Trump's U.N. envoy says Iran war could last another year

A possible one-year timeline

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the Financial Times that the war with Iran could continue for another year, though he said he hopes Iran will enter negotiations sooner.

Brent crude briefly rose above a barrel Friday, its highest price during the war. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had disabled seven tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump accused Iran on Thursday of lying about attacks on ships to push up oil prices before the U.S. midterm elections.

Saudi Aramco said flows through its East-West pipeline, which bypasses the strait, had risen from 2 million to 7 million barrels a day.

U.S. reduces embassy staffing

The State Department said it would reduce staffing at U.S. embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates because of concern that Iran-backed Houthi militants could increase rocket, missile and drone attacks.

The four embassies will stay open and are already operating with restricted staffing; the changes do not order personnel to leave. Saudi Arabia was not included in the move, after nonessential U.S. diplomats and family members there were ordered to depart earlier in the week.

A U.S. official and a senior military official also said the military had been reducing its presence at Middle East posts because of threats from Iran and the Houthis.

Regional diplomacy and aid

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. It would be their first meeting in Russia during the war, following meetings in Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The United Nations also called for safe and sustained humanitarian access to Taiz, Yemen, where Houthi fighters have blocked a road connecting the city with Aden.