Middle East crisis live: Iran denies Trump’s claims that talks due to take place
Key events3m agoTwo tankers with Saudi oil exit Red Sea over the weekend11m agoIran foreign ministry says there are no talks with the USTwo tankers with Saudi oil exit Red Sea over the weekendTwo tankers...
Key events
Two tankers with Saudi oil exit Red Sea over the weekend
Two tankers laden with Saudi oil crossed the Bab el-Mandeb strait over the weekend, data collected by Reuters showed on Monday, despite the maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia declared by the Iran-aligned Houthis at the end of last month.
Kpler data showed that 18 commodity vessels total passed the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Sunday, down from the 27 that passed on Saturday and the 28 on Friday.
Two tankers – the Suezmax tanker Lesvos, carrying 1 million barrels of Saudi crude. and Very Large Crude Carrier Desh Vaibhav, 1 million barrels of Saudi crude – exited the Red Sea with their automatic identification systems (AIS) transponders switched off, the data showed.
The Houthis of Yemen, who control the capital Sana’a and much of its Red Sea coastline, announced on 20 July that they were implementing a blockade against Saudi ships, opening a new front against the US and its allies in the war on Iran. They have since claimed to have been behind a number of strikes on Saudi tankers.
Iran foreign ministry says there are no talks with the US
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Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, told reporters at a weekly press briefing on Monday that Iran is not currently holding any talks with the US, Reuters reports – contradicting claims made by Donald Trump on Sunday night that talks with Iran would happen the next day.
Baghaei said that there were no plans to receive a delegation or send an Iranian one, and that Iran’s current focus was on negotiations with Oman over the strait of Hormuz.
“We are now going to reach an understanding on a route acceptable to both sides – neither the northern route nor the southern route – but one that respects the sovereign rights of both sides and safeguards our national interests and security,” he said in an interview with Iranian state television.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he decided to hold off on ordering American forces to carry out new strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, including a phone call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“I said to the crown prince, ‘What would you rather do? Would you rather us do this or not?’” Trump said. “They said we would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack, because you don’t know where these attacks lead.”
