US-Iran war LIVE: Iran meeting with Gulf leaders on Strait of Hormuz proposal postponed due to new attacks | Today’s news
US-Iran War LIVE: Diplomacy in the Middle East appeared to be faltering as a proposed meeting between Iran and other Gulf powers over the Strait of Hormuz proposal was postponed, while fresh attacks around two of the region’s most important oil transit routes heightened concerns over global energy supplies. Hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the near future were dashed after Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi announced late on Sunday that a regional meeting scheduled for Monday was being postponed “for the sake of consensus”. The delay came after Saudi Arabia decided to shut down, at least for the time being, its pipeline that served as the main route for Middle Eastern oil bypassing Hormuz.
Trump rejects reports that Chinese entities aided Iran in Jordan attack
US President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) dismissed a report that accused Tehran of taking Chinese satellite images of a base in Jordan before carrying out an attack that killed three US soldiers in July. According to The Wall Street Journal, unnamed U.S. officials confirmed the development in the July attack, to which Trump responded: “Basically, they’re doing what we’re doing,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “When they say China is spying on us, I say you are right and we are spying on them too,” he added. The US president’s comments come ahead of his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this month.
Oil jumps as Saudi Arabia shuts pipeline
Oil advanced after Saudi Arabia shut down a major pipeline after the attacks, disrupting a route used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Iran war and deepening the global energy crisis. Brent rose as much as 3.6 percent to more than $108 a barrel, before paring gains, while West Texas Intermediate was near $103. Saudi Arabia announced late Friday that it had shut down the east-west gas pipeline as a precaution following the attacks the previous day. It was not stated when the operation would be restored. Oil has rallied by more than three-quarters this year as the US-Iran conflict has spread across the region, curbing exports and throwing shipping markets into disarray. Meanwhile, on the demand front, a recent increase in buying by China, the world’s largest oil importer, also helped push prices higher.
Iran’s nuclear chief is unlikely to attend the IAEA General Conference
The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization is unlikely to attend the annual meeting of UN nuclear watchdog member states in Vienna for the first time in years because he is banned from traveling abroad. Mohammad Eslami’s exclusion from the IAEA conference is another sign of rapidly deteriorating relations between Iran and the West. The United States and Iran have resumed what-if fighting after a fragile truce collapsed in July.
