US-Iran war LIVE: Iran's meeting with Gulf leaders on Strait of Hormuz proposal postponed amid fresh attacks

US-Iran war LIVE: Diplomacy in the Middle East seems to be faltering as a proposed meeting between Iran and other Persian Gulf powers over the Strait of Hormuz proposal was postponed, while fresh attacks around the region's two most important oil transit routes deepened concern over global energy supplies. Hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the near term faded after Oman's Foreign Minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, late Sunday posted that a regional meeting scheduled for Monday is postponed "in the interests of consensus."

The postponement came after Saudi Arabia decided to shut down, at least for now, its pipeline that has served as the main route for Middle East oil bypassing Hormuz.Trump dismisses reports that Chinese entities helped Iran in Jordan attackUS President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) dismissed a report that accused Tehran of acquiring Chinese satellite images of a base in Jordan before they carried out an attack that killed three US troops in July.

According to The Wall Street Journal, unnamed US officials confirmed the development in the July attack, to which Trump responded, "They basically do what we do," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "When they say China spies on us, I say you're right, and we spy on them too," he added. The US President's comments come ahead of his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, scheduled to take place later this month.Oil jumps as Saudi shuts pipelineOil advanced after Saudi Arabia shut a major crude pipeline following attacks, disrupting a route that’s been used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Iran war and deepening a global energy crunch.

Brent rose as much as 3.6 per cent to above $108 a barrel, before paring gains, while West Texas Intermediate was near $103. Saudi Arabia said late on Friday that it had halted the East-West pipeline as a precaution after attacks the previous day. There’s been no indication of when operations will resume. Crude has rallied by more than three-quarters this year, as the US-Iran conflict spread across the region, curtailing exports and pitching shipping markets into disarray.

On the demand front, meanwhile, a recent uptick in buying by China, the world’s largest crude importer, has also helped to push prices higher.Iran's nuclear chief unlikely to attend IAEA General ConferenceIran's Atomic Energy Organisation chief is unlikely to attend the annual gathering of the UN nuclear watchdog's member nations in Vienna for the first time in years because he is banned from international travel. Mohammad Eslami's exclusion from the IAEA conference is another sign of rapidly deteriorating relations between Iran and the West.

The United States and Iran have resumed fighting, on and off, after a fragile ceasefire collapsed in July.