Regional powers seek off-ramp from Iran war, other Middle East developments

Dubai, Aug 27 (AP) Qatar and other regional powers sought an off-ramp from the war with Iran on Thursday as another tanker attack was reported in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Iranian government dismissed the Trump administration’s latest sanctions.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel continued its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon even as the country’s strikes on Gaza drew a sharp rebuke from the top diplomat overseeing the US-brokered ceasefire in the territory.

Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

Oil tanker attacked in Strait of Hormuz ———————————————- The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organisation said Thursday that it had received a report of an oil tanker hit in the

Strait of Hormuz.

The monitoring agency, run by the British military, said that local authorities reported that the vessel was hit by an unknown projectile on Tuesday in the waters between Oman and Iran, causing it to catch fire.

The crew was reported to be safe, and there have been no reports of environmental damage, the UKMTO said.

Iran’s foreign ministry criticises US sanctions —————————————————- Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, wrote late Wednesday in a social media post that the US had made a coalition with Bahrain, calling it a country with “virtually no meaningful economic exchange with Iran.” In another social media post on Wednesday, Iran’s top negotiator and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf thanked China for rejecting the US “economic D-Day” policies against Iran.

Earlier this week, Tehran had warned that it would respond harshly to expanded US sanctions, including measures against countries it sees as cooperating with Washington.

Israeli strikes kill 3 in Gaza ——————————— Three people died, and several others were wounded in Gaza on Thursday during Israeli strikes, local health officials said.

Two of the victims died in separate strikes in Gaza City, officials at Shifa hospital said. The third person died, and others were wounded in a strike on a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, officials at Nasser hospital said.

Israel’s military said two of the strikes targeted a Hamas militant. It didn’t immediately comment on the third strike.

Nickolay Mladenov, head of Trump’s Board of Peace, admonished Israel during a United Nations gathering over Israel’s continued attacks on Wednesday.

Israel’s deputy UN ambassador, Noa Furman, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Israel is committed to Trump’s peace plan, but that Hamas’ “disarmament must come first.” Dutch diplomats removed from Gaza ceasefire efforts ————————————————————- Israel’s foreign ministry is removing two Dutch diplomats from the Gaza ceasefire coordination centre, the Dutch foreign ministry said in a statement.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that the decision was in response to “a series of anti-Israel measures taken by the Dutch government,” including next month’s implementation of a ban on the trade of Israeli products from the occupied West Bank and other areas.

Tom Berendsen, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, told The Associated Press in an email that he felt the removal of the diplomats — one at the embassy in Tel Aviv and another at the Netherlands Representative Office in Ramallah — was “unnecessary” but that his country stood by its decision “to ban products from illegal settlements.” Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon kill 1 woman ————————————————- The strikes on southern Lebanon on Thursday afternoon came after Israel blamed the militant Hezbollah group for firing two explosive drones.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said an airstrike on the village of Arab Salim killed one woman and wounded six, including a child, inside a home.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had fired two explosive drones at Israeli troops near the southern city of Nabatiyeh earlier Thursday, though the drones did not inflict any casualties among troops before one was shot down. (AP) SKS SKS