Live: Tehran dismisses Trump 'economic warfare' threats
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UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has called on Israel to withdraw from Gaza and curb its settlements in the occupied West Bank, in his first call with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar.
In a statement posted on X, Miliband said that he told Israel it "must crack down on settler violence and must immediately end blockages on aid into Gaza".
"I reiterated that Hamas must decommission its weapons, the IDF [Israeli military] should withdraw, and that we must see progress on the 20-point plan," the statement added, referring to the ongoing peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
The statement added that the two foreign ministers also discussed what Miliband called the UK and Israel's "vital strategic interest" in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and reiterated the UK's "commitment" to reaching a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Miliband, who was appointed as Foreign Secretary last month by the new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has faced pressure from backbench MPs within his party to take a tougher stance on Israel's genocide in Gaza, where over 73,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.
He is the first person of Jewish descent to hold the role of UK Foreign Secretary since his brother, David Miliband, served in that position from 2007 until 2010.
Today I had a frank and constructive first call with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/48pIdbvwXt
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) August 11, 2026
Yemen's coastguard has said that at least six people were killed in alleged strikes by the Houthi rebel group on a cargo vessel near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday.
The coastguard, which is controlled by Yemen's internationally recognised government, also accused the Houthis of attacking a rescue mission evacuating the ship following the attack.
"The attack struck the site of the rescue operation and resulted in deaths and injuries among the forces participating in the response operation," the coastguard said in a statement.
Three Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian national were among the crew onboard the ship killed in the attack, the statement added.
Majed al-Ansari, the official spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry, has accused Israel of "foot-dragging" in its implementation of the US-brokered Gaza peace plan.
Speaking at a weekly press briefing, Ansari credited Hamas with achieving a "breakthrough in the agreement" by announcing on Monday that it would respect its side of the deal, according to a press release posted by Qatar's foreign ministry on X.
The US insisted on Monday that the ceasefire in Gaza, negotiated by the US-backed Board of Peace, remains operative despite it being rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a rare public split with Trump on Sunday.
Advisor to Prime Minister and Foreign Ministry Official Spokesperson @majedalansari : Israel's Rejection of Gaza Peace Plan Continues Foot-Dragging on Ceasefire Deal
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) August 11, 2026
Doha | August 11, 2026
Advisor to the Prime Minister and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign… pic.twitter.com/MK1ELgcWW8
Iran’s political landscape appears to have entered a new phase as two competing camps emerge: those advocating a deal with the United States and those determined to block any agreement.
Principlists have intensified their pressure on reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and conservative Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, both of whom are seeking to reach an agreement with Washington and bring an end to almost six months of hostilities.
Principlists fear that any deal could marginalise them politically and weaken their influence over Iran’s future direction.
It was in this climate that a leaked video of Mohammad-Bagher Kharrazi, the brother-in-law of Masoud Khamenei, the younger brother of Iran’s supreme leader, emerged as part of what critics describe as a broader hard-line campaign.
In the video, Kharrazi claimed that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had “formally and publicly announced” that if Pezeshkian attempts to resign one more time, his resignation would be accepted.
Kharrazi said that Pezeshkian, who he said had threatened resignation “27 or 28 times”, “no longer dares” to raise the issue.
He added that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had been completely sidelined from negotiations with the United States after an order from Khamenei.
Read more: Inside the growing rift between Iran’s dealmakers and ultraconservatives
Turkish officials suspect that an Israeli intelligence report that said Iran planned to assassinate US President Donald Trump during the Ankara Nato summit last month was a ruse to undermine negotiations with Tehran, Middle East Eye has learnt.
It was around 2pm on 8 July when journalists heard that Turkish security forces were unusually deploying additional units to Ankara Airport, where Trump’s Air Force One was parked.
Ankara was under lockdown for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) summit on 7-8 July. Roads were blocked, pavements were closed, public servants had been granted a week of administrative leave, and the city was largely deserted.
The Turkish government had even transformed an airbase of the Turkish Air Force, Etimesgut Air Base, officially known as Ankara Airport, for the event, allowing heads of state to reach the summit venue within 10 minutes.
Against the backdrop of these extensive security precautions, US officials told their Turkish counterparts that they had received an intelligence report from Israel suggesting Iran could target Trump.
