Iran's president said Tuesday that his country is ready to return to the ceasefire deal reached with the United States in June if Washington does the same, in conciliatory remarks following the first exchange of fire between the two countries in a month.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Iran is willing to go back to ceasefire agreement if US does
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said that “if the U.S. returns to its commitments in the memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate,” Iranian state media reported.
The June memorandum of understanding called for an immediate ceasefire and started a 60-day period for negotiations aimed at reaching a wider peace deal. Iran agreed to clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines and allow ships to pass during the period, and the U.S. agreed to end its naval blockade, lift sanctions, issue waivers for Iranian oil exports and begin work on a reconstruction package for Iran, among other things.
The agreement broke down quickly, and while there had been a lull in fighting, the two sides exchanged fire on the weekend.
Iran’s foreign minister has already held meetings with his Chinese counterpart and Pezeshkian met on the sidelines with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin said in public remarks before the meeting that Moscow has welcomed Iran’s ceasefire agreement with the U.S. early this year, but that “truce proved unstable and all too fragile.”
Iran working with Oman on managing shipping traffic
Iran has been working with Oman, which sits on the south side of the Strait of Hormuz, on a framework for managing shipping traffic, though it remains unclear whether the plan would be acceptable to the U.S.
Other Gulf nations have stressed the need to reopen the strait unconditionally. On Tuesday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, met with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The agency said the two talked about “ongoing efforts to maintain regional security and stability” but did not mention the Strait of Hormuz specifically.
Israeli raid to detain Hamas militant in Gaza kills four people
An Israeli operation to detain a Hamas militant killed at least four people, including two children, in Gaza City on Tuesday, hospital officials said. Residents reported hearing gunfire and explosions in the western part of the city around 10:30 a.m., as drones and helicopters flew overhead.
Witnesses and a local official said Israeli troops clashed with Hamas forces, after which strikes were carried out in the area. Six more people were wounded in the attacks, according to the director of Shifa Hospital, where the casualties were taken.
The military said it had struck several targets in Gaza “in order to remove threats to security forces,” adding that no troops had been injured. It did not respond to questions about whether its soldiers fought with Hamas.
Later, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the army had apprehended a senior Hamas operative, without identifying who was detained.
Separately, Israeli troops killed a child in central Gaza when they fired on a group of people in Deir al-Balah, according to officials at the Al-Aqsa Hospital. Four other people, including a child, were wounded, they said.
Israel’s army didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the shooting.
Islamic State spokesperson killed in Yemen
Yemen’s state security said Tuesday that Islamic State spokesperson Abu Huzayfah al-Ansari was killed in Yemen in a joint operation by Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and the Yemeni counterterrorism forces.
He was killed at dawn Tuesday while he was hiding in a house in Seiyun city in the Yemeni province of Hadramout, according to a statement the state security published by state-run SABA news agency.
He was hiding among eight civilians, including two women and five children who were unharmed in the operation and were taken to a safe place. One person was arrested after resisting the security forces.
Two ships attacked in and around Strait of Hormuz
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said it received reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, and a second report of an incident involving a tanker in waters nearby.
In the first incident, the UKMTO said a tanker was hit by three projectiles Monday on its way out of the Persian Gulf through the strait east of Oman.
The monitoring agency said there were no reports of casualties on the boat or any environmental impact from the attack.
In the second incident, the UKMTO said it had received a report “involving a tanker and military forces” on Monday off the coast of Oman, east of the Strait of Hormuz.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
Iraq completes investigation into suspected Islamic State group members
Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said Tuesday it had completed investigations into some 5,704 suspected Islamic State group members who were transferred to Iraq from Syria early this year. Hundreds would be released and the others sent to trial, the council said.
The detainees include people from 67 nationalities, including 3,497 Syrians and 474 Iraqis. Some were European nationals.
The council said investigations failed to establish sufficient evidence in some cases, leading to the release and handover of a Finnish, an American and seven Iraqi detainees to their home countries.
Their names were not released.
UN organization warns about dire hunger crisis in Yemen
The United Nations food agency warned Tuesday that further escalation of the conflict in Yemen could deepen the country’s already dire hunger crisis unless international actors intervene.
Increases in global food prices are having an impact on "what is already one of the biggest humanitarian crises in the world,” Carl Skau, the Acting Executive Director of the World Food Program, told The Associated Press.
Skau said he had met with families in displacement camps in southern Yemen who relied heavily on monthly cash assistance and food aid. Without that support, he said, some families are now eating just one meal a day, while children are beginning to show signs of malnutrition.
