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Or sign-in if you have an account.An Iranian woman takes a dip in the sea as vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off the port city of Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran on Aug. 10, 2026. Photo by Atta KENARE/AFP via Getty ImagesPakistan’s defence minister said the U.S. and Iran are “close to some sort of arrangement” over the Strait of Hormuz, even after both sides appeared to toughen their positions in the long-deadlocked negotiations.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Accountor“Things are shaping up in favour of peace,” Khawaja Asif told reporters in Islamabad on Tuesday, without giving details of any breakthrough. Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart, the Islamic Republic’s semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.Talks between Iran and Oman about reopening Hormuz to some maritime shipping have reached an advanced stage, Al Jazeera reported earlier, citing a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Pakistan has been mediating the conflict, alongside Qatar.Columnist Jesse Kline keeps you up to date with what’s happening in Israel and the effects of antisemitism on life here in Canada. Friday mornings.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Channel Israel will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe upbeat assessments, however, came after U.S. President Donald Trump toughened his stance on Monday, saying Tehran should pay reparations for those killed in attacks linked to the Islamic Republic as well as in domestic protests. His comments came in response to a series of demands laid out by Iran over the weekend, including compensation for U.S. violations of a now-lapsed interim peace deal agreed by the sides in June.In a sign of ongoing tensions, a U.S. Navy helicopter fired missiles at a Panama-flagged cargo ship that attempted to run the American blockade of Iranian ports early Tuesday, U.S. Central Command announced. The shot aimed at the vessel’s engine room was intended to disable its steering, Central Command said.The U.S. military said its forces “disabled the steering gear” of a vessel sailing toward an Iranian port after firing two hellfire missiles at the ship.In a post on X, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the M/V Vela Nova “attempted to transit the Gulf of Oman and violate the U.S. blockade against Iran.”It said a U.S. Navy MH-60 helicopter fired the missiles into the vessel’s engine room “after the ship’s civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from American forces,” adding that the vessel is no longer transiting to Iran.CENTCOM also said that since Tuesday, its forces have redirected 55 commercial vessels, disabled three non-compliant vessels, and boarded two.A White House official said Trump believes he’s in a strong negotiating position and is in no rush to secure a deal, but declined to characterize the state of talks. The U.S. sees Iran’s demands constantly shifting and believes Tehran faces mounting economic pressure and factional infighting, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide insight into the administration’s thinking.While Iranian officials have signalled that Tehran and Oman may be nearing an agreement, it remains unclear whether such a deal would lead to an immediate and full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, or what conditions Iran may seek to impose on traffic through the waterway.Mohsen Rezaee, the newly appointed secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, appeared to underscore that distinction, saying any agreement with Oman on control over the waterway would remain separate from the closure of the strait, according to a report by state-run IRIB.Iran conveyed additional conditions to Washington through intermediaries, alongside demands that the U.S. end the war and unfreeze blocked Iranian assets, IRIB cited Rezaee as saying. The comments followed a meeting with China’s ambassador to Iran, Cong Peiwu, in Tehran.Oil edged up on Tuesday, with U.S. crude settling near $83 a barrel, as traders assessed the latest developments in the Middle East and the prospect that a deal to re-open the strait to shipping may not be imminent.“The mediators are trying to put things on the right track again, but it’s easier said than done,” said Ali Vaez, a deputy program director at the International Crisis Group.“The danger is that Washington may see Iranian compliance as the prerequisite for implementing the MoU, while Tehran sees American implementation as the prerequisite for resuming negotiations — recreating precisely the sequencing trap that helped unravel the agreement in the first place,” he added.Iran will almost certainly reject Trump’s latest demands, which the U.S. leader said will be included “firmly into any, and all, future negotiations.” The back-and-forth appeared to reduce the chance that the warring parties will be able to agree to any immediate pact on the waterway, where around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the conflict began on Feb. 28.The U.K. navy said it received a report on Tuesday of an incident involving a container ship and military forces in the Gulf of Oman, without providing further details. It was also informed of an incident off Yemen’s Red Sea coast in which a cargo vessel reported being hit by an unknown projectile, resulting in casualties.European diesel futures had surged more than 10% as refineries in Libya and Russia came under attack, further tightening the market for the fuel considered the workhorse of the global economy. Saudi Arabia extinguished a fire at its Jazan oil refinery early Sunday, the country’s energy ministry said, with Yemen’s Houthi militants claiming an attack on the facility hours later.“The region cannot remain indefinitely in a state of neither war nor peace,” Anwar Gargash, senior diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, wrote in a post on X. “Its stability and the future of its peoples require clarity in vision and direction.”Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. 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