Gulf states
Iran unleashes Hypersonic Missile | Deadlier Barrage shakes Israel’s Air Defences
Breaking LIVE- Tankers ablaze: Iran has ramped up retaliatory attacks on energy supplies with strikes on two foreign oil tankers in Iraqi waters. The UK’s maritime agency said another vessel in the Persian Gulf was struck, the sixth in the last two days.
• Oil topped $100 (again): Oil climbed above $100 overnight. The jump came despite the International Energy Agency agreeing to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from reserves into the global market.
Countries That Broke Ties With Qatar Indicate Some Flexibility on Demands
Senior diplomats from the four Arab countries that have broken ties with Qatar indicated Tuesday that they were no longer insisting on 13 precise demands that the Qataris must satisfy, or on a specific deadline for them to comply.
The remarks by the diplomats from Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates seemed to indicate a slight easing in their position and a desire to make some progress in the bitter dispute, which began in early June.
No direct talks have been scheduled. Shuttle diplomacy undertaken by Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson with the antagonists, all of them close allies of the United States, ended last week in failure.
The diplomats told reporters that they remain frustrated over what all four view as Qatar’s support for terrorism and instability in the Middle East, a central theme in the crisis that has created deep fissures between Qatar and its neighbors. Qatar has denied their accusations.
Speaking at a news conference convened by the United Arab Emirates at its mission to the United Nations, the diplomats said they wanted and expected to resolve the crisis amicably.