Some Gulf countries involved in war, will not let US determine end of war: Iran’s Baghaei

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday said that some countries in the Gulf region had been involved in the United States’ war on Tehran, but did not give further details. He added that Iran would not let the US determine the end of war, clarifiying that Tehran has not asked for resumption of talks with the US as it is “not in our DNA.”

According to Baghaei, the Iran-Oman talks over the management of the Strait of Hormuz had been positive, however the spokesman noted that the strait remained closed and the situation remained unchanged.

Earlier, the State of Israel’s Arabic-language account on X says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has departed for Washington, DC, on Monday where he is due to meet United States President Donald Trump.

According to the post, the visit is taking place at Trump’s invitation, with the two leaders expected to discuss “issues of concern to both countries”.

The visit comes as Netanyahu remains the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. The ICC issued warrants in November 2024 for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged crimes against humanity committed amid Israel’s war on Gaza.

The upcoming White House visit marks the seventh time Netanyahu has met with Trump since the latter returned to office in January 2025, more than any other world leader.

Six vessels intercepted in Strait of Hormuz

Earlier, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported that six ships had been intercepted in the Strait of Hormuz that attempted to pass through an “illegal and unsafe” route in the south of the strait after turning off their navigation and positioning systems.

One vessel suffered an accident, and the others returned to the Gulf under “decisive Iranian management”, IRIB said.

According to Al Jazeera, citing an informed official, IRIB reported that the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday morning after the vessels were provoked by the American military.

Oil drops 4% after US pauses strikes on Tehran

According to Al Jazeera, oil prices dropped 4% on Monday after the US and Iran paused strikes over the weekend following two weeks of attacks, raising hopes of a diplomatic solution that allows shipping to resume in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures dropped $3.96, or 4.1%, to $92.82 as of 03:29 GMT, after briefly slipping under the key support level of $90 earlier in the session, as per Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded at $85.29 a barrel, down $4.02, or 4.5%, Al Jazeera reported.

Iran insists on ‘service fee’ in Strait of Hormuz

An Omani delegation, according to Al Jazeera, was in Tehran, exchanging ideas with the Islamic Republic on how to create a mechanism for the future management of the Strait of Hormuz.

However, Iran still opposes alternative corridors through the strait while the Omanis have reportedly suggested a regional consortium to manage the mechanism without collecting tolls, Al Jazeera said.

According to reports cited by the Qatari news agency, the Iranians are still insisting on a “service fee” and want the mechanism to be managed by Tehran.

Shipping falls in Red Sea amid Houthi attack on Saudi oil installations

Shipping traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait slowed following Houthi attacks on Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, Al Jazeera reported. The development came amid the Houthis’ announcement of a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported, citing shipping data from analytics platform Kpler.

11 commodity vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Sunday, which was the lowest level in months, according to the data, Al Jazeera said. Seven of the vessels were oil tankers, with three entering the Red Sea and four exiting on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the news agency reported that, according to the Kpler data, fewer than 10 vessels per day passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, despite the US and Iran pausing their attacks.

On Saturday, only three vessels passed through with their transponders switched off, while seven vessels transited on Sunday, including three Iranian-linked oil products tankers exiting the strait, according to the Reuters report, said Al Jazeera.

Trump denies reports of dwindling munitions

According to the Qatari news agency, the US president rejected reports that the US was running out of munitions in its war against Iran. “We have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal in a statement.

Earlier, it was reported that US military officials in recent days had cautioned that bombings over the ​past two weeks meant to deter Iranian threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway that has become a key flashpoint in the war — had largely exhausted the pre-selected sets of targets, one US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Resuming major combat operations remains an option, but General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has cautioned privately to Trump that ​it would carry risk given the negative impact on stocks of munitions, the official said. That includes interceptors used by US air defenses in the Middle East, the ​official added.

Caine’s office and US Central Command declined comment. US military officials have traditionally declined to comment on their private advice to a sitting US president, even in testimony to Congress.

Read: Mediators intensify US-Iran diplomacy after Trump orders ‘pause’ in strikes: sources

On NBC‘s Meet ‌the Press, ⁠US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said the US military “has everything that it needs,” but also said that when Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth took over under the Trump administration, he “inherited a depleted situation.”

It was reported earlier that Iran would halt its own ​attacks as long as the US does the same, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. The development came as the US pressed ‌pause on its bombing campaign after Trump’s advisers told him they were running out of targets and expressed worries about depleting the US arsenal.

After 13 nights of intensifying US airstrikes on Iran, the Pentagon suspended the campaign late on Friday, with no US attacks reported on either Saturday or Sunday. Iran, which had been following each night of US attacks with its own strikes ​on neighbouring countries that host US bases, has also so far held fire for two days.

The Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Tehran’s position “remains ‘attack ​for attack’: if the attacks stop, Iran will also halt its operations. That message has already been conveyed to the United ⁠States.”

Waltz told Fox News Sunday and other US media that Trump had decided to pause US attacks to allow more time for diplomacy. “He’s ​giving talks some space, he’s giving it a little bit of room,” Waltz said, without providing further details.

According to a senior Iranian source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Tehran did not hold much hope that Trump’s decision to pause strikes represented a major shift in the US negotiating position.

“There is more scepticism than optimism about the halt in attacks. The prevailing view is that the pause is tactical rather than genuine. Iran has accumulated enough ​bitter experience with what it sees as ​US deception,” the source said.

Stuck in Limbo

For ⁠the past two weeks, US forces had been striking Iran nightly in what Washington said was retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian forces have responded to the US attacks by launching strikes at water desalination plants in nearby Gulf ​Arab states.

Iran says it aims to retain control of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil flows passed before ​the war.

The renewed US ⁠military campaign effectively torpedoed last month’s interim agreement aimed at ending the war.

Trump’s decision to pause the strikes followed what several media outlets described as a meeting on Friday where Caine and other senior military and political advisers raised concerns.

CNN said Vice President JD Vance had expressed reservations. Axios reported that the overall commander of US forces in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, ⁠had advised ​halting the US bombing campaign because it had reached the limits of its effectiveness.

Residents of Iran remain apprehensive. Nader, ​49, an import-export business owner in Tehran, said he doubted any pause in strikes would last.

“Everyone in the country is stuck in limbo,” he told Reuters by telephone. “Trump is playing games with Iran. He neither ends ​the war and leaves the region nor strikes decisively. It’s exhausting.”