War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed they launched drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure in response to alleged incursions by the kingdom’s drones.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said “a number of sensitive targets and points involved in the supply and transport of crude oil from eastern Saudi Arabia to Yanbu were struck using several drones”, referring to the port city where the kingdom’s East-West pipeline reaches the Red Sea.

The Pentagon has updated its war casualty database, recording more than 140 additional wounded — bringing the total to 624 — and restoring the four soldiers killed due to Iranian strikes last week amid questions about a lack of transparency over the war’s toll, CNN reports.

The Defence Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) also features a new tracking category called “Overseas Operations”, for personnel killed and wounded “starting July 7.”

CNN adds that after combining the new Pentagon data with updated totals for Operation Epic Fury, it shows that 18 troops have been killed and another 624 have been wounded since the US launched its war against Iran on February 28.

The number of wounded is a significant increase from the previous peak of 482 observed by CNN last week.

Saudi Arabia has called on the Iraqi government to prevent attacks from being launched from its territory, after accusing pro-Iranian militias based there of targeting the kingdom with drones, AFP reports.

The kingdom “affirms the necessity for the Iraqi government to take all necessary measures to ensure the prevention of the use of its territory as a launching point for aggression”, reads a statement posted by an official Saudi broadcaster.

A survey says 76 per cent of Americans believe the ongoing US-Iran war has proven “more challenging” than the Trump administration expected, Al Jazeera reports.

The CBS News and YouGov survey between July 22-24 says 20pc of respondents believe the war unfolded as expected, while 4pc think it has proven easier than expected.

Meanwhile, 58pc of respondents say they feel uncertain about the ongoing conflict, while 57pc report feeling frustrated. In addition, 36pc express pessimism, and only 19pc said they feel optimistic.

Only 22pc say they believe Iran is in the more advantageous position.

Oil prices continue to tumble throughout the day after the United States and Iran paused tit-for-tat strikes, Al Jazeera reports.

International benchmark Brent has plunged eight per cent to $86 a barrel as of 1200 GMT (5pm PKT).

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry says it has intercepted multiple drones launched at the kingdom from Iraq.

In a statement, defence ministry spokesman Major General Turki Al-Maliki says that air defences “intercepted and destroyed a number of drones during the past hours that attempted to target petroleum facilities in the Eastern Region and Riyadh”.

“These terrorist attempts were launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by Iranian-backed terrorist militias, affirming the kingdom’s legitimate right to defend itself and its capabilities, and its retention of the right to respond at the appropriate time and place,” the statement adds.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran will be at the top of the agenda when he meets US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, later today, Al Jazeera reports.

“In our meeting, we will discuss all the issues on the table with Iran at the forefront,” Netanyahu says on X. “Our goal is clear: to safeguard Israel’s security, strengthen its power, and expand the circle of peace around us.”

Netanyahu describes the visit as his eighth meeting with Trump since the US president began his second term, saying it was “more than with any other international leader”.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has accused Israel of committing “a direct violation of human rights” through its continued military assault on the country’s south Al Jazeera reports.

Following a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, Aoun says Israel’s continued destruction of homes and bulldozing of villages in the south amounts to “a flagrant breach of international laws and customs”, calling for international action to bring it to an end.

He also accuses Israel of targeting religious and heritage sites, saying the attacks reveal “premeditated intentions against both people and stone”, noting such sites “are neither military nor host any armed presence”.

Lebanon remains committed to implementing the “framework formula”, but Aoun warns that continued Israeli actions risk undermining it.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has held the key policy rate at 11.5 per cent, the bank’s governor has told a press conference, as renewed US-Iran hostilities threaten to push energy costs and inflation higher in the import-dependent country.

The central bank decision came weeks after the ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran collapsed.

SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad said there will be some reduction in inflation in July, adding that he hoped inflation will start falling in the next two months if the conflict does not escalate.

Turkmenistan has condemned the deadly Ukrainian strike on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea on Saturday, Al Jazeera reports.

The foreign ministry described it as “unacceptable”.

“Turkmenistan, as a Caspian littoral state and a country with permanent neutrality recognised by the United Nations, emphasises that the Caspian Sea is a sea of peace, harmony and good-neighbourliness,” it said in a statement.

Iran’s foreign ministry has said it was not currently involved in negotiations with the United States, despite a halt in recent fighting between the two sides, AFP reports.

