An interim peace deal to reach a final settlement to end the Iran War continued to hold as Oman announced the opening of two temporary lanes for transits through the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday that “NO TOLLS, NO INSURANCE COSTS, & NO OTHER CHARGES OF ANY KIND BEING SOUGHT OR RECEIVED BY IRAN ON SHIPS TRAVELING THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ.”
“If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately!” he added.
The government of Oman said Wednesday that it would temporarily open two designated lanes for transit through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the International Maritime Organization. The prime minister of Qatar arrived in Muscat on Wednesday to clear a path for negotiations between Iraq, Iran, and Gulf States over the future of the waterway.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that the U.S. has not demanded that Israel withdraw from territory it occupies in southern Lebanon.
“We have announced that in any case we are not withdrawing and, as of this moment—and this is a diplomatic achievement—there is no American demand for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon,” Katz said in Tel Aviv, adding that “even if there is an American demand,” Israel would remain in Lebanon. The first article of the 60-day interim peace deal conditions an end to the conflict on the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon” and “ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon.”
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Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem Tuesday that “Türkiye of Erdogan and Syria of al-Sharaa are now far more concerning than Iran.” He said that “the new axis is the Muslim Brotherhood axis of Erdogan’s Türkiye, Syria, and Qatar.” Chikli’s comments toward Turkey follow similar ones made by Israeli cabinet officials and politicians in recent weeks. Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister of Israel and candidate in Israel’s October elections, said in February that “Turkey is the new Iran,” while Israel’s Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar said in May that Israel “must begin to treat Turkey as an enemy state.”
The price of Brent crude oil dropped below $74 on Wednesday, while AAA reported the national average price of regular gas at $3.93 per gallon. Trump posted on Truth Social Wednesday that “big Oil Companies are not dropping their price at the pump commensurate with the sharply lower prices they are paying for Oil. Those prices are dropping like a rock! In other words, customers are being ‘gouged.’ I have instructed the DOJ to immediately start looking into this. Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!”
