Vague and imprecise language leaves US-Iran deal hanging by a threadpublished at 10:00 BST

10:00 BST

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

Image source, Reuters

President Trump, in his latest remarks, accused Iranof violating its deal with the United States because there was "something in the deal they didn’t like".

One of the many problems with this memorandum of understanding is both sides can find what they like in its imprecise language.

Iran can look at the 5th clause and say "the deal gives us a role in the Strait of Hormuz to decide its future management".

Trump can look at the clause above it and say "no, the deal says the strait must be open for the free flow of maritime traffic".

Other points are also putting pressure on this deal. It says Iran will conduct a dialogue with Oman, which controls the southern coast of the strait. Sources involved in mediating this say Oman did not want to be specifically mentioned.

And now there are signs of disagreements between longstanding allies over the management of this strategic waterway.

Tension over this strategic strait – an issue created by this war – will continue to plague efforts to find a way out of it.

Nick Edser
Business reporter

European stock markets have fallen again on Tuesday as investors continue to keep a wary eye on the latest escalation of hostilities between the US and Iran.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 index is down 0.6%. while Germany’s Dax index is 0.7% lower and France’s Cac 40 has fallen 0.9%.

Oil prices have continued to rise, with benchmark Brent crude up more than 3% at $86.07 a barrel. The price had fallen close to $70 a barrel earlier this month when a peace agreement appeared to be holding.

However, despite the latest increases, prices are still well below the $120 a barrel mark Brent reached at the end of April.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says it has received reports of two tankers being hit by missiles off the coast of Limah in Oman.

The vessels were transiting outbound of the Strait of Hormuz "on the southern route" when they were attacked, it adds in a post on X.

Both reports were made on 13 July, although it is unclear at what time, and authorities are now investigating.

A third tanker also reported being attacked off Qalhat, further east of Oman's coastline, at 21:04 UTC (22:04 BST) last night.

"The master of a tanker reports being hit by an unknown projectile on the starboard side engine room. All crew are safe and accounted for with no environmental impact reported," the UKMTO says.

Overnight, the UAE Ministry of Defence said two tankers - the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah - were targeted by Iranian cruise missiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz in Omani waters.

This resulted in the death of an Indian crew member, with eight others injured - six of whom are Indian and two Ukrainians, it said.

It is unclear if the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah are among the tankers referred to in the UKMTO reports.

Nick Edser
Business reporter

President Trump has said the US plans to impose a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, but is it workable?

“In short, no. I have a very hard time seeing that ever becoming a reality,” Lars Jensen, chief executive of Vespucci Maritime shipping and a former director at shipping giant Maersk, tells the BBC’s Wake Up To Money programme.

“The only way that could potentially work is if the US for some reason would say: ‘Fine, we will send you a bill. You will have to pay the money, or we will impound your ships’, which would basically go against any international shipping rules,” he says.

“I do not see how this could work in practice.”

Jensen adds that, despite all the comments from the US over whether the Strait of Hormuz is open or closed,”the Iranians de facto control the strait”.

As we mentioned earlier, the ships which were hit by strikes, have been named as Al Bahiyah and Mombasa B.

In a statement posted on its website, operator ADNOC Logistics and Services has said it "strongly condemns this attack on civilian shipping and the innocent seafarers serving aboard its vessels".

The tankers "sustained significant damage in the attacks", the company said.

The UAE Ministry of Defence previously said the strikes resulted in the death of an Indian crew member, and injured eight others. ADNOC Logistics and Services said it extended its "deepest condolences" in its statement.

Bahrain's military command says it intercepted a number of air strikes fired by Iran towards its territory on Tuesday morning.

It accuses Iran of continuing it's "hostile" approach and claims its attacks are targeting Bahraini civilians - which it says constitutes a "flagrant violation" of international law.

Earlier, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had hit and destroyed a number of US targets within Bahrain, including several weapons depots, a satellite communications centre, a building that housed US forces and a US Navy air traffic control radar.

Donald Trump's 20% toll on ships going through the Strait of Hormuz could see ships paying up to $17m (£12.7m) per ship, according to a shipping expert.

Richard Meade, editor of shipping journal Lloyds List, tells the BBC that Iran's pricing structure appeared more "reasonable" than Trump's fees, although there is no "international legal basis" for imposing either.

He says a fully laden gas carrier or an oil tanker could be forced to pay between $16m and $17m for passing through the strait with the imposed fees.

