War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Qatar’s Transport Ministry says ships and other maritime vessels can fully resume activities starting on Sunday, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, the ministry urged “everyone to abide by the maritime regulations and instructions in effect, to ensure the highest levels of safety and security for all trips”.

Restrictions were imposed after the US and Iran restarted nearly two weeks of deadly tit-for-tat strikes.

Israeli military has fired artillery into southern Lebanon as it continues to breach a US-brokered “ceasefire”, Al Jazeera reports.

Israel has targeted the villages of Kafrtbenit, Misra, Beit Yahun and Kunin, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, which cited Lebanese local sources.

Press TV reports Israeli shelling on the southern town of Markaba and Ali al-Taher Heights.

The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad-Bagher Zolghadr, says ongoing strikes against US targets will continue until the “enemy’s total surrender”, according to state broadcaster Press TV.

In a message, Zolghadr says, “Every column of smoke in the region means that a US military, security, or financial centre has been targeted.”

He calls the “continuous and targeted strikes” by Tehran “the lashes of the anger of the awakened Iranian nation upon the back of the system of domination”, adding that they will continue “until the enemy’s total surrender and revenge is taken for the blood of the oppressed children of Minab and Lamerd, God willing.”

Sheikh Ali Al-Khatib, deputy head of the Higher Islamic Shia Council, says Lebanon will not be deceived by US or Israeli assurances and is placing its trust in Iran and resistance forces, Al Jazeera reports.

Al-Khatib says past “bitter experiences” have taught Lebanese people not to believe promises.

“We rely on the patience of our people and our resistance, which will not surrender its weapons to empty promises and oaths,” al-Khatib declared in a statement carried by Tasnim news agency.

He also praised “the support of our allies, brothers and friends — at the forefront of them is the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has never failed to support us or fulfil its promises to us”.

Iraqi air defences shot down a drone near the US consulate in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil on Saturday, security sources tell Reuters.

A tanker under US sanctions was struck after crossing the perimeter of a US Navy blockade in the Gulf, Al Jazeera reports citing vessel-tracking monitor TankerTrackers.

The Disha had been on the US Treasury’s sanctions list for the past two years, it says, adding that the ship entered the blockade perimeter on Wednesday “without much difficulty” and travelled some distance before being attacked.

TankerTrackers says the Disha transported Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen for years. Iran’s coastguard rescued all 28 Indian crew members of the Mozambique-flagged tanker. 

The Yemeni government air force has carried out airstrikes on Houthi missile and drone launch sites and arms depots in the Marib and al-Jawf provinces along the front line with the rebels, Reuters reports citing two Yemeni military officials.

The officials say the strikes were among the first offensive operations launched by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government against the Houthis amid renewed violence in the more than decade-old conflict, following the collapse of a four-year truce between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis have condemned Saudi Arabia’s air strikes on Hodeidah port and Kamaran Island and claim air defences “intercepted enemy aircraft”, Al Jazeera reports.

In response, the militia in Yemen says it launched two retaliatory strikes targeting Aramco oil facilities in Jizan and Yanbu with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones, claiming direct hits.

The group vows to maintain its naval blockade of Saudi Arabia and warns it is prepared to expand military operations if the conflict escalates further.

“In response to this blatant and criminal aggression, the Yemeni armed forces carried out two qualitative military operations: the first targeted sensitive Aramco facilities in Jizan with dozens of ballistic missiles and drones, while the second targeted sensitive Aramco facilities in Yanbu with a number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” a Houthi statement says.

“This escalation of aggression confirms the Saudi enemy’s determination to continue its siege of our people and its violation of our country’s sovereignty, which is unacceptable. Our free, faithful, and steadfast people will confront it with unwavering resolve and strength.”

A senior Iranian official has called on state broadcaster IRIB to reflect a broader range of political views following government accusations that state media censored comments by President Masoud Pezeshkian, Al Jazeera reports.

Mohammad Mirzaei, spokesperson for the supervisory council overseeing Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), says the network must serve as “one of the symbols of national unity” and include “reasonable figures” from permitted political groups.

Mirzaei urges IRIB management to exercise “proper management and warnings” to prevent further broadcast controversy.

The oversight board’s comments follow complaints from Pezeshkian’s office that IRIB cut remarks from a televised interview.

Yemen’s Houthis say they carried out operations targeting Saudi Aramco facilities in Jizan and Yanbu, Reuters reports citing a statement by the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Sare.

There has been no immediate Saudi confirmation.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said their forces stopped four ships attempting to transit the strategic Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours, AFP reports.

“Four vessels that had intended to transit through the southern area of the Strait of Hormuz via an illegal and unsafe route were stopped over the past 24 hours after warning shots were fired by the IRGC Navy,” the Guards said in a statement quoted by state television, adding that the ships had “altered course”.