“At present, we are not engaged in any negotiations with the United States,” said the ministry’s spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei at a weekly press briefing, denying reports that Iran had requested talks.

The Israeli military has claimed that it intercepted two drones near the Jordanian border and was investigating where they had been launched from, AFP reports.

“A short while ago, the IDF intercepted two UAVs identified in the area of the Jordan border,” the military said.

“The UAVs did not cross into Israeli territory. The origin of the launch is under review.”

Jordan’s armed forces have said they intercepted and downed two drones, adding that there were no casualties or material damage, Reuters reports.

The statement did not identify who launched the drones.

Gold prices have climbed as a pause in strikes between US and Iranian forces dragged crude oil prices lower, helping ease inflation concerns and worries about the risk of higher interest rates in a week where policymakers at the Fed are due to meet, Reuters reports.

Spot gold gained 0.9pc to $4,089.03 per ounce by 08:05am GMT (1:05pm PKT) while US gold futures for August delivery rose 0.5pc to $4,090.80.

“Precious metals have started the week on the front foot, helped by a pause in Middle East hostilities. Oil has slumped and both the dollar and US Treasury yields have eased,” said independent analyst Ross Norman.

The U.S dollar index dropped 0.2pc, making greenback-priced bullion more affordable for buyers overseas.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says Moscow is deepening military coordination with Tehran as well as North Korea and China, Al Jazeera reports.

In an interview with Sky News, Zelensky has said North Korea could send 30,000 troops to Russia while Iran may provide additional missiles.

Asked whether he’s concerned about a potential Iranian attack on Ukraine, Zelensky says Tehran is already involved in the war by supplying weapons to Russia.

“We can’t trust these people because at the very beginning, without any escalation from our side, Iranians gave weapons,” he has said.

“We have to do everything not to open a new front [but] Iranians and North Koreans already attacked us.”

Iran’s foreign ministry has said that it summoned the French ambassador to Tehran to protest what it described as “interference in Iran’s internal affairs” by two diplomats who were briefly detained earlier this month, AFP reports.

“Yesterday, the French ambassador in Tehran was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where it was stressed that the French government must cease such actions and such interference in Iran’s internal affairs under misleading labels,” said the ministry’s spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing, adding that the diplomats had carried out activities “that were in no way justified”.

Iran has not asked to resume talks with the United States to end the war, and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has not changed, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei says, according to Reuters.

The Israeli government “will do whatever it takes to prevent the transfer of [nuclear] technologies” to the countries in the Middle East, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman says, Al Jazeera reports.

Replying to a question on the Saudi-US nuclear deal at a news conference, Esmaeil Baqaei said: “Peaceful use of nuclear energy is everyone’s right.”

“The reason for the pressure on Iran was Iran’s use of its right. We leave the judgement to the world.”

Baqaei says Tehran primarily “holds the US responsible for the military aggression” against the country, Al Jazeera reports.

“Of course, we cannot ignore the participation of regional countries,” he said.

The official added: “We expect these countries not to continue cooperating with the US in actions against Iran.”

Negotiations between Iran and Oman on the key waterway were held on Friday and Saturday, according to the foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei, Al Jazeera reports.

“There were useful discussions on how to manage shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

“The situation in the Strait of Hormuz has not changed, it remains closed and these negotiations have nothing to do with the US.”

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi says that tensions between the US and Iran have “eased again due to consistent efforts” by Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir.

He made the remarks during a meeting with Jamaat-i-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, according to a statement by the interior ministry.

Naqvi and Rehman discussed the “overall situation in the country and regional matters”. They also exchanged views on “solutions to public issues”, the ministry said.

The Iranian foreign ministry’s spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, says the United States is “stuck and struggling” after its unprovoked attack on the country, Al Jazeera reports.

“The Americans are struggling in their current situation, they have caused this. They have done this and now they are stuck,” Baqaei told reporters. “Our decision [on the war] depends and relies on our national interests.”

He added: “We have never allowed America to determine for us the time of war or peace.”

The Iranian foreign ministry’s spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, says Washington thought “Iran would collapse in three days and surrender” after the start of the US-Israeli war, Al Jazeera reports.

“Now, months later, America is stuck in this place and they are proud of its crimes,” he told reporters in Tehran.

Baqaei said the US returns to the negotiation table whenever global energy prices increase.