War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Hezbollah has condemned Israel’s latest attacks across southern Lebanon, accusing it of an “act of aggressive escalation” and targeting civilians, Al Jazeera reports.

A Hezbollah statement claims Israel is expanding the areas it is targeting, having struck a house on the outskirts of Ansar village and a building in Deir al-Zahrani village.

Hezbollah alleges that the escalation reflects Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s desire “to escalate the war in order to bolster his domestic political standing, serve his electoral goals and appease the far-right”.

The group has also criticised Lebanese authorities, demanding they seek ways to halt Israeli attacks rather than pursue negotiations.

Oil pollution is affecting about 12 kilometres of coastline near Oman’s Ras Madraka, while Masirah Island remains unaffected after efforts to tackle a spill from a leaking tanker made progress, Reuters reports citing state news agency ONA.

The Environment Authority says response operations are under way and the offshore slick is moving towards open waters.

The death toll from an Israeli attack on the southern Lebanese town of Deir ez-Zahrani has risen to four, Al Jazeera reports citing Lebanese Civil Defence.

One more body was recovered from the rubble after the attack, and a separate search party discovered another casualty, Lebanese Civil Defence says.

Hezbollah said that Israeli attacks on Lebanon would be met with an “appropriate” response after deadly strikes on the country’s south on Saturday, urging authorities to halt “humiliating” negotiations with Israel, AFP reports.

Israel “must clearly understand that its attacks, violations and attempts to impose a fait accompli cannot continue, and will be met with an appropriate response”, the group said in a statement, adding that Lebanese authorities “must not insist on continuing along the humiliating path of direct negotiations and providing the enemy with free concessions”.

The Missing Persons Search Committee of the Iranian military has alleged that three Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force pilots are in Qatari custody after they were shot down during an operation in March, the Fars news agency reports.

Four crew members on board two Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Su-24 bombers were involved in an attack on a US base on March 2, 2026. Iranian military officials said the aircraft were hit by air defence systems over the Gulf. One of the four pilots was killed in the operation and later buried on July 30.

In a statement, the Committee claims that the three remaining pilots were captured by Qatar, but have not been allowed visits or interviews, or communication with their families, despite diplomatic efforts.

“According to information obtained, the other pilots involved in the incident … were captured alive by Qatari forces. Unfortunately, since that date, despite the passage of two months, the Qatari government has, in violation of all international laws and regulations, including the four Geneva Conventions concerning the obligation to respect the rights of prisoners of war, disregarded and violated the fundamental rights of these prisoners,” the statement alleges.

“This matter falls within the provisions concerning war crimes and is subject to investigation and consideration.”

Citing Articles 70 and 78 of the Geneva Conventions, the Committee notes that prisoners of war “must be able to notify their families and the Central Agency of the International Committee of the Red Cross of their capture”.

It further says that prisoners have the right to submit complaints and requests to representatives of the protecting powers, including representatives of the Red Cross, and to communicate and confer with them directly or through representatives.

“Prisoners of war who, based on a physician’s assessment, are suffering from serious illness or injuries must be transferred directly to their country of origin,” the statement reads.

Iran’s Fars news agency reports that the oil spill near Qeshm Island has been largely contained and cleanup efforts are ongoing.

Citing the Hormozgan Ports Marine Deputy, Fars reports that monitoring, the collection of oil residue, and cleanup operations in the area will “continue until the pollution’s effects are fully eliminated”.

Iran’s Bandar Abbas International Airport has resumed flight operations, with flights to Tehran, Mashhad and Isfahan scheduled in the coming days, Fars news agency reports.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Saturday were a “clear message” on negotiations between the two countries, ahead of the next round of US-sponsored talks early next month in Rome, AFP reports.

Aoun condemned the “ongoing Israeli attacks” on the south and “repeated violations of the framework agreement… and international law on protecting civilians, which led to the death of an entire family in the village of Ansar”, according to a statement from his office, adding that “these violations are a clear message on the negotiation process”.

According to the Lebanon’s health ministry, Israel has attacked the southern Lebanese village of Deir ez-Zahrani, killing at least two people and injuring nine, Al Jazeera reports.

UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said on Saturday that one of its vessels came under attack while transiting the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.

The state oil company said no injuries were reported, with the situation now under control, according to WAM.

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said Abu Dhabi would defend its sovereignty and interests, after repeated attacks on ADNOC tankers.

“We will safeguard our rights to freedom of navigation … while continuing the path of dialogue and prioritising diplomatic options,” Gargash said in a post on X.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said seven people including two women and three children killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday were not military targets, after Israel said it struck Hezbollah “infrastructure,” AFP reports.

