War News

The United Arab Emirates' defense ministry said on Tuesday that it had detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran, the first such incident reported since a May 4 strike on the Fujairah port.In a statement later, the ministry said the missiles targeted "maritime traffic" based on its assessments. Both missiles fell into the sea, it said.Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei rejected early on Wednesday the statement by the UAE, describing it as "baseless."In a statement issued after the missile threat…

Iraq's cabinet approved mechanisms for exporting Iraqi crude through specialized international and local companies and via multiple export outlets, the government said on Tuesday.The contracts under the new mechanism will run for three months starting September 1, according to a statement issued after the cabinet meeting.Iraq is seeking to diversify its oil export channels and maintain flexibility in marketing its crude amid the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz…

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it received a report on Tuesday that a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting outbound in the Strait of Hormuz, causing engine room damage and a crew casualty.The remaining crew were being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard, according to the report. No environmental impact was reported and authorities were investigating, UKMTO said.Maritime security sources identified the vessel to Reuters as Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Minoan Dignity…

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, data showed on Monday, following attacks on tankers, while U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict stalled.Five commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, with none registered for Sunday, shiptracking data from Kpler showed, versus 31 in the prior weekend.Ships entering the strait on Saturday included an empty very large crude carrier with its Automatic Identification System switched off and an Indian-flagged very large gas carrier that used the Iranian route…

Iran called on the U.S. to accept defeat on Saturday, while President Donald Trump blasted Tehran as "very evil" and told Americans to prepare for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war.Progress towards peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz remained halted, with no sign the warring parties were moving toward ending the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28."This strait will be opened and closed only under Iran's command…

Yemen's Mocha port has suspended commercial and maritime operations after being hit by more than 25 missiles in Houthi attacks over recent days, the port's director said on Saturday.The attacks killed seven people and caused an estimated $16 million in losses, the director told a news conference.Mocha is a Red Sea port near the Bab el-Mandab strait, a strategic chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a key route for international shipping.The port is controlled by forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognised government.

The leader of U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, wrote on Sunday that his recent visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln was "awe-inspiring" and hailed the crew's "resilience" following reports of concerns about mental health and deteriorating conditions aboard the aircraft carrier.The ship has not made a port call in more than 200 days, setting a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea, according to Democratic lawmakers who have called for answers after sailors' families…

Firefighters were battling flames on Friday at Russia's Baltic Sea port Ust-Luga, a major energy exports hub, after a fire sparked by a drone attack, regional governor Aleksander Drozdenko said on messaging app Telegram.More than fifty drones were downed in the Leningrad region, he added, as the region around Ust-Luga, a centre for exports of oil and oil products, kept up efforts to repel the attack.The scale of damage was not immediately clear in the attack, which continues Ukraine's tactics of hitting Russian oil processing and export facilities and grain shipping routes, in an effort to den

Ukraine has sent Russia an offer suggesting they both halt attacks on civilian targets in the Black Sea, a source said, after mounting strikes on vessels and ports there raised fears over global food supplies.The offer to suspend attacks was transmitted by Kyiv via a third party, and Ukraine was still waiting for a response, the source who is familiar with the matter told Reuters.Both Russia and Ukraine, major players in the world agriculture market, have accused each other of…

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said on Thursday the Department of Homeland Security has approved a second 90-day extension of a Jones Act waiver first issued on March 17, 2026, allowing certain covered cargoes to continue moving on foreign-flagged vessels between U.S. ports under specified conditions.The waiver will commence on August 17, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. ET, the CBP guidance said.CBP said any covered product must be loaded onboard a vessel before the waiver expires at 11:59 p.m. ET on November 15, 2026.

Just how much crude oil is leaving the Strait of Hormuz?U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright claims almost nine million barrels per day, but the companies that track vessel movements say at best it is about half this volume.The amount of crude leaving the Middle East via the narrow chokepoint matters, as it's this oil that goes to Asia, the top energy-consuming region that has been hardest hit by the fallout since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.Wright said on social media platform X on August 12 that "thanks to the coordinated efforts of the U.S.

The Secretary-General of the IMO, Arsenio Dominguez, has issued a statement following the death of seafarers on the Tihamah which was hit by a projectile off the coast of Al Mokha, Yemen.“It is with sadness and regret to know that, once again, innocent seafarers have lost their lives in an indefensible attack on international shipping. I offer my deepest condolences to the families of those involved.“It is particularly troublesome that the most recent attack has taken place in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden area.

