Iran-United States war of 2026

Bloomberg reported that the Qatari LNG carrier Al Mayeda was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, citing people who said Pakistan had negotiated its safe passage with Iran. Indian Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said all 25 crew members were safe. The Qatari Foreign Ministry condemned the attack.

U.S. Central Command chief Brad Cooper said in a video that U.S. forces had cleared the strait's primary transit routes of Iranian sea mines and remained present to keep them free and clear, Naharnet reported.

The Omani Maritime Security Centre said it evacuated 25 crew members from the burning RITI, a crude oil tanker flying the Panamanian flag, in the Strait of Hormuz. It is unclear whether the RITI was one of the four tankers that Iran said had been halted or had hit mines, Al Jazeera reported.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said four oil tankers had caught fire and exploded in the Strait of Hormuz while using unauthorised routes, Iranian state media reported; Reuters could not verify this. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency separately reported a vessel hit by an unknown projectile about 40 nautical miles south of Lavan Island.

A Qatari delegation led by a senior adviser to Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister arrived in Tehran on Friday morning for talks with senior Iranian officials, Iran's IRNA news agency reported, amid efforts to revive stalled US-Iran negotiations, Anadolu reported.

UK Maritime Trade Operations said a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was approached late on Thursday by a small boat that attached two explosive devices to its hull above the waterline, 25 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman. The blasts caused an engine-room fire; the crew were safe and the vessel continued its voyage, Anadolu reported.

A senior Iranian security source told Fars News Agency that Vice President JD Vance sent a message to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and that Tehran had not yet responded, Anadolu reported. President Donald Trump said the communication concerned Iran's need for medical supplies.

US Naval Forces Central Command advised vessels that do not need to transit between ports in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz to stay well clear and to plan extra time for 'military blockade enforcement operations', Bloomberg reported. Neutral vessels may be subject to questioning, visit, and search.

Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority said it would take 'legal action' against all vessels of Sinokor, the world's biggest oil tanker owner, from 1 November, adding that enforcement actions had already been taken against at least 7 of its ships, Bloomberg reported. It did not specify what the actions were.

British prosecutors said they charged Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, and Nouman Essghir, 24, under the National Security Act over an incident at RAF Fairford last month. Police said they believed the country Abdulkarim was assisting was Iran, Reuters reported.

UK Maritime Trade Operations said it received multiple third-party reports of a vessel on fire about 63 nautical miles southeast of Al-Faw, Iraq, in the northern Persian Gulf. It classified the report as suspicious activity rather than a confirmed attack, and the cause was unclear, gCaptain reported.

Ras Al Khaimah authorities said all beaches in the emirate would be closed until further notice, a day after an offshore oil leak prompted closures in Umm Al Quwain and Sharjah, Reuters reported. No reason was given. The UAE had not named the tanker involved.

President Donald Trump said Washington could strike Iran as soon as Sunday or reach a 'big, beautiful' agreement with Tehran, Anadolu reported, amid reports that he was considering renewed attacks on the country.

UK Maritime Trade Operations received a verified report, made three days later, of a tanker struck by an unknown projectile while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz at 0839 UTC on 23 October. The vessel was disabled and all crew were reported safe, gCaptain reported.

The UAE confirmed a large and spreading oil spill along the Persian Gulf side of the Khor Al Beidah peninsula and ordered Umm Al Quwain beaches closed, The Maritime Executive reported. Reports linked the slick to the Taiwanese VLCC Gem No. 2, struck on 9 October. UAE officials have not commented on the source.

The State Department is reducing staffing at US embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates after intelligence that Iran has stepped up efforts to target American personnel, the Associated Press reported. A memo from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the plotting had reached 'advanced stages'.

UK Maritime Trade Operations said a tanker reported being struck about 7 nautical miles northeast of Limah, Oman, in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday and was able to continue its voyage, The Maritime Executive reported. Its weekly summary listed five incidents across the Persian Gulf and the Strait before that report, and 79 projectile strikes since July.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed seven commercial vessels were struck overnight in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, including four conducting oil transfers, Reuters reported. None of the seven incidents was independently confirmed. President Donald Trump said Iran was making up 'fake hits, mines, and everything else' to raise oil prices before the midterms.

A tanker was struck by an 'unknown projectile' about 11 nautical miles off Bukha, Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a fire, UKMTO said. The tanker was at anchor and all crew were reported safe.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said two tankers were set ablaze and disabled by mines on a route south of the Strait of Hormuz that Tehran considers unauthorized, Reuters reported. The statements named no vessels and gave no date. The Joint Maritime Information Center said on 18 October that the 17 October mine claims lacked substantiation.

