War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Oil prices have pared gains that had lifted them more than 5 per cent today after Iran and Israel said they had halted attacks on each other, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures were up $1.71, or 1.8pc, at $94.85 a barrel as of 11:10am ET (8:10pm PKT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up $1.53, or 1.7pc, at $92.07.

“The US president’s remarks about the memorandum of understanding contradicted the agreed-upon sections, which showed that they are neither seeking a ceasefire nor dialogue,” Iran’s Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf said.

“We had to give a firm response in defence of the Iranian nation’s rights, and by the grace of God, our armed forces carried out their duty with authority,” he added.

The dollar has pulled back from its highest level in nearly two months, after Iran said its attacks on Israel had ended, Reuters reports.

Tehran’s comments lured investors into other currencies that had been dented after strong US jobs data on Friday prompted traders to ramp up bets on a Federal Reserve rate rise this year.

The euro was a touch stronger on the day at $1.1533, but still hovered near its lowest level in around nine weeks, while the pound edged above three-week lows to $1.3390.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf has the goal of the negotiations with the US is to end the war and establish lasting security, not normalisation with America.

The Israeli military has instructed residents of Lebanon, particularly those in the Zuqaq al-Mufdi neighbourhood of Tyre in the south, to leave their homes and move north of the Zahrani River.

Avichay Adraee, the army’s Arabic-language spokesman, said on X that the area would come under attack, claiming the target was Hezbollah.

He did not specify when the attack would take place, though such strikes are typically carried out shortly after such warnings.

Iran’s airspace has returned to normal operations following the end of military activities, according to the head of the Civil Aviation Organization.

The official said the decision was made after relevant authorities announced the conclusion of military operations and necessary coordination measures were completed. Flight operations across the country will now resume in line with issued Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs), restoring regular air traffic services.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence said investigations into a ballistic missile launched from Yemen found that the projectile had been aimed at a regional country rather than Saudi territory.

According to the ministry’s spokesperson, Major General Turki Al-Malki, technical reviews showed the missile malfunctioned and deviated from its intended course due to technical reasons. The malfunction generated inaccurate indicators regarding its target destination before the missile ultimately fell in an uninhabited area near the Saudi-Yemeni border.

The statement was issued following an earlier announcement about the missile’s launch and subsequent disappearance near the kingdom’s border region.

US forces disabled a Palau-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday as the unladen vessel Marivex headed toward Iran, the US military said.

The death toll from an Israeli car attack in Tyre, southern Lebanon, has risen to five, Al Jazeera reports according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Lebanese Civil Defence teams and the Al-Risala Health Ambulance Association transferred the dead and wounded to hospitals in the area.

The latest killing brings today’s death toll from Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon to at least 10.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf says that Iran has “disrupted the equation of a ceasefire on paper and its repeated violations in the field”.

“As long as you lack the genuine will to build trust, Iran’s response will be exactly this,” he said in a post on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel’s strikes on Iran have deterred the Islamic republic from launching further attacks, leading to a cessation of hostilities between the two adversaries, AFP reports.

“At this moment, the fire on that front is contained — after we struck the terror regime in Tehran, it stopped attacking us,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

He warned however that should Iran “make the mistake of resuming attacks against us, we will respond with full force”.

The Lebanese Red Cross says an Israeli strike has wounded four rescuers near their centre in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, AFP reports.

In a statement, the Red Cross said “the targeting that occurred in front of the Lebanese Red Cross centre in Tyre” wounded four paramedics. Lebanese state media had earlier reported an Israeli strike on a vehicle in front of the centre.

US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, a White House official tells AFP, after the first exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran since an April ceasefire.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has vowed to press Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, despite a warning from Iran that any such action would prompt the Tehran to take “severe” measures, AFP reports.

“The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon against the terrorist organisation Hezbollah,” Katz said in a statement, adding that Israel would strike Beirut’s Dahiyeh district in retaliation for every attack on north Israel.

Iran announced earlier today it was halting its latest attacks against Israel, but added that “should acts of aggression and hostility continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow”.

