War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Oil prices have risen to their highest in four weeks, as the US reimposed a naval blockade of Iran and renewed attacks between Washington and Tehran heightened concerns over energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures were up $2.74, or 3.29pc, at $86.04 per barrel at 0751 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.21, or 2.83pc, to $80.35 a barrel.

Kuwait has denounced Iran’s attacks on two Emirati oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, calling them “reprehensible”, according to Al Jazeera.

The country’s foreign ministry described the act, which killed an Indian crew member and injured several others, as a “flagrant violation of international law” and a “direct threat to the security and safety of maritime navigation and global energy supplies”.

It also expressed its solidarity with the UAE and urged an end to fighting in the region.

Major Gulf equity markets open lower after Washington reinstated its naval blockade against Iran, with both nations escalating military strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, intensifying concerns over global energy supply disruptions, Reuters reports.

Dubais main share index ‘has dropped more than 1 per cent, with top lender Emirates NBD gaining 1.2pc.

In Abu Dhabi, the index has eased 0.3pc.

Saudi Arabias benchmark index has lost 0.2pc, hit by a 0.5pc fall in Al Rajhi Bank .

Oil major Saudi Aramco gained 0.8pc as oil prices rose.

China called on the United States and Iran to restore safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, as fighting between the two sides reignited over how the strategic waterway should be managed, AFP reports.

“Restoring normal and safe passage through the strait as soon as possible is a shared aspiration of the international community,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a news briefing, adding that Beijing would “make unremitting efforts to help de-escalate” the situation.

A tanker has been hit by a missile while transiting southeast of Oman’s Limah area, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Monday.

The UKMTO said authorities were investigating the incident.

In the 26 days since the Islamabad MoU was signed, Iran has shipped out more than 80 million barrels of crude oil and refined products, TankerTrackers — a maritime traffic monitor — says.

The shipped oil is worth more than $6 billion currently.

“Now that the US Navy blockade is being reinstated more than a month ahead of schedule, it appears that around 30 million barrels of Iranian crude oil have yet to depart,” TankerTrackers says.

“However, there are also more than 60 million barrels of floating storage capacity available within the blockade perimeter should Iran be forced to scale back its oil production.”

Bahrain’s defence force has thwarted several Iranian attacks, it has said in a statement, Al Jazeera reports

“The General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force announces that Iran continues its systematic aggression through its heinous attacks targeting civilians in the Kingdom of Bahrain,” it says.

“The General Command emphasises that the deliberate use of missiles and drones to target civilians and private property constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”

It has urged its citizens to continue to exercise caution and to avoid approaching any suspicious objects.

European shares have opened lower as escalating US-Iran tensions spook investors, who scrutinised quarterly earnings from companies such as oil major BP and telecom equipment maker Ericsson to gauge the impact of the conflict on corporate health, Reuters reports.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index has slipped 0.4 per cent to 638.17 points by 0810 GMT, with travel and leisure leading sectoral decliners with a 2pc drop.

Energy price-sensitive airlines Air France and Lufthansa have fallen about 2pc each.

Brent crude prices have shot up 2.6pc to $85 a barrel.

Iran’s oil exports are continuing as usual despite the cancellation last week of a 60-day waiver of U.S. oil sanctions, oil minister Mohsen Paknejad said on his official Telegram account, Reuters reports.

Paknejad said the oil ministry had maintained mechanisms for years to neutralise the impact of US sanctions and that Iran’s oil exports would face no problems despite the removal of the waivers.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has criticised Trump’s statement that the US plans to impose a 20pc tariff on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.

“Back in the day, that used to be called piracy,” Lula said in remarks delivered in São Paulo.

“A major country like the United States, which I believe has long fought against piracy, cannot now become a pirate itself,” he said.

Explosions were heard in the Bahraini capital, an AFP journalist said, after sirens sounded for the third time since dawn.

Bahrain’s defence ministry had warned that “sirens have been set off, we urge citizens and residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place”. It came hours after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out missile and drone strikes on the Gulf kingdom.

