There is no real ceasefire deal in place in the Iran War, and Iran’s recently announced plans for the Strait of Hormuz have been rejected by the U.S. In response to Iran’s plans, the U.S. officially stated, “Any temporary routes will be without any impediments — meaning no approvals or permissions and no tolls or charges. The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway and no party controls the lanes or the ability to transit through them.”
U.S. rejects Iran’s Hormuz Strait plan to block U.S., Israeli ships– www.cnbc.com
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U.S. and Israeli ships would be blocked from passage through the Strait of Hormuz under the terms of a draft plan on how to manage the economically vital waterway, Iranian state news outlet Fars reported Thursday.
The U.S. appeared to quickly reject the terms under consideration, which emerged after President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said a deal between the U.S. and Iran could come by Wednesday or Thursday.
“Any temporary routes will be without any impediments — meaning no approvals or permissions and no tolls or charges,” a U.S. official told CNBC when asked about the Fars report. “The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway and no party controls the lanes or the ability to transit through them,” the official added.
The plan, according to Fars citing a member of Iran’s parliament, would also bar Israeli cargo and related vessels. The restrictions will extend to “countries and individuals that have caused damage to Iran” until that harm is “compensated,” according to the report.
Iran plans to issue penalties of up to 20% of the value of the cargo of those who violate the terms of the agreement, which is currently under review, per Fars.
When a coastal city in Spain was overwhelmed by tens of thousands of “migrants” from Morocco after Spain declared amnesty for any comers, Italy closed its borders. Now, Spain is demanding Italy open its borders within two days.
The Spanish government declared, “We urge the government of Italy to rectify, put an end to the checks and treat Spaniards like other European citizens,” the government said in a statement. If it does not do so before the end of Sunday, August 9, Spain will be obliged to adopt proportional measures to protect the interests and dignity of its citizens.”
Spain gives Italy two days to lift border checks on Spanish travellers – Times of Malta
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Spain on Friday threatened Italy with countermeasures if Rome did not lift this week its one-month suspension of the free-travel Schengen agreement, introduced after the mass migrant rush to Ceuta.
The rare spat between the EU and NATO allies came after tens of thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco to the Spanish north African territory last week in an unprecedented and deadly rush.
The scenes infuriated other European Union members that back a hard line on irregular immigration and the protection of the bloc’s external borders, including far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The new Prime Minister of Britian, Andy Burnham, has plans to grant early release to thousands of violent convicted criminals, but wants to do a review on the plan to assure convicted grooming gang members don’t get out as well. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch was the one who raised a red flag that showed under Burnham’s guidance, five known grooming gang members would be eligible for early release.
Burnham orders review of grooming gang early releases – BBC
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Prime Minister Andy Burnham has ordered an “urgent” review to identify any grooming gang members who may be eligible to be freed from jail under the government’s early release scheme.
The announcement comes after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch raised concerns that child sex offenders could leave jail well before the end of their sentences.
She pointed out that indecent assault was not included in the list of offences that the government said would be excluded from the early release scheme.
Five men convicted of indecent assault as part of a historical grooming-gang case in Bradford are among the prisoners whose offences were not included in the list of exclusions.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said Burnham had asked the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to “conduct an in-depth review of cases to ensure that grooming cases were identified”.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated Israel has no intentions of withdrawing from Gaza before they have fully disarmed Hamas. Netanyahu declared the Trump administration had “sent us a draft. We did not agree. It is not our draft. We sent our comments. … This is our position. President (Donald) Trump and his team think they can get Hamas to disarm and demilitarize Gaza, we are examining this, they sent us a draft, we did not agree, it is not our draft, we sent our comments…”
Netanyahu rejects Gaza withdrawal until Hamas disarms– www.euronews.com
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel will not withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed and pushed back on a recent deal announced by US President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu’s remarks cast more doubt on the deal to disarm Hamas, which was seen as a potential breakthrough for ending the war. It also marked a rare public display of friction with the Trump administration.
The agreement called for Hamas to begin disarming and for Israel to halt its strikes and begin withdrawing from the roughly 60% of Gaza it currently controls. It was based on an October ceasefire agreement that ended major military operations and brought about the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza but has stalled on other fronts.
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