Defence secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that the US military has enough assets to maintain a naval blockade of Iran "indefinitely", as talks with Tehran hit an impasse over the Strait of Hormuz."The United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we'll rotate ships in and out, as ​we have, and we'll continue to," Hegseth said, adding that he is advising president Donald Trump to keep applying economic pressure on Iran.His statement comes as Iran said it could deliberately prolong the war with the US until Trump leaves office, in order to send a message that attacking the country has lasting consequences.Mohammad Reza Naghdi, senior adviser to the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said dragging out the war would show any future US administration that “there is a cost” to hostile endeavours against Iran."We have to attain deterrence so that the enemy never dares to attack us, so we can live with security," he told PBS NewsHour.Trump earlier said that “praise be to Allah”, Washington has “total control over the Strait of Hormuz", adding: "I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” The CIA no longer believes Israeli intel. Where does that leave Trump’s ties with Netanyahu?An extraordinary operation to transport Trump onto a military plane in Ankara in a catering truck was prompted by a warning from Israel of a potential Iranian assassination attempt. But with the CIA saying they had ‘low confidence’ in the intel, experts tell Maira Butt that the relationship between the allies is under increasing strain.More here.The CIA doesn’t believe Israeli intel. Where does that leave a fragile relationship?An extraordinary operation to transport Trump onto a military plane in Ankara in a catering truck was prompted by a warning from Israel of a potential Iranian assassination attempt. But with the CIA saying they had ‘low confidence’ in the intel, experts tell Maira Butt that the relationship between the allies is under increasing strainAlisha Rahaman Sarkar14 August 2026 06:20Hormuz shipping traffic below monthly averageShipping traffic at the Strait of ​Hormuz fell below the monthly average towards the end of the week due to volatile sentiment between the United States and Iran, with both ⁠countries making competing claims over its control.The Strait of Hormuz is "under Iran's control and management", the recently appointed head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit said. Meanwhile, the US said it ​could ⁠maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and would ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran as ⁠ceasefire talks have floundered.Commodity vessel transits at Hormuz picked ​up ⁠slightly yesterday with nine ships crossing, but ‌remained lower than the month's daily average of 12, based on Kpler data in August so far. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 August 2026 06:00Iran mocks Trump for switching planes over 'assassination threat'Iran has been mocking Donald Trump on social media after it was revealed that he secretly switched aircraft while returning from Turkey over an alleged assassination threat from Tehran.Iran's embassy in South Africa, in a post on X, said Trump "will be hidden in a trash can before long". Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 August 2026 05:45Jared Kushner to head to Middle East for Gaza talksPresident Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel to the Middle East next week to try to advance plans for an end to the conflict in Gaza after a deal recently announced by the Trump administration ran into Israeli opposition.An official with the Board of Peace, the body Trump established to oversee the fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said Kushner, board high representative Nickolay Mladenov, and executive board member Tony Blair would arrive in Israel on Sunday.The group will then travel to Cairo, where meetings of a Palestinian technocratic group set to assume control of Gaza under a US-brokered ceasefire deal have been taking place for the past several months. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 August 2026 05:30Iran and Oman work to clean oil spills from attacked shipsIran said it was working to clean up an oil spill off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Images distributed by Iran's semiofficial news agency ISNA showed oil fouling the island's beaches.While Iran hasn't said what caused the spill, the firm TankerTrackers.com says it appears to have started with an Iranian attack on a bulk carrier off Oman.Oman is responding to another spill in the Arabian Sea, coming from a tanker grounded off its southern coast. The tanker Caroline Bezengi, a sanctioned vessel believed to be part of Russia's "shadow fleet", has been grounded since reporting an explosion in June.A British maritime risk and response company, which has been hired to salvage the tanker, said oil from the ship has reached shores hundreds of km north of the vessel. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 August 2026 05:10Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 August 2026 05:00Vance says Iran war will end with US in stronger positionVice president JD Vance appeared to be lowering expectations for the Strait of Hormuz to return to the way it was before the war.He predicted in an interview on Fox News that the war will end with the US in a stronger position, with Iran not having a nuclear weapon, and with the Strait of Hormuz "returned to a place where oil and gas prices are stable for the American people"."That's goal number one: keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country," he said. The second goal, according to Vance, is to ensure that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 August 2026 04:45Oil steadies after US threatens indefinite blockadeOil prices inched up this morning after the US threatened an indefinite naval blockade of Iran, reviving ​concerns about supply of crude after the previous session's fall on a weaker outlook ‌for demand and a large build in US stocks.Brent futures rose 1 cent, or 0.1 per cent, to $87.08 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 6 cents to $81.31 a barrel.Yesterday, the US ​warned that it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and ramp up economic pressure on Tehran as ceasefire talks have stalled. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar14 August 2026 04:28Rachel Dobkin14 August 2026 04:02Crew of Yemeni vessel recount their chaotic rescue after Houthis' deadly attack Crew members of a Yemeni commercial ship who survived a deadly attack by Houthi rebels earlier this week said a second missile struck the vessel just as rescue efforts from the initial strike were underway, causing even more chaos and casualties.In all, three ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthis struck the ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, just off Yemen’s coast, as it was coming into port, killing six people and injuring at least nine others, according to Yemeni authorities.It was part of an escalating campaign by the Houthis and their first deadly attack this year on a vessel navigating the strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and accounts for roughly 12 per cent of global trade. “People were burning ... it was a strange scene of doomsday,” said Zaheer Ahmed, a Pakistani crew member recovering at a hospital in the port city of Mokha.“I shouted for help and a Yemeni soldier came to my aid,” said Ahmed, who was injured in both legs.All three of the crew members The Associated Press interviewed at the hospital described intense fire, panic and damage aboard the ship, which was struck before dawn on Tuesday. Indonesian crew member Muhammad Al Taindo , right, receives medical treatment after the cargo ship Tihama was struck in a Houthi attack in the Bab al-Mandab Strait (AP)Sam Rkaina14 August 2026 02:58