War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

German exports unexpectedly rose in May, their fourth straight monthly increase, official data shows, as Europe’s biggest economy defied headwinds from the Iran war, AFP reports.

Exports rose 0.9pc from the previous month to 137.9 billion euros ($158bn), according to preliminary data from statistics agency Destatis, driven by a rise in demand from the United States and China.

Analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet had expected a decline of 1pc.

It was the latest evidence that Germany’s long-struggling economy is coping with the turmoil unleashed by the US-Israeli war against Iran better than some had feared.

Figures released earlier this week showed German industrial output and orders also increased in May.

Overnight US strikes on Iran hit the Aq Taqeh Khan railway bridge — a trade link to Tehran’s strategic partners China and Russia — in northern Iran’s Golestan province, Reuters reports, citing Fars news agency.

The Iranian media report says the route that goes on to pass through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan has been an important land link to China which gained further relevance during this year’s blockade of Iran’s Gulf ports by the US.

It adds that the route had also been used by Russia for cargo shipments to Iran since late 2025. The agency says repairs to the bridge were expected to be completed quickly.

At least one fighter jet has escorted the plane carrying late Iranian leader Ali Khamenei to his final burial in the eastern holy city of Mashhad, AFP reports, citing footage from the supreme leader’s website.

Khamenei’s coffin, alongside those of family members killed in US-Israeli strikes in February that began the Middle East war, have been transported from Iraq where massive crowds attended funeral ceremonies in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

At least one person was injured, Kuwait’s defence ministry said, following the latest Iranian attack on the country, AFP reports.

“The injured individual is receiving the necessary medical care and is in stable condition,” defence ministry spokesman Colonel Staff Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan said, adding that four missiles and 10 drones had been “successfully intercepted and neutralised” at dawn.

The head of the International Maritime Organisation says about 6,000 sailors remain trapped around the Strait of Hormuz as hostilities between the US and Iran continue, Al Jazeera reports.

“These reckless attacks have again placed innocent seafarers in grave danger. No seafarer should have to risk their life simply for doing their job,” Arsenio Dominguez was quoted by NBC News as saying.

Iran’s foreign ministry denounced US strikes against the country, which it said targeted civilian infrastructure including railway bridges, as a “gross war crime,” AFP reports.

The ministry in a statement said it “condemns in the strongest terms the aggressive attacks by the US terrorist army on several points in the southern coastal provinces and two bridges in the eastern provinces on the railway route to the holy city of Mashhad” and called the US administration “evil and psychopathic”.

An AFP correspondent in the Bahraini capital Manama heard explosions on Thursday as air-raid sirens were activated for a second time, hours after Iranian attacks in the night.

“The siren has been sounded.. Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” the interior ministry said in a post on X.

A plane carrying the coffin of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei has landed in the eastern holy city of Mashhad, ahead of his burial, AFP reports, citing state media.

Official news agency IRNA shared footage of the Mahan Air flight taxiing at the airport after landing in Khamenei’s home city. He was transferred from Iraq, where ceremonies took place in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Oil prices dipped today after the previous day’s surge as Donald Trump said the US ceasefire with Iran was over and ordered fresh strikes against the country following attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

Equity markets mostly rose as tech firms saw a touch of bargain-buying, with Seoul and Tokyo enjoying healthy gains in early trade.

Both main contracts soared around 8pc yesterday, with Brent topping $80 a barrel for the first time in two weeks, fanning fresh fears of a spike in inflation and a hit to the economy.

Both main contracts spiked more than 1pc in the morning but erased those gains as the day wore on, though investors are staying vigilant for any further flare-up.

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Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone call that Iran and the United States should commit to diplomacy, Reuters reports.

Al-Thani added that Washington and Tehran should implement the signed memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war, the Qatari foreign minister said.

Iran launched drones towards a site in Qatar earlier in the day and a Qatari tanker was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. Al-Thani condemned the attack in the call, the foreign ministry said.

Two days of US strikes against Iran have killed 14 people and left 78 injured, Tehran’s health ministry said, according to AFP.

