Conflict & Security
Iran talks: Trump says none; UAE halts trade
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that no talks with Iran were under way or scheduled, after posting a map showing the Strait of Hormuz as “NEW U.S. Territory.” Separately, the United Arab Emirates said it was halting trade and financial transactions with Iran after accusing Tehran of firing missiles toward maritime navigation.
“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said the naval blockade remained in force and added that the “Hormuz Strait is open and operating” and that all water mines had been removed or detonated.
Trump's statement contradicted remarks by his envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who said Monday that the United States and Iran were having “very positive and active conversations.” US sources told AFP there had been positive discussions with Iranians, but said Trump had decided to wait and had asked his team not to engage until Iran was ready to make a deal.
The UAE accused Iran on Tuesday of firing two ballistic missiles that landed at sea and targeted “maritime navigation.” Iran denied firing a missile toward the UAE. Soon afterward, the UAE announced that “in light of regional escalations” it was halting all trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran.
The UAE had borne the brunt of Iranian missile and drone attacks in the first period of the war, but had not reported any attacks since the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that was meant to halt the fighting.
Trump has been pressing a threat to claim sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial energy waterway, as the nearly six-month-old Iran war continues. He again suggested in Oval Office comments Monday that a US takeover of the strait would be a good idea.
Iran has effectively shut down the chokepoint, through which a fifth of the world's oil would usually transit, in retaliation for the war launched by the United States and Israel in late February.
Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a speech broadcast on state television that the strait would not be opened until US commitments in a memorandum of understanding were implemented. Tehran's demands include ending the US blockade of Iranian ports, lifting oil sanctions, unfreezing Iranian assets and paying war damages.
Qatar, a key mediator in stalled US-Iran talks, said Tuesday that an agreement between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz would make it easier to resume negotiations to end the Middle East war.
Trump also threatened Monday to “bomb the shit” out of US ally Oman if it interfered with a deal on the Strait of Hormuz.
Since returning to power in 2025, Trump has threatened to make Canada the 51st US state, seize Greenland and Cuba, and take control of the Gaza Strip, without following through on those threats.
Update
The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of firing two ballistic missiles that landed at sea and targeted maritime navigation.
Iran denied firing a missile toward the UAE.
The UAE said it was halting all trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran in light of regional escalations.
The source says the UAE had not reported attacks since a June US-Iran memorandum of understanding meant to halt fighting.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 21:46:57 UTC.
Update
Jared Kushner had said the United States and Iran were having very positive and active conversations, but Trump denied talks were under way or scheduled.
US sources told AFP there had been positive discussions with Iranians but said Trump had asked his team not to engage until Iran was ready to make a deal.
Trump threatened on Monday to bomb Oman if it interfered with a deal on the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar said an Iran-Oman agreement over the strait would make it easier to resume negotiations to end the Middle East war.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 15:48:01 UTC.
Update
Trump posted a map on Truth Social showing the Strait of Hormuz as “NEW U.S. Territory.”
Trump had again suggested Monday that claiming sovereignty over the waterway would be a good idea.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 14:55:00 UTC.
Update
Trump said the naval blockade remains in full force and effect.
Trump said the Strait of Hormuz is open and operating.
Trump said all water mines have been removed or detonated.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 13:50:44 UTC.
Update
US President Donald Trump said no talks with Iran were taking place or planned.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 13:38:36 UTC.
Update
Qatar said an Iran-Oman agreement over the Strait of Hormuz would make it much easier to resume US-Iran talks.
Iran said the geographical coordinates of the route envisaged by Iran and Oman have been agreed upon.
Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the strait will not be opened until the United States meets Tehran's demands, including lifting a naval blockade.
Source note: AFP news report published on 18 August 2026 at 11:36:47 UTC.
Update
Iraq's federal government said it would launch an investigation into the attack on the office of the Kurdistan region's prime minister.
Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the Kurdistan attack and urged Kurdish officials to be vigilant against false flags.
Source note: AFP news report published on 17 August 2026 at 19:10:20 UTC.
Update
Yemen's Houthi rebels said they targeted a Saudi military landing ship and four accompanying patrol boats off Mokha in the Red Sea.
UN rights chief Volker Turk warned of the risk of Yemen returning to full-scale conflict and called for de-escalation.
Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said Iranian drones targeted his office and the home of the region's intelligence chief, with no reported casualties.
Iran's foreign ministry said it would consider three missing pilots to be prisoners in Qatar until their fate is clarified, despite Doha's denial that it is holding them.
Source note: AFP news report published on 17 August 2026 at 15:21:59 UTC.
Update
Trump told Fox News journalist Trey Yingst that the United States would bomb Oman if it got in the way of a US deal with Tehran on the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump called for Iran to surrender.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said a 60-day negotiation deadline in June's memorandum was irrelevant because he said the United States had violated the deal early on.
Source note: AFP news report published on 17 August 2026 at 14:13:33 UTC.
Update
Iran's foreign ministry said Iran and Oman were working on a joint declaration on future maritime navigation arrangements through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trey Yingst quoted Trump as saying he was in no hurry to reach a deal with Iran.
Yingst quoted Trump as saying there was a direct back-channel between his administration and officials of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Yingst quoted Trump as saying of Iranian officials: “They're good poker players, but they're dying.”
Source note: AFP news report published on 17 August 2026 at 12:33:55 UTC.
Update
Fox News journalist Trey Yingst reported the threat from an interview with Trump in a post on X.
Yingst said Trump also told Iran to put up the white flag of surrender.
The threat was linked to ongoing Oman-Iran talks on control of the Strait of Hormuz while Washington pursues its own talks.
Source note: AFP news report published on 17 August 2026 at 12:07:30 UTC.
Update
Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it gets in the way of a Hormuz deal.
Source note: AFP news report published on 17 August 2026 at 11:50:35 UTC.
Update
The UAE foreign ministry later blamed Tehran for the ADNOC-linked vessel attack and accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards of acts of piracy in the strait.
Iranian official Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr set out conditions for reopening the strait, including an end to war and aggression against Iran and its allies, an end to sanctions, release of frozen assets and compensation for wartime damage.
Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen have declared a parallel maritime blockade on Saudi ports in the Red Sea.
US Vice President JD Vance said Washington's top priority in the Iran war was keeping energy prices low for Americans, with preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon second.
Tehran signalled last week that it had agreed with Oman on a route for ships to transit the strait and that arrangements to jointly manage the waterway were being finalised.
Source note: AFP news report published on 15 August 2026 at 19:07:05 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The status of US-Iran contacts is disputed between Trump's public denial, Kushner's comments and US sources who described positive discussions.
The UAE missile accusation is denied by Iran.
The practical effect of Trump's claim about the Strait of Hormuz being “NEW U.S. Territory” is not established in the supplied material.
Source
AFP news report published on .