Iran Conflict — 2026-08-13 (PM)
The Strait of Hormuz standoff ground into another day of deadlock on Thursday, with Iran rejecting US claims of control over the waterway even as shipping traffic and the wider regional economy absorbed the cost. Away from the strait, Yemeni government forces fought off a Houthi push in Taiz, an oil tanker disaster off Oman’s coast worsened, and Israeli settler violence in the West Bank drew a pointed rebuke from Washington’s own ambassador.
Hormuz standoff drags on as Iran pivots economically
Iran’s blockade held through Thursday, with shipping traffic through the strait dropping to a one-week low despite President Trump’s renewed claim of “total control” over the waterway. Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on social media that the strait “remains blocked and will not be reopened” until its demands on US aggression, reparations and sanctions are met, while Iranian forces continue turning back vessels lacking Tehran’s approval. The US, meanwhile, is enforcing its own naval blockade on Iranian ports; on Tuesday its forces intercepted a Panama-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Oman that allegedly failed to respond to warnings. With the war showing no sign of resolution, Iran’s central bank chief said Thursday the country is moving to join the BRICS New Development Bank as an alternative funding channel, while economists in the UK warned the conflict’s disruption to energy prices and shipping is now threatening to stall the G7’s fastest-growing economy.
Yemeni forces repel Houthi assault south of Taiz
Yemeni government forces said they repelled a Houthi attack on positions along the al-Mafalis front south of Haifan in Taiz province on Thursday, inflicting what a military official described as heavy losses on the rebel group. The clash is part of a broader escalation the government says it initiated against Houthi positions across several governorates, with a joint military and security campaign underway in the Tor al-Bahah axis. Separately, government air defences engaged Houthi reconnaissance drones over al-Makha (Mocha) on Yemen’s southwest coast, underscoring how fighting is spreading across multiple fronts even as Red Sea shipping and Bab al-Mandeb traffic remain under threat.
Tanker oil spill off Oman grows into one of the worst in years
A massive oil spill from the tanker Caroline Bezengi reached Oman’s coastline this week, with satellite analysis showing the slick has grown to more than 2,000 square kilometres and threatens roughly 40 kilometres of coast near Ras Madraka and Masirah Island. The vessel, reportedly carrying about 800,000 barrels of sanctioned oil en route from Russia to India, ran aground near Sharbithat after a suspected explosion and has been leaking largely unchecked for weeks. Oman’s Environment Authority said it is working to contain the damage as experts warn the spill could become one of the region’s worst environmental disasters in years, adding a new complication to Gulf waters already strained by the Hormuz standoff.
West Bank settler siege draws rare US condemnation
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a longtime supporter of Israeli settlements, condemned a days-long siege of Palestinian homes in the West Bank village of Qusra as a “horrific act of terror” after settlers cut off three families — including one headed by a dual US citizen — from food, water and electricity. The UN human rights office separately said the siege, part of an intensifying campaign to seize Palestinian land near Nablus, marks “a new low” and appealed to Israeli authorities to intervene on the trapped families’ behalf. Huckabee’s unusually sharp language stood out given his consistent public support for the settlement movement.
Rights groups say Gaza rubble removal is erasing war evidence
Human rights monitors say Israel is running a large, organised operation to crush and truck out millions of tonnes of rubble from Gaza, an effort they argue is reshaping the territory’s landscape and could amount to demographic engineering. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, in a new damage assessment, estimates roughly 68 million tonnes of rubble remain across the Strip — much of it from Israel’s war that has killed at least 73,387 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since October 2023. The group says the scale and organisation of the removal operation raises concerns it is intended to erase evidence relevant to war crimes investigations.
Lebanese Americans sue US government over Lebanon war support
Dozens of Lebanese Americans filed a class-action lawsuit in Michigan federal court against the US government and defence contractors Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Caterpillar, alleging US military support enabled Israeli rights abuses in Lebanon in violation of the Leahy Law. The plaintiffs, led by the Arab American Civil Rights League and including 16 individuals with Lebanese property damaged in the war, name Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the defendants. Plaintiff Nasser Beydoun, a Michigan businessman, alleges Israeli forces destroyed his family home in Bint Jbeil “without any military necessity or justification.”
In Brief
- A new Al Jazeera film profiles the head of Civil Defence in Tyre, documenting the daily toll on first responders in southern Lebanon since the war. Al Jazeera
- CNBC’s markets desk flagged falling Hormuz shipping traffic as one of the day’s key factors for investors heading into Thursday’s session. CNBC
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