Iran says it has a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if Washington meets its demands. The proposal remains the basis for negotiations with the US through mediators, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghai said on Monday. It also provides for the resumption of nuclear talks. Tehran had previously allocated a week for the implementation.
Baghai gave no indication that Iran had changed its demands or that the US had accepted the proposal. The aforementioned seven conditions include lifting the US blockade of Iranian ports. Iranian officials also demanded that Washington lift sanctions on Iranian oil sales and agree to a ceasefire that includes Lebanon.
Iran wants ships to follow a route agreed with Oman once the strait reopens and sail under Iranian supervision. Baghai described the shortened schedule as further evidence of his country's honest intentions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has accused Arab-led parties, without providing any evidence, of "stealing" the Oct. 27 Knesset election. The electoral commission, however, does not see the election results at risk.
According to the head of the electoral commission, Noam Sohlberg, even a confirmation of the suspicion of foreign interference in Israel's parliamentary election would not call the overall election result into question. The Supreme Court judge said on Sunday that the integrity of the electoral process would not be undermined. The domestic secret service Shin Bet is investigating the allegations of foreign influence at the request of the electoral commission. Qatar's foreign ministry has rejected allegations that the Gulf emirate funded groups to boost voter turnout among Arabs.
A good week after the start of the Israeli military operation in the Hebron area, the army is withdrawing from the city in the West Bank, according to the governor. Palestinian security forces are in complete control of the area, Governor Khalid Dudin told reporters. Around 3,300 residents who were displaced by the operation could now safely return to their homes. Their houses were largely destroyed, said Dudin, and announced quick steps towards reconstruction.
According to the Israeli army, several suspects have been arrested and weapons seized in recent days. Israeli soldiers searched hundreds of houses. There was initially no confirmation from Israel's army about the end of the military operation.
There were also direct consequences for thousands of pupils and students: According to the UN children's fund Unicef, 250,000 of them switched to distance learning in almost 700 educational institutions for safety reasons.
A tanker was hit by two unknown projectiles in the Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia. According to the British maritime authority UKMTO, the incident occurred 72 nautical miles east of Ras al-Khafshi. The crew is fine, the ship was hit on the port side. Environmental damage has not yet been reported.
According to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, two oil tankers “exploded” in the Strait of Hormuz after colliding with mines. The Revolutionary Guard Navy said the two ships were traveling on an “unauthorized route,” Iranian state media reported.
After the US and Israeli attack on Iran at the end of February, the Islamic Republic restricted passage through the strait off its coast. In the past, ships that violated these restrictions according to Iran have repeatedly been attacked. The leadership in Tehran wants to expand its control over the strategically important waterway and put pressure on the USA.
Negotiations between Iran and Qatari mediators over an end to the Iran war continue for the third day in a row. The talks in Doha are “ongoing and progressive,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The leadership in Tehran is ready for both “defense and diplomacy”. She said on state television that she was doing her best in this process and hoped that the other side would give priority to diplomacy.
A decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days of a potential agreement is still pending. According to a person familiar with the process, the negotiations are being coordinated in constant contact with the government in Washington.
Hundreds of people were arrested again during protests against the ban on the group Palestine Action in London. The Metropolitan Police announced this this morning. At Saturday's demonstration in front of the US Embassy, 325 people were arrested, 320 of them because they expressed their support for the banned group. There were initially no reports of injuries.
Thousands of people have been arrested in the UK since the group was banned in June 2025. Supporting the group violates the Terrorism Act. Palestine Action was classified as terrorist after activists invaded an air force base and sprayed paint on Royal Air Force planes.
Israeli President Izchak Herzog will begin his consultations on forming a government with the parties elected to the Knesset on Wednesday. As the Israeli daily newspaper “Haaretz” further reported, the meeting will be broadcast live. Traditionally, the president chooses the candidate he believes has the best chance of winning a parliamentary majority, rather than automatically appointing the leader of the largest party.
This would be incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose right-wing conservative Likud party emerged as the strongest faction from Tuesday's parliamentary election with 27 of 120 seats. The opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot won 21 seats with his newly founded Jashar party. Since neither the ruling alliance nor the opposition bloc achieved the required majority of 61 seats, the election result leads to a parliamentary stalemate.
Another tanker was attacked in the Persian Gulf. An “unidentified object” hit the Qatari tanker Al Mayeda, which was carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG), state news agency QNA reported. The Qatari company Nakilat, which owns the “Al Mayeda”, said there were no injuries after the attack on Friday evening. The ship is in “safe condition” and operational. Initially no one claimed responsibility for the attack.