A major Ukrainian attack on Russia's Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk hit warships at a naval base and forced two major grain terminals to halt operations on Wednesday, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials as well as grain industry sources.The Ukrainian attacks killed at least two people, including an 8-year-old child, regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said.Describing the attack as having "strategic significance", Ukraine's SBU security service said Kyiv's forces hit the Novorossiysk naval base with drones and missiles.

Romanian army divers destroyed two Gerbera-type drones drifting in the country's Black Sea exclusive economic zone near the offshore gas project Neptun Deep, Defence Minister Radu Miruta said on Tuesday.The NATO state shares a 614-km (382-mile) land border with Ukraine and has seen Russian drones repeatedly breach its airspace over the last four years, as well as mines floating in the Black Sea across key trade and energy routes.In July, Romanian F-16 fighter jet pilots shot down…

Ukraine and Russia accused each other of lethal attacks on Sunday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow was targeting global food security by striking Odesa's seaport.Three people were killed and 37 wounded in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, where a multi-storey apartment block was hit, while authorities in Russia's Belgorod said five were killed and 25 wounded by a Ukrainian drone attack.Zelenskiy said Odesa's seaport had been damaged by a strike. Local authorities said dozens of drones and missiles hit the southern seaside city…

Ships are passing smoothly through the Turkish straits to the Black Sea despite heightened concerns about safety, two Turkish government officials told Reuters on Sunday.On Saturday, Bloomberg News reported that Ankara had restricted commercial ship traffic entering the Black Sea following attacks on vessels there, including Turkish-owned ships.Turkey has issued repeated warnings to Moscow and Kyiv over the attacks in the Black Sea, urging the warring sides to take measures to ensure navigational safety in the area.On Saturday…

Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the U.S. must meet other conditions, including compensation and an end to sanctions and military threats, before the strategic waterway is reopened.A U.S. official told Reuters on Friday that Iran and Oman were close to a deal that could pave the way for restoring safe passage through the strait, a major conduit for oil and gas shipping before Iran blocked Hormuz in response to U.S.

Yemen's Houthi Movement aims to replicate Iran's Hormuz Strait strategy in the Red Sea by disrupting shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb and has been emboldened by an insufficient international response, Yemen's top diplomat said on Monday."The Houthis want to copy the Iranian model and this will shut down two main straits, the gateways into the Gulf and Red Sea," Yemeni Foreign Minister-designate Afrah Al-Zouba said, speaking to a small group of journalists at the Yemeni embassy in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.The Red Sea has become a new front in the Iran war, with the Houthis taking an escalatory ap

While bombs are falling in the Middle East, EU Member States continue to export live animals to the region, with the European Commission (EC) refusing to be held accountable, says the Eurogroup for Animals, the French animal welfare organization Welfarm and the German NGO Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF).The organizations have submitted a joint petition to the EC calling for an immediate halt to these transports. Almost 50,000 signatories are calling on the EU to instruct its Member…

Iranian forces prevented a tanker from transiting the Strait of Hormuz without coordination, state media reported early on Friday.Iranian media earlier reported sounds of explosions near Bandar Abbas, but state news agency IRNA later said no explosions had been reported in the port city and that any sounds could have been related to military activity in maritime areas.Iran's top joint military command announced on Thursday the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, including oil tankers and commercial ships, saying any vessel that will attempt passage will be shot at.Iranian media also reported expl

The insurance cost of shipping goods through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies on Thursday, after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked at least one tanker overnight, sources said.The Houthis said their forces had carried out missile and drone strikes on Saudi oil tankers, the Encelia and the Layla. This worsened the turmoil for shipping in the region, with the Strait of Hormuz essentially shut down.Maritime security sources confirmed the strike on the Encelia, off the coast of the southern Saudi port of Jizan…

Ship traffic through Bab el-Mandeb fell on Sunday after Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, while transit through the Strait of Hormuz stayed low over the weekend, shipping data from Kpler showed on Monday.Eleven commodity vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Sunday, the lowest level in months, the data showed.Red Sea traffic has been disrupted off the coast of Yemen since last week by the Tehran-aligned Houthis, who want to blockade Saudi exports…

An international general cargo vessel sank off the coast of Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa on Sunday, a week after Ukrainian officials said it had been struck by Russian forces.Ukraine's ports authority said the Golden Leo, sailing under a Guinea-Bissau flag, had sunk near the port.