• Hormuz deal:Iran and Oman are close to finalizing a proposed framework for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran’s deputy foreign minister said. However, the agreement would not automatically reopen the waterway, Kazem Gharibabadi warned. Iran has also denied any talks with the US, saying its talks with Oman are strictly bilateral
• “Messy” peace talks:US Vice President JD Vance said during a Fox News interview that deal talks with Iran would “be messy” and that “the Iranians are extraordinarily difficult people” with a “fractured system.”
• Attacks on shipping:Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants said they targeted the Saudi oil tanker Daisy in another key waterway, the Gulf of Aden, claiming they struck the vessel with a ballistic missile and forced it to change course and turn back
• Israeli strikes in Lebanon:Meanwhile, US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon ended earlier than expected Wednesday amid renewed Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon
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Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, on Monday, August 3.
Iran and Oman are close to finalizing a proposed framework for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the agreement would not automatically reopen the waterway, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in an interview with the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)
The ongoing talks between Iran and Oman are critically important because they could lead to the full reopening of the world’s most critical energy chokepoint
Here’s what the talks have covered:
- Gharibabadi said negotiations have continued for more than three weeks and produced broad agreement on proposed inbound and outbound shipping routes.
- The talks also covered technical arrangements, the security and sovereignty of Iran and Oman, and a proposed joint coordination center to manage maritime traffic and collect information from vessels.
- Under the proposed arrangement, temporary routes near Iran’s Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz and through Omani territorial waters would close.
- Parts of the new inbound and outbound corridors would pass through Iranian waters, marking a departure from a decades-old system under which commercial traffic traveled through Omani waters, Gharibabadi said.
- The proposed route would initially operate for two to four months or possibly longer, according to Gharibabadi. Its implementation would require a separate decision by Iran’s senior leadership.
CNN has reached out to the government of Oman for comment on the details shared by the Iranian official
Gharibabadi said those conditions largely concerned the United States, which he accused of reinstating a naval blockade, resuming hostilities and reimposing sanctions. The US has said it resumed strikes after Iran fired on vessels transiting the strait
Smoke rises from a hill following Israeli air strikes, after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning to the village of Al-Mansouri, Lebanon, on Wednesday in this screengrab obtained from social media.
Israel has launched attacks in parts of the Lebanese city of Tyre, wounding at least four, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA)
Drones struck the nearby town of Al-Burj Al-Shamali, which was subsequently hit by a strike from a fighter jet, NNA said on Thursday, adding that people were seen fleeing toward Tyre
Israel also launched three airstrikes on the town of Al-Mansouri and surrounding areas, south of Tyre, NNA reported
US-mediated talks in Rome between Israel and Lebanon ended earlier than expected on Wednesday amid the renewed Israeli strikes
While Israel has ramped up attacks, the Israel Defense Forces earlier said two soldiers died in operations in southern Lebanon on Wednesday
President Donald Trump has claimed the United States has “massive amounts” of munitions, following reports from various media, including CNN, on the Pentagon’s depleted stockpile
“Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history,” he added
On Tuesday, CNN reported that the US military had exhausted nearly 80% of its interceptors for its key THAAD missile defense system, and that senior US military commanders had warned that the Pentagon’s munitions stockpile is “dangerously low,” according to multiple
US Vice President JD Vance holds a roundtable with members of Congress on US President Donald Trump’s administration’s anti-fraud initiatives on August 5.
As Tehran denies talks with Washington, US Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that peace negotiations with Iran would “be messy” and take time
He added that “the Iranians are extraordinarily difficult people” with “a fractured system.” During his interview with Fox News Wednesday evening, Vance said: “Our job is to navigate through that and get the best outcome for the American people, but for the president of the United States as well.”
“But we’re kind of in the middle of the game, and I think people are trying to prejudge exactly how this is going to go,” Vance said
Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran has not yet decided whether to proceed toward the implementation of the previously signed US-Iran memorandum of understanding
Forest fires sweep through the outskirts of the southern village of Kfar Shouba as a result of Israeli shelling that targeted the area, as seen from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun on Wednesday.
Forest fires sweep through the outskirts of the southern village of Kfar Shouba as a result of Israeli shelling that targeted the area on August 5, 2026.
US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon ended earlier than expected on Wednesday amid renewed Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon
A US State Department official said the discussions in Rome concluded early, at 3:30 p.m. local time, “due to events on the ground.”
They did not elaborate on what the “misleading leaks” were. A Lebanese diplomatics “to conduct its own consultations.”
All of theorning
But the Lebanese diplomaticevent the resumption of the delicate technical negotiations. This
“The technical teams made progress on determining key details on implementation of the Trilateral Framework,” the official said, referring to an agreement signed in June by Israel, Lebanon and the United States and aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia
The Israeli army ordered residents of the southern Lebanese village of Mansouri to leave on Wednesday afternoon. It later said it had begun carrying out “precise strikes” against Hezbollah targets in the area in response to a “complete violation of the ceasefire.”
Kara Fox, Dani Karni, and Ibrahim Dahman contributed reporting
Executions and death sentences in Iran have been on the rise since March, the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights said Wednesday
At least 56 people have been executed in Iran on national security-related charges since March 19, including 27 whose cases were linked to the widespread anti-regime protests earlier this year, Volker Türk said in a statement
The UN human rights chief urged Iranian authorities to stop all executions and move towards abolishing the death penalty
Türk’s comments come as non-governmental organizations — including the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR), which operates with members inside and outside Iran — say that they believe the regime has ramped up executions under the cover of conflict
Human rights organizations and UN experts have condemned the omission of rights protections from the 14-point Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the United States and Iran in June, warning that it has allowed Tehran to accelerate internal crackdowns and executions
Mostafa Tajzadeh, a political prisoner and veteran Iranian reformist politician who became one of the most outspoken critics of Iran’s political system from within the establishment, issued an open letter from Evin Prison on Monday, calling for an immediate halt to the executions of the “young protesters.”
He described the executions as “playing with fire,” warning that they “could once again engulf the country in devastating flames.”
Aida Karimi contributed reporting
Iran and Oman are close to finalizing a proposed framework for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s deputy foreign minister. However, it still wouldn’t automatically reopen the critical waterway
If you’re just dropping in, here’s where things stand:
- Negotiations between Iran and Oman on reopening the strait have continued for more than three weeks and produced broad agreement on proposed inbound and outbound shipping routes, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state-run media.
- However, Gharibabadi denied that Iran is currently negotiating with the US over the waterway, even as President Donald Trump said earlier Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened“soon.” Trump also told Fox News that “very good discussions” were underway with Tehran.
- One Gulf official familiar with the talks said there is a “50:50” chance Iran and Oman will reach a deal on Friday.
- Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi about Iran’s negotiations with Oman. Tajani and Araghchi also had talks with American negotiators on the situation in Lebanon, the Italian foreign ministry said.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran continues to face mounting pressure from sanctions and conflict. In an interview with state-run media, he said the external pressure was intended to weaken public support for the government.
- MarineTraffic data on Wednesday shows at least 10 commercial ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the last 25 hours.
- In another important waterway, a vessel sank after it was attackedin the Red Sea’s Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center reported. Iran-backed Houthis have repeatedly threatened to disrupt shipping through the strait.
- Global oil prices rose yesterday, having slid sharply at the start of the week, after signs of disruption to shipping in the Red Sea and conflicting messages about the Strait of Hormuz.
- US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon ended earlier than expected Wednesday amid renewed Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq, Aida Karimi, Jennifer Hansler, Christian Edwards, Charbel Mallo, Tim Lister, Sana Noor Haq and Anna Cooban contributed reporting
