U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said there were no conversations taking place or scheduled with Iran, noting that the Hormuz Strait is open.
"There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
All water mines have been removed or detonated, said Trump.
He also posted a map on Tuesday marking the Strait of Hormuz as a "new U.S. territory," which immediately drew a sharp rebuke from Iran.
Iran's Fars News Agency dismissed the claim on social media, calling Trump's assertion that the Strait of Hormuz belongs to the United States "delusional."
"Trump's delusion about the Strait of Hormuz will either be corrected by himself or by us," Kazem Gharibabadi, Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said in a post on social media platform X.
Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened unless the United States fulfills its commitments under the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU).
Qalibaf, during a session of the legislative body, listed some of the conditions under the MoU for the waterway's reopening as lifting the anti-Iran naval blockade, releasing Iranian frozen assets, removing oil sanctions, and stopping threats and military operations on all fronts.
The United States must implement all the provisions it has committed to under the MoU, otherwise the strait will not be opened, he said.
Trump says no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with Iran
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Tuesday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains far from under control, with the country having reported more than 5,000 confirmed cases and 2,378 deaths.
As of Aug 16, the DRC had reported 5,021 confirmed cases across 55 health zones in six provinces, with a case fatality rate of 47.4 percent, according to the latest report released by the WHO Regional Office for Africa on Tuesday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the outbreak was "far from being under control" and had gained a considerable lead over response efforts, warning of a high risk of further spread within the country and internationally.
Tedros made the remarks at the opening of a meeting of a WHO emergency committee convened to review the outbreak, which the agency declared a public health emergency of international concern on May 17.
The WHO said the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared by DRC authorities on May 15, and it is already the largest of its kind ever recorded and the second-largest Ebola outbreak globally, while transmission remains intense and has yet to enter a clear declining phase.
Despite ongoing interventions, the trajectory of the deadly virus remains highly unpredictable. Thierno Balde, incident manager for Bundibugyo virus disease in the DRC at the WHO, provided an update on ground operations.
"WHO has already added 100 additional expert epidemiologists who will be deployed at the field level, at the health zone levels, supported by almost more than 500 community health workers who will go to the communities, do the contact tracing and identify the cases, convince the people to accept to be followed up," said Balde.
He then added that healthcare capacity has been expanded with 400 treatment beds added across the country over the past two weeks, but it has remained impossible to determine exactly when the infection rate will begin to decline or when the epidemic will be fully brought under control.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Monday that the outbreak could become the deadliest Ebola epidemic ever recorded globally unless its trajectory is urgently reversed.
"It is now taking approximately one life every 30 minutes," the Africa CDC said. "Unless its trajectory is urgently reversed, it risks becoming the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever recorded globally."
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo far from under control: WHO
