Iran / Israel / U.S. / Lebanon / Energy crisis watch

Trump said talks were under way and described the moment as a last chance for a deal, after the strikes he had ordered were called off. Tehran urged Washington to honour the June 17 memorandum it says the United States disregarded from the outset.

Local time

1:00 PM New York time, Aug 3, 2026

Location

Washington, D.C., United States

Relationship

Update

Iran's foreign ministry said there were no negotiations underway with the United States, and that its talks were with Oman on management of the Strait of Hormuz. The statement directly contradicted the Monday negotiations Trump had announced the day before. Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei had earlier said the strait "will in no way return to the status it was before February 28th."

Local time

11:00 AM Tehran time, Aug 3, 2026

Location

Tehran, Iran

Relationship

Update

Trump cancelled the planned strike on Iran, saying the "perimeters" of a deal had been reached and that negotiations with Tehran would begin Monday, with no deadline set. He said Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iran had all asked him to call it off. Iranian military sources rejected the account that Tehran had pleaded for restraint as a "new lie," and acting Defence Minister Majid Ebn-e-Reza called the pullback part of "psychological operations and a war of calculations." Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said separately that the Oman track on the strait was progressing.

Local time

4:00 PM New York time, Aug 2, 2026

Location

Washington, D.C., United States

Relationship

Update

The State Department issued warnings to U.S. citizens across the Middle East as reporting indicated Washington was preparing fresh strikes on Iran as soon as that weekend. Trump had told a Cabinet meeting the previous day, "We will be hitting them very hard." Mediators from Qatar and Pakistan worked to head off the escalation, including calls with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. Separately, the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre reported a tanker struck by an unknown projectile near the entrance to the strait off Oman.

Local time

2:00 PM New York time, Aug 1, 2026

Location

Washington, D.C. / Middle East

Relationship

Update

United Against Nuclear Iran reported that since U.S. forces reimposed the blockade on July 14, they had redirected 24 commercial vessels attempting to run it, disabled two that did not comply and boarded two more, as of July 30. The same tracking counted 66 tankers leaving the Gulf of Oman laden with Iranian oil and petrochemicals since the June 14 memorandum, roughly 80 million barrels. Laden tankers are clustering in anchorages along the Iranian coast.

Local time

3:00 PM New York time, Jul 31, 2026

Location

Gulf of Oman / Iranian coast

Relationship

Update

The Bermuda-flagged liquefied natural gas carrier Gaslog Shanghai was struck by a projectile and disabled while exiting the Strait of Hormuz carrying Qatari LNG.

Local time

12:00 PM Dubai time, Jul 31, 2026

Location

Strait of Hormuz

Relationship

Update

Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported blasts in southern Iran in the early hours of Thursday local time, including at the port city of Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz and around Gulf islands including Kish. The Revolutionary Guard said it would "punish the aggressor today," warned that states assisting the United States would receive a harsh response, and asserted it retains full control of the strait.

Local time

2:00 AM Tehran time, Jul 30, 2026

Location

Bandar Abbas and Kish Island, Iran

Relationship

Update

Brent crude rose more than 7 percent to 90.66 dollars a barrel by 2:30 p.m. Eastern after Trump said it was "our turn" following the intercepted Iranian attack and promised a response. The United States said it had completed a round of strikes on Iran.

Local time

2:30 PM New York time, Jul 29, 2026

Location

Washington, D.C. / global oil market

Relationship

Update

President Masoud Pezeshkian urged Iranians to stand firm against what he called the enemy, as the United States accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of carrying out surprise ballistic missile attacks on American positions.

Local time

7:00 PM Tehran time, Jul 29, 2026

Location

Tehran, Iran

Relationship

Update

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the United States for talks that Trump characterised as friendly, while Tehran publicly restated that it intends to retain control over passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Local time

4:00 PM New York time, Jul 28, 2026

Location

Washington, D.C., United States

Relationship

Update

U.S. forces intercepted what officials described as a surprise attack by Iran on American positions in the Middle East. The United States said it also struck Iran-aligned groups in Iraq in an operation carried out alongside Saudi forces.

Local time

10:00 AM Dubai time, Jul 28, 2026

Location

U.S. positions, Middle East

Relationship

Update

President Trump said Washington had halted strikes on Iran at Tehran's own request, telling reporters "They asked us very nicely, 'Please stop, let's meet.'" Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei contradicted the account, saying "We have no negotiations with the United States at present." Iran said its only active channel was with Oman, over management of the Strait of Hormuz.

Local time

12:00 PM New York time, Jul 27, 2026

Location

Washington, D.C., United States

Relationship

Update

CAIRO/AP and Washington Post reports said the U.S. military paused strikes on Iran for a second straight day and Tehran publicly said it was also pausing attacks. The pause was described as a sign of continuing mediation over an interim ceasefire, even as U.S. officials said naval interdiction of Iranian-linked shipping remains in place.

Local time

5:28 PM Cairo time, Jul 26, 2026

Location

Strait of Hormuz / Gulf region

Relationship

Update

Iranian military officials said the latest retaliatory actions centered on U.S. bases in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain, and Al Jazeera reported that U.S. media said strike activity on Iran had been paused over the weekend. The report suggests a continued pattern of pressure on U.S. regional basing rather than only on Iranian territory.

Local time

7:00 AM UTC time, Jul 26, 2026

Location

Gulf region

Relationship

Update

Iran said it had a peaceful night with no strikes overnight into Saturday, and reported that U.S. Central Command had not announced another strike round. In the same update, Saudi civil-defense authorities said they had briefly activated warning sirens in Yanbu and Jizan, both on the Red Sea coast, and Bahrain also issued missile alerts. The alerts were lifted without casualty reports.

Local time

1:23 PM Tehran time, Jul 25, 2026

Location

Cairo, Saudi Arabia (Yanbu/Jizan), Bahrain

Relationship

Update

A live update from Al Jazeera says Houthi-affiliated television is reporting further strikes in Yemen’s Hodeidah area. The update sits within the same live Gulf-and-Hormuz escalation cycle as the latest Gulf attacks.

Local time

11:38 PM Aden time, Jul 24, 2026

Location

Hodeidah, Yemen

Relationship

Update