By AJ Vicens

Aug 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday unsealed new and updated charges against 17 individuals working withan Iranian company that it alleges carried out hacks and data theft against U.S. universities, companies and government agencies.

The DOJ said in a statement that the individuals were working with the Mabna Institute, which carried out hacking campaigns on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian government and university clients.

By Timour Azhari

GENEVA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The United States is working to establish a deconfliction mechanism among Israel, Turkey and Syria, U.S. special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said on Tuesday after Israel struck a Syrian airbase near the Turkish border.

Barrack, who is also U.S. ambassador to Turkey, said Turkey had not been warned about the Israeli strikes, "and consequently observed the aircraft heading north toward its territory and therefore could have reasonablyprepared its own response," referring to possible Turkish military reaction.

By Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM, Aug 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner left Jerusalem on Monday without a breakthrough after two days of talks with Israeli and Hamas leaders over a stalled U.S. plan to end the war in Gaza, with both sides standing firm on key demands.

Paris will expel two Iranian diplomats posted in France in retaliation for Iran banning two French diplomats in the embassy in Tehran, the French foreign minister said on Tuesday. 

"Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the coming days," Jean-Noel Barrot said on X, adding the move was a consequence of the "intolerable" treatment of the French diplomats who were briefly detained last month in Tehran over accusations of "interference". 

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions against International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane of Japan as part of its campaign against the body that it accuses of being "politicized."

Washington also slapped sanctions on ICC Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal in the Trump administration's latest salvo against The Hague-based court.

DUBAI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The Strait of Hormuz will remain shut until the U.S. meets the conditions of an interim deal signed with Iran in June, the top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in comments published by state media on Tuesday.

These conditions include the U.S. lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, lifting oil sanctions, releasing Tehran's frozen assets, and ending threats and military operations on all fronts, Qalibaf told parliament.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that no talks with Iran are underway and none are scheduled, as he posted a map showing the Strait of Hormuz as a new American territory in a fresh jibe at Tehran.

Trump has been pressing his threat to claim sovereignty over the crucial energy waterway as the nearly six-month-old Iran war grinds on with little sign of resolution.

By Mahmoud Issa and Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA/CAIRO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - As children walked into the zoo near Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, they found a lion barely looking back at them through the bars of its cage and chimpanzees sitting listlessly in their enclosure.

Many of the animals were malnourished, weakened by shortages of food, medicine and vaccines. But they were still alive, largely thanks to the efforts of zoo owner Mahmoud Gomaa.

WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that talks between the U.S. and Iran were neither taking place nor scheduled but the Strait of Hormuz was open, while Iran said the shipping route would remain closed until the U.S. fulfilled the terms of an interim deal.

"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. All water mines have been removed or detonated," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Katharine Jackson

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran would not make the deal he thinks is needed to end a war with the U.S. and should surrender as talks between the countries remained stalled.

"They're not going to make the kind of a deal that I feel is necessary. Look, we're in there for one reason: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," he told reporters in the Oval Office.

Asked whether the U.S. was seeking to extend an interim deal with Iran, Trump said "no."