JERUSALEM \u2013 Regional powers sought an off-ramp from the war with Iran as another tanker attack was reported in the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran dismissed Washington’s latest sanctions.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the Middle East, a Jerusalem court acquitted a man accused of beating a Catholic nun but ordered him to undergo years of psychiatric hospitalization over the attack that drew global condemnation. <\/p>\n
Israel’s strikes in Gaza drew a sharp rebuke from the top diplomat overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the territory.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war<\/a> and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Court orders psychiatric hospitalization for man indicted in nun attack<\/p>\n A Jerusalem Magistrate\u2019s Court judge acquitted a man accused of attacking a Catholic nun<\/a> based on his insanity defense and ordered him committed to psychiatric hospitalization for up to six years.<\/p>\n The violent assault in April on a nun walking in her habit in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City<\/a> sent shockwaves across Israel \u2013 and its many Christian communities<\/a>, which have reported an increase in harassment.<\/p>\n Religious Freedom Data Center, an Israeli volunteer organization that tracks incidents like verbal abuse and spitting in the direction of visibly Christian people in Jerusalem, said they\u2019re happening almost daily and virtually all are committed by Jewish religious nationalists.<\/p>\n Jerusalem\u2019s Old City contains some of the holiest sites of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.<\/p>\n Tanker was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said Thursday that it had received a report of an oil tanker hit in the strategic waterway that’s been at the center of the evolving diplomacy in the Iran war.<\/p>\n The monitoring agency, run by the British military, said local authorities reported that the vessel was hit by an unknown projectile Tuesday in the waters between Oman and Iran, causing it to catch on fire.<\/p>\n The crew was reported safe and there have been no reports of environmental damage, the UKMTO said.<\/p>\n The attack underscores the ongoing dangers for vessels attempting to transit the key waterway while it\u2019s firmly under Iranian control, even as Oman and Iran are reportedly in the final stages of talks on a plan to manage shipping traffic through the strait.<\/p>\n Iran periodically fires at vessels attempting to transit the strait to enforce its control of the waterway, though there was no immediate claim for Tuesday\u2019s attack. The U.S. has also fired on vessels while imposing a blockade of Iranian ports.<\/p>\n Faltering diplomatic efforts to end Iran war continue <\/p>\n Pakistan said Thursday it was continuing diplomatic efforts to help resolve the crisis between the United States and Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said at a news briefing that Field Marshal Asim Munir\u2019s recent visit to Tehran was aimed at reviving the June memorandum of understanding to reopen the strait.<\/p>\n Pakistan\u2019s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has also continued diplomatic outreach during Munir\u2019s visit, speaking with his Turkish, Egyptian, and other regional counterparts, Andrabi said. <\/p>\n Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is expected in Tehran on Thursday for talks with Iranian officials on \u201cways to de-escalate tensions & create the conditions conducive to dialogue,\u201d Qatar\u2019s Foreign Ministry said on X.<\/p>\n The discussions, confirmed by Tehran, will also address \u201cfreedom of navigation\u201d in the Strait of Hormuz and the need to return to the prewar status quo, according to Majed Al Ansari, an agency spokesperson.<\/p>\n But U.S. President Donald Trump told Al Jazeera by phone Wednesday that he has \u201cno time schedule\u201d to wrap up the conflict that will reach the six-month mark on Friday. Trump told the Qatar-based broadcaster that he believes the United States is \u201cwinning very big.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry calls US sanctions \u201cpure parody\u201d<\/p>\n Esmail Baghaei, Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesman, wrote late Wednesday in a social media post that the U.S. had made a coalition with Bahrain, calling it a country with \u201cvirtually no meaningful economic exchange with Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n In another social media post on Wednesday, Iran\u2019s top negotiator and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf thanked China for rejecting the U.S. \u201ceconomic D-Day\u201d policies against Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cWe welcome China\u2019s principled statement rejecting illegal sanctions against Iran,” Qalibaf said.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, Tehran had warned that it would respond harshly to expanded U.S. sanctions<\/a>, including measures against countries it sees as cooperating with Washington. Iran has repeatedly targeted Bahrain and other Gulf countries with missiles and drones since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n Israel’s Gaza strikes get rebuke from peace board chief<\/p>\n Nickolay Mladenov, head of Trump\u2019s Board of Peace, told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that the gap between what has been agreed by both sides and what is happening on the ground is the biggest risk to the peace process in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cIsraeli strikes have continued since the road map was accepted, and Palestinian civilians are still being killed,\u201d Mladenov said.<\/p>\n An Israeli strike on a tent for displaced people Wednesday in southern Gaza killed one person and wounded at least four, the territory\u2019s Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said that it struck a \u201cmilitary operative,\u201d without elaborating.<\/p>\n