026 - 09:56 Supertankers with 4 million barrels of Saudi oil head for China, data shows Two supertankers carrying 4 million barrels of Saudi crude are bound for China after loading the cargoes via ship-to-ship transfers off Oman, shipping data showed on Wednesday. 26/08/2026 - 09:50 Britain backs US measures for diplomatic solution on Iran British Finance Minister John Healey said on Tuesday that the country supports U.S. efforts to secure a diplomatic solution on Iran and welcomed steps to increase pressure, including the expanded sanctions on Iran announced Monday. Healey also called on Iran to cease its "de-stabilising activity" across the region, including in the Strait of Hormuz. 26/08/2026 - 07:34 Iran says Hormuz strait still closed despite transit corridor talks Iran and Oman are discussing a temporary transit corridor and mine-clearing for the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran warned on Wednesday that the vital waterway will not be reopened unless the United States ends the war. During talks in Tehran, foreign ministers from Iran and Oman discussed a "phased framework" that included setting up a "joint temporary navigational corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and an agreement to implement a joint project to clear the Strait of mines," according to a statement. The two countries, both coastal states bordering the strait, have sought to hammer out a plan to regulate transit through it, as laid out in a June US-Iran memorandum of understanding. 26/08/2026 - 07:09 Gulf ship traffic via Strait of Hormuz hovers below 10-day average Five commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, broadly unchanged from a day earlier but well below the 10-day average of 15, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday. Two tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas and one tanker carrying bitumen exited the strait, while two empty product tankers entered the waterway, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed at 0408 GMT. The figures could change as some ships typically switch off transponders during the voyage. 26/08/2026 - 06:54 QatarEnergy issues tender to sell crude outside Hormuz QatarEnergy has issued a second tender this week to sell al-Shaheen and Qatar Marine crude via ship-to-ship transfers outside the Strait of Hormuz, according to three trade sources and a tender document reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday. The crude will be discharged for the first half of October. Deadline for bid submission is 12:00 p.m. Doha time (0900 GMT) on Wednesday. In the previous tender, QatarEnergy has offered al-Shaheen, Qatar Marine and Qatar Land crude for loading in September and October on a free-on-board basis at their respective loading ports in Qatar. 26/08/2026 - 06:52 Japan to support alternative Mideast oil pipelines Japan plans to provide support for alternative pipelines in the Middle East as it seeks to improve energy security in the wake of the Iran war, local media reported Wednesday. Before the conflict began in February, the world's fourth-biggest economy was heavily reliant on oil imports passing through the now-strangled Strait of Hormuz. The Nikkei daily reported that Japan will assist initiatives by Saudi Arabia and other countries to expand and build new routes for crude which bypass the waterway. Japan has already tapped its oil reserves to help cope with supply problems and increased crude imports from other countries including the United States. 26/08/2026 - 06:51 Welcome to our liveblog on the latest developments in the Middle East. 26/08/2026 - 00:04 Iran says Hormuz strait still closed despite transit corridor talks Japan to support alternative Mideast oil pipelines Yesterday's key developments: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday condemned an incursion by Israeli forces on a training center run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees ( UNRWA ) in an east Jerusalem suburb. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Tuesday that he hoped his country and Iran would soon announce the establishment of a temporary shipping corridor in the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of negotiations. US President Donald Trump has said that all mines within the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz have been removed or detonated, and that Iran had been notified that any ship or boat placing new mines would be destroyed. (FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)