Many of Iran’s demands ‘already agreed to’ by US in June MoU
Iran on Saturday issued a list of demands for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which several US media organisations have characterised as “new” preconditions.
Reporting from Washington DC, FRANCE 24’s Fraser Jackson notes that many of the demands were “already agreed to by the US in the [Islamabad] Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed back in June” between Iran and the US. “The difficulty was that the language then was quite broad, and the implementation was the problem,” Fraser explains.
A final deal requires an implementation timeframe and that has several "sticking points", Fraser notes.
Yemen's Houthis say struck refinery on Saudi's Red Sea coast
Yemen's Houthis say they have attacked an Aramco refinery in Jazan on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast.
The group's military spokesman Yahya Saree said the Houthis had "succeeded in targeting the Aramco refinery in Jazan with a drone, and the strike was precise", adding the attack had been launched in response to Saudi incursions into territory in northwest Yemen.
Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi defence pact technically same as NATO's Article 5, Fidan says
The Mecca defence pact signed between Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is technically the same as
NATO's Article 5 mutual defence agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday, adding the accord was not targeting Iran.
Speaking to the state-run Anadolu news agency, Fidan said a committee of ministers similar to that within NATO would be formed as part of the alliance, as well as a general secretariat based in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed the agreement on Friday
Fire extinguished at Aramco refinery in Jazan, Saudi Arabia says
Firefighters extinguished a fire that broke out early Sunday at a facility at Aramco's Jazan refinery in southwestern Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Energy Ministry said, adding that there were no injuries.
Aramco's industrial security teams had brought the fire under control and the relevant authorities were completing procedures to deal with the incident, the ministry said on X. It did not say what caused the fire.
Jazan is on the Red Sea near the border with Yemen.
The Jazan refinery processes 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produces refined products including gasoline and ultra-light sulfur diesel.
Aramco shut down the refinery on July 27 following an attack by Yemen's Houthi militants that damaged the plant's Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) complex and tank farm area, according to a note from consultancy IIR seen by Reuters.
The Houthis said at the time they had struck Aramco sites in Jazan and Yanbu. The attacks raised the prospect that threats to Red Sea shipping and Saudi oil infrastructure could widen global disruption stemming from the US war against Iran and Iranian attacks on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz.
Turkey says expects Egypt to join Mecca defence pact
Turkey's foreign minister has said he expected Egypt to join a joint defence agreement with regional partners designed to stabilise the region that is grappling with the Middle East war.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the agreement on Friday against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has drawn in surrounding nations and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told state news agency Anadolu he expected Egypt to join the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement", calling the country a "natural partner on all issues".
"I believe that at the next stage Egypt will also be among us in the alliance. We already act toward one another as if we were alliance members," he said in an interview.
"There are a few technical issues. Once these are implemented, there is no reason for Egypt not to be part of it."
- Iran's list of demands for reopening Hormuz includes compensation for war damages
- Turkey says expects Egypt to join Mecca defence pact
- Fire extinguished at Aramco refinery in Jazan, Saudi Arabia says
Iran's list of demands for reopening Hormuz includes compensation for war damages
Iran on Saturday set preconditions for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, including compensation for war damages.
Iranian security chief Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said the list of demands for reopening the strait, included an end to the "war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq".
He also demanded the lifting of a parallel US naval blockade of Iran, the end of sanctions, the release of frozen assets and compensation for wartime damage, according to remarks reported by Tasnim news agency.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said discussions with Oman over transit and management of the strait were "approaching the final stages", but added the reopening of Hormuz "is subject to other conditions and compensation for the violation" of a June agreement with the US.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards, meanwhile, said Hormuz's reopening had "nothing to do with the negotiations between Iran and Oman", adding that the "enemy is forced to accept Iran's conditions for the opening of the strait".
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Iran war amid diplomatic efforts to secure a reopening of the vital Strait of Hormuz.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
