Report: Iran fumes at Oman over Hormuz passage

Author: Published: June 26, 2026

Oman trapped between Iranian, US, demands over Strait of Hormuz, New York Times reports.

Israel National News

Published: 

 

Oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Oil tanker in Strait of HormuziStock

An Iranian source has told The New York Times that Tehran is fuming at Oman, after Oman allowed naval vessels to move transverse an alternate route through the Strait of Hormuz, without coordinating with the IRGC.

In response, Iran launched a UAV towards a ship in the Strait, in order to harm the passage and completely halt naval traffic in the area.

According to the source, Oman is under pressure from the US, which demands free passage, as well as from Iran, which is demanding to control the routes. Iran has warned that Oman cannot provide ships any security commitments without Tehran’s approval, and that they will not allow any external body to interfere in their control of the Strait of Hormuz.

On Tuesday, in cooperation with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Sultanate of Oman announced an interim shipping route designed for commercial boats navigating through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The state-run Oman News Agency (ONA) reported that this provisional corridor is accessible to all maritime traffic. Vessel operators must align their voyages directly with the international shipping regulator, following explicit navigational coordinates provided jointly by the IMO and Omani maritime regulators.

The announcement came hours after Oman and Iran reaffirmed what they described as their sovereignty and sovereign rights over the Strait of Hormuz in a joint statement issued following talks in Muscat between senior officials from the two countries.

However, on Thursday, elements of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a commercial cargo vessel flying the Singapore flag within the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Citing two senior American officials, The Wall Street Journal reported that the assault inflicted significant damage on the ship’s bridge, though no injuries or fatalities were reported.

Concurrently, a regulatory Iranian state body known as the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) issued a strict warning regarding maritime lanes on Thursday.

The agency, which holds an official mandate to supervise and govern transit through the chokepoint, announced that any vessels traveling via routes outside its designated framework will be stripped of safe-passage assurances, liability arrangements, and insurance protections.

Israel-Lebanon talks continue under US mediation despite deadlock over Hezbollah disarmament

Author: Published: June 26, 2026

The Israeli Embassy in the United States confirmed the extension of the talks, which entered their fourth day. The negotiating teams will return to the table at the US State Department in the morning

IDF troops operate in the Wadi Saluki area of southern Lebanon.
IDF troops operate in the Wadi Saluki area of southern Lebanon.
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)
ByIDAN KWELLER

The negotiations between Israel and Lebanon were extended beyond what had been planned and will continue in Washington on Friday.

The decision was taken after 11 straight hours of talks, in an effort to reach an “in-principle commitment” to a security arrangement.

The Israeli Embassy in the United States confirmed the extension of the talks, which entered their fourth day. The negotiating teams will return to the table at the US State Department in the morning.

The talks, held under American mediation, are focused on Hezbollah’s future and the new security mechanisms in southern Lebanon.

One of the main ideas being discussed is the establishment of “pilot areas.” Under this framework, security responsibility would be transferred to the Lebanese Army in specific areas after Lebanese soldiers are screened and vetted in the United States to rule out ties to the organization.

Talks between the US, Lebanon, and Israel in Washington DC earlier this year.
Talks between the US, Lebanon, and Israel in Washington DC earlier this year. (credit: AMICHAI STEIN)

The discussions are taking place against the backdrop of significant gaps between the sides. Lebanon is insisting on drawing up a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from the areas the IDF currently holds. Israel, for its part, is demanding that any arrangement include the disarmament of Hezbollah, and is refusing to withdraw until that condition is met.

Israel denies withdrawing from Lebanon buffer zone

On Thursday, a State Department official claimed that Israel had already begun withdrawing from part of the buffer zone as a “goodwill gesture,” but an Israeli security source denied the report.

Defense Minister Israel Katz made clear this week that “even if there is an American demand, we will not withdraw from Lebanon,” and that Israel will keep forces in place to monitor implementation on the ground.

The fact that the talks stretched for more than 11 hours in a single day suggests American pressure to achieve a breakthrough, but the atmosphere within the Israeli delegation is marked by concern.

Earlier this week, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said the contacts were a “train wreck.” Leiter criticized the influence of Tehran and the parallel talks Washington is holding with the Iranians, and stressed that dismantling Hezbollah must remain the basis for the talks.

In parallel with the diplomatic track, the United States is putting together a monitoring mechanism through US Central Command. The mechanism is intended to give Washington a real-time picture from the ground in order to prevent escalation.

As part of those efforts, US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper is expected to arrive in Israel to meet with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Katz.

US considering moving Gulf bases hit by Iran westward, including to Israel — report

Author: Published: June 26, 2026

WSJ says Iran’s retaliatory strikes did greater damage to the Middle East’s only US Navy base, in Bahrain, than the Pentagon has acknowledged

By ToI StaffToday, 11:11 am
An undated handout photo provided by the US Navy shows the front walk-in entrance of the US Naval Support Activity in Bahrain near Manama. (US Naval Support Activity / AFP)

An undated handout photo provided by the US Navy shows the front walk-in entrance of the US Naval Support Activity in Bahrain near Manama. (US Naval Support Activity / AFP)

The United States is considering moving Middle East military installations westward, including to Israel, to reduce their exposure to Iran’s missiles and drones, which dealt the region’s sole US Navy base some $400 million in damage largely unacknowledged by the Pentagon, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, following the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran on February 28, hit US military installations across the region, killing 13 servicemembers and wounding hundreds.

Buildings harmed at the Naval Support Activity Bahrain (NSA Bahrain) base, which lies some 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Iran, include the Fifth Fleet headquarters, a barracks, several warehouses and a potable water tank, the Journal said Thursday, citing satellite and social media images.

No one was killed at the base, according to the US military, the Journal said.

The outlet said it estimated the cost of the damages based on procurement reports and the Pentagon’s publicly available cost model.

The estimate included only construction costs, the Journal said. It cited an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank as saying that, depending on what the buildings housed, that estimate could end up being dwarfed by other costs of the damage. For example, according to CSIS, two satellite communication terminals that Iran destroyed early in the war cost some $20 million each, the report said.

The damage to NSA Bahrain has led the US to weigh revamping the base, including by moving command centers underground and passing on rebuilding some of the destroyed structures, according to US officials familiar with the deliberations who were cited by the Journal.

The US may also curb its presence in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and shift some of it westward, following Iran’s targeting of military installations in the two Arab states, the officials said.

According to two of the officials, one of the destinations being weighed is Israel, where dozens of US jets parked at Ben Gurion Airport since the lead-up to the Iran war have stymied Israelis’ travel.

US President Donald Trump has faced fierce criticism in the US, including within his own Republican party, over the spiraling cost of the Iran war, which also sparked a global spike in energy prices after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for oil shipments.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is seeking roughly $80 billion in supplemental funding to shore up defense supplies in the aftermath of the war, which entered a truce on April 8.

The US and Iran last week reached a memorandum of understanding that kicked off 60 days of negotiations to end hostilities across the region.

Israel is not a party to the MOU or the negotiations, and Israeli officials have criticized the agreement, which requires a halt to Israel’s operations against Iran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, and contains no concrete concessions from Iran on its nuclear program.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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