Iran War Updates: Oil prices jump to near 4-month high as Oman-Iran talks on Strait of Hormuz postponed

Iran on Monday condemned the exclusion of the head of its Atomic Energy Organization from the annual gathering of the United Nations nuclear agency in Vienna, saying it constitutes “a serious breach” of Tehran’s rights as a member nation.

“By obstructing our full and effective participation, the denial of access contravenes both the letter and the spirit of the legal framework” governing attendance at meetings of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran’s ambassador to the agency, Reza Najafi, told delegates at its general conference.

Najafi criticized Austria, the host country of the IAEA, as well as other U.N. organizations, saying that Vienna’s decision not to grant a visa to Mohammad Eslami, “violates the host country’s obligation.”

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in Vienna, Preston Wells Griffith, said Austria’s request for an exemption to standing international sanctions, which would have enabled Najafi to attend, was denied after Washington lodged an objection with the IAEA committee.

“While we are focused on a diplomatic solution to the challenges posed by Iran’s nuclear program, we could not allow a U.N. designated official to travel … without any meaningful cooperation on nuclear safeguards,” Griffith said. 

CBS/AP

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that Saudi Arabia had demanded the cancellation of a meeting that had been planned for Monday for Iranian, Omani and other regional delegations to discuss control of the Strait of Hormuz, “for the time being.”

Baghaei called the now-postponed meeting, which was to be hosted by Oman in Muscat, a “proper opportunity” to restore security in the region.

He said an agreement between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz had been finalized and would be announced later.

Saudi Arabia had submitted amendments to the agreement, citing concerns it could have lasting implications for the Strait of Hormuz that would negatively impact other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, a regional official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

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Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured more strategic territory near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, government and Houthi officials said Monday.

Houthi rebels deployed fighters to the Hanish islands, 100 miles north of the entrance to the strategic strait, after Yemeni government forces withdrew from the territory, according to two government officials and a Houthi official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The capture of the islands came after the Houthis expanded their control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait late last week with the capture of  the port city of Mokha.

The capture of the islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish came as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces attempted to fight back over the weekend following the rebels’ swift advances around the strait.

The Bab el-Mandeb is a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz for Saudi Arabian energy exports, but attacks on Saudi infrastructure and ships in the Red Sea by the Houthis and other Iranian proxy forces have severely impeded shipments through the waterway.

The Houthi-Saudi escalation adds pressure on global oil supplies and prices, which could give Iran greater leverage in its war with the United States.

CBS/AP

Iran’s foreign minister denied on Monday any involvement by the country in the attack on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline last week, which forced the crucial piece of infrastructure to shut down.

When asked about Iran’s response to the claim that the Islamic Republic regime played a role in orchestrating the attack on the pipeline from Iraqi territory, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei accused the U.S. of producing “false news.”

“The fact that, under these circumstances, the U.S. keeps fabricating a lie in order to exacerbate divisions between the countries of the region is one of the consequences of the issues that exist in our region,” Baghaei told reporters in his weekly press briefing.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Saudi Arabia has previously accused Iran-backed militias in Iraq of attacking its oil infrastructure.

The conflict in Yemen intensified on Sunday as government forces launched attacks against Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea coast, and the Houthis fired into neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen’s government.

Yemen’s government vowed to send more forces to the Red Sea coastal region as one official conceded a “painful” defeat last week as the Houthis captured the port city of Mokha and an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The strait is the southern gateway to the Red Sea, making it a crucial alternative shipping route for Saudi energy products with the Strait of Hormuz severely impeded by the U.S.-Iran war.

The escalation between the Houthis and the Saudi military has ratcheted up pressure on global oil supplies, pushing crude prices up toward four-month highs as it threatens to further choke Saudi Arabia’s oil exports.

CBS/AP

Oman’s foreign minister said the country had to postpone a meeting Monday in Muscat with Iran and other regional countries to discuss the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran had said foreign ministers from regional countries would meet in Oman to discuss efforts by Iran and Oman, located on the other side of the strait, to manage shipping on it. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said late Sunday in a post on X, however, that the meeting had been postponed “in the interests of consensus.”

Iran and Oman agreed to postpone the talks “at the request of some regional countries,” said Mohammad Ali Bak, an official in Iran’s foreign ministry who was quoted by IRNA on X.

Saudi Arabia has submitted amendments to the Iran-Oman agreement, citing concerns that the emerging deal could have lasting implications for the Strait of Hormuz that could negatively impact other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, according to a Gulf official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Iran, Oman and mediating nation Pakistan had voiced optimism a couple weeks ago that the two states with coastline in the strait were poised to announce agreement on a new mechanism to control commercial traffic through the vital waterway. 

CBS/AP

Oil prices moved higher early Monday as U.S.-Iran tensions remained escalated while Iran-backed Houthi rebels stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.2% to $107.94 per barrel. It was at roughly $72 a barrel before the start of the war in Iran in late February.

Benchmark U.S. crude was also up 3.2% to $103.26 per barrel.

Iran and the United Arab Emirates, whose relations have deteriorated since the start of the Middle East war, want to “turn the page,” the Iranian president claimed on Sunday.

“For the first time since the war and the incidents that occurred in the Persian Gulf, we had a constructive exchange with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi,” President Massoud Pezeshkian said a day after a meeting with Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in India on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. “It was agreed that we would turn the page, look to the future and build it together.”

After the U.S. and Israel sparked the Middle East war by launching joint strikes on Iran at the end of February, Tehran retaliated against America’s allies in the region, with the UAE bearing much of the brunt.

In August, the UAE announced it was suspending trade and financial exchanges with Iran.

Dubai, the UAE’s largest city, is home to a deeply rooted Iranian community and is a vital economic lifeline for Iran, which is struggling under the weight of U.S. and international sanctions.

CBS/AFP