2026 Iran War: 2026-08-18

In a Fox News interview cited by Al Jazeera, US President Donald Trump said Monday that if Oman gets in the way of a US-Iran peace deal, Washington would bomb it. The threat comes as Iran and Oman work toward a joint shipping arrangement for the Strait of Hormuz after the 60-day MoU expired. An IRGC spokesman denied Trump claims of a direct backchannel with the Guards, calling those remarks false.

Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday that Iranian accusations Doha is secretly holding three military pilots whose planes crashed early in the war are completely baseless. Al Jazeera reported he said Qatar handed over the remains of one pilot found in April and that the Iranian aircraft had violated Qatari sovereignty near Doha. Iranian Gen. Mohammad Bagherzadeh had told the ICRC the three men survived Su-24 shootdowns in March and have been held for six months.

In a Truth Social post relayed by Middle East Spectator, US President Donald Trump said there are no talks or scheduled conversations with Iran and that the naval blockade remains fully in effect. He also said the Strait of Hormuz is open and operating and that water mines have been removed or detonated. The statement comes as Iranian officials have separately pressed for the blockade to end and for Oman-mediated shipping arrangements.

Iranian state TV and Farh News Agency reported Monday that a UAE-linked tanker was detained in the Strait of Hormuz for allegedly violating Iranian maritime rules, including route and permit requirements, and taken toward Qeshm Island. The Maritime Executive said the report did not name the vessel and remained unconfirmed. The UAE Foreign Ministry last week condemned earlier attacks on ADNOC-linked ships as piracy. Brent briefly rose above $91 after the seizure reports.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Washington must fulfill MoU terms within several weeks, including ending the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, or face an expansion of the conflict. The official said Tehran is shifting from a defensive to an offensive posture and no longer expects a lasting ceasefire through intermediaries. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei separately said the 60-day MoU window is void after earlier US violations. There was no immediate US confirmation of a formal deadline.

Reuters, citing preliminary Kpler ship-tracking data reported by Al Jazeera, said six commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, three entering and three exiting, against a 10-day average of about 11. Traffic fell to three ships Saturday and two Sunday, with no supertankers or LNG carriers recorded. Kpler noted some vessels may transit with transponders off.

Kurdistan Regional Government security authorities said two Hadid-110 drones launched from Iranian territory targeted the private office of KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the residence of the security directorate early Monday. No casualties were reported. Barzani called the attack illegitimate and a direct threat to the region's security. Iran and Iran-aligned groups have accused the KRG of hosting Iranian Kurdish opposition factions; Kurdish authorities deny that charge.