Read more: Turkey suspects Israel fabricated Trump Air Force One assassination plot to derail US-Iran deal
The Syrian foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it "categorically rejects and condemns" Colombia's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and said that the area "is an inseparable part of [Syrian] territory".
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said that Colombia's position “contradicts international law and relevant international legitimacy resolutions”.
The Saudi foreign ministry said the Gulf kingdom's firm position is that the Golan “is occupied Syrian Arab land”, and that any measures aimed at changing its status “do not create a right or confer legitimacy”.
A rocket attack hit a training camp for the Iranian Kurdish opposition northeast of the Iraqi city of Erbil on Tuesday, reported Reuters citing security sources.
The sources blamed Iran for the assault, adding that no casualties were reported.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran has proved itself “a tough and invincible power” by resisting the US and Israel, as collapsing shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz pushes oil prices higher.
“I have heard this many times from foreign ministers and officials from other countries: ‘You Iranians created a miracle; you surprised the whole world,’” Araghchi told a televised news conference covered by the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Tuesday.
“No one thought that Iran could resist America like this,” he said, noting that Washington entered the war with Israeli, western and other international support.
“The US president wrote two words [on social media] at the beginning of the war: ‘Unconditional surrender’,” Araghchi said.
“That was what they wanted from us and, 20 days later, the same enemy was begging for negotiations.”
Read more: Iran says US went from demanding surrender to seeking talks as oil price rises
The US and Iran are close to "some sort of an arrangement", Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg.
"Things are shaping up again in favour of a peace arrangement or a deal," Asif said. "The signals in the last two three days are that we are close to some sort of an arrangement," he added.
Simultaneously, Iranian state media reported that Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had left for Tehran, and was scheduled to meet with Iranian officials and discuss bilateral ties.
The visit comes a month after his Iranian counterpart travelled to Islamabad for talks.
The US military fired on a Panama-flagged ship that attempted to break the American blockade of Iranian ports on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported citing an official source.
The official said a US military helicopter fired at a ship after its crew ignored warnings from American personnel, as Trump said yesterday he was considering waiting for economic pressures to weaken Iran's position.
Reuters confirmed that there have been no reports of any casualties so far.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO), the international reference point for maritime security incidents, has received a report of an attack on a cargo ship in Bab al-Mandab off the coast of Mocha from an "unknown projectile" which resulted "in casualties".
Yemeni official sources from the coast guard and military say at least three crew members have been killed. They say the attack came from the Houthis, which control much of Yemen's Red Sea coast.
Until now, Yemen's Houthis had only targeted tankers carrying Saudi oil in the Bab al-Mandab, not container ships.
Talks between Oman and Iran on the future of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz are now at an advanced stage, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson said in a briefing on Tuesday.
A Damascus court sentenced Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher and former security official Atef Najib to death on Tuesday on charges of murder, torture and incitement to murder.
The court convicted Bashar of premeditated murder of multiple people, including children, as well as torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity.
Najib was tried in person, while Bashar and Maher were tried in absentia.
Former security official Najib, a cousin of Assad, was arrested in January last year and was convicted of crimes including murder, "the intentional killing of children under 15", and "torture leading to death".
The ruling against Assad, who fled with his family to Moscow as armed opposition forces closed in on Damascus in December 2024, is the first issued under the transitional authorities.
Read more: Court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia in landmark trial
Colombia's far-right president Abelardo de la Espriella recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights on Monday.
“The Government of Colombia recognises Israeli sovereignty over this territory, as well as that State’s right to protect itself against external threats,” read an online statement.
It added that “Colombia recognises that maintaining Israel’s control and sovereignty over the Golan Heights is an essential component of its national defence”.
President de la Espriella, who was inaugurated last week, has vouched to reverse the policies of his predecessor, Gustavo Petro.
Colombia is the second country to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the only other being the US.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar thanked his “good friend” de la Espriella for the “historic” recognition.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Tuesday it received a report of an incident involving a container ship and military forces in the Gulf of Oman, off the coast of Pakistan.
UKMTO ADVISORY 109-26
UKMTO WARNING 109-26
— UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) August 11, 2026
Click here to view the full product ⤵️ https://t.co/352rLshzGu#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/5g4OTPteMc
