The Albany Gazette - Trump threatens Oman: latest developments in US-Iran war

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East conflict:

- Trump threatens Oman -

Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it "gets in the way" of a US deal with Tehran on the Strait of Hormuz and called for Iran to surrender.

"If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them," Trump told Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, referring to ongoing talks between Oman and Iran on control of the strait, while Washington is also pursuing its own talks.

Tehran and Muscat have been talking for weeks on future maritime navigation arrangements through the shipping route, and the foreign ministry in Tehran said earlier Monday that the two sides were working on a joint declaration.

- Iran says 60-day deadline 'irrelevant' -

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that a 60-day deadline for negotiations included in June's memorandum of understanding was "irrelevant" because the US had violated the deal early on.

"We did not begin any negotiations because, a few weeks after the signing, widespread violations of the agreement began, thereby rendering the 60-day provision irrelevant."

- Houthis target Saudi ship -

Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Monday they had targeted a Saudi military vessel and four accompanying boats in the Red Sea, as part of their maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia.

Yahya Saree, military spokesperson for the Iran-backed Houthis, said they had "succeeded in targeting a military landing ship belonging to the Saudi enemy, accompanied by four military patrol boats, in the Red Sea off the coast of Mokha, using several ballistic missiles".

The Houthis have been at war with Saudi Arabia since it intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015, but a ceasefire had been in place since 2022. It broke down last month as Yemen was sucked into the wider Middle East war.

- Risk of 'full-scale conflict' in Yemen: UN -

The UN rights chief voiced alarm Monday at the rising civilian toll of escalating hostilities in Yemen, and called for efforts to avoid plunging the country back into full-scale war.

"I call on all parties to de-escalate tensions and spare the Yemeni people from further misery. The Yemeni people have already suffered way too much from the devastating legacy of years of conflict, displacement and humanitarian crisis," Volker Turk said.

"I urge all parties to halt immediately any actions that risk returning Yemen to full-scale conflict."

The civil war in Yemen, which dates back to 2014, created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country.

- Iranian drones attack Iraqi Kurdistan PM's office -

Two Iranian drones targeted the Iraqi Kurdistan prime minister's office and the home of the autonomous region's intelligence chief overnight, authorities said on Monday.

Masrour Barzani said that an investigation by the region's counter-terrorism unit found that his "personal office and the home of the head of the Security and Intelligence Agency were targeted by Iranian drone attacks earlier today".

"This is a dangerous escalation and a direct threat to the security and stability of the Kurdistan region."

There were no reported casualties in the attack.

- Iran says missing pilots prisoners in Qatar -

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday it would consider three missing pilots to be prisoners in Qatar, despite Doha's denials, until it clarified their fate.

Tehran has said the Iranians went missing while carrying out an operation against the United States' Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on March 2.

On Saturday, Iranian authorities alleged for the first time that the pilots had been captured in Qatar. Doha denied holding the pilots and said it had invited Tehran "to be briefed on the details of the search and rescue operations in April".

Baqaei said: "Until the pilots' situation is clarified, we consider them prisoners and will spare no effort to shed light on their fate."

(Y.Harris--TAG)