Iran live updates: Qatari delegation arrives in Iran to continue talks

Even as reports emerge of tankers on fire in the Strait of Hormuz and a series of strikes across the region, Iranian state media has confirmed that a Qatari delegation is now in Tehran to “continue Qatar’s mediation efforts.”

The delegation’s arrival comes amid growing concern that President Donald Trump is preparing military strikes against Iran after the midterm elections.

Meanwhile, in New York, Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, HE Sheikha Alya, called for the unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz during a Security Council meeting on Friday.

She also emphasized Qatar’s "categorical rejection of using the Strait of Hormuz as a means of political pressure." She emphasized that freedom of navigation and transit passage rights through this vital waterway, in accordance with international law, are firmly established principles that are not subject to negotiation.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy is claiming three oil tankers exploded and caught fire while attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz Friday, Iran's state-run television IRIB reported.

The IRGC claimed the tankers were using an "unauthorized route," IRIB reported. The IRGC Navy said a super tanker exploded after hitting a naval mine.

The U.S. military has called past claims from the IRGC, about naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, "false." The claims made by the IRGC have not been verified.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the major difficulty facing France is the rising cost of living, particularly energy prices, which he blamed on the war in Iran.

"The core of what is triggering this purchasing power crisis is the war in Iran, the blockade of Hormuz, the rise in fuel prices," Macron said in an interview with the French YouTuber HugoDecrypte. "It's not a tax increase, it's not a government decision, it's not a pension reform that's triggering this social movement."

France is currently facing nationwide protests, which were set in motion by high school students over learning conditions, but are now fuelled by broader anger over the rising cost of living.

UKMTO said it received a report of a third-party vessel seeing another vessel on fire in the Strait of Hormuz, north of Khasab, Oman.

The status of the crew is unknown, according to the UKMTO.

The Iranian navy claims an oil tanker has struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, causing damage and a fire on board, and bringing the vessel to a halt, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

Iran’s navy claimed the tanker was navigating through “a prohibited and unsafe zone” east of the Strait of Hormuz when it struck the mine, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

Claims of tankers hitting mines are unverified and maritime security officials have previously said there is no evidence that there are mines in the Strait.