Middle East live: Tehran considers the 60-day negotiation deadline with Washington obsolete

Ship hit by ‘unidentified projectile’ in Strait of Hormuz

An “unidentified projectile” hit a ship as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz towards the exit, causing one victim, announced the British maritime agency UKMTO, without specifying whether it was a death or an injury.

“The impact damaged the engine room and caused one casualty among the crew. The other crew members are currently receiving assistance from the Omani Coast Guard,” the agency said in a statement published on X.

Explosion in eastern Iraqi Kurdistan injures 18

An “explosion” hit an oil products depot in eastern Iraqi Kurdistan and injured 18 people, local media Rudaw reported early, citing the deputy director general for Health of Sulaymaniyah province, without further details.

The official Iranian news agency Irna also reported that the head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, spoke by telephone with his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein about “the latest regional developments and () border security issues”.

Iran deems 60-day negotiation deadline obsolete

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaïl Baghaï, affirmed that the 60-day negotiation period provided for a lasting settlement by the Iranian-American memorandum of understanding in June had been rendered obsolete by the “violations” committed by Washington.

“We did not begin any negotiations because, a few weeks after the signing, widespread violations of the agreement began, thus making the sixty-day issue obsolete,” he said.

Iraq to investigate drone attack on Kurdistan PM’s office

Iraq announced that it would investigate the origin of drone shots which targeted the office of the Prime Minister of autonomous Kurdistan during the night from Sunday to Monday, attributed by the latter to Iran, which condemned a “suspicious” attack.

The attack, in the vicinity of Pirmam, in the province of Erbil, and which did not cause any casualties, was announced on X by Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan, an autonomous region in northern Iraq, who blamed “Iranian drones”.

The head of the Iraqi government, Ali al-Zaïdi, ordered Monday the creation of a commission of inquiry to identify the perpetrators and the origin of the attack, his office said, without naming those responsible. During an exchange between the heads of diplomacy of the two countries, Tehran assured Baghdad that it “had no information indicating that the attack came from Iranian territory”, indicated the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

Good morning

Welcome to this live broadcast on the war in the Middle East.