War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The United Nations has said that more than 400,000 people are still displaced in Lebanon, with many families unable to “return home safely due to continued attacks”, Al Jazeera reports.

Thousands of families still living in shelters have said they are experiencing “worsening shelter conditions, reduced access to water and hygiene services, and limited opportunities to earn an income,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

“Many also said they are increasingly relying on borrowing funds to meet basic needs, including the purchase of essential medicines,” Dujarric said.

Their “repeated attempts to return home have often been reversed due to insecurity, damaged infrastructure and limited access to basic services back in their home areas,” he added.

Iran’s military claims to have launched drones at US military facilities at Camp Doha in western Kuwait, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the Iranian military said its forces struck “ammunition depots” and “ground forces command logistics equipment” at the base in response to the US’s “repeated aggression”.

Vessel crossings via the Strait of Hormuz dropped further, shipping data showed, as security concerns lingered amid ongoing attacks by the United States and Iran, AFP reports.

A total of three commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from four the previous day, Kpler data showed.

The general cargo ship the Kaiser exited the strait loaded with cargo, while the dry bulk carrier H7 Smb8 entered the strait in ballast, Kpler data showed, meaning it will take on a cargo in the Gulf.

The United Arab Emirates has condemned the Houthis’ threat to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, warning that it could undermine freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.

In a statement, the UAE Foreign Ministry called for the enforcement of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and reaffirmed its “full solidarity” with Saudi Arabia.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Iran war has cost the country $37.5 billion so far, up from a previous estimate of nearly $29 billion in mid-May, AFP reports.

“The estimate we have as of today is $37.5bn,” Hegseth testified during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing at which he defended a request for some $67bn in supplemental funding for the Pentagon.

Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress the funding request is “urgent” and “necessary” to pay the Pentagon’s costs for the Iran war through the end of September.

But Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen challenged that assessment, saying Hegseth still has $75bn available in unspent funding.

Oil prices inch higher in early trading as fears of further supply disruptions intensified after US forces said it began striking Iranian military targets for the 11th straight night and Kuwait reported attacks by Iranian drones, according to Reuters.

Brent crude futures rise 0.55 per cent, or 50 cents, to $91.51 after markets opened, while US West Texas Intermediate crude climbs 0.36pc, or 30 cents, to $84.64 in low volume trading.

United States State Secretary Marco Rubio said that the US is open-minded on the Middle East conflict and willing to engage, negotiate and settle differences with Iran, but Tehran was not serious about talks, Reuters reports.

“If they’re serious, we’re serious. If they’re not, then we will do what’s necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our allies,” Rubio said in remarks in a meeting with Southeast Asian counterparts in Manila, who have expressed serious concern about the renewed hostilities.

The United States military said that it carried out strikes in Iran for the 11th consecutive night.

“Centcom assets targeted Iranian military operations centres, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities, and military logistics infrastructure to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” it said.

“Over the past three months, Iran has attacked more than 30 commercial vessels transiting the international waterway vital for regional and global trade. The unwarranted attacks have endangered hundreds of innocent mariners and undermined freedom of navigation,” it said.

“Despite Iranian aggression, the Strait of Hormuz remains open for commercial vessel transit. Since early May, Centcom forces have helped facilitate the transit of approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil,” it added.

Anadolu reports that Erbil International Airport has suspended all arrivals and departures after a wave of attacks targeting city, airspace, the airport director tells the Iraqi state news agency.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has expressed gratitude for the United States’ support of his country, following his meeting in Washington with his American counterpart Donald Trump at the White House, AFP reports.

In a statement, the presidency says Aoun wrote in the White House guest book that he felt “deep appreciation for President Trump’s friendship and for the support the United States of America provides to Lebanon, its sovereignty, its legitimate institutions, and the Lebanese Armed Forces”.

Bahrain’s interior ministry says that air raid sirens have once again been activated in the kingdom, urging people to find shelter.

