A tanker was hit by ⁠an unknown projectile in the Strait of ⁠Hormuz, ​causing ⁠a fire ⁠that was ​later extinguished, the ⁠United ‌Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) ‌agency said ‌early on Thursday.

All ⁠crew members were safe and accounted for, and no environmental impact ‌was reported, ​it ‌added in ⁠an ⁠advisory note.

As Donald Trump continued his attacks on Iran earlier this month, a deal that could radically reshape security in the Middle East was quietly being done in Saudi Arabia.

On 7 August, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed the Mecca Joint Defence agreement, a Nato-style mutual defence pact that states an attack on any one of the group will be considered an attack on all.

Read more by Maira Butt here:

Mariam Abu Dagga, a mother and journalist, was killed in a 2025 Israeli double-tap attack on the last functioning hospital in South Gaza – she had a way out of Gaza but stayed to cover the slaughter.

Chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports:

Reaching into the body bag, and gently cradling her face, a family member places a mobile phone next to Mariam Abu Dagga’s ear.

On the phone is her only child, 14-year-old Ghaith. And he is saying goodbye.

The doors were pushed shut, the clanking bolts secured from the outside. Several clergy, pilgrims and one journalist — me — were locked for the night inside one of Christianity’s holiest sites in Jerusalem.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built over the places where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead.

Through many centuries, as Muslim rulers governed this region and changing politics affected the influence of religious powers, an arrangement evolved as unique as the church’s jumbled architecture. Today, the Armenian Apostolic, Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches share the ownership of the worship space.

After days of promising the “toughest sanctions in history”, the US announced punitive measures against Iran on Monday and threatened sanctions against Tehran’s trade partners.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said nearly 60 Iran-linked entities, individuals, and vessels would be sanctioned as part of Operation Economic Outcast, without offering specific details on the measures.

“Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States,” Mr Bessent said at a press conference. He said the scheme would amount to “economic asphyxiation” on the regime and warned that superpower China – Tehran’s largest trade partner – would not be beyond its scope.

Iran and Oman are still working on the details of an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source said on Wednesday, after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the two countries had agreed how to share the waterway and its revenues.

The elite force’s spokesperson, echoing Tehran’s official stance, also said the strait would not open unless the US met Tehran’s conditions under an interim ceasefire agreement that was struck in June before unravelling.

Those conditions include an end to the US blockade on Iranian ports, compensation and removal of sanctions.

Iran and Oman have held on-and-off talks for weeks about controlling traffic through the strait, which handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war began in February.

Most shipping has since been shut down, driving global energy prices higher, as Tehran and Washington have tried to assert control over the channel, imposing separate blockades.

The CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Hamid Pourda, has said that Iranian oil exports increased by roughly 10 per cent during the war.

Speaking to Fars News Agency, Pourda said: “For several years, we have not officially announced production and sales statistics, because we do not want the enemy to obtain accurate statistics on the performance of the oil industry in the country.

“Our production is certainly higher than the figures announced in some official institutions,” he added.

Lines have grown outside gas stations across Tehran in recent weeks as the United States has tightened its blockade and threatened more severe sanctions, with some people waiting for two hours or more to fill up.

The uncertainty deepened on Tuesday, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent vowed to fully sever the country from the global economy. In recent days, Iranian officials have spoken of a possible reduction in heavy gas subsidies as they seek to endure the tightening blockade.

“Maybe we will face a shortage of fuel,” said Hashem Abadi, a 34-year-old barber. “I rush to the filling stations whenever my tank is down to half or so.”

Iran and Oman have concluded month-long negotiations over territorial shares and revenue-sharing mechanisms for transit through the Strait of Hormuz, according to IRGC spokesperson, Hossein Mohebbi.

Speaking to state-operated Tasnim news agency on Wednesday, Mohebbi confirmed that both nations have mutually agreed to the terms.

The official also accused the United States of actively obstructing diplomatic progress, claiming that American intervention stalled the final rollout of the agreement.

Mohebbi added that the maritime corridor will not reopen until Washington accepts the terms of the bilateral deal.