Iran-US war latest: Trump says he could keep Iranian oil ‘like Venezuela’ as Hormuz talks face setback

An Iranian American jeweler from New York has been released from prison in Iran, but he is prohibited from leaving the country, according to his family and federal officials.

Kamran Hekmati was let out of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on Sept. 5 after completing about half of a two-year sentence, his family recently wrote on a website advocating for his release.

The family said they are also “desperately afraid for his health and well-being” as he requires regular medical checkups to ensure his bladder cancer doesn’t relapse.

President Donald Trump suggested that US could stay in Iran and “keep the ‌oil”, drawing a parallel with a US push to take control of a fifth of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

On a trip to Ireland ​for meetings and to watch golf, he reiterated that ​he still expected the Iran war to end this year, ⁠possibly just after midterm elections due in the US in November.

Speaking at the Irish Open golf championship, Trump ​added that the price of gasoline would “drop like a rock” once the Iran war ended.

Trump said that ‌he ⁠would only make the “right deal” and wouldn’t do one that was “no good”, adding that Iran was “calling constantly” for peace talks — an assertion that Tehran has dismissed in the past.

But ​the president ​also introduced ⁠another option: stay engaged with Iran. He drew a parallel with the US deal in Venezuela, ​announced in August.

“We’ll ultimately get out (of Iran), ​unless ⁠we decide to stay and keep the oil like Venezuela,” Trump said, adding that the US revenue from Venezuela has “paid ⁠for ​the war many times”.

US president Donald ​Trump brushed aside a report that Iran acquired satellite images of a base in Jordan from Chinese entities before an attack that ⁠killed three US troops.

The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed US officials about the attack in Jordan.

Asked whether he would mention the ⁠issue at an upcoming ​meeting ⁠with Chinese president Xi Jinping, Trump did not directly answer, and instead equated the surveillance activities of ⁠China and the United States.

“They basically do what we ​do,” ⁠he told reporters aboard ‌Air Force One.

“When they say China spies on us, I say you’re right and we spy on them ‌too.”

Trump on Sunday reiterated his view that he has a good relationship with Xi. “I think he’s behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well,” Trump said as he flew back to the US after a weekend trip to Ireland.

One person was killed and three injured after an Iranian commercial vessel was struck off Qeshm Island, the largest island in the Persian Gulf that sits on the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported.

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor reported a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, with no details. It was not immediately clear if it was the same strike.

There was no immediate statement by the US military, which has previously struck Iranian-flagged vessels as it keeps up a blockade of Iranian ports. On Saturday, the military said its forces had redirected 100 commercial vessels over the past 60 days.

The Saudi Civil ⁠Defence sent an all-clear this morning after issuing alerts for potential danger in four ⁠southern ​cities amid ⁠an uptick in attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned ⁠Houthis.

Saudi Civil Defence had ​issued ⁠the alerts ‌for the cities of Najran, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and ‌Abha. It also ‌later issued warnings for Khamis Mushait and Abha a second ⁠time before lifting them again.

The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen and much of the north, have been ‌launching attacks towards Saudi Arabia ​since declaring a ‌naval blockade ⁠against Riyadh in July, ⁠with strikes targeting Saudi vessels ‌in ​the Red Sea.

Oil prices jumped more than 2 per cent this morning after new Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia and Iranian attacks on ships in the Gulf compounded supply concerns following the closure of a key Saudi oil pipeline.

Brent crude futures rose $2.90, or 2.77 per cent, to $107.51 per barrel. WTI futures rose $2.27, or 2.27 per cent, to $102.32 per barrel. Prices had initially risen more than 3 per cent at ​market open.

Oman said it had to postpone a meeting scheduled for today in Muscat with Iran and other regional countries to discuss the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran and Oman are located on either side of the strait, and Tehran had said foreign ministers from various regional countries would meet in Oman to discuss its management.

But the foreign minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, said on X yesterday that the meeting had been postponed “in the interests of consensus”.

Iran and Oman agreed to postpone the talks “at the request of some regional countries,” said Mohammad Ali Bak, an official in Iran’s foreign ministry who was quoted by IRNA on X.