SummaryIRGC says supertanker exploded after hitting mine in Hormuz, says strait remains closed.'Deal' headlines return: US seeks "Step-by-Step" agreement with Iran, reports state media.Houthis seized more Red Sea territory, including Perim Island near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Iran-Gulf diplomacy was postponed, delaying efforts to address the Strait of Hormuz crisis in what was to be a rare GCC-Iran meeting.Saudi oil exports face ongoing disruption after a pipeline shutdown, pushing oil prices above $100/barrel.Trump invokes war powers in Yemen by September 30?
Yes 5% · No 95%View full market & trade on Polymarket * * *Supertanker Explodes After Hitting Mine: IRGCIran's IRGC Navy has late Monday (local) announced that a foreign supertanker exploded when it struck naval mines after attempting to enter an unapproved zone of the southern Strait of Hormuz, Fars reports.Bloomberg also picked up the reported tanker explosion, providing the following further details:Efforts to contain the blaze have been unsuccessful, leaving the vessel engulfed in flames, Fars saysThe statement identified the vessel as the supertanker EL GAIA, with IMO number 9325336“Warnings had previously been issued regarding the dangers of this illegal passage”“IRGC Navy decisively declares that the Strait of Hormuz is closed”If the emerging reports are accurate, it contradicts President Trump's recent claims that the strait has been fully de-mined. Reuters in late August noted of a Truth Social post that the president proclaimed "all mines had been detonated or removed from international waters of the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran has been told that any ship or boat placing new mines will be destroyed.
"The IRGC Navy stated that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and under its control. The supertanker “Algaya” (IMO 9325336) was attempting to navigate through a restricted area south of the Strait of Hormuz when it reportedly struck sea mines and exploded. pic.
twitter.com/naPVOfazqo — IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) September 14, 2026Oil Drops on Return of 'US Seeks Deal' HeadlinesJust as President Trump is appearing to show some desperation concerning soaring energy prices ahead of the midterm elections, and amid growing Republican angst, we witness a return to the 'a deal could return' style headlines which marked earlier phases of the war:US seeks "Step-by-Step" agreement with Iran, reports ILNA citing Pakistani sourcesAs the war and US pressure against Iran continue, Washington's efforts to reach a "step-by-step" agreement with Tehran; a scenario that could be a prelude to the US entering the path of negotiations, without abandoning military and economic pressure.And the all too familiar pattern that marked early summer...
OIL DROPS TO INTRADAY LOW, BRENT TRADES NEAR $106 A BARRELIranian state media is meanwhile suggesting that Washington interfered in what was a planned meeting between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council states (GCC) toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz. That meeting, which was supposed to happen Monday, was postponed indefinitely - after reports said the Saudis sought to add something untenable to a draft agreement. Tehran is still rejecting that it is 'seeking' new talks with Washington.
Hey @grok, since February 28, 2026, how many times has Our Favorite President said Iran is asking, begging, pleading, or desperate to "make a deal" -- whether on Truth Social, interviews, speeches, press scrums, sitting at his desk in the Oval Office, or any other format pic.twitter.com/E01vUBJG3I — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) September 14, 2026Trump has issued several provocative Truth Social posts throughout the morning...
The next weeks could possibly see a return to Axios' 'negotiations imminent' WH leak tactics, to artificially keep energy prices under control...Stocks just spiked on this: US seeks "step-by-step" agreement with Iran, a scenario that could be a prelude to the US entering the path of negotiations, without abandoning military and economic pressure: ILNA reports citing Pakistani sources. — zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 14, 2026Meanwhile and important indicator of where things actually stand...
#Iran has no plans for talks under current circumstances. As emphasized in the conditions announced to the US, there will be no talks & the Strait of #Hormuz will not be reopened until the war on all fronts ends, the blockade is lifted & Iran's financial resources are released. — Mohammad Ghaderi | محمد قادری (@ghaderi62) September 14, 2026Yemen's Houthis Attack Saudi Base, And Take Fire After Major ConquestYemen's Ansar Allah -- also known as the Houthis -- claimed it fired drones and missiles at King Khalid Air Base in southern Saudi Arabia.
Dozens of ballistic missiles and drones targeted military infrastructure in the rare and major cross-border attack.The Houthis say the base suffered direct hits and extensive damage in a "large-scale military operation", though this could not be immediately verified, after the operation which their military spokesman described as retaliation more than 300 Saudi airstrikes across Yemen over most of the past week. Early reports from open source analysts suggest serious damage sustained at the base.
The sprawling base in Khamis Mushait has historically been used at times by US and UK advanced fighter jets, and has hangars that are well-fortified, though it's unknown the degree to which Western assets continue to be stationed there. For example, it was heavily utilized by the Pentagon during the first Gulf War, from where stealth fighters were launched to attack high priority targets in Iraq.A Houthi spokesman has declared that the ongoing mission's targeting includes "weapons depots and command and control centers that are managing the aggression against our nation and people.
"On Sunday, the internationally recognized Yemeni government -- which controls neither the capital nor territory encompassing a majority of the population -- said its air force launched three strikes on Houthi positions in the Taiz region. There were also reports of artillery fire on a Houthi stronghold in Saada province, on the northern border with Saudi Arabia.Via Institute for the Study of WarIn a blitz that caught the world by surprise, the Houthis late last week achieved an enormous strategic victory by conquering the remainder of Yemen's western coastline it didn't already control -- positioning it to easily enforce its declared blockade against Saudi-related shipping entering or leaving the Red Sea via the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Houthi soldiers also took over Perim Island, which sits in the strait. As Associated Press noted, the seizure of the new territory puts the Houthis in much closer proximity to US forces: The Houthis’ advance puts them just 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the U.S.
military base in Djibouti, on the other side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It’s the main U.S.
base in Africa and one of several foreign military bases in Djibouti, including those of China, France and Japan.The Houthi blockade is positioned as retaliation for the Saudi coalition's siege and blockade of Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Though the Houthi blockade only targets Saudi shipping, global cargo lines are highly wary of transiting the waterway that's narrower than the Strait of Hormuz.
Many are rerouting traffic all the way around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, which requires at least 20 extra days and a lot more money. “Freedom of navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb are safe and orderly,” a Houthi official told Al Jazeera. While it's too little, too late for Riyah's hopes of some kind of big Washington intervention in Yemen, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday met US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) has confirmed.
Likely they reviewed the coalition's narrowing options going forward, but President Trump has thus far expressed reluctance to get directly involved milit