Regional powers sought an off-ramp from the war with Iran as another tanker attack was reported in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Iranian government dismissed the Trump administration's latest sanctions. Elsewhere in the Middle East, a Jerusalem court acquitted a man accused of beating a Catholic nun, but ordered him to undergo years of psychiatric hospitalization over the attack, which drew global condemnation. Israel's strikes in Gaza drew a sharp rebuke from the top diplomat overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the territory.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here. Court orders psychiatric hospitalization for man indicted in nun attack A Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court judge acquitted a man accused of attacking a Catholic nun based on his insanity defense and ordered him committed to psychiatric hospitalization for up to six years.
The violent assault in April on a nun walking in her habit in Jerusalem’s Old City sent shock waves across Israel — and its many Christian communities, which have reported an increase in harassment. Religious Freedom Data Center, an Israeli volunteer organization that tracks incidents like verbal abuse and spitting in the direction of Christian people in Jerusalem, said they’re happening almost daily and virtually all are committed by Jewish religious nationalists. Jerusalem’s Old City contains some of the holiest sites of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
Tanker was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization, or UKMTO, said Thursday that it had received a report of an oil tanker hit in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway that has been at the center of the evolving diplomacy in the Iran war. The monitoring agency, run by the British military, said that local authorities reported that the vessel was hit by an unknown projectile Tuesday in the waters between Oman and Iran, causing it to catch fire. The crew was reported to be safe and there have been no reports of environmental damage, the UKMTO said.
The attack underscores the ongoing dangers for vessels attempting to transit the key waterway while it’s firmly under Iranian control, even as Oman and Iran are reportedly in the final stages of talks on a plan to manage shipping traffic through the strait. Iran periodically fires at vessels attempting to transit the strait to enforce its control of the waterway, though there was no immediate claim for Tuesday’s attack. The U.S. has also fired on vessels while imposing a blockade of Iranian ports.
Faltering diplomatic efforts to end Iran war continue Pakistan said Thursday that it was continuing diplomatic efforts to help resolve the crisis between the United States and Iran, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said at a news briefing that Field Marshal Asim Munir’s recent visit to Tehran was aimed at reviving the June memorandum of understanding to reopen the strait. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has also continued diplomatic outreach during Munir’s visit, speaking with Turkish, Egyptian and other regional counterparts, Andrabi said.
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