Iran bars military ships in Strait of Hormuz plan with Oman amid war fallout

Jerusalem,UPDATED: Aug 26, 2026 20:32 IST

Iran said late on Tuesday that it will not allow military vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz under a new shipping arrangement being discussed with Oman, as fighting linked to the Iran war continued to affect the wider region. The talks between Tehran and Muscat are focused on managing commercial shipping in the strategic waterway, which has remained largely shut for nearly six months since the war began.

At the same time, Israeli strikes continued in Gaza despite a fragile ceasefire with Hamas, while developments elsewhere reflected the conflict's wider impact, from settlement expansion in the West Bank and falling passenger traffic at Dubai airport to military movements involving the United States and Germany, and rights concerns in Yemen.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV that Iran and Oman had reached an understanding on a new framework for ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz that would exclude military vessels. He said commercial shipping into the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman would move entirely through Iranian waters, while the outbound route would pass partly through Iranian waters and partly through Oman's territorial waters. He said the proposed route would be temporary and that Iran and Oman would discuss a permanent maritime traffic scheme within 30 to 60 days. US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if it "gets in the way" as his administration opposes parts of the evolving deal.

In Gaza, an Israeli strike on a tent for displaced people in the south on Wednesday killed one person and wounded at least four others, according to officials at the territory's Health Ministry. The Israeli military said it had struck a "military operative" but did not give more details. Palestinians in Gaza have reported an increase in deadly Israeli strikes despite the ceasefire in the nearly three-year war. Israel has said it targets Hamas and other militants who pose a threat, as well as those who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.

In the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government had legalised more than 104 settlements and established 160 farming outposts since he took office in 2022. "I know that we are not only ensuring our existence in the present, we are ensuring the existence of the people of Israel in the future," he said at an event in Jerusalem on Tuesday night. Around 3 million Palestinians live alongside more than 500,000 Israeli settlers in the occupied territory, which has seen a rise in violence in recent years as Israel has expanded its presence.

Dubai Airport said on Wednesday that passenger traffic fell sharply in the second quarter as the war with Iran disrupted air travel and led many travellers to choose routes that avoided the Middle East. The airport handled 13 million passengers in the quarter and said traffic in the first half of 2026 was down 31.3 per cent from the same period last year, with 31.5 million passengers.

Thai officials said on Tuesday that the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln would stop in Thailand after its long deployment in the Middle East, though they did not give a date or port for security reasons. The carrier's deployment during the Iran war has included more than 250 days at sea without interruption, raising concerns about the crew's mental health.

Germany has ended the mission of its military advisers in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region after years of supporting the US-led coalition against Islamic State militants, the Kurdish region's Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said on Wednesday. The ministry said an official ceremony was held at Camp Stephan at Irbil Airport to mark the end of the mission. The move comes as US forces also begin withdrawing from northern Iraq ahead of a September 30 deadline to end their military presence in the country.

In Yemen, Human Rights Watch criticised the Houthis for referring at least six people to a criminal court known for hearing terrorism and espionage cases. The rights group said at least five of those charged were either UN employees or civil society workers. It also said one of the defendants, Ali Mudhwahi, a national public health expert with UNICEF, was tortured and forced to confess that vaccines were spying tools. The latest developments underlined how the Iran war continues to shape events across the Middle East, from shipping and air travel to fighting on the ground and security-related crackdowns.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends