Iran War Updates: Oil prices jump to near 4-month high as Oman-Iran talks on Strait of Hormuz postponed - CBS News

What to know about the Iran war today:

- A senior Iranian official rejected Monday what he called President Trump's "mixed signals" on openness to talks to end the war between the two nations, insisting "the stakes have changed " and ruling out any dialogue "until Iran's conditions are met."

- President Trump on Monday signaled for the first time in about a month a willingness to rekindle direct negotiations with Iran, saying he would personally "determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage — The concept of which we are open to."

- The U.S. military's inspector general, in an official report to congress Monday, put the estimated cost of the Iran war up to mid-June at $33.4 billion, most of it on munitions and not including hundreds of millions more spent by other agencies to evacuate people from the Middle East and repair diplomatic facilities struck by Iran.

Qatar warns closure of Bab el-Mandeb Strait "would be "catastrophic for the entire world"

Qatar on Tuesday warned against closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, after a months-long blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and recent Houthi gains on the Red Sea coast.

"The world is suffering enough with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, so we cannot also afford to add the Bab al-Mendeb into that equation," Qatar foreign ministry official Ibrahim Al Hashmi told reporters.

He said a closure of the southern entrance to the Red Sea would be "catastrophic for the entire world. And we are already seeing the consequences... so Qatar is pushing for diplomacy, dialogue."

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-oil-strait-of-hormuz/#post-update-ad0cb9ca

23 people evacuated from oil tanker in Gulf of Oman, maritime agency says

Oman's Maritime Security Center (MSC) said Tuesday that the country's navy had evacuated 23 people from an oil tanker that caught on fire in the Gulf of Oman, just east of the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

The Panama-flagged vessel was being towed toward an Omani port when a fire broke out in its engine room, according to the MSC statement, which did not provide any more details.

Iran has repeatedly attacked tankers in the region, accusing them of attempting to transit the strait via a U.S.-designated shipping lane close to Oman's coast in violation of its demand for all vessels to coordinate with the Iranian military.

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-oil-strait-of-hormuz/#post-update-3a676991

Saudi Arabia vows to continue fighting Iran-backed Houthis

Saudi Arabia vowed Tuesday to respond "firmly" to attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels after accusing the Iran-backed group of wounding 13 people with a ballistic missile and drone attack.

The Saudi government said Tuesday that Houthi attacks the previous day on the cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif wounded 13 civilians and damaged seven houses and two vehicles.

The Houthis have engaged in renewed fighting with Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces since the impoverished nation's civil war reignited in July, when the group declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports and began targeting its ships in the Red Sea.

A Houthi strike in western Yemen on Monday killed eight government soldiers, according to two military sources speaking to AFP. The group also claimed a new large-scale attack using "dozens of ballistic missiles and drones" against the King Khalid airbase in Khamis Mushait, in southern Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis seized control of virtually all of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait last week, shipping lanes that have become vital to Saudi energy shipments as the wider U.S.-Iran war disrupts traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis and other Iran-backed groups have also targeted oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the world's leading crude exporter.

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-war-us-trump-oil-strait-of-hormuz/#post-update-83e1fcc4

Iran's security head insists no talks with U.S. despite Trump being "open" to the idea

The head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council insisted Monday that there would be no negotiations to end the war with the U.S. until Tehran's conditions are met, dismissing a comment by President Trump earlier in the day, who said he was open to the "concept" of talks.