By Daphne Psaledakis and David Lawder

WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. imposed Iran-related sanctions on an Egyptian bank on Friday, part of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's campaign to increase economic pressure to try to break a stalemate six months into Washington's war with Iran.

(Corrects last paragraph to say it is the Navy's longest deployment, not the longest deployment for the USS Gerald R. Ford)

By Simon Lewis, Trevor Hunnicutt, Idrees Ali and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Six months after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the war that President Donald Trump has called a "little excursion" has become a deeply unpopular stalemate that threatens to derail his presidency.

Four young men admitted on Friday being behind an arson attack on London ambulances owned by a Jewish charity at a UK court hearing.

British nationals Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and British-Pakistani Saif Ali, 18, all pleaded guilty to criminal damage linked to the March 23 attack.

Four ambulances run by the Hatzola charity were destroyed in a London neighbourhood home to a signficant Jewish population, one of a spate of attacks in the British capital targeting Jewish or Israel-linked locations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party on Friday upbraided a far-right cabinet member for refusing to run on a joint slate with another ultranationalist, warning a split vote risked tanking their coalition in upcoming elections.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who recently drew international condemnation for saying Israel should kill "30 to 40" Palestinians nightly in Gaza, has rejected Netanyahu's pleas to join forces with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

By Michael Holden and Sam Tobin

LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Seven protesters accused of daubing pro-Palestinian graffiti on U.S. President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last year could face longer sentences if found guilty due to what prosecutors have described as a "terrorist connection".

Activists from the now-banned group Palestine Action were charged last year with criminal damage for spray-painting walls at the course with the slogans "Free Gaza" and "Free Palestine" as well as insults against Trump.

Aug 28 (Reuters) - Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed the former commander of a now-dissolved Kurdish-led fighting force as a presidential adviser on Friday, reflecting a rapprochement between the two long-time civil war adversaries.

For over a decade, Mazloum Abdi led the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which aligned with the U.S. to fight Islamic State and seize swathes of northern and eastern Syria during the country's war to create a semi-autonomous zone.

(This August 27 story has been republished to add a video, with no changes to text.)

By Samia Nakhoul

BEIRUT, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The Iran war has reached its endgame: a costly stalemate.

Six months after U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader and maiming his son and successor, the Iranian government is under economic siege, but it still holds power and believes it has time on its side.

Iran left the door open to diplomacy on Friday, six months into a war with the United States that has upended the Middle East, but only if Washington abandons its pressure campaign.

"Putting diplomacy back on track isn't impossible. It hinges on US understanding of one simple fact: pressure doesn't work," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X on Friday.

By Seher Dareen, Anushree Mukherjee and Robert Harvey

LONDON Aug 25 (Reuters) - Almost half the world's oil comes from countries affected by conflict in 2026, Reuters calculations show, underscoring that current disruptions have eclipsed previous energy crises.

Six months ago, U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran triggered what has become the largest oil supply crisis on record, with no clear end in sight.

At the same time, the Russia-Ukraine war has forced production and refining cuts, including in nearby Kazakhstan this year.

By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall

DUBAI, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Six months after the airstrikes that began the war and propelled a badly wounded Mojtaba Khamenei into the role of Iran's supreme leader, he remains entirely unseen and unheard by Iranians — a vacuum at the heart of his country's leadership.

Questions over his condition and role are growing increasingly fraught, with Iran facing critical decisions over a war that has set the Middle East aflame while trashing the country's already fragile economy.