Middle East live: Oman announces temporary maritime corridor through Strait of Hormuz
Middle East live: Oman announces temporary maritime corridor through Strait of Hormuz
Oman said on Tuesday it had coordinated with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to provide a temporary maritime corridor for vessels seeking to transit the Strait of Hormuz, the state news agency reported. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.
Israel, Lebanon discuss pilot project for transfer of some southern territory to Lebanese army
Israel and Lebanon are discussing a US-backed pilot project under which Israeli troops would hand over control of some territory in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese Armed Forces, according to three Israeli officials.
The officials said the Lebanese troops involved would undergo US training and vetting to ensure they are not linked to Hezbollah, while Israel would maintain a military presence in the buffer zone.
UN nuclear agency boss signals that inspectors will visit Iran’s nuclear sites
The head of the UN’s nuclear agency has signalled that Iranian nuclear enrichment sites will be visited by his inspectors, a key component in the interim deal between the United States and Iran to reach an end to the war.
The comment by International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Mariano Grossi is the firmest yet from the United Nations agency, which is viewed as key in determining the status of Iran’s nuclear stockpile.
Since Israel launched a 12-day war on Iran in 2025, the IAEA has been blocked by Tehran from visiting enrichment sites where the Islamic Republic is believed to store enough highly enriched uranium to potentially build as many as 10 nuclear weapons, should it choose to rush for the bomb.
The US and Iran offered contradictory remarks Tuesday about whether those sites would be inspected.
“I can understand political statements, they are part of the reality, but the fundamental thing I would like to remind you and draw your attention to is that there has been a Memorandum of Understanding, signed by both presidents,” Grossi told journalists at a news conference at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Italian Gaza activists freed in Libya
Italy has confirmed the release of three nationals held in Libya after joining a humanitarian mission to Gaza, and whose detention organisers slammed as “illegal”.
The trio were among 230 activists from around the world taking part in a land convoy transporting medicine, mobile homes and other supplies to the war-torn territory, the Global Sumud Flotilla said.
Global Sumud Flotilla said the trio had arrived in Tunisia along with a Tunisian man who had also been detained.
Another six activists “are expected to be released over the next 24 hours” after 30 days of “illegal detention”, it wrote on X.
The volunteers were “subjected to arbitrary detention, severed communications, and sustained psychological pressure,” the organisation said.
Trump slams US Congress for ‘poorly timed and meaningless’ Iran war powers vote
US President Donald Trump has criticised Congress for passing a largely symbolic resolution calling for an end to the war with Iran, calling it “poorly timed and meaningless”.
“So, I have Iran on the ‘ropes,’ ready to go down for the fall…and the US Senate decides to have a poorly timed and meaningless War Powers Act Vote,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform of the 50-48 Senate vote.
He added: “These Senators have just made my job more difficult, but I will get it done, one way or the other, because I always get it done!”
Rubio kicks off Middle East trip as allies seek answers on Iran
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio begins a Middle East tour in earnest today, seeking to reassure Gulf allies who view concessions in President Donald Trump’s Iran deal that include a proposed $300 billion fund as too generous to a regional foe.
Arriving in Abu Dhabi late on Tuesday for a three-day Gulf trip, Rubio is undertaking his first high-level diplomatic mission on the agreement reached last week to end the four-month-old US-Israeli war with Iran.
Asked on arrival if he planned to address allies’ disquiet with the accord, the top US diplomat told reporters: “That most certainly will come up in these discussions.” He said they would also discuss issues not covered by the memorandum of understanding.
Oman announces temporary maritime corridor through Strait of Hormuz
Oman said on Tuesday it had coordinated with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to provide a temporary maritime corridor for vessels seeking to transit the Strait of Hormuz, the state news agency reported.
Vessels wanting to use the temporary corridor would need to coordinate with the IMO, based on coordinates announced by the organisation and Omani authorities, it added.
The measure was aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation through the strategic waterway in line with international law and the law of the sea, which uphold freedom of navigation without imposing transit fees.
Welcome to the France 24 liveblog covering events in the Middle East. You can catch up on yesterday’s developments here.
Yesterday’s key developments:
• Iran and Oman said they would examine charges for what they called maritime service fees in the Strait of Hormuz through a joint working group.
• Hezbollah leader Naim Gassem insisted upon a complete, scheduled withdrawal of Israel’s troops from southern Lebanon after authorities earlier said Israeli fire had killed two people there despite a ceasefire.
• Iran has said there are no visits scheduled for inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to see nuclear sites earlier bombed by the United States.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
Reading that the US and Iran offered contradictory remarks Tuesday about whether those sites would be inspected — hard to argue with the logic there.
Considering the officials said the Lebanese troops involved would undergo US training and vetting to ensure they are not linked to Hezbollah, while Israel would maintain a military presence in the buffer zone, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
If the officials said the Lebanese troops involved would undergo US training and vetting to ensure they are not linked to Hezbollah, while Israel would maintain a military presence in the buffer zone, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
So the bottom line is global Sumud Flotilla said the trio had arrived in Tunisia along with a Tunisian man who had also been detained. Wonder how this will land.
If the US and Iran offered contradictory remarks Tuesday about whether those sites would be inspected, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Considering the trio were among 230 activists from around the world taking part in a land convoy transporting medicine, mobile homes and other supplies to the war-torn territory, the Global Sumud Flotilla said, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
The fact that the officials said the Lebanese troops involved would undergo US training and vetting to ensure they are not linked to Hezbollah, while Israel would maintain a military presence in the buffer zone really puts things into perspective.
International Maritime has been pushing this agenda for a while now.
The fact that the US and Iran offered contradictory remarks Tuesday about whether those sites would be inspected really puts things into perspective.
Think about it: the officials said the Lebanese troops involved would undergo US training and vetting to ensure they are not linked to Hezbollah, while Israel would maintain a military presence in the buffer zone. That speaks volumes.
On one hand the US and Iran offered contradictory remarks Tuesday about whether those sites would be inspected. But at the same time italy has confirmed the release of three nationals held in Libya after joining a humanitarian mission to Gaza, and whose detention organisers slammed as “illegal”.
Think about it: the US and Iran offered contradictory remarks Tuesday about whether those sites would be inspected. That speaks volumes.
Think about it: global Sumud Flotilla said the trio had arrived in Tunisia along with a Tunisian man who had also been detained. That speaks volumes.
The trio were among 230 activists from around the world taking part in a land convoy transporting medicine, mobile homes and other supplies to the war-torn territory, the Global Sumud Flotilla said. Meanwhile global Sumud Flotilla said the trio had arrived in Tunisia along with a Tunisian man who had also been detained.
Lebanese Armed is in a tough spot here, curious how they navigate it.