"For comparison, the Iranian fees initially started out in the range of £1m to £2m and then descended back down to around £100,000 to £200,000 per ship in some cases," he adds.

Meade says insurance costs will also be "skyrocketing" as the conflict escalates, just as they were going down.

He adds the problem is "we are yet to see any details" of how Trump will impose the 20% toll, adding the president "has mentioned these things before and then walked away from them".

The continuation of attacks from the Houthis in Yemen will also add further costs for ships transiting oil from Saudi Arabia through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, Meade says.

What we know about the tankers attacked by Iranpublished at 08:07 BST

08:07 BST

By Shruti Menon

BBC Verify has pieced together the recent movements of the latest two ships hit by strikes - named by the UAE as the crude tanker Mombasa B and LNG tanker Al Bahiya - using satellite imagery.

Mombasa B had not been publicly transmitting its location for over 10 days before the attack. It had departed from Zirku oil terminal in UAE on 2 July and was bound for Khor Fakkan in the UAE, according to data from maritime tracking website MarineTraffic.

Satellite imagery reviewed by BBC Verify shows the vessel conducting a ship-to-ship transfer with another tanker called He Rong Hai off the coast of Fujairah on 8 July. According to maritime intelligence firm TankerTrackers, Mombasa B was loaded with 1.9 million barrels of Emirati oil which it was feeding into He Rong Hai.

LNG tanker Al Bahiya had also not been broadcasting its location for over 14 days and its last known position as per MarineTraffic appeared to be off the coast of western India.

However, analysis by TankerTrackers supported by satellite imagery reviewed by BBC Verify indicates the vessel was near Ras Laffan in the Gulf on 22 June, suggesting its publicly available location data had been spoofed.

Barbara Plett Usher
Reporting from Jerusalem

The most significant thing that President Trump has said in the last 24 hours is that the US will reimpose its naval blockade on Iran.

At the core of their memorandum of understanding signed last month was agreement that the US would lift the blockade and Iran would open up the Strait of Hormuz.

But the Americans accuse Iran of preventing free navigation of the strait - by dictating what Tehran says is the authorised route near its coast and firing on ships that don’t take it - so the US blockade is going back into effect.

This almost gets us back to the status quo before the deal. Diplomatically it's a huge blow.

For the Iranians, it's a big economic blow because they need access to the strait to export their oil.

And the Americans say that they’ll take comprehensive action: they're going to stop all ports and oil terminals from getting traffic along the entire Iranian coastline.

That will almost certainly escalate the conflict in what is an already tense and volatile climate.

Neither side has said the memorandum of understanding is completely dead, but more and more, they are behaving as if it is.

The Strait of Hormuz is now Iran's main source of both leverage and deterrence in its conflict with the US after its proxy groups have been left in "disarray", according to Mehran Kamrava, professor of government at Qatar's Georgetown University.

He says Iran's so-called axis of resistance, which includes groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, are in "disarray, or at least militarily depleted" due to the war.

"For Iran the Strait of Hormuz is a main source of leverage... [its] main source of deterrence," Kamrava tells Radio 4's Today programme.

As a result, he says the US is "determined to wrest control of the strait from Iran", but adds that how the US can do this is something he does not believe that even "planners in the Pentagon" know the answer to.

"Related to this is the fact that Iran is keenly aware that it cannot go toe-to-toe militarily with the United States, and so it wants to turn the military conflict into an economic one," he adds.

Image source, Reuters

As the US and Iran's dispute over the Strait of Hormuz escalates, Donald Trump announced yesterday that the US would reinstate a naval blockade of Iranian ports. Here's what we know so far:

• The blockade will stop "Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving" the Strait of Hormuz, while all other countries "will have fair and open use" of the shipping route
• Trump said "as a matter of fairness" the US will also impose a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the strait
• This will go towards covering any and all costs of "providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World"
• It is unclear how the US will impose the toll and the International Maritime Organization said there is "no legal basis" for such a move
• The blockade will be enforced by US Central Command and will come into effect from 16:00 Eastern Time (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday

Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, Singapore

Oil prices have risen in Asian trade this morning, with Brent crude up by 1.9% at $84.87 (£63.48) a barrel, while US-traded oil rose by 2% at $79.75.

That followed a 9% jump in the price of Brent on Monday as the conflict escalated.