“The seven martyrs of the Israeli strike on the village of Ansar are not ‘military infrastructure’ and the women and children who were killed are not military targets,” Salam said, adding that “Israel must halt this escalation”, which he said was “extremely dangerous and undermines efforts to consolidate stability in the south”.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels used six ballistic missiles in their Friday attack on the port of al-Makha, the internationally recognised government’s army has said in a statement, Al Jazeera reports.

One port security official was killed while two sailors went missing, the army’s statement says. At least 8 civilians were injured in the attack, it adds.

Attacking the port, a key hub for the inflow of food and goods, as well as civilian infrastructure, shows the Houthi group’s “determination to impose a suffocating siege on the Yemeni people”, military spokesperson Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili has added.

Israeli military, in a post on X, has said that it struck “Hezbollah terror infrastructure” in Southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh and Ansar areas “in response to an action against IDF soldiers in the Ali al-Taher Ridge, which is located in the Security Zone”.

The post comes after the National News Agency said “a strike launched by enemy warplanes on a home” on the outskirts of the village of Ansar “killed seven people and wounded three others” and destroyed the home.

Iran has brought the “most armed army in the history of the world to its knees,” IRGC commander Major-General Ahmad Vahidi has said, Al Jazeera reports.

Vahidi’s comments were contained in an open letter to IRGC members and other security forces, published in the military publication Sepah News.

The commander is one of several military leaders newly appointed by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a major defence cabinet reshuffle in the past week.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei quoted Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov on X, saying it aptly described how “America’s extreme reliance on lies has corrupted its foreign policy toward Iran and the region”.

“This passage from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov aptly describes the situation in which the US system of governance and foreign policy regarding Iran and the region finds itself due to its extreme reliance on ‘lies,’” he said.

“The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others,” he added.

Iran’s ambassador to Germany Majid Nili has said that lasting security across the world could not be achieved through military bases, arsenals and nuclear weapons, Iran’s IRNA reports.

“The rise in costs and the transfer of military equipment in recent years has once again shown that an arms-driven approach not only fails to bring lasting security but also exposes the world to a new cycle of instability and insecurity,” the media quotes him saying and refers to a new report on a surge in global arms transfer.

“Yet there is another point to consider: the recent acts of aggression by the United States and the Israeli regime against Iran once again revealed a reality: lasting security cannot be built with bombs, nuclear arsenals, and military bases. Instead, history, culture, national cohesion, and, above all, morality and international law are the true pillars of peace and security,” he further said.

A bulk carrier was struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, which hit its hull, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said, adding that the crew were safe, no damage assessment had been reported and that the environmental impact was unknown, Reuters reports.

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike in the country’s south killed seven people, the worst toll since deals in June saw a lull in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, AFP reports.

The National News Agency (NNA) said “a strike launched by enemy warplanes on a home” on the outskirts of the village of Ansar “killed seven people and wounded three others” and destroyed the home.

Kuwait’s once prosperous oil sector has stood largely paralysed for months, with petroleum exports plummeting as fighting raged across the Gulf — triggering the country’s largest crisis in decades.

Half a year into the war, Kuwait remains a hostage to its uncompromising need to access the Strait of Hormuz — where the war between the US and Iran has choked off the once plentiful energy exports that moved across its waters.

Oil has long been the bedrock for the tiny Gulf state’s economy — where more than 90 per cent of government revenue and nearly all export earnings rely on reliable crude sales. The country is also home to roughly 6pc of total oil reserves globally.

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Iran has not decided to resume talks with the United States, and messages being exchanged via Qatar and Pakistan do not amount to negotiations, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview, according to Reuters.

Araghchi told Iranian news outlet Shahrara News that separate talks with Oman were focused on defining a sea route through the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States would have to meet conditions for shipping to resume through the waterway.

Yemen’s government said Houthis fired six ballistic missiles at the Red Sea port of Mocha, killing at least four civilians, according to Reuters.

The Yemeni armed forces aligned with the government said in a statement that the Houthi attack on Mocha targeted a civilian facility and economic and maritime installations, killing one port security guard. Two sailors were also missing and eight civilians were wounded, the armed forces said.

A military source told Saba News Agency the Houthis hit Mocha with six missiles, resulting in the death of four civilians and the burning of several fishing boats.

The Houthis said they used ballistic missiles to attack what they described as a military build-up of weapons and warships belonging to Saudi-backed forces and “mercenaries” in Mocha, destroying boats and weapons.