India has summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador over the killing of an Indian seafarer in the Strait of Hormuz, an Indian government official said, according to Reuters.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Navy has confirmed that two super oil tankers, which it said were “misled by American provocations”, were struck and disabled after deliberately ignoring repeated warnings and attempting to navigate through a mined route in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s state media reports.

According to the IRGC statement, the US “once again tried to create chaos by inciting vessels to violate legal shipping lanes”.

“The two rogue super tankers fell for the American deception, switched off their navigation systems, and disregarded multiple warnings issued by the Hormuz Strait Security Control Centre,” the statement added.

The UAE has said that Iran attacked two of its ships in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one crew member and wounding eight others.

The head of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee has warned that Iran remains steadfast in defending its red lines, following the formal introduction of a bill to manage the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on X, Ebrahim Azizi wrote, “Last night, coinciding with the downing of US drones, the ‘Strategic Action for the Security and Sustainable Progress of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf’ bill was formally introduced in Iran’s Parliament.

“We remain steadfast in defending our red lines, particularly regarding the management of the Strait of Hormuz,” Azizi said.

Iran rescued 23 foreign crew members after a bulk carrier collided with another vessel north of Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, according to Reuters.

The bulk carrier suffered serious damage to its hull and began taking on water, prompting the captain to order an emergency evacuation, Fars said, adding that all crew members were safely transferred to Qeshm Island.

A US air base in Jordan was targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement published by Fars News, calling on the Jordanian people to dismantle American bases in their country, Reuters reports.

“You know very well that not only do we not have any enmity with your country, but we also love you, the noble people, who understand the pain and oppression of the Palestinian people more than any other nation,” the statement said.

Sirens have been sounded in Bahrain, the interior ministry has said on X. This is the third time in the past five hours that sirens have been sounded.

“Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” it said.

Jordan’s armed forces have shot down four missiles in Jordanian airspace that were fired from Iran, according to the official Petra news agency, Al Jazeera reports.

Iran’s IRGC said it has launched missile and drone attacks on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, Al Jazeera reports.

It said the strikes set fire to fuel depots at the base and hit and destroyed a Patriot radar, as well as the fleet’s air control radar, a C-RAM early warning radar system and the control and monitoring centre for unmanned surface vessels.

“The retaliatory operation continues,” the statement added.

For some time, the escalating confrontation between the US and Iran has been playing out round the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. Both states want to manage the international waterway, which has a key role in global trade, particularly in the transport of hydrocarbons. Tensions flared last week when the Iranians attacked ships using a route they had not ‘authorised’.

From that point onwards, both the US and Iran have traded regular fire, with hostilities rising, and the Islamabad MoU coming under a cloud. The US has hit Iranian facilities close to the coast, as opposed to the heavier bombing across the country before the April ceasefire. Tehran has responded by hitting US bases and infrastructure from Jordan to the GCC states. On Monday, American President Donald Trump declared, in all caps, that his country would be the “guardian of the Hormuz Strait”, while adding that the blockade of Iran would resume. Tehran, meanwhile, says the strait has been closed.

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Oil prices jumped and stocks fell again after fresh US strikes against Iran that marked a new escalation in hostilities that has fuelled fears over their already fragile truce and the chances of another spike in inflation, Reuters reports.

Tech firms were once again in the crosshairs, with South Korea’s Kospi extending a painful selloff as chip titan SK hynix continued to be routed amid growing fears about the AI boom.

The latest attacks came after Iranian forces struck a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of global oil passes — early Sunday, before announcing the closure of the waterway.

US President Donald Trump has sent Congress a formal notification that hostilities against Iran resumed on July 7, a letter his administration sees as opening a new 60-day window to use the military in the region without congressional approval, Reuters reports.

“I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States’ national security and foreign policy interests,” Trump said in the letter, dated July 10.

The letter outlines Trump’s actions, including ordering a two-week ceasefire on April 7, which was extended, and his administration’s efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

US military said latest round of attacks on Iran lasted five hours and that US forces “successfully struck military targets across Iran including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas,” Al Jazeera reports.

US forces “employed precision munitions against Iranian coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities,” it said, with the aim of further degrading “Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping”.