2026 Iran War: 2026-08-12

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran is not discussing an extension of the June interim ceasefire with the United States, saying from Iran's view there was never a start date and therefore nothing to extend. The official said Washington broke the deal within 48 hours and later withdrew, while conditions raised via mediators include a Lebanon ceasefire, freer Gulf shipping and oil-sale exemptions. B92 and Middle East Spectator also carried the Reuters-based reporting. There was no immediate White House response in the same dispatches.

An Iraqi Coordination Framework source told Al Jazeera that Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani made an unannounced visit to Baghdad earlier this week and met political, security and Shia paramilitary leaders on Monday. The source said Tehran's message was that factions should not hand over weapons for now, citing the risk of a new round of war, and that a political compromise is preferred over confrontation with the government. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is pressing a September 30 deadline to restrict weapons to the state while seeking to end the US-led combat mission by the same period.

At Joint Base Andrews near Washington, President Donald Trump said the United States has "complete control" of the Strait of Hormuz and warned that if Iran tries to change that, it "will be blown up," B92 reported citing CNN. Trump said Washington is "in a very good position" and earlier claimed the US Navy had cleared the waterway of mines, a claim shipping data and tanker trackers continue to dispute. No new US-Iran agreement on reopening the strait has been announced.

President Donald Trump confirmed that Secret Service and the military moved him to a different aircraft after the July 8 NATO summit in Turkiye because of a potential Iranian assassination threat, Al Jazeera reported. Trump said the plane he actually flew on faced greater risk than the decoy Air Force One still carrying journalists and senior aides. The switch, first detailed this week by The Washington Post, was not disclosed by the White House at the time.

Brent crude rose more than 2 percent overnight into Wednesday toward about $90 a barrel, with October futures near $89.61 as of 03:00 GMT, Al Jazeera reported. Markets cited Houthi shipping strikes in Bab al-Mandeb and the US disabling of a Panama-flagged cargo ship under the Iran port blockade. Windward data showed only 10 vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday versus roughly 130 daily before the war. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright claimed a seven-day average near 9 million barrels per day leaving the strait; tanker trackers and analysts put recent averages lower, near 7 million.

Newly appointed Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until the United States ends the war and naval blockade of Iranian ports, releases frozen Iranian assets, and agrees to a region-wide ceasefire including Lebanon and Gaza. Al Jazeera cited Iranian media and Rezaei remarks on X. There was no immediate comment from Washington. Qatar separately said Oman-Iran shipping talks are advanced, while Tehran says those technical talks do not equal reopening the waterway.

Yemen's internationally recognized government and coastguard said six people were killed after Houthi forces struck a cargo vessel in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait with ballistic missiles. Four crew members died (three Pakistanis and one Indonesian); two Yemeni rescuers were later killed when a second strike hit the rescue effort, according to BBC and Al Jazeera. The Houthis said they hit a ship carrying Saudi military equipment. Officials and ship trackers identified the vessel as Tihamah, Egyptian-operated, flagged as Tanzanian or described as Yemeni commercial depending on the source. It appears the first deadly Houthi shipping attack since the Iran war began in late February.