Energy prices on global wholesale markets have swung wildly in recent months as traders reacted to developments in the conflict.

Shortly after the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, Tehran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which around 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) usually passes through.

Despite the latest increases, prices are well below the $120 a barrel mark Brent reached at the end of April.

Elsewhere in the Gulf overnight, both Jordan and Bahrain reported attacks in their territory.

Bahrain's Ministry of Interior sent three separate alerts overnight urging residents to seek the nearest shelter, while Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported it struck several US targets in the country.

In a statement published by Iranian state news agency IRNA, the IRGC said it had destroyed several weapons depots, a satellite communications centre, a building that housed US forces and a US Navy air traffic control radar.

Jordan's state news agency reports that it intercepted four missiles over its territory early on Tuesday morning, resulting in no casualties or "material damage".

In a statement the IRGC said it had targeted US facilities within Jordan, adding that it bears "no enmity" towards the government or people of Jordan.

The US military says it carried out another wave of strikes on Iranian military targets overnight.

US Central Command (Centcom) says it launched attacks in Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas "to further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping".

Strikes were carried out using "precision munitions", targeting Iranian coastal defence systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities, it adds.

It is the third consecutive night of strikes carried out by the US against Iran.

Centcom says they will continue "imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz".

Image source, Reuters

Overnight, the UAE Ministry of Defence said two tankers were targeted by Iranian cruise missiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz in Omani waters.

This resulted in the death of an Indian crew member, with eight others injured - six of whom are Indian and two Ukrainians, it said.

It adds that both tankers, the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, were damaged in the attacks, which caused fires to break out.

The UAE says it condemns the "brazen" attacks and calls them a “serious violation” and a “clear breach” of international law, adding that it reserves its “full right to respond” with “all necessary measures”.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later confirmed the strikes via a statement to Telegram, where it said two tankers had ignored warnings, turned off navigation systems and attempted to pass through a mined route.

It added that "co-operation with the aggressor enemy" would only lead to regret, damage and delays in opening the strait - as well as the "creation of an energy crisis in the world".

The US military has carried out a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran, as tankers in the Strait of Hormuz were hit by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

President Donald Trump said the US was hitting Iran "very hard" amid escalating attacks between the two countries.

Iran was accused by the UAE of a "brazen" attack on two tankers in the strait, killing one and wounding eight others, four of which were serious.

The IRGC confirmed the strikes, saying two tankers had ignored warnings, turned off navigation systems and attempted to pass through a mined route.

The dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz threatens to derail efforts to end the war.

On Monday the US reimposed its naval blockade of Iranian ports. President Trump said that the US would also impose a 20% charge as part of its operations to control the waterway.

We'll have the latest news lines from the region and analysis from our teams throughout the day, so stay with us.

Image source, NurPhoto via Getty Images

We're about to close this live page, but before we go here's a quick recap of some of today's key developments.

• President Donald Trump has said the US is reinstating a naval blockade of Iranian ports and will impose a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz
• He said this would stop "Iran's ships or customers" from entering or leaving the key oil shipping route, but "all other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait"
• The blockade will be in effect from 16:00 Eastern Time (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday
• Iran's foreign minister later said whoever provides safe passage "should be compensated for this service", but Iran would remain the strait's "GUARDIAN" - using Trump's word
• Tehran and Washington clashed over the strait's control after exchanging strikes in the region overnight
• The US said it carried out strikes against military targets in Iran, targeting air defence systems, coastal radars, and missile and drone sites
• Iran said it responded by striking US military bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, and radars in Oman

You can continue reading with our latest story.

US President Donald Trump has announced that he will be “making a Speech to the Nation” on Thursday - although he hasn't indicated what the address will be about.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, he says he will speak at 21:00 EDT (02:00 BST).

He last addressed the nation regarding the war in April.

The Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen says it has targeted Saudi Arabia's Abha International Airport with ballistic missiles and drones.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree says the Houthis were responding to "Saudi aggression that targeted Sanaa International Airport".

Saudi Arabia has not yet commented.

Earlier, there were reports Yemen's army had targeted a runway at the Sanaa airport in Yemen to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for the attacks.

Afterwards, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said its air defences had dealt with ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi rebels towards the southern region, without specifying if it meant in Saudi or Yemen.

Yemen's internationally-recognised government has the backing of Saudi Arabia, but the Houthis control parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.