A proposed deal between Iran and Oman could grant Tehran control over vessels entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a senior Iranian source and two regional officials who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday, in what represents one of the most significant concessions made to Iran to date.
Crude oil futures surged over 3 per cent, snapping a three-session losing streak, as renewed military escalation in West Asia revived fears of supply disruptions, driving prices higher on both domestic and international exchanges.
Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, experienced declines in early trade due to a significant surge in crude oil prices, exacerbated by escalating tensions in the West Asia. Track how Sensex, Nifty fared on July 23.
An Indian-flagged merchant vessel, MSV Faize Noore Oliya, with 13 Indian nationals aboard, was attacked off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea. All 13 Indian crew members have been successfully rescued, and India has condemned the attack, calling for an end to targeting commercial shipping in the region.
Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty experienced a significant decline in early trade, with the Sensex falling over 500 points and the Nifty over 150 points, as Brent crude oil prices surged past USD 100 per barrel due to escalating geopolitical tensions in the West Asia. track sensex, Nifty on July 24.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday signed a key joint defence agreement under which an attack against one of them will be treated as an attack against all of them, amid increasing security concerns in the wake of escalating tensions in West Asia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday discussed with a group of senior ministers the prevailing global security situation and how to maintain supply chain uninterrupted despite conflicts in different zones, including the Strait of Hormuz, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.
Marine war-risk premiums for West Asian shipping routes, particularly the Red Sea corridor, have surged by as much as 200 per cent due to renewed geopolitical tensions, with some high-risk transits seeing increases of over 1,000 per cent, according to industry brokers.
India has successfully evacuated 59 vessels, including 23 Indian-flagged and 36 foreign-flagged ships carrying cargo for India, from the Strait of Hormuz since March 1, 2026, amid fresh attacks and declining shipping traffic, Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal informed the Rajya Sabha.
Sagiv Steinberg, CEO of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA), described the recent US-Iran peace agreement as a temporary 60-day ceasefire, not a genuine peace deal, suggesting it's timed for the upcoming US midterm elections.
A new analysis by the Institute for the Study of War has warned that Iran could escalate its attacks on Israel by launching large missile salvos aimed at maximising psychological pressure on civilians.
The Gujarat CID Crime has dismantled an international cryptocurrency network worth Rs 226 crore, revealing links to a front organisation of the terror group Hamas. Nine individuals have been arrested in connection with the syndicate, which is implicated in cyber fraud, narcotics, and terror funding.
'General Subramani's appointment as military adviser in the NSCS has given him insight into decision-making at the apex level prior to formally taking over as CDS.'
For India, China's Indian Ocean power projection, maritime domain awareness, dual-use ports, underwater surveillance, antisubmarinewarfare, naval exercises with Pakistan, pose considerable pressure, depleted India's strategic depth and marginalises Indian role, points out Srikanth Kondapalli.
Occasionally, the silence of the night shift would be shattered by an ear-splitting alarm: 'ALERT, ALERT... This is a security warning.' We were drilled to move away from the windows and avoid the lifts, recalls Krishna Kumar NP, a veteran Dubai-based journalist.
The Americans can occupy Bab el Mandeb, claim to have 'solved' the Strait of Hormuz crisis, declare victory that President Trump so desperately needs, points out Colonel Anil A Athale, former head of the history division, ministry of defence.
'Iran cannot trust the USA because it considers the USA to be Israel-controlled. And no, the IRGC is not going to accept anything else but major US concessions.'
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
'American stature has been reduced because they have not been able to achieve their aims.'
'In a volatile global market, India is pursuing a low-risk, low-return policy, akin to a SIP -- slow, steady investment.' 'Pakistan is following a high-risk, high-return policy.'
'US and Iran have not annulled the ceasefire, and the possibility of continuing negotiations remains open.'
After the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire and expressed hope for lasting peace, Pakistan took much of the credit for playing mediator between the two countries. However, Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies and former US Treasury counterterrorism analyst, said Pakistan is deeply indebted to China.
We cannot simply have a 60-65 per cent import dependency in LPG, the bulk of which comes from just one volatile region -- West Asia, points out R Jagannathan.
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
Trump has said he would be present at the signing ceremony in Islamabad. Don't be surprised if the Pakistani hosts make it a grand event in the geopolitics of the region. Trump would love that, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Benjamin Netanyahu declares that the joint Israel-US campaign is successfully 'crushing' Iran, eliminating existential threats and weakening the regime's regional influence.
India's plans to ration the consumption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - in response to reduction in their import owing to war in West Asia - may fall short of what is needed to meet domestic needs.
The 18 companies sanctioned include Marshall Islands-registered Changtai Shipping and Motionavigations Limited and UAE-based Indo Gulf Ship Management.
Formula One has cancelled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix scheduled for April due to escalating Middle East tensions, reducing the 2026 F1 calendar from 24 to 22 races.
'India was not obliged to protect the Iranian ship.' 'Once the Iranian ship left Indian waters, she was on her own.' 'Guilt tripping India is wrong.'
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
While investors would focus on the results and guidance for the third quarter of financial year 2025-26 (Q3FY26) in the normal course of business, the US-Israeli attack on Iran and the latter's retaliation at Gulf allies of the US has forced them to weigh the consequences of the event.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
'Mojtaba Khamenei supervised the most recent repression in December 2025 and January 2026 which remains ongoing.'
When missiles fly in this region, they are never just aimed at military targets.
A day after killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike in Beirut, Israel conducted widespread strikes in Lebanon on Sunday, killing over 100 people. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) also launched airstrikes on military targets in Yemen, specifically targeting Houthi-controlled sites, including power plants and a seaport.
The threat of wars hovers over the negotiations in Oman, but the good part is that Trump called the talks to be 'very good' and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian responded that they 'constitute a step forward', points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Austin said that the US and the UK also received support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand in conducting the additional strikes.
