Middle East: Trump took secret flight out of Turkey over Iran threat
Deutsche Welle · LC · trust 68/100
President Donald Trump reportedly used an elaborate ruse to leave the NATO summit in Turkey, amid a credible assassination threat. Meanwhile, oil prices rose as hopes for a deal on the Strait of Hormuz fade. DW has more.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Ib19 News footage and images such as this one have Trump climbing up the stairs of the baby blue Air Force One and waving to reporters Image: Daniel Torok/B66/Avalon/picture alliance Advertisement Skip next section What you need to know What you need to know Trump took secret flight out of Ankara after July's NATO summit, amid threat from Iran, Washington Post reports US-Iran talks on peace and reopening Strait of Hormuz hit impasse Oil prices steady after massive gains as market loses hope for a deal Keep reading for the latest developments in the war in Iran and wider conflict in the Middle East from Tuesday, August 11:
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08/11/2026 August 11, 2026 Container ship reportedly hit by missile in Gulf of Oman A container ship is believed to have been struck by a missile in the Gulf of Oman , according to maritime security sources.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said it had received a report of an incident involving a commercial vessel and military forces, later correcting the vessel type from a tanker to a container ship.
Initial assessments identified the vessel as the Panama-flagged Vela Nova.
British maritime risk management group Vanguard and a separate maritime security source said the ship was believed to have been hit while sailing around 71 nautical miles (132 kilometers) off Pakistan's coast.
08/11/2026 August 11, 2026 Three killed in reported Houthi attack on cargo ship Three crew members have been killed in a reported Houthi attack on a commercial vessel near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to Yemeni government-linked sources.
Two Yemeni coast guard sources and two military officials said the Iran-aligned group attacked a deck cargo ship on Tuesday.
Yemeni pro-government broadcaster Al Yumhuriya said the vessel was hit by a missile and that the dead were two Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian.
The ship's name and nationality were not immediately given.
Yemeni government sources said authorities were working to confirm the circumstances of the attack.
08/11/2026 August 11, 2026 US has 'swept entire Strait of Hormuz' of mines: Trump President Donald Trump said that the US has cleared the Strait of Hormuz of mines , and that the critical trade route was open to commercial traffic.
Trump told reporters at the White House that the US had 100% control of the waterway.
"A little bit complex because they [Iran] will, on occasion, drop a mine, and we find the mines. You know, we've mine swept the entire Strait," he said.
Trump's comments came as Washington and Tehran have been negotiating the full reopening of the strait for some time. Iran has linked the route's reopening to concessions from the US and its allies while affirming plans to charge commercial vessels passing through the strait.
Trump responded to the concessions demand saying he too would demand compensation from Iran, for all the people injured or killed in the conflict.
Over the last weekend, US Vice President JD Vance said that Iran had laid a large number of mines in the Strait at he beginning of the war.
How Iran's Navy wields power in the Strait of Hormuz To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
08/11/2026 August 11, 2026 READ: Is Iran's middle class being pushed into poverty? Economists say the war did not cause Iran's financial woes, but it sharply intensified them Image: Atta Kenare/AFP The war has intensified Iran's economic crisis, squeezing household budgets, hurting businesses.
Read DW's report on growing fears that millions of middle-income families in Iran are slipping closer to poverty .
08/11/2026 August 11, 2026 Oil prices steady after increase, as hopes for a deal fade Global crude oil prices steadied on Tuesday, after a significant rise amid persisting uncertainty over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude and US crude futures were both up slightly on Tuesday morning, reaching the highest levels since July 31, after the contracts spiked roughly 5% on Monday.
The price of Brent hovered just under $88 (€76) a barrel, having swing between $72 and $102 last month.
Oil prices have risen around 10% over the past week, fanning inflationary fears and revitalizing expectations of a possible US interest rate hike in 2026.
"We're now in a bit of a Mexican standoff, if you'd like, in terms of who blinks first," Tony Sycamore, a market Analyst at IG told Reuters.
"This is going to be almost a war of attrition now," he said. "You probably can see the (oil) market sitting around the $75 to $95 range while we wait to see who blinks first."
Middle East war expands beyond Iran To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
08/11/2026 August 11, 2026 Trump took secret flight out of Turkey over Iran threat — report US President Donald Trump reportedly departed from Turkey on a secret military flight in July, instead of the flying aboard an older Air Force One plane as announced by the White House.
This was in response to a credible Iranian assassination threat, the Washington Post reported, as the monthslong war continued.
Trump had taken the newly renovated Qatari-donated jet to Ankara for the NATO summit in July. However, he unexpectedly announced he would used an older Air Force One when departing the country, "for old times's sake." The move had then raised question over the donated jet's safety.
Trump boarded the older Air Force One in front of cameras but was secretly shuttled by an airport catering truck to a…
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