Vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran.
The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared set to expire on Aug. 17, with no last-minute agreement in sight to extend the truce or potentially bring an end to the war between the two countries.
A senior White House official told media that the situation remained “static” ahead of the deadline.
While neither side has so far appeared eager to launch an attack, tensions have yet to ease, particularly over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran on Aug. 15 fired back at U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory, saying the crucial energy waterway it has blockaded “will remain Iranian.”
Trump has repeatedly insisted that the strait, which Tehran effectively closed at the start of the Middle East war in late February, is under U.S. control despite traffic remaining throttled.
“The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X.
“This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command.”
Trump told a political rally in New York state on Aug. 14 that after the U.S. defeats Iran, “pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States.”
“It’s true,” he added.
An unnamed White House official later clarified that Trump was joking, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Last week, a top Iranian official set out a list of conditions for reopening the strait, including an end to the “war and aggression against Iran and its allies in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq.”
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr also demanded the end of crippling sanctions, the release of frozen assets and compensation for wartime damage.
Meanwhile, Iran accused Qatar on Aug. 16 of thwarting efforts to work out what happened to three pilots Tehran says were captured during the Middle East war, though the Gulf state has denied detaining them.
The Islamic Republic had previously reported one pilot killed and others missing after a sortie to Qatar in March, but had not claimed at the time that any of them had been captured.
“A team of experts from the Iranian Air Force has been waiting for several months to travel to Qatar to conduct an on-site investigation,” said General Mohammad Bagherzadeh of the Iranian armed forces.
“However, due to persistent delays by Qatari authorities, the return of our brave pilots to their homeland remains impossible,” he added, according to the Tasnim news agency.
He called on Doha to authorize the team to travel to Qatar.
