And we wait ...

People spend time at a beach as commercial vessels are anchored Ian the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, August. 5, 2026 (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)

And we, like they, wait as it seems the fighting will end with no negotiation between the US and Iran as the US no longer has the wherewithal to continue the Israeli initiative to end Iran for greater Israel.

Yours truly could be wrong as the state of mind of the orange menace remains forever unknown.

Iran says it’s in the final stage of drafting an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz waterway with Oman,
while two Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon.

Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Thursday. 

Iran says a deal with Oman is close

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, has said an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, which lies on the other side of the waterway, is in the “final stage” of drafting. Speaking Wednesday, he said a joint statement will be issued “if certain parties do not obstruct this process,” apparently referring to the U.S.

The agreement is likely to be contingent on the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports.

The strait is crucial to global shipping and energy supplies. Before the war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February, around one fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed through the waterway
at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

On Thursday, all eyes were on the U.S. for the next development.

And we wait ...