As the Bloomberg news agency reports, the tanker was attacked with Iranian approval. Pakistan had previously negotiated with the country for safe passage. Indian Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal wrote on X that the ship had been the target of a missile attack.
Since the start of the Iran war in February, ships have been repeatedly attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf region. Iran had recently intensified its attacks on ships, particularly along a southern route on the Strait of Hormuz. As the Wall Street Journal reported, the US military has been protecting commercial freighters on the southern route for months with almost continuous air support.
Israeli opposition politician Yair Golan has urgently warned of a new war with Iran under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu lacks the public's trust to wage such a military conflict, the leader of the left-liberal Democrats wrote on Platform X and called for the rapid formation of an alternative government.
The likelihood of a further confrontation with Iran is increasing, Golan wrote. Israel is now in a situation of recurring military confrontations with Iran. Israel's security must not become a "tool in Netanyahu's fight for his political survival."
The Wall Street Journal reported that Netanyahu spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump on Saturday. The phone call took place against the background of US preparations for a resumption of bombings in Iran. There has long been speculation that the US military, together with Israel's armed forces, could attack Iran again after the US midterm elections on November 3rd.
The October 28 parliamentary election in Israel has resulted in a stalemate. Netanyahu's right-wing conservative Likud party and his bloc are ahead of the opposing camp, but neither has a clear majority to form a government. As a result, Israel is now expected to face lengthy coalition negotiations and possibly another parliamentary election if there is no agreement.
The Iranian leadership continues to link a diplomatic solution to the conflict with the USA to the fulfillment of seven conditions. The Secretary General of the Iranian Security Council, Mohsen Resai, said on X that once these conditions are met, the path to diplomacy is open. In the event of a renewed military escalation, Resai threatened to use new weapons and devastating blows.
According to reports, the US should, among other things, stop all hostilities against Iran and its allies in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. In addition, the naval blockade against Iranian ports and ships is to be ended, sanctions and the ban on oil exports are to be lifted and frozen Iranian assets are to be released. Iran is also demanding reparations for war damage.
It is considered unlikely that the US government will meet the maximum requirements in advance.
According to his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US President Donald Trump has not yet decided whether he will resume military operations against Iran. Rubio said he did not know whether there was a specific time frame for Qatar-led talks to resolve hostilities between the United States and Iran. Reuters had reported that Iranian representatives met with Qatari mediators in Doha. The USA and Israel began their large-scale attack on Iran on February 28th.
A UN employee who has been in the hands of the Houthi rebels in Yemen for two years is dead, according to official information. A Yemeni government minister said, according to a report by the Saudi broadcaster Al-Arabiya, that the Yemeni national and employee in the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was tortured to death in a Houthi prison.
The man, who was arrested in June 2024, has not been allowed to receive visitors or communicate with relatives since then, a family member told dpa. The family had been informed of the death and should receive the body. According to this information, the exact circumstances of death are still unclear. According to the government member, more than 70 UN employees are still in the hands of the Houthis. The rebels usually justify this by saying that they were working as spies for the USA or Israel.
According to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian leadership is currently not planning to meet with US representatives. Araghchi told Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera that there was no need for this under the current circumstances. Iran's conditions are clear and consultations with mediators are ongoing. Araghchi confirmed that the leadership in Tehran had reviewed a letter from US Vice President JD Vance. He described the attempt to open the door to dialogue and broader understanding as a positive step. But if Washington's goal is to sow discord, this would be another mistake.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Vance is exploring options for negotiations in a letter to Mohsen Resai, Secretary General of the Iranian Security Council. According to the newspaper, the US government wants to examine whether planned military strikes against Iran can be averted diplomatically. The US portal Axios reported, citing a government official, that Vance is making the inclusion of Iran's nuclear program a condition for negotiations.
According to Iranian information, the USA attacked two fishing boats near the island of Keshm. A fisherman was injured, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported, citing a representative from Hormosgan province. There was initially no confirmation from the USA. At the same time, Iran's spiritual leader ordered the country's armed forces to respond immediately and without "geographical boundaries" to any threat from enemies.
The mayor of Hebron, Yussef al-Jabari, warns of the consequences of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city. Hebron is cordoned off and no one can enter or leave the city, al-Jabari told the Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera. Israeli military vehicles are present on every street. More than 3,300 Palestinians were displaced from two neighborhoods where houses were being demolished.
According to the mayor, the Palestinian economy incurs losses of around four million US dollars (3.57 million euros) every day. Companies would neither be able to purchase raw materials nor deliver goods. In addition, employees were no longer able to reach their workplaces.
