Iran and Oman discuss temporary Hormuz corridor as impasse with US drags on

Separately, the U.S. Secret Service said on Tuesday that it was aware of a video broadcast by Iranian state television discussing ​a potential plot to assassinate Trump's youngest son, Barron.

A three-minute video broadcast by Iranian state TV discussed a potential plot ​to assassinate Barron Trump, 20, claiming that he was being monitored and alleging that a $10 million bounty had been offered for his killing.

SANCTIONS‌Despite ⁠the ongoing tensions, the U.S. is beginning to send personnel back to some diplomatic missions in the Middle East that were evacuated or downsized amid tensions with Iran, two people familiar with the matter.

The move suggests Washington sees a lower risk of the conflict with Iran escalating in the near term, though some embassies will initially operate below full capacity. In an ​effort to hobble Iran's economy, the ​United States earlier this week ⁠threatened to punish countries that continue to do business with Iran, but said it would not impose penalties immediately.

Oil prices fell for a second day as traders brushed off the impact ​of the U.S. sanctions, while Iran denounced the U.S. effort to isolate its economy as ​an act of "gross ⁠lawlessness", expressing confidence that many countries would not join the pressure campaign.

US public approval of the war has fallen to its lowest level since the conflict's early days, and Trump's popularity is likewise at a record low ahead of congressional elections in November, according ⁠to Reuters/Ipsos ​polling.

Thousands of people have died in the conflict, most of them in ​Iran and Lebanon, while the U.S. and Israel have degraded much of Iran's conventional military capacity. The exact state of its nuclear program, which the U.S. ​and Israel aim to dismantle, remains unknown.