War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned Iran’s renewed attacks on Jordan, calling them a “flagrant violation” of the kingdom’s sovereignty, Al Jazeera reports.

The ministry warns that the continued attacks mark a “blatant breach” of international law and the UN Charter and a “dangerous escalation” that risks derailing efforts to contain regional tensions and undermining diplomatic efforts toward stability.

The statement has also called for an immediate and complete halt to all military action, restraint from further escalation, and a serious return to dialogue, alongside commitment to understandings already reached diplomatically.

Qatar says it renews its full solidarity with Jordan and support for measures that Amman takes to protect its sovereignty.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made some video remarks after his meeting with Trump, calling the private talks in the White House “excellent”, Al Jazeera reports.

The meeting “reflected a complete partnership, bilateral support, and an understanding of the shared goal of ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon”, Netanyahu says.

“There was an opportunity to exchange views and make important arrangements for the security and future of Israel,” he adds, without elaborating.

In a post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he has been assured by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha that the attack on an Iranian ship was unintentional and Ukraine seeks no escalation.

“Iran does not seek escalation either, but made clear [that] any attack on our citizens or interests is unacceptable. There must be restitution for losses,” Araghchi adds.

UN peacekeepers say they found around four tonnes of mainly ammonium nitrate explosives this month in a south Lebanon border village under Israeli occupation, AFP reports.

On July 2, during a “routine route check” near Hula, “peacekeepers found 385 containers abandoned inside a building, containing approximately 4,000 kilograms of explosive material, consisting mainly of ammonium nitrate compounds,” the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) has said in a statement.

Unifil specialists “later carried out on-site procedures to render the material inert, making it safe and removing the risk it posed”.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, says Tehran has “no plans to negotiate with the US” but affirms talks are proceeding “step by step” with Oman, Al Jazeera reports.

“We should not get America used to fighting whenever it wants and sitting at the negotiating table whenever it wants,” Gharibabadi has said in remarks reported by state TV, claiming that it was Washington “who sent messages pleading for an end to the conflict”.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha says he called his Iranian counterpart following Iran’s denunciation of a Ukrainian drone attack on one of its ships, warned him against escalation and told him to end all support for Russia.

“I emphasised the necessity to refrain from any escalatory steps, as well as to end any support for Russia’s war against Ukraine. This war is illegal and it must end,” Sybiha writes on X.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, also writing on X, says he spoke to Sybiha and “discussed the challenges facing our nations, including the threat posed by Iran”.

Al Jazeera reports that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s office says he held a phone conversation with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, but a statement posted on Araghchi’s official Telegram channel has not revealed what both sides discussed.

Both countries have been at odds since Iran sold drones to Russia in 2022, but tensions rose sharply over the weekend after Ukraine struck an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea. Iran said the strike killed one sailor and injured another.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim they have targeted a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles for allegedly violating a blockade on the kingdom’s ports announced by the group last week, AFP reports.

“The targeting of the Saudi vessel came after it ignored warnings,” a Houthi military spokesman says, identifying the ship as the NCC Ghazal and saying it had been “forced to turn back”.

US Central Command (Centcom) has said that American forces have redirected 18 commercial vessels, disabled two and boarded two others as part of a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Tehran will consider “any action” to maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz, including the resumption of war, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has warned, Al Jazeera reports.

In comments reported by the Fars news agency, Gharibabadi says Iran would “no longer be able to exercise sovereignty” if it opens up a southern lane closer to the Omani coast, where it has been shooting at ships.

“Any European ship that wants to come near the Strait of Hormuz is our legitimate target,” he added.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt says on X that US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “positive and productive”.

Feda-Hossein Maleki, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, says Tehran will respond militarily to Ukraine’s attack on an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea, Al Jazeera reports.

“We responded through diplomatic channels and presented an ultimatum, but a military response will certainly follow,” Maleki says.