President Masoud Pezeshkian told Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, in Tehran that the US must end pressure and threats and lift sanctions before any negotiations, according to remarks carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

UK police rearrested two men, aged 24 and 25, one a dual British-Iranian national, on suspicion of assisting Iran's intelligence service after the incident at RAF Fairford. Laurence Taylor of National Counter Terrorism Policing said it was highly likely there was Iranian state involvement and the investigation was live.

A Dutch-flagged tug, identified by Vanguard Tech as the JIF Barracuda, was struck by two unknown projectiles east of the Musandam Peninsula near the seaward entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, UK Maritime Trade Operations said. One crewmember suffered minor injuries and the vessel continued its voyage, The Maritime Executive reported.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said two oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval mines while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported. State media said both carried about 2 million barrels of crude oil. IRNA said the vessels had switched off their positioning and radar systems and used a route Iran had not authorized.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Baghdad that Iran stays open to negotiations but requires credible guarantees against new attacks before resuming talks, IRNA reported. He cited a seven-day proposal conveyed through Qatar under which he said the Strait of Hormuz could reopen.

A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile about 68 nautical miles northeast of Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia, at 0900GMT, UK Maritime Trade Operations said in a delayed report. The vessel's security officer told the agency all crew members were safe and had been evacuated.

US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said in a video message that, apart from humanitarian aid, Iran has no exports and no imports by sea. He said US forces had prevented Iran from exporting at least $25 billion worth of crude oil in recent months and helped freeze nearly $350 million in cryptocurrency assets.

President Donald Trump said in a Newsmax interview that the US 'may have to go' to Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site and would 'knock it out fast.' He ruled out US ground troops and did not dispute reports that the military is weighing use of the 'mother of all bombs.'

President Donald Trump told a rally in Wasilla, Alaska: 'Wait till you see what we do to Iran.' Axios reported the same day, citing two US officials, that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed launching a major new operation against Iran ahead of elections in both countries.

The Singapore-flagged container ship GFS Pride sank while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by a projectile, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said; all 21 crew were evacuated. The bulker Cape Dao, hit on 23 September, also sank. Reuters said they were the second and third ships sunk since the war began.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament that last month's alleged plot at RAF Fairford was 'almost certainly' directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and announced sanctions on two Iranian men. Iran's ambassador in London rejected the allegations, IRNA reported.

Iran's IRGC navy said a third supertanker it called 'offending' had been struck in the Strait of Hormuz in two days and caught fire after switching off its navigation system. The statement did not identify the tanker or say how it was struck.

UK Maritime Trade Operations recorded six attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz on 11 October, which The Maritime Executive called an unprecedented rate for the war if accurate. The Indian government said the product tanker Petro Dolphin was struck off Sohar, Oman, leaving two seafarers missing.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the US reply to Iran's seven conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz was insufficient: Washington had accepted some of them while others remained unclear, and the strait would not reopen to it until they were met, the Tasnim News Agency reported.

A US fighter jet struck the stern of the Panama-flagged freighter Ocean Molica in the Gulf of Oman, disabling it, after it tried to run the blockade of Iranian ports, Central Command said. It said four commercial vessels had been disabled and 135 ships turned around since the blockade resumed on 14 July.

The IRGC Navy said an unnamed crude oil supertanker had hit a naval mine and caught fire while using an unauthorised route through the Strait of Hormuz with its navigation systems turned off, and warned other tankers of a similar fate.

A tanker anchored 13 nautical miles west of Al Jazeera, off the UAE, was struck and caught fire; security consultancies named it as the VLCC Gem No. 2. The IRGC Navy, which did not claim that strike, said any vessel using an unauthorized passage anywhere in the region would be pursued, The Maritime Executive reported.

President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the United States would not attack Iran at any time before the midterm elections on 3 November, saying the two sides were having productive discussions.

A tanker was hit by several projectiles 94 kilometres north of Madinat ash Shamal, off Qatar's north coast inside the Gulf, and casualties were reported, the UKMTO agency said. The Maritime Executive called it the first reported attack on a tanker in the western half of the Gulf in weeks.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran and Oman had agreed on the geographical coordinates of safe inbound and outbound shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, and that Iran's response to US proposals to end the war would be delivered through mediators.

Qatar's foreign ministry said indirect talks between the United States and Iran were continuing, with messages exchanged via Qatar and its regional partners, a day after President Masoud Pezeshkian called talks with the US meaningless. Qatar's emir met Iran's interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, in Doha.

The Maritime Executive counted the strike on the On Peace as the 12th likely Iranian attack in the Strait of Hormuz since 30 September; other vessels reported hit since the weekend of 3 and 4 October included Maran Gas Mystras, Gas Vela, Cameroon Prosperity and Ghana Prosperity.

The Panama-flagged tanker MT On Peace was hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman, injuring 12 of its 19 crew, 11 of them Indian, who were evacuated to Khasab, India's foreign ministry said. India and Oman dated the attack 6 October; The Maritime Executive said it appeared to be a tanker reported hit on 5 October.

