War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The number of vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz has slightly increased, “with 21 monitored transits recorded, dominated by commercial traffic carrying crude, LPG, methanol and iron ore”, Al Jazeera reports citing shipping data monitor Kpler.

“However, the security outlook deteriorated further as three additional attacks off Oman were verified, bringing the reported toll to 56 confirmed incidents and 17 seafarer fatalities,” it says on X.

“The absence of Omani route transits highlights a growing loss of confidence in that corridor, while shipping continues to favour Iranian-approved routing,” the company adds.

The strait “remains passable, but the operating environment is becoming increasingly complex and unstable”.

US Central Command (Centcom) says its forces started launching “a wave of strikes against Iran” at 6am ET.

“The strikes are designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” Centcom says in a post on X.

Oil gains have extended by around one per cent as President Donald Trump reimposes a naval blockade on all Iranian ports and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threaten to close “all other export corridors that benefit the US and its allies”, Reuters reports.

Brent futures has gained 69 cents, or 0.8pc, to $85.42 a barrel at 0950 GMT. West Texas Intermediate futures rises 73 cents, or 0.9pc, to $80.07 a barrel.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened to cut off all energy exports from the Middle East over the reimposition by the US of naval blockade on its ports, Al Jazeera reports.

“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” it has said in a statement.

A drone has crashed in an open area of the container yard at the Grand Faw Port on Iraq’s Gulf coast, Al Jazeera reports citing a statement by the port authority.

It is unclear who launched the drone.

“The company confirms that the incident did not result in any human or material damage as the drone crashed in an open area far from workers, equipment and facilities, and the incident did not affect the workflow or operational processes within the port, which continue as normal,” the authority said.

Iraqi authorities have begun an investigation into the incident.

The Gulf monarchies of Kuwait and Bahrain confirmed they had intercepted fresh aerial salvos from Iran as Tehran and Washington exchanged fire over control of the vital Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

Kuwait’s military said it was intercepting attack drones, and blamed “nefarious Iranian aggression”, with Bahrain’s army later saying it “succeeded in intercepting and destroying a number of the treacherous Iranian aerial attacks”.

China’s fuel oil demand is set for a long road to recovery after imports touched a record monthly low as refiners cut output and opted for cheaper crude in the wake of the US-Iran war, industry sources said, Reuters reports.

The lackluster appetite at one of Asia’s top importers of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) is expected to cap prices, even though the market strengthened this week after Washington and Tehran stepped up attacks in the Middle East, disrupting Gulf supplies shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

Japanese oil refiners will diversify supply sources while exploring ways to support Middle Eastern producers, including pipeline expansion projects that bypass the Strait of Hormuz, the head of an industry group has said, Reuters reports.

Middle Eastern producers, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have asked the Japanese government to participate in or support plans to expand oil pipelines to bypass the strait, Shunichi Kito, president of Petroleum Association of Japan, says, adding that US crude is one diversification option.

But given the current configuration of Japanese refineries, which are better suited to Middle Eastern grades, it is difficult to handle large volumes of US crude at present, Kito says.

Drawing lessons from the Iran crisis, the oil industry will seek to strengthen supply chains by deepening ties with oil-producing countries, securing tanker capacity and improving refinery flexibility, Kito has said.

Bahrain’s military said it had intercepted aerial attacks from Iran after warning sirens sounded in the early hours in the tiny Gulf nation, AFP reports.

“The General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force announces that Iran continues its systematic hostile approach through its criminal attacks that target civilians,” it said in a statement adding the military “succeeded in intercepting and destroying a number of the treacherous Iranian aerial attacks this morning”.

A military court has sentenced a soldier to five years in prison for spying on behalf of Iran during the June 2025 war, according to a statement by the Israeli army, Al Jazeera reports.

The conviction for carrying out espionage tasks on behalf of Iran came following a joint investigation by the military police, the Israeli police, and the Shin Bet intelligence agency, the army update said.

An unidentified drone crashed inside the Grand Faw Port project in Iraq’s southern Basra province, Al Jazeera reports.

The Israeli military said it had sentenced an active-duty soldier to five years in prison for sending videos of missile interceptions to an Iranian agent, AFP reports.

The soldier sent two such videos during the 12-day war with Iran in June last year and “received payment for them,” the military said. It added that he had also shared several videos filmed in civilian locations with the Iranian agent.

The Iranian army says it will respond to the attack on Bambour Garrison in Iranshahr, calling it “cowardly aggression,” Al Jazeera reports.

“A decisive response will be given to this crime at the appropriate time,” a statement cited by the Tasnim news agency said.

Thirteen US missiles struck facilities at a barracks in Bampour killing seven personnel from the 388th Brigade and injuring several others, it said. The army said “passive defence measures” limited casualties.

Fresh US strikes hit Iran’s southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country’s only civilian nuclear plant, state news agency IRNA reported, according to AFP.

“The American enemy attacked three locations in Bushehr today,” the city governor, Mohammad Mozafari told IRNA, the day after another attack as Washington and Tehran stepped up their military confrontation

An Indian national who went missing after an attack on commercial vessel GFS Galaxy off the coast of Oman is dead, his father-in-law said, Reuters reports.

Of the 11 Indians on board, 10 were rescued, the Indian foreign ministry said on Sunday.

The United States on Tuesday expanded its sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector, taking further aim at the network of petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the Treasury Department said, according to Reuters.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department had also frozen $130 million held in digital wallets linked to Iran’s central bank, hitting a sector that has seen increased activity since the start of the war.

The move came after US forces carried out a fourth straight day of strikes against Iran and reimposed a naval blockade, with Iran in turn hitting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organization.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reports that Israeli forces carried out large-scale demolition operations at dawn, destroying several homes and other structures with explosives in the valleys of Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil district in the south.

According to the NNA report, Israeli forces also bulldozed the roads leading from Bint Jbeil to the border town of Maroun al-Ras, and opened fire on residents attempting to inspect orchards near the towns of Majdal Zoun and al-Mansouri.

Chinese Ambassador Sun Lei says that the US launching “major attacks against Iran” has “once again” pushed the region “into a dangerous precipice,” Al Jazeera reports.

Sun made the comments after US envoy Mike Waltz claimed that China was not doing enough to stop the flow of goods to Iran and Yemen, a claim Sun said was “completely baseless”.

“China exercises strict control over such exports,” he said.

Daily crude loadings at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu are close to maximum levels this week as tensions with Yemen’s Houthi militia intensify and the kingdom seeks to maximise oil exports, according to data and industry sources, Reuters reports.

Shipments from Yanbu reached 4.7 million barrels per day around July 13, up from 3.36m bpd around July 10 and broadly in line with 4.6 million bpd around July 2, according to Signal Ocean data.

Loadings have averaged above four million bpd since June, compared with 973,000 bpd around the same period 2025, the data showed.

US projectiles hit a wheat storage silo in Hoveizeh County, in Iran’s western Khuzestan province, overnight, the province’s deputy governor told the Fars news agency, adding that no casualties have been reported, Al Jazeera reports.

Jordan’s army said it had shot down three missiles from Iran, as Tehran pressed attacks on US allies in response to American strikes, AFP reports.

“Air defense systems intercepted and shot down three ballistic missiles at dawn after they entered Jordanian airspace from Iranian territory,” the army said in a statement, adding that there were no casualties or material damage.