On Saturday, Ukraine struck an Iranian merchant vessel, killing one sailor and injuring another.

The ongoing meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Oval Office is closed to reporters and an agenda has not been published, according to Al Jazeera.

However, Israel’s envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, has told reporters ahead of Netanyahu’s arrival at the White House that the Israel-US war on Iran will top the agenda.

“I’m sure that will be number one on the agenda in the meeting today,” Danon says, responding to questions on whether Israel expects the two leaders to focus on specifics of ending or scaling down the war on Iran.

Danon adds that Israel is ready for “different scenarios.”

Iran’s ambassador to China says Tehran has “no confidence” in the United States going forward even as both sides paused military strikes to restart stalled peace talks, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking to reporters at the Iranian embassy in Beijing, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has stressed that Iran only takes retaliatory actions in response to US attacks and suggested that China could take a leading role in peace negotiations.

“We have always emphasised that, in addition to our will to defend, we are also ready to negotiate. However, given the US’s lack of commitment to the [Islamabad] memorandum of understanding and its reneging on its commitments, Iran has no confidence in the American side,” he says.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived at the White House, where he is expected to hold a closed-door meeting in the Oval Office with US President Donald Trump, Al Jazeera reports.

The US-Israeli war on Iran is likely to top the agenda, alongside Israel’s war on Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

The visit comes at a time when Netanyahu is increasingly unpopular at home and abroad, and as relations with Trump have reportedly strained.

The foreign ministers from Jordan and Qatar have discussed “efforts aimed at restoring calm and enhancing security and stability” in the Middle East during a phone call, Al Jazeera reports.

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi have talked about the need for a “comprehensive agreement” addressing “all causes of tension”.

Also discussed was Israel’s “dangerous” escalation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry says in a readout of the call.

Lebanon’s health ministry says 4,333 people have been killed since March 2 as Israeli forces continue to occupy significant parts of southern Lebanon, despite the US-backed ceasefire agreement signed in June, Al Jazeera reports.

At least 12,236 Lebanese have been wounded.

Many displaced Lebanese returning to “pilot zone” villages where Israeli forces are supposed to have withdrawn from have found their homes in ruins.

Lebanon’s army says Israeli forces are obstructing their deployment as agreed.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has urged his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi to exercise “maximum flexibility” to help secure a de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East, Al Jazeera reports.

Motegi has expressed “deep concern” over the widening “damage” of the conflict, including on neighbouring countries, during a phone call.

Citing energy security concerns, he has asked Iran to “urge” Yemen’s Houthi rebels to “exercise restraint” following the group’s declaration of a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia and their attacks on commercial vessels.

Any company or country that receives Iranian frozen assets as compensation for its damaged vessels won’t be allowed to transit the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s joint military command says, Al Jazeera reports citing state media.

Khatam Al-Anbiya spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaqari rejects US President Donald Trump’s warning that ships damaged by Iran in the Gulf will be compensated using Iranian frozen funds.

Foreign ministers from Gulf Cooperation Council countries have held a video meeting on ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

Oman’s foreign ministry says in a statement that the talks stressed “the importance of intensifying coordination regarding freedom of navigation and its safety in the Strait of Hormuz, and prioritising political and diplomatic solutions that enhance regional security and stability”.

President Donald Trump says that the US has “a very strong position right now” regarding Iran, warning that Washington could destroy the country’s bridges and power plants in a single day.

“I can take out most of their bridges in less than an hour … I can knock out the power plants, within one day, all of their power plants will be gone,” he tells Fox News.

“People want me to do that … I think about 91 million people without power, without bridges … it’s a very, very delicate balance,” he adds. “I think we have a very strong position right now … If I can avoid doing that, I’d like to do that.”

US President Donald Trump has reiterated his threats to target Pickaxe Mountain as well as bridges and other civilian targets in Iran if a deal is not made with Tehran, adding in a Fox News interview that there have been good talks, Reuters reports.