US Central Command said its forces had redirected the 130th commercial vessel under the blockade of Iranian ports, and had disabled three vessels and destroyed 13 commercial vessels over 12 weeks that it said were violating the blockade or part of the Revolutionary Guard's shadow network.

A tanker in the Strait of Hormuz reported being hit by a projectile that set its engine room on fire, and another vessel turned back on Revolutionary Guard orders, UK Maritime Trade Operations said. At least 12 tankers had been attacked in the strait in a week without a US military response, Al-Monitor reported.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said negotiations had 'no meaning' with an enemy that resorts to assassination, sanctions, pressure and threats and breaches its commitments, adding that Iran had been attacked three times after engaging in talks, Iranian state-affiliated media reported.

An inbound LPG tanker was struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, UK Maritime Trade Operations said in a late report issued on 5 October.

Iran struck the Lipsi, a new LR2 tanker linked to a Greek operator and a Chinese owner, in the Strait of Hormuz, as successful Iranian strikes on the tanker shuttle approached one a day, The Maritime Executive reported.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's top negotiator, said Washington had made 'some proposals through a mediator' after replying to Iran's plan, but that the Strait of Hormuz would not open until Iran's seven conditions were met.

The Pentagon said all US bombers deployed to RAF Fairford in England had returned to their US home stations. Britain's prime minister had suggested Iran played a part in an alleged plot against the base; Iran denied it, and the men arrested were released on bail while the investigation continued.

UK Maritime Trade Operations reported two more tankers struck by projectiles around Hormuz: one leaving the strait suffered a small fire and a blackout, and hours later a crude tanker east of Oman was hit, with all its crew safe.

The Kuwaiti crude tanker Kazimah III was struck while transiting the strait, and Iran's Fars agency said it was burning. Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority said ships targeted that week included vessels on its 'non-compliant list' for unauthorised transits.

Oil crossing the Strait of Hormuz averaged about 12 million barrels a day in the week to 30 September, against 17 million before the war, Kpler data reported by BBC Verify showed. Most moved on a shuttle of more than 60 tankers under US air support; fuel and gas exports stayed far below pre-war levels.

The last US and British troops left Iraq as the US-led coalition's mission against the Islamic State ended.

Qatari mediators in Doha handed Iran's foreign minister the US response to Iran's seven-day plan. An official briefed on the talks told Reuters the disagreement was over the order of the steps rather than their content.

UK Maritime Trade Operations reported three tankers struck around the Strait of Hormuz, among them the Liberian-flagged Mersin Prosperity and Sinbad. Iran's Fars agency said warning shots had been fired at vessels violating the strait.

In an interview with Time, President Trump said it was 'possible' US bombing of Iran would be stepped up after the 3 November midterm elections, and called Iran's latest proposal 'not good enough'.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group sailed from San Diego, followed the next day by the Makin Island amphibious ready group. The Wall Street Journal reported they would add 9,000 to 10,000 sailors and Marines to the region by the end of November, the Roosevelt possibly relieving a carrier already there.

President Trump said he had rejected Iran's seven-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end hostilities; Iran's foreign minister said no rejection had come through official channels.

Iran put forward a seven-day plan to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The UN fact-finding mission on Iran found reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed a war crime in the opening-day strike on a primary school in Minab, which killed more than 150 people, about 120 of them children.

Eight US Marines suffered smoke inhalation and concussion symptoms when an Iranian cruise missile hit a ship they were on in the Strait of Hormuz, NBC later reported, citing three US sources; the attack had not been disclosed.

Iran fired 20 missiles at Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti air base overnight on 8 to 9 September, the last confirmed Iranian strike on a state in the region as of 3 October. Over the same weeks no US strike on Iranian territory was reported.

The memorandum's 60-day window for negotiating a final deal ended without one.

The United States reinstated its naval blockade of Iran as the two sides traded attacks.

After further Iranian attacks on shipping, the United States launched extensive airstrikes on Iran and rescinded its oil sanctions waiver. President Trump declared the memorandum 'over' the next day.

The United States struck Iran for the first time since the memorandum, after Iran began attacking commercial tankers using a southern route through the strait.

President Trump and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict and negotiate a final deal within 60 days. The United States lifted its naval blockade the next day.

After talks in Islamabad failed to reach a broader agreement, the United States began a naval blockade of shipping to and from Iranian ports.

The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire mediated by Pakistan, which took effect the next day. No text reflecting agreed terms was released.

US Central Command said the United States had struck more than 10,000 targets in Iran, with about 50,000 US personnel deployed in and around the region.

United States and Israeli forces began striking targets in Iran (Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion). Israel killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior military and political leaders.