Oil tanker explodes after hitting naval mine in Hormuz

Iranian media on Sunday reported that an oil tanker exploded after allegedly striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz after deviating from a shipping route designated by Tehran, reported ANI.

According to Iran's Tasnim News Agency, the incident involved a "rogue" oil tanker that had reportedly departed from the route specified by Iranian authorities before colliding with a sea mine.

Tasnim said Iran had "repeatedly warned beforehand that if ships deviate from Iran's designated route, they would bear the consequences themselves."

Iranian authorities had not officially commented on the reported incident at the time of publication.

Meanwhile, despite the incident, there has been progress in talks between Iran and Oman on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and their respective territorial waterways in that area, two regional sources told CBS News.

The report, citing sources, said that while things are headed in a positive direction, the diplomacy requires more time to reach a deal.

It said that Omani officials had travelled Friday to Tehran for talks, and that diplomatic outreach coincided with President Donald Trump's decision to pause US bombings on Iran, which the CENTCOM had been carrying out for 13 consecutive nights.

As per the CBS report, the regional officials both indicated that the US bombing was intentionally paused so as not to disrupt the delicate in-person diplomacy. It added that the White House and CENTCOM did not reply to requests for comment.

According to a report by The New York Times, military leaders cautioned that a broader campaign could dangerously deplete supplies of Patriot antimissile interceptors, exposing US troops, Gulf partners, and key installations to retaliatory strikes, while senior aides voiced concern over wider economic instability and escalating regional crises.

Earlier on July 25, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of deliberately violating the Iran-US memorandum of understanding by establishing an unauthorised alternative shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz and redirecting commercial vessels away from corridors designated by Tehran.

"It appeared that they insisted on creating other routes alongside the one Iran had designated to ensure safe and free passage [through the Strait of Hormuz]," Araghchi said, according to Press TV.

On Saturday (July 25), naval forces of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted four commercial ships in the southern Strait of Hormuz over 24 hours, aiming to force the vessels to halt and alter course.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that the vessels were navigating an "illegal and unsafe route", though official channels did not disclose the names or nationalities of the intercepted ships.

Iranian, Russian FMs discuss Ukraine's attack on Iran's ship

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Sunday condemned Ukraine's "illegal" attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea during a phone call on Sunday, according to Iran's foreign ministry, reported Xinhua.

Araghchi condemned Ukraine's move as a "dangerous adventurism and clear violation of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter," stressing that Iran would decisively defend its national security and interests, the ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov, for his part, denounced the attack as an "action in violation of international law and a threat against the trade routes between Russia and Iran," the statement added.

The two ministers also discussed regional developments following what Tehran described as the U.S. "breach of promises and imposition of insecurity on the Strait of Hormuz," according to the statement.

According to Iran's foreign ministry, the attack took place at 3:00 a.m. local time on Saturday (2330 GMT on Friday), and led to the vessel's explosion and a sailor's death. The semi-official Mehr news agency on Sunday reported that three sailors were also injured in the attack.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had hit a Russian warship and vessels used for transporting Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea.

Ukraine's attack on Iranian ship "cannot go unanswered": Iran's FM

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said Ukraine's attack on an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea "cannot go unanswered."

In a post on the social media platform X, Araghchi accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of ordering "a blatant UN Charter violation done at Israel's behest to drag Europe into its war."

He said he had "made clear that what the freeloader in Kyiv did CANNOT GO UNANSWERED" in phone calls with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday and Sunday respectively.