Authorities Track Down Blaze Setters After Field Fires Smother Bangkok in Haze

Diplomatic efforts to stabilize the Strait of Hormuz intensified this week even as tensions across the wider Middle East remained high, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveling to Washington for talks with President Donald Trump and multiple countries reporting drone interceptions linked to the ongoing conflict. An Omani delegation traveled to Tehran to discuss a possible mechanism for managing future shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran continues to reject the idea of alternative shipping corridors through the waterway, while Omani officials have proposed a regional consortium to oversee the mechanism without charging tolls. Iranian officials, however, are still pushing for what they describe as a service fee and want the arrangement placed under Tehran’s control. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said talks with Oman over the strait took place over the weekend and described the discussions as useful, though he stressed that the situation in the strait itself remains unchanged and closed, and that the talks are unrelated to the United States. Baghaei also said Tehran has not requested a resumption of direct talks with Washington, calling that approach out of character for Iran. He said some Gulf countries had played a role in the American campaign against Iran without elaborating further, and added that Iran would not allow the United States to dictate how the conflict ends. Shipping data reviewed by analytics firm Kpler showed traffic through both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el Mandeb strait remained severely reduced over the weekend. Eleven commodity vessels passed through Bab el Mandeb on Sunday, the lowest level recorded in months, following Houthi attacks on Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast and the group’s declared naval blockade against Saudi Arabia. Seven of those vessels were oil tankers. Meanwhile fewer than ten vessels per day moved through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend despite the pause in US and Iranian strikes, with several transiting vessels reportedly operating with their transponders switched off. President Trump rejected suggestions that US forces were running low on munitions after two weeks of strikes on Iran, saying American stockpiles far exceed what the country needs. His comments followed reports that US military officials had privately warned the bombing campaign had exhausted its pre selected target list, and that General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had cautioned Trump about the risk of depleting munitions stocks, including interceptors used by American air defenses in the region. US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said the military has everything it needs, while acknowledging that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had inherited a depleted situation upon taking office. A senior Iranian official said Tehran would continue to hold fire as long as the United States does the same, describing the country’s position as strictly reciprocal. A separate Iranian source said there is more skepticism than optimism in Tehran about the pause, describing it as likely tactical rather than a genuine shift, given what the source called Iran’s extensive experience with perceived American deception. The pause followed a Friday meeting in which senior US military and political advisers, including Vice President JD Vance and Admiral Brad Cooper, the top American commander in the Middle East, reportedly urged Trump to scale back the bombing campaign. The renewed strikes had already unraveled an interim agreement reached the previous month aimed at ending the conflict. Against this backdrop, Netanyahu departed for Washington for his eighth meeting with Trump since the start of his second term, more than Trump has held with any other foreign leader. Netanyahu said Iran would top the agenda and described the trip as both an honor and a responsibility, saying his goal remains protecting Israel’s security and expanding regional peace. He also said he planned to visit Senator Lindsey Graham during the trip, calling him one of Israel’s closest allies. The visit comes as Netanyahu remains subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in November 2024 over alleged crimes against humanity connected to the war in Gaza. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed several drones aimed at petroleum facilities in the Eastern Region and Riyadh, attributing the attempted strikes to Iranian backed militias operating from Iraqi territory. Jordan’s armed forces separately said they intercepted two drones without identifying the source, while Israel’s military said it intercepted two additional drones near the Jordanian border and is investigating their origin. Baghaei also addressed Iran’s nuclear program, saying Israel would attempt to block the transfer of nuclear technology to countries in the region while insisting that peaceful nuclear development remains every nation’s right. He said Washington has previously expected Iran to collapse quickly under pressure but argued that the United States remains entangled in the conflict months later. He further claimed Washington tends to return to negotiations whenever global energy prices rise. Separately, Iran summoned the French ambassador over the detention of two French diplomats earlier this month by Iranian security forces. Baghaei said Iran demanded that the French government halt what he called interference in Iran’s internal affairs conducted under the guise of civil society engagement. He said the diplomats were detained and questioned for several hours before being released, and said one of them was physically mistreated. French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barrot condemned the incident as a serious act of intimidation. For residents of Iran, the uncertainty surrounding the pause has become part of daily life. One Tehran business owner said the entire country feels stuck in limbo, describing the shifting pattern of strikes and pauses as exhausting and accusing Washington of neither ending the conflict nor pursuing it decisively.