Updated

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran is in contact with mediators Pakistan and Qatar but that no negotiations with the United States are currently taking place. The comment came amid continued fighting and Trump's simultaneous threats of economic escalation, underscoring the gap between public signalling and any actual diplomatic track. Iran has framed the mediator channels as message-passing rather than formal talks. Live coverage on August 16 reported that Iran and Oman were continuing talks specifically focused on the Strait of Hormuz, indicating an additional indirect channel involving a second Gulf mediator alongside Qatar and Pakistan. The Hormuz discussions are proceeding as the waterway remains central to the conflict, with Washington threatening further economic measures and Trump saying he would declare the strait US territory. Separately, the same coverage reported Israeli strikes killing 11 people in Lebanon, the deadliest such attacks since the June truce, illustrating how the wider regional conflict continues in parallel with the diplomatic contacts.