The spokesperson for Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry says reports about the Prince Sultan Air Base being targeted in an attack are untrue, Al Jazeera reports.

Major-General Turki al-Maliki said in a statement that the air raid sirens that sounded in al-Kharj governorate earlier were precautionary after a ballistic missile from Yemen disappeared from radar near the border.

Maliki said an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Following the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran, Tehran’s National Emergency Organisation has given details on casualties, Reuters reports.

It said 15 people were injured and no deaths have been reported so far.

The organisation said 14 of the injured were in Mahshahr County in Khuzestan province, while one person was injured in Tehran.

There have been no reports of casualties in Israel, which has said it had intercepted all the missiles.

Yemen’s Houthis have said that they would ban ships linked to Israel from the Red Sea after Israel renewed its military attacks on Iran, adding to concerns about global shipping and energy flows, Reuters notes.

Any sustained Houthi disruption to Red Sea shipping, including potential attacks on shipping or ports, could be a big problem.

A Houthi source told Reuters that preventing Israeli ships from transiting the Red Sea was “a first step” but that if escalation continued, the group would stop any ships heading to Israel as well as other measures.

Read why it matters and what it means for the Iran war here.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the warring sides to exercise restraint and “give peace a little more chance”.

“As we work earnestly and painstakingly, together with our brothers and partners, to find a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict, and especially when the final objective is just about to be achieved, we sincerely urge all sides to exercise restraint and give peace a little more chance.”

The premier further said that all sides should remain on the path of peace and diplomacy which have “bright prospects of success instead of violence and destruction!”.

Indian navy helicopters have airlifted 24 sailors off a tanker on fire off the coast of Oman, New Delhi officials said, without saying what caused the blaze, AFP reports.

India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said a fire was reported at around 1:30pm (1pm PKT) on the MT Marivex, a Palau-flagged tanker.

“There has been a fire reported on a vessel, MT Marivex, on which there were 24 Indian seafarers… all Indian seafarers are safe,” ministry director Opesh Kumar Sharma told reporters.

Images posted on social media by the Forward Seamen’s Union of India showed crew members being winched from the vessel by helicopter as thick black smoke billowed from its bridge and accommodation cabins.

The tanker’s position was shown by ship-tracking service MarineTraffic as being off the coast of Oman, south of the capital Muscat.

Israel’s military has intercepted three projectiles fired from Lebanon, an AFP correspondent near the border reported, with the military saying the munitions had targeted its forces operating in Lebanon’s south.

“Some of the projectiles were intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory, and an additional projectile fell near IDF soldiers. No injuries were reported,” the military said.

Iraq has reopened its airspace, the country’s civil aviation body says according to AFP, following Iran’s announcement that it was halting its military operation against Israel.

The Civil Aviation Authority is reopening “Iraqi airspace to flights to and from all airports” and will continue to “monitor and assess the regional situation”, it said in a statement.

It had announced a 72-hour closure of its airspace on Sunday evening after Iranian missile strikes on Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump spoke by phone today, an Israeli official tells Reuters.

The call took place before Trump posted on social media that Israel and Iran were seeking an immediate ceasefire, the official added.

Israeli bombardment has damaged a World Heritage site in Lebanon’s southern city of Tyre, a culture ministry official tells AFP, as correspondents there saw debris and damage.

One of the oldest cities on the Mediterranean coast, Tyre lies around 20 kilometres from the Israeli border, and its Unesco World Heritage listed ruins are located in two main areas of the city.

AFP correspondents today saw dust and debris close to ancient columns after the previous day’s bombardment, as well as twisted metal and broken tree branches near several stone artefacts. Concrete and metal debris also appeared to have been strewn onto a stone stairway.

Ali Badawi, regional director of archaeological sites for south Lebanon in the culture ministry, said Sunday’s bombardment had had “the worst impact” on Tyre’s ancient areas since the war began.

“The amount of debris and damage at the site is high,” he said, noting both the direct impact, with the site’s administrative office struck, and the indirect impact of debris strewn from nearby bombardment.