War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The New York Times and Axios are reporting that the US president has decided to set aside plans to attack Iran, after 13 consecutive days of strikes, according to Al Jazeera.

The Times, citing Trump administration officials, said the president’s decision came amid concern that ratcheting up the war could “dangerously drain the Pentagon’s already diminished stockpile of Patriot antimissile interceptors and other air defense munitions in the Middle East”.

It said the decision followed a meeting between Trump, his top advisers and senior members of his cabinet on Friday.

Axios, citing two anonymous sources with knowledge of the decision, said it was unclear if  Trump’s order to halt the strikes was a one-off or if the lull would continue.

It said Trump’s decision “reflects both his willingness to provide more space for diplomacy and a recognition that — short of a return to major combat operations — the current level of US strikes has reached the limit of its effectiveness”.

It cited the sources as saying that the US military was preparing plans for a possible return to major combat operations.

Mere hours after the US signed a landmark civil nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, American President Donald Trump sprang a surprise: the deal would only go through if the Saudis recognised Israel and signed the so-called Abraham Accords. While Riyadh has remained silent over the demand, media reports indicate that recognition of the Zionist state was not part of the negotiations, and is most likely a Trumpian addition to the deal.

Saudi Arabia must join “the very respected and successful Abraham Accords”, Mr Trump said, championing his pet project dating back to his first term, when the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco officially recognised Israel. To ensure there was no ambiguity about Mr Trump’s announcement, the White House press secretary said “the deal is off” if the Saudis refused to join the Accords.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for Israel’s incursions into Syrian territory in the occupied Golan Heights to stop.

“Violations by Israel of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement are unacceptable and must stop,” he wrote on X, referring to the agreement signed between Israel and Syria after the war in 1973.

“Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity must be fully respected,” he added.

The State Bank is widely expected to keep its policy interest rate unchanged at its monetary policy meeting on Monday (July 27), as policymakers are unlikely to alter the benchmark rate amid heightened uncertainty following the Gulf war.

Economists, researchers and analysts are still assessing the war’s impact on Pakistan, but there is broad agreement that it pushed global oil prices above $100 per barrel, affecting economies worldwide, including Pakistan.

Analysts closely tracking the economy say it would be difficult to maintain macroeconomic stability with sluggish growth. They believe the State Bank is unlikely to risk undermining that stability by changing the policy rate.

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US Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine both raised concerns about escalating the war on Iran as President Donald Trump weighed the possibility during a White House meeting on Friday, reports CNN, citing sources.

An IRGC spokesman has told Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB that “any country, whether the UK, the Gulf Coast countries, or others” would become a “legitimate target” if they support the US in its attacks on Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

The spokesperson, who wasn’t named, highlighted the role of the UK, saying that American B-1 bombers used British airports to carry out recent attacks.

“If they cooperate [with the US], they will be our definite and legitimate target,” the spokesperson said.

US Centcom says that as the naval blockade on Iranian ports remains in effect, it has redirected 12 commercial vessels trying to run the blockade as of July 25, disabled two that didn’t comply, and boarded two to ensure total compliance.

“Earlier today, US forces completed a verification boarding aboard Comoros-flagged M/T Charminar in the Arabian Sea, and the tanker is now continuing its journey.

“Centcom forces disabled Mozambique-flagged M/T Lavine in the Gulf of Oman, July 24, after the crew attempted to violate the blockade multiple times and ignored repeated warnings. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” Centcom said on X.

It added, “American forces remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready.”

US President Donald Trump has directed the military not to carry out new strikes on Iran, reports American news website Axios, citing sources.

Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia has claimed on Iranian state television that “almost all” US military infrastructure has been destroyed during recent attacks by the IRGC on Erbil in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, according to the Anadolu news agency.

Speaking to Iranian state television, Akraminia claimed Tehran was now deploying newer attack drones with greater accuracy and were more advanced than the Arash-2.

He added that Iran had inflicted serious damage on US military bases across the region, claiming many of them had lost much of their operational capability.

He said that if the conflict resumed, Iran was prepared to continue military operations “until the Americans realise they cannot impose their will on the Iranian nation through aggression”.

Search and rescue teams have recovered four bodies in the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports citing the state-run National News Agency.

Civil defence workers say the bodies have been transferred to hospital and that teams are working to strengthen public safety measures for residents returning to the shattered town, after Israeli troops withdrew and the Lebanese army was deployed under a US-brokered agreement.

Iran’s oil minister says the country sold $18 billion worth of oil during the war and “ceasefire” with the United States, Al Jazeera reports.

Mohsen Paknejad says sales generated more than 60 per cent of the oil revenue forecast in Iran’s annual budget.

Lower risks to tanker traffic have helped increase exports and enabled the sale of some of the 100 million barrels of Iran’s stored crude oil and gas condensate.

A spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says Iranian attacks have destroyed US aircraft on the ground at bases throughout the region, Al Jazeera reports.

“Furthermore, 17 reconnaissance and operational drones, one F-15 fighter jet inside a hangar, one P-8 aircraft, one C-17 transport aircraft and 8 refuelling aircraft were also destroyed”, a spokesman says in a statement published by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

Iran has called for dialogue over rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei says “a just solution to the Yemeni crisis” is needed.

Baqaei warns that Yemen has no military solution to the conflict with Saudi Arabia and that Iran considers “returning to the path of dialogue and fully implementing the agreed roadmap to be the only way to end the suffering of the Yemeni people and maintain security and stability in the region”.

He notes that US policy in the region has complicated the situation in Yemen.

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has met Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Doha, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, Qatar’s Foreign Affairs Ministry says they discussed “joint coordination to de-escalate tensions and enhance security and stability in the region”.

The post says Qatar urged the US and Iran “to commit to dialogue and diplomacy, and to implement what was agreed upon within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding” signed by both parties in June.

The post adds that Sheikh Mohammed stressed that both parties should ensure “freedom of navigation on the Strait of Hormuz, to maintain regional security.”

Yemen’s Houthi political bureau spokesman, Mohammed Abdulsalam, has met with a Saudi delegation in Oman, according to Al Jazeera.

A source from Yemen’s Ansarullah Houthis says the meeting “aimed at advancing regional security and stability”.

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.