Qatar and other regional powers sought an off-ramp from the war with Iran 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, a Jerusalem court acquitted a man accused of beating a Catholic nun, but ordered him to undergo years of psychiatric hospitalization over the attack, which drew global condemnation. Israel’s strikes in Gaza drew a sharp rebuke from the top diplomat overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the territory. Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Diplomatic efforts by Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was in Tehran on Thursday as part of Qatar’s ongoing efforts to resolve the conflict between the United States and Iran. Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a post on X that the meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi included talks on “the efforts being made to reduce escalation,” as well as a proposed plan between Iran and Oman to allow ships safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and clear the vital commercial waterway of dangerous mines. Al Thani’s office said the prime minister emphasized the “necessity of respecting the sovereignty of neighboring countries and the freedom of navigation” on the strait. Pakistan said Thursday that it was also continuing diplomatic efforts to help resolve the crisis. Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Tehran recently with the aim of reviving the June memorandum of understanding to reopen the strait, the country’s foreign ministry said. U.S. President Donald Trump told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he has “no time schedule” to wrap up the conflict that will reach the six-month mark on Friday. He said he believes his country is “winning very big.” Oil tanker attacked in Strait of Hormuz The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said on 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 calls U.S. sanctions ‘pure parody’ Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, wrote late Wednesday in a social media post that the U.S. 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 U.S. “economic D-Day” policies against Iran. “We welcome China’s principled statement rejecting illegal sanctions against Iran,” Qalibaf said. Earlier this week, Tehran had warned that it would respond harshly to expanded U.S. sanctions, including measures against countries it sees as cooperating with Washington. Iran has repeatedly targeted Bahrain and other Gulf countries with missiles and drones since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28. Israel continues strikes on Gaza An Israeli strike on a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza killed one person and wounded others on Thursday, according to health officials at Nasser hospital. Israel’s military said they carried out a strike against a Hamas militant. An earlier strike in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp wounded at least two people, including one critically, according to Shifa hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The attacks come after Nickolay Mladenov, head of Trump’s Board of Peace, admonished Israel during a United Nations gathering over the continued attacks. “Israeli strikes have continued since the road map was accepted, and Palestinian civilians are still being killed,” Mladenov said. 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” before Gaza’s reconstruction can begin. Dutch diplomats removed from Gaza ceasefire office Israel’s Foreign Ministry is removing two Dutch diplomats from the Gaza ceasefire coordination center, the Dutch foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that the order covers two diplomats at the embassy in Tel Aviv and the Netherlands Representative Office in Ramallah. 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 in trade of Israeli products from the occupied West Bank and other areas. Tom Berendsen, foreign minister of the Netherlands, told The Associated Press that the action was “unnecessary” but that his country stood by its decision “to ban products from illegal settlements.” Jerusalem nun attack suspect acquitted A Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court judge acquitted a man accused of attacking a Catholic nun based on his insanity defence and ordered him committed to psychiatric hospitalization for up to six years. The violent assault in April on a nun walking in her habit in Jerusalem’s holy Old City sent shock waves across Israel and its many Christian communities, which have reported an increase in harassment. 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 others inside a home. The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired two explosive drones at Israeli troops near the southern city of Nabatiyeh earlier Thursday. The drones did not inflict any casualties among troops and one was shot down, it said. The Associated Press
