Morning Briefing: Aug. 3, 2026

Here's a rundown of the stories you need to start your day, including US President Donald Trump saying that talks between the United States and Iran will begin Monday after shelving a planned strike in anticipation of a deal on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's denuclearization; Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian calling a newly signed memorandum of understanding with Washington the "cornerstone" of Iran's future foreign relations; and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying negotiations with Oman on the future management of the Strait of Hormuz are nearing completion, with discussions now in their final stages.

• Trump says US-Iran talks to begin Monday after shelving planned strike

US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran will begin Monday afternoon, expressing optimism that an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s “denuclearization” could soon be reached.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump said conversations with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iran had prompted him to cancel a “massive attack” on Friday.

“They didn't want us to do it, and frankly, Saudi Arabia didn't want it either. They thought that a deal is imminent ... having to do with the Hormuz Strait and also ultimately denuclearization,” he said.

• Iran says memorandum of understanding with US to serve as ‘cornerstone’ of its future foreign relations

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the memorandum of understanding with the US would become the “cornerstone” of Iran’s future foreign relations.

“The memorandum of understanding that was signed was the result of the collective wisdom of the Supreme National Security Council members, and all members are aligned with it,” Pezeshkian said on the US social media platform X.

“I believe this memorandum of understanding will become the cornerstone of our foreign relations in the future,” he added.

“We must strive to make the enemy abide by what it signed. The security of our country, the region and our allies will be enhanced by this memorandum,” said Pezeshkian.

• lran says talks with Oman on Strait of Hormuz ‘nearing completion’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said negotiations between Iran and Oman over the management of the Strait of Hormuz are “nearing completion.”

Araghchi briefed the Cabinet on the latest status of negotiations between Tehran and Muscat, noting progress in the discussions, lran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.

He said the negotiations are “nearing completion and in their final stages,” without providing further details.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that under Article 5 of the memorandum of understanding with the US to end the war, the future management of the Strait of Hormuz was to be carried out by lran in consultation with Oman and through dialogue with regional countries.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• A 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck Egypt’s northeastern Ismailia province, according to Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).
• An explosion was reported near a tanker off the coast of Oman, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said.
• A mass attempt by around 40,000 people to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta ended with 11 deaths, said Morocco’s Interior Ministry.
• Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip over the past two days have killed civilians and destroyed essential medical supplies, said the Board of Peace’s lead envoy, Nickolay Mladenov.
• Türkiye said Israel's latest attacks on Gaza showed once again that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has no intention of making peace with the Palestinians.
• Hamas accused Israel of deliberately escalating its attacks on the Gaza Strip to derail understandings reached with mediators and the US administration on completing implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
• A suspected suicide bombing outside a police station in northwestern Pakistan killed 14 people and injured more than a dozen others, police said.
• Seven more Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire over the past 24 hours in the Gaza Strip, raising the death toll from Israel’s genocide since October 2023 to 73,356, said the Health Ministry.
• Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan reappointed Nikol Pashinyan as the country's prime minister.
• Five Lebanese soldiers were wounded in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, the army said.
• The Brazilian Workers' Party (PT) officially nominated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as its candidate for the 2026 presidential election during a national convention in Sao Paulo.
• Several people were killed and others injured after projectiles hit refugee camps along the Sudan-Ethiopia border during clashes between Ethiopian government forces and fighters from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, said Sudan’s Interior Ministry.
• Morocco has placed nine provinces at the highest wildfire alert level as blazes continued to intensify over the past week, with satellite data showing that more than 4,100 hectares (10,131 acres) have burned since the start of the year.
• Belarus said it was forming an airborne assault brigade near its border with Ukraine.
• Rescuers found the body of celebrated Nepali climber Nirmal Purja, who along with nine mountaineers was killed during an expedition in northern Pakistan, an official confirmed to Anadolu.
• Yemeni authorities declared a health emergency to contain a measles outbreak in the central governorate of Marib, home to the country's largest population of internally displaced people, after recording 12 deaths and 1,624 infections since the start of this year.
• Authorities ordered about 30,000 people in eastern France to remain indoors after a fire broke out at an industrial site containing toxic substances, according to broadcaster Franceinfo.
• A German court ruled that comparing Israel to the Nazi regime is not a criminal offense, the legal website beck online reported.
• Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said a new Gaza framework sidelines Israel, arguing that US President Donald Trump “no longer” places much weight on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• The death toll from the migration crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta has risen to 72, while more than 48,300 migrants have returned to Morocco, Spanish public broadcaster RTVE reported.
• Israeli forces carried out a new incursion into Syria's southern Quneitra province and set up a temporary checkpoint to search civilians and passing vehicles, according to the Syria Arab News Agency (SANA).

ECONOMY AND TECHNOLOGY

• US intervenes in Japan's currency market for 1st time in over decade

The US made a rare return to Japan's currency market, buying yen for the first time in more than a decade in what President Donald Trump described as “a signal of friendship.”

The rare move aimed to support the yen after it fell to a 40-year low against the US dollar.

“They have a weakening yen, and they wanted a little bit of help. And we’re always there for Japan,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The move marked the first joint currency intervention since 2011, when the yen surged to post-war record highs against the US dollar due to anticipated asset repatriation by domestic insurance firms following a devastating earthquake, prompting the Group of Seven (G7) nations and the Bank of Japan to jointly intervene in a coordinated market intervention to sell yen and curb its sharp rise.

• Seven OPEC+ members to raise oil output by 188,000 bpd in September

Seven OPEC+ member countries agreed to increase their combined oil production by 188,000 barrels per day (bpd) in September, in line with market expectations.

Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman held a virtual meeting to review the global market conditions and outlook, according to a statement from OPEC.

Under the decision, Saudi Arabia and Russia will each increase production by 62,000 bpd. Iraq will raise output by 26,000 bpd, Kuwait by 16,000 bpd, Kazakhstan by 10,000 bpd, Algeria by 6,000 bpd and Oman by 5,000 bpd.

• Main structure of 1st cross-border ropeway linking China and Russia completed

China announced that the main structure of the first cross-border ropeway linking it with Russia has been completed, state media reported.

Construction of the passenger ropeway connecting the city of Heihe in northeast Heilongjiang province and Blagoveshchensk, Russia across the Heilongjiang River began in 2019, and the project is set to be completed before the end of this year, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported.

Once operational, the ropeway will cut cross-river travel time between the two border cities to just six to eight minutes, according to Cao Xinhong, chairman of Heihe-based Jinlonggang Construction, the contractor for the Chinese section of the project.