BREAKING NEWS
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4 minutes ago
BREAKING NEWS
Bahrain interior ministry says sirens sound, urges people to seek shelter
Bahrain's interior ministry said sirens sounded on Friday and urged citizens and residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.
21 minutes ago
Two injured in US drone strike near Iran's Khorramabad, deputy provincial governor says
Two people were injured in a US drone strike on the outskirts of the western Iranian city of Khorramabad, the deputy governor of Lorestan province for political and security affairs said on Friday.
The official did not provide further details about the condition of the injured or the target of the strike.
46 minutes ago
Hormuz traffic falls to one as US-Iran fighting escalates
Just one oil tanker crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, the lowest daily total since May 7, according to Kpler ship-tracking data, as US strikes on Iran entered a 13th consecutive night and oil prices climbed back to $100 a barrel.
Kpler data showed that only one tanker exited the strait on July 23, down from three the previous day, while no tankers entered the waterway.
The sole crossing was the New Giant, a very large crude carrier carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude, which is due to arrive at China's Rizhao port in mid-August.
The sharp decline underscores the continued disruption to one of the world's busiest oil shipping routes despite ongoing US military operations aimed at restoring navigation.
Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, meanwhile, increased. Kpler recorded 32 commodity tanker crossings on Thursday, up from 26 a day earlier.
Fourteen tankers entered the Red Sea and 18 exited into the Gulf of Aden, including nine crude carriers—two of them Chinese supertankers bound for China.
Hormuz traffic falls to one as US-Iran fighting escalates
Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, July 21, 2026.
1 hour ago
INSIGHT
Oil rally hardens Tehran's stance on US talks
The surge in oil prices appears to be hardening Tehran's resolve against renewed negotiations with Washington, giving ammunition to those who argue that a prolonged conflict puts more pressure on the United States than on Iran.
The shift comes as Brent crude climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time in two months after Iran-aligned Houthi attacks expanded maritime tensions from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, raising fears of broader disruption to Middle Eastern energy exports.
Iranian officials increasingly portrayed the price rally as evidence that insecurity around the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab had strengthened Tehran's negotiating position.
"The equation of this war is clear: either everyone or no one," Parliament Speaker and Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X.
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