Iran says it has shot down an enemy one-way attack drone over the country’s East Azerbaijan province, news agency Tasnim reports.

The report adds that the drone was intercepted and downed by the country’s integrated air defence network.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to maintain American support for his country’s military, warning that southern Lebanon could see a return of the chaos of the 1970s without Washington’s backing, AFP reports.

“We don’t want to see that back again. All we’re asking is, keep supporting the LAF,” Aoun tells reporters of the Lebanese Armed Forces during a White House meeting with Trump. “All we’re asking is, keep supporting the LAF … I fully trust the LAF. I fully trust the leadership of the LAF.”

US President Donald Trump says that Iran is “probably” trying to hurt his and his Republican Party’s chances in the upcoming congressional elections in November by threatening the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.

Trump dismisses the impact that Iran would have, saying, “I’m just going to do the right thing.”

“The election, I can’t think about that having to do with this [the war on Iran]. I think people are very impressed,” he tells reporters at the White House.

President Donald Trump says the US will be hitting the Pickaxe Mountain area, located near Iran’s heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, “pretty soon”, according to Reuters.

Pickaxe Mountain is a heavily fortified site that hosts two deeply buried tunnel complexes that experts assess as beyond the reach of the most powerful bunker-buster bombs in the US arsenal. The site is linked to Iran’s nuclear programme.

US President Donald Trump has warned that Washington will strike any new sites where Iran tries to resume its nuclear weapons programme.

“We’re not leaving right now; we’re having a big impact on Iran,” he tells reporters.

“We will absolutely attack the new site that they’re talking about,” Trump adds, referring to a new site where he claims Iran will resume its nuclear activity. “Any site where they’re even thinking about nuclear, we’ll be hitting it very powerfully. Nobody knows, except the Iranians, the damage we’ve done to them.”

US President Donald Trump, still speaking at the White House with Lebanon’s President Aoun, says his military is “degrading” Iran’s military capabilities “at levels that nobody thought was possible”, Al Jazeera reports.

“They did slip something through in Jordan, and if we had other operators, that would not have happened, unfortunately”, Trump adds, without clarifying who these “other operators” might be.

US President Donald Trump has reiterated that Iran “desperately” wants to meet, but says that Washington has no interest in engaging with Tehran “unless they’re ready to meet in a meaningful way”.

Asked when the Israeli military will withdraw from southern Lebanon, US President Donald Trump says they “are in the process of doing that”.

“They get along very well, it’s a great agreement they signed with Lebanon, and they’re redeploying,” Trump tells reporters at the White House.

Asked about Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri warning that the agreement with Israel would “cause a civil war”, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says that the framework “does not require the endorsement of parliament”.

“It is a part of our constitution; it is the prerogative of the president,” Aoun tells reporters at the White House alongside US President Donald Trump. “We are committed to it, and I think the speaker of the parliament really wants to see the end of this war; he is from the south.

“He is actually supportive of what we are doing, but we need to be careful. His position as speaker and a leader of the Shia community — we have to understand how critical his position is,” Aoun adds, emphasising that Berri is a “man of state” and is “supportive of ending the war once and for all”.

US President Donald Trump has said Washington will “see what happens” with regard to Yemen’s Houthi rebels threatening to impose a naval blockade of the Red Sea.

Fielding questions from reporters at the White House, Trump says, “If something like that happens, we take care of it. We’ve done that with the Houthis before, and we haven’t heard from them in a while … and we’ve had no problem with the Houthis and they’ve had no problem with us for a long period of time, including during this conflict.

“I think if there is something like that, we’ll just have to take care of business,” he adds.

Asked about whether Lebanon would join the Abraham Accords despite laws criminalising contact with Israel, US President Donald Trump has said Beirut has “a very important place” with the agreement, which normalises ties with Tel Aviv.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of countries joining pretty soon,” Trump tells reporters, hailing the Accords as a “tremendous success”.

“I think Lebanon has a very important place.”