War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has discussed Israeli attacks in the country’s south with US General Joseph Clearfield, head of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon (MCG4L), according to Al Jazeera.

Berri accuses Israel of systematic violations and attacks against Lebanon, including the destruction of villages, farmland and forests, as well as damage to heritage sites, since November 2024.

He has demanded that Israel end its military campaign and withdraw to the international border, as per the US-brokered ceasefire.

President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns over the living conditions and mental health of personnel on a US aircraft carrier deployed in the Middle East and says the ship will soon rotate out.

Asked by reporters whether family members are worried about the situation on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump responds, “No, they’re not.”

Trump also rejects that the ship — now in its ninth month at sea — has been deployed for too long. “No, no, no, not nearly enough,” he says.

Additionally, he has confirmed reports that the Lincoln is due to be rotated with a replacement aircraft carrier as the United States remains locked in a stalemate with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz and the country’s nuclear programme.

“That ship is moving right now or very shortly and it’s being replaced with another very similar ship,” Trump says.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has denounced statements by the European Union’s on human rights in Iran, claiming the bloc “lacks any moral standing” to lecture others on the matter, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reports.

It adds that Tehran’s top diplomat made the comments in a telephone conversation with his Greek counterpart, Georgios Gerapetritis, where both sides discussed bilateral relations and regional and international developments.

According to the report, Araghchi has criticised the EU’s “double standards and hypocrisy” regarding human rights, particularly support for Israel and “their (the EU) indifference toward the genocide of Palestinians and the war crimes committed by the Israeli regime in Lebanon and Iran”.

He additionally rejects the EU’s “interventionist statements” on human rights in Iran, declaring, “The European Union, due to its performance in the field of human rights, lacks any moral standing to lecture others,” Tasnim adds.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has accused Lebanese authorities of subjecting the country’s armed forces to undue pressure by implementing a framework deal agreed with Israel to end hostilities, AFP reports.

“How can you accept this ongoing humiliation of the Lebanese army, exposing it to bombardment and Israeli pressures, instead of acting as its protectors?” Qassem says in a speech.

“Israel is attempting to bind Lebanon to an inquiry committee that oversees the army’s deployment, operations, and internal details. Where is the patriotism? Where is the dignity of the army that ought to be preserved?”

Yemen’s Houthis claim they targeted an Aramco facility in the Saudi city of Najran with a drone, Reuters reports citing the group’s SABA news agency, which cited a military source.

The source says the attack was in response to what it described as Saudi military aircraft violating Yemen’s sovereignty by entering airspace over the northeastern part of Saada governorate.

There has been no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities or Aramco. It is not immediately clear from the report whether the facility was hit.

US Central Command (Centcom) says its forces have redirected 62 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two to ensure compliance with a blockade of Iranian ports.

Some sailors have reportedly tried throwing themselves into the sea, basic supplies can run short and sanitation is going awry: life on America’s giant Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is increasingly difficult as the Iran war drags on.

The ship — now in its ninth month of deployment — is expected to be replaced in the Middle East by another carrier, the George Washington, in a move sure to be welcomed by the Lincoln’s crew and their loved ones.

But concerns about conditions on the Lincoln have prompted lawmakers to demand answers from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who insists the situation has been “misrepresented”.

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Israeli drones are reportedly flying at low altitude over the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and surrounding towns, Al Jazeera reports Lebanon’s National News Agency.

It adds that Israeli forces dropped explosive material over the Ali al-Taher forest on the outskirts of Upper Nabatieh earlier today, with the area seeing renewed Israeli army operations for weeks, threatening the fragile ceasefire.

Crude oil prices have climbed over renewed attacks on tankers and a war of words between the Trump administration and Iran’s leadership, Reuters reports.

Brent futures are up 80 cents, or 0.92 per cent, to $87.87 a barrel as of 1548 GMT (8:48pm PKT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures are up 43 cents, or 0.53pc, to $81.69 a barrel.

Two vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz today — a grain ship entering Iranian waters and an empty dry bulk ship going in the opposite direction — Al Jazeera reports citing ship tracking firm Kpler.

Data shows that no crude oil shipments have been made and a separate empty liquefied petroleum products tanker is sailing into the Gulf via the strait.

Nine vessels passed through the strait a day prior, up from five on Wednesday, but below the average of 12 for August.

Some ships may pass through undetected with their transponders off, but the figures are nowhere near the more than 130 ships that traversed the Strait of Hormuz daily before the US-Israeli war on Iran in February.

The Foreign Office has said that during bilateral consultations between Pakistan and France in Paris, both sides exchanged views on regional and international developments.

