War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran wants control over inbound shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and visibility over outbound traffic, with the ability to intervene if necessary, under a plan being discussed with Oman to reopen the strategic waterway, a senior Iranian source told Reuters.

The source, who is involved in the talks, said this is “the general idea currently being discussed”, and specified that the outbound lane would follow a route between Iran and Oman, with exit clearance granted through Oman after notifying Iran.

“Tehran is unlikely to change its position,” the source added.

A vessel was struck in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving one crew member missing, according to British maritime risk management firm Vanguard, Reuters reports.

While millions of Muslims are taking part in the Arbaeen procession in Iraq, thousands of people who were unable to make the pilgrimage held a solidarity march in Tehran, Iran’s Fars News Agency reports.

Participants carried red and Iranian national flags, chanted slogans calling for retribution for Iran’s “martyred leaders”, and reaffirmed their commitment to continuing the path and ideals of those they described as martyrs, according to the agency.

7th round of Lebanon-Israel negotiations begins in Rome under US sponsorship to discuss files related to implementing framework agreement, Lebanese NNA reports

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said that direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel would bring “nothing but shame, humiliation, and successive compromises” for Lebanon, ahead of new talks in Rome, AFP reports.

In a televised address, Qassem said Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun “has not acted as an arbiter, nor as a unifying figure, but has become biased and divisive, which is incompatible with his role and with Lebanon’s strength”.

Iranian Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mohammad Atabak expressed gratitude to Pakistan for its support during the recent conflict with Israel and the United States.

Speaking at the 10th session of the Pakistan-Iran Joint Trade Committee in Islamabad, Atabak conveyed the “profound appreciation” of the Iranian government and its leadership for the “principled and brotherly support” extended by the government and people of Pakistan during the recent “US-Israeli imposed war”.

He said Iran was also “equally grateful” for Pakistan’s constructive diplomatic efforts and its sincere endeavours to help bring the conflict to an end through dialogue and mediation.

The governor of Iran’s Bushehr province says 60 million cubic metres of gas production from the South Pars gas field, which was lost following US-Israeli attacks, has been restored after the reconstruction of damaged facilities, according to Press TV.

The chief executive of Saudi Arabia’s state oil firm said that attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels had no real effect on the oil giant’s production, AFP reports.

Strikes by the Iran-backed group had “no material impact on our capabilities”, Aramco president and CEO Amin H. Nasser said during a call with reporters, adding that they included Houthi attacks in July which targeted the company’s operations on the Red Sea coast and elsewhere.

Iran defends its borders but does not seek an expansion of war, President Masoud Pezeshkian said, Reuters reports.

While US President Donald Trump said on Monday that talks with Iran were underway, Tehran has denied that any negotiations were planned.

Iran defends its borders but does not seek an expansion of war, President Masoud Pezeshkian has said, AFP reports, citing state media.

“We must work to forge a society that offers the enemy no temptation to interfere, no opening to infiltrate, and no means to divide or dismantle us,” the president was quoted as saying by IRNA.

While US President Donald Trump said that talks with Iran were underway a day earlier, Tehran has denied that any negotiations were planned.

Iran was prepared to launch strikes on three sites in Ukraine before scrapping the operation after an “apology” from Kyiv, according to a top military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Andolu Agency reports that in an interview with Iranian state television, Mohsen Rezaei said Iran’s armed forces had completed preparations for the strikes before the operation was called off.

Rezaei also warned that Iran would not allow any maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz outside Iran’s designated route, saying any hostile naval vessel attempting to use an “illegal route” would be targeted.

He also said that Iran had inflicted heavy losses on US forces during the recent 17-day conflict, adding that Iranian missile and drone attacks had thwarted Washington’s military objectives.

The remarks came after Iran accused Ukraine on July 25 of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, killing one crew member.

A cargo vessel was struck by an “unknown projectile” in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman, a British maritime agency has said, without giving specifics on damage or injuries, AFP reports.

The vessel, which has not been named, reported being “hit by an unknown projectile” and authorities were investigating, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said, adding the incident occurred 20 nautical miles (37 kilometres) northeast of Al Khasab, Oman.

Shipping traffic at the key Gulf waterways of Bab el-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz held largely unchanged at the start of the week, shipping data showed, as the progress of talks between the United States and Iran remained ambiguous, Reuters reports.

Twenty vessels 12 tankers and eight bulk carriers passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Monday, Kpler shipping data showed, steady from the previous day.

Of these 20 crossings, there were a total of 12 exits and eight entries, mostly with their transponders on.

US President Donald Trump says major oil companies are making “too much money” due to high prices stemming from the crude shortage caused by the Iran war, AFP reports.

“I don’t like it. They’re making too much money, okay? Based on a shortage, they’re making too much money,” Trump tells journalists at the White House.

US President Donald Trump says Iran faces “decapitation” if it does not agree to a pact to end the conflict between the two nations, Reuters reports.

“I think we’re going to maybe get something, but I want to give them every last chance before decapitation,” he tells reporters.

Asked if Iran would be willing to return to fully free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump has insisted that Iran will not charge vessels passing through the waterway.

“I’m not going to let them charge,” he tells reporters. “If anybody’s going to charge, we’re going to charge, we have total control.

“We’re not talking about charging at all,” Trump adds.

US President Donald Trump has said the Iran talks will “go quickly” and that the Strait of Hormuz will be open by tomorrow.

“It’s not very complex. We’re talking about the opening of the Strait [of Hormuz] and having it open, literally, by tomorrow, completely open. And that’s phase one,” he tells reporters in the Oval Office.

“Phase two is we’ll then talk about the nuclear capacity … basically the denuclearisation of Iran,” he adds, noting that it “has to happen”.

Trump adds that negotiating denuclearisation will “take a little while”.

Addressing reporters in the Oval Office, US President Donald Trump says, “This is the last chance for them to sign a good document,” referring to Iran.

US President Donald Trump has said talks with Iran are “going on right now”.

“We have many talks … they deny it. But they’re not denying it now,” Trump tells reporters at the Oval Office. “When they’re talking, they don’t like saying that we’re talking.

“The talks are going along. We were to hit them very hard yesterday … and they called … Iran did not want to be hit. They said ‘we want to talk’,” he says of Iran, adding that he received calls from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

US President Donald Trump has said that the conflict in Iran is “working out very well”, as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office in the White House.

US Central Command (Centcom) says that as part of the US naval blockade on Iran, American forces have redirected 44 commercial vessels, disabled two and boarded two others.

During a phone call, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken to his Omani counterpart, Badr AlBusaidi, and discussed the latest regional developments, Al Jazeera reports citing a Telegram post by Araghchi.

Oman and Iran have been negotiating over a new maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz, which borders both of their territorial waters.

Mohammad Karami, ground forces commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), says that in northwestern Iran, fighters are standing ready for any “miscalculation by extra-regional enemies or terrorist groups”, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, the commander says fighters of the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada Headquarters, who are backed with intelligence, “operational readiness, and leveraging faith, technology, and modern sciences, are prepared to deliver a decisive response to any threat”.