Iran has in recent weeks hit tankers using a route hugging the Omani coast to traverse the strait, in a bid to strongarm vessels into using its own waters and pay for safe passage.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, declared that the ongoing and precision strikes by Iranian forces will persist until the enemy is “fully defeated” and retribution is exacted for the innocent children of Minab and Lamerd and will continue beyond that point, IRNA reports.

Ukraine’s forces have struck a Russian warship and vessels reportedly used for transporting Iran-linked military cargo in the Caspian Sea, Reuters reports, quoting President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“We also achieved very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea, including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran,” he says on X, providing no further details.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke to his Iranian and Omani counterparts during separate phone calls to discuss efforts to de-escalate tensions and “ensure freedom of navigation,” Al Jazeera reports.

Abdelatty spoke to Abbas Araghchi and Badr Albusaidi over ongoing developments and efforts to “restore security and stability in the region”.

“The call highlighted the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, considering it a key factor for regional security and stability, and to prevent further escalation and speculation in the region,” a foreign ministry statement said.

Iran reported no strikes overnight into Saturday, an apparent break from nearly two weeks of consecutive nights of US attacks, according to Al Jazeera.

The Iranian health ministry’s spokesperson, Hossein Kermanpour, said that “Iran had a peaceful night”. Unlike the previous 13 nights, US Central Command did not announce new strikes.

The war has so far killed more than 3,400 people in Iran, according to the ministry. Eighteen US service members, 24 civilians in Israel and smaller numbers of civilians have also been reported dead in countries across the region.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said there is no military solution to the escalating conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels in Yemen after both sides traded attacks, AFP reports.

“We believe that there is no military solution to the issue of Yemen, Bab al-Mandab, and other regional issues,” said Araghchi in an interview published today by the state-run Iran Daily newspaper, calling for “dialogue”.

He said the situation in Yemen “cannot be attributed to Iran” and that the incidents occurring in the area of the Bab al-Mandab Strait were “rooted in old disputes and issues between Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the countries of the region”.

All 28 Indian crew members on board a Mozambique-flagged ship have been safely rescued after coming under attack near Iran’s territorial waters, Al Jazeera reports.

The tanker DISHA transmitted a distress signal after being targeted by “hostile forces” as it entered Iranian waters.

“Upon the occurrence of the incident, the ship immediately transmitted a distress call to the Iranian coastguard,” Mohammad Fathali, Iran’s ambassador to India, told the ANI news agency.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says it received a report of an incident involving a tanker and military forces in the Gulf of Oman.

The agency advised vessels in the area to review the latest maritime security information and stay aware of what it called an “evolving operational environment”.

Authorities are investigating the situation, UKMTO said. It gave no further details on the tanker, its flag, or the military forces involve.

An air defence system operated by Greek military personnel in Saudi Arabia intercepted two ballistic missiles launched from Yemen towards oil refineries in Yanbu, Greek security sources tell Reuters.

Saudi Civil Defence had issued an emergency alert in Yanbu to warn residents of danger.

“The attack was launched with two ballistic missiles and targeted the refineries in Yanbu,” one of the sources said, adding that the missiles had been launched from Yemen.

A second source confirmed the interception of the missiles.

Greece has deployed a US-made Patriot air defence battery, operated by Greek personnel, in Saudi Arabia since 2021 under an agreement to help protect the kingdom’s energy infrastructure.

UK parliamentarian Lord Zameer Mohammed Choudrey has hailed Pakistan’s efforts for regional peace during a meeting with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Islamabad, the latter’s ministry says.

The interior ministry quoted Choudrey as saying that PM Shehbaz Sharif and CDF Field Marshal Asim Munir made “admirable efforts” for regional stability.

An important statement from the Yemeni Armed Forces is to be published shortly, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reports.

It comes after the Houthi rebels claimed a missile strike on Saudi Arabia earlier today, hours after vowing to retaliate against the kingdom for yesterday’s attacks on Houthi military targets in Hodeida.

Iran has formally complained to the United Nations, saying the US has committed a “war crime” by deliberately targeting two Iranian maritime search-and-rescue vessels, saying the ships were engaged solely in humanitarian operations, IRNA reports.

In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the president of the UN Security Council, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Gholamhossein Darzi recalled that the US attacked the Iranian rescue vessels Naji-15 and Naji-16 during the early hours of July 23 while they were operating in Iran’s territorial waters off Hormozgan Province.

Darzi said the two vessels were dedicated exclusively to maritime search-and-rescue missions and were protected under international humanitarian law and the law of the sea.

“By deliberately targeting humanitarian search and rescue assets, the United States has not only endangered the lives of rescue personnel, but has also placed at risk all mariners in distress, regardless of their nationality,” the letter read.