Both nations have also agreed to bolster coordination in international fora, such as the United Nations, according to a statement.

China’s exports of electric trucks to other Asian countries have spiked, adding to a surge in domestic sales as higher fuel costs as a result of the Iran war accelerate regional electrification, Reuters reports.

China’s rapid adoption of electric trucks (e-trucks), from lighter vehicles to tractor-trailers, has partially shielded the world’s biggest auto market from the impact of the conflict. Now other countries are scrambling to follow.

In the four months after the US and Israel started the war on Iran in February, China’s exports of heavy e-trucks more than doubled from the same period last year to 16,823 vehicles.

Half went to South and Southeast Asia, with shipments to South Asia up more than fivefold and to Southeast Asia nearly tripling.

US consumer sentiment has dropped sharply in August, new data shows, ending months of recent gains as prolonged inflation and uncertainty over the US war against Iran hit the economy, AFP reports.

“Consumer sentiment fell about eight per cent this August, ending two consecutive months of improvement,” says University of Michigan survey director Joanne Hsu.

Preliminary data shows consumer sentiment at 51.0 points, down from 55.2 and well off from market expectations.

Expectations for inflation in the year ahead have ticked up from 4.2pc in July to 4.3pc in August, the survey shows.

“The current reading substantially exceeds the 3.4pc seen in February before the Iran conflict began, along with all 2024 readings,” says Hsu.

Ahmad Khatami, a cleric on Iran’s Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts, says the US has failed to destroy the country’s missile capabilities, which has “humiliated America and will continue” to do so, Al Jazeera reports.

“The enemy wanted to return Iran to the Stone Age, but today the world has realised that the American government itself knows nothing about civilisation and democracy, and in practice, it is America that is displaying behaviours that belong to a past era,” he tells Iran’s state television.

He adds that “our nuclear capability still remains” despite US and Israeli attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, further stating, “Our nuclear power belongs to the country’s scientists and nuclear knowledge.”

Iraq’s average daily oil exports since the beginning of August are the highest since the outbreak of the Middle East war between Iran and the United States, which has choked off the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports citing the country’s oil ministry.

Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair tells a press conference that “exports since the beginning of the month have reached a rate of two million barrels” per day, for a total of around 26 million barrels, saying the daily rate has been achieved “for the first time since the crisis began”.

Qatar has strongly condemned an “Iranian attack” targeting two Emirati oil tankers belonging to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) which were crossing the Strait of Hormuz, deeming it “a severe violation of international law, the freedom of maritime navigation, and a clear violation of UN Security Council resolution 2817”.

In a statement, the foreign ministry reiterated Doha’s “firm rejection of using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage”, demanding that it be opened unconditionally.

The ministry also stresses that freedom of navigation in such a vital waterway is a firmly established principle “not up for compromise”, adding that the continued closure of the strait “undermines the critical interests of the region’s countries and the global economy”.

Saudi Arabia has strongly denounced the targeting of two oil tankers belonging to the United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement, Riyadh’s foreign ministry says the attacks constitute “an unacceptable recurrence of Iranian attacks targeting commercial vessels and tankers”.

It also notes that the repetition of such attacks poses a direct threat to the security and safety of maritime navigation and global energy supplies, alongside violating international laws and norms.

“The kingdom holds Iran fully responsible for the consequences of persisting in these attacks, demanding an immediate halt to these violations and adherence to relevant international laws,” the statement adds.

“It emphasises that regional security and the safety of international navigation are shared responsibilities, and that the continuation of such attacks is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.”

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mikhail Ulyanov has criticised the US for calling for freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, calling their logic “not understandable”, Al Jazeera reports.

“It wants freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, but this freedom was ruined by the US aggression against Iran,” he writes in a post on X. “Now they want to remove the consequences of their strategic mistake through the continuation of war. Something is wrong here.”

The Pentagon has announced framework agreements with Boeing and RTX — formerly known as Raytheon — to increase the production of components of SM-3 Block IIA and SM-3 Block IB munitions, Reuters reports.

It adds in a statement that both agreements will strengthen production of a series of critical ship-fired surface-to-air interceptors that underpin the US Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence System.

The development comes after reports emerged of the US running critically low on munitions during the Iran War, particularly interceptors.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has “exchanged views on regional and international developments of mutual interest and agreed to remain in close contact” with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, according to the Foreign Office.

During their phone call, the two top diplomats reaffirmed the brotherly relations between Islamabad and Cairo, expressing their shared commitment to strengthen cooperation across all areas of mutual interest, it adds.

Abdelatty has also congratulated Pakistan on the occasion of Independence Day, and “conveyed his best wishes for continued peace, progress and prosperity”.