“Of the injured, 47 are still hospitalised and the rest have been discharged after receiving medical care,” Hossein Kermanpour, the ministry’s head of public relations, said.

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that had brought new US attacks upon itself by violating a truce deal, AFP reports.

“It was Iran that, by targeting ships sailing in Omani waters, violated its own commitments as well as international law,” Barrot told TF1 television when asked about the latest US strikes.

“Iran violated the agreement reached with the United States” last month, Barrot added, calling for calm between the rival forces.

“This type of manoeuvre must absolutely stop so that these crucial negotiations can continue under the best possible conditions,” he said.

Iran’s military said it had targeted sites in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain with one-way attack drones , state media reported, in retaliation for US strikes earlier in the day, AFP reports.

The army said “in continuation of the attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s army on US bases in the region” it had targeted a Patriot missile interceptor system in Kuwait, an early warning system in Qatar and fuel tanks in Bahrain with “a large number of various types of army kamikaze drones”.

The coffin of the assassinated supreme leader is being transported from Iraq’s Najaf to Iran’s Mashhad before his burial today, according to Al Jazeera.

The transfer is the last of the funeral ceremonies that have continued for six days across Iran and Iraq, including in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, the head of Khamenei’s office, said the late leader had requested to be buried in Mashhad.

The train service between Tehran and Mashhad has been suspended after US strikes, state TV reported, hours before late supreme leader Ali Khamenei was due to be buried in the eastern Iranian holy city, according to AFP.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways blamed “a criminal attack by the US-Israeli enemy” on the route and said it had dispatched teams to repair the damage, the state broadcaster reported, adding that road transport was being arranged for stranded passengers.

US strikes on Iran killed three people and wounded several others in the country’s west, official news agency IRNA reported, quoting a local official, according to AFP.

Valiollah Hayati, the deputy governor of Khuzestan for security and law enforcement, told reporters that three people were killed and several wounded in the American attack on the outskirts of city of Ahvaz, the IRNA report said.

Maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a near-halt following a second consecutive day of US strikes against Iran, according to Bloomberg News.

Citing ship tracking data, it said that among larger vessels, only a US-sanctioned supertanker was seen heading out of the Gulf alongside an Iranian-flagged container ship.

Some 14 cargo ships crossed the strait in both directions yesterday, it added, noting that the figure is the lowest since the US-Iran MoU on June 16.

Is the fragile US-Iran ceasefire — and the memorandum of understanding that underpins it — collapsing? Unless deconfliction measures kick in, and both sides show restraint, a return to wider hostilities seems very likely. The latest round of violence was sparked by suspected Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz; the ships were apparently targeted because they were not following routes designated by Tehran.

The US retaliated by attacking Iranian facilities early on Wednesday, prompting Tehran to hit sites in Kuwait and Bahrain that it claimed were US facilities. But what has raised eyebrows is US President Donald Trump’s comment that the MoU with Iran is over, and that talks with the Islamic Republic were a “waste of time”. It should be remembered that Mr Trump earlier scuttled the Iran nuclear deal during his first presidency, therefore his threats cannot be taken lightly. But while using unparliamentary language to describe the Iranians, the US leader paradoxically also left the door open for dialogue.

A return to hostilities suits no one, except perhaps the eternal warmongers in Israel. Both sides need to climb down, and prevent the cycle of violence from escalating. The next few days will be critical to see whether or not the MoU and the ceasefire are able to survive. Iran must ensure free movement through Hormuz, as choking the strait will effectively throttle the global economy.

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The US military has said that approximately 90 Iranian military targets were hit in their latest strikes, targeting air defence systems, missile and drone storage sites, and other assets, AFP reports.

The US “completed an additional round of strikes against Iran, July 8, to further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz,” according to a statement posted to X by US Central Command.

US Congresswoman Delia Ramirez has denounced Trump over the US’s strikes on Iran, accusing his administration of escalating the conflict shortly after a ceasefire agreement.

“Last night, Trump launched a series of strikes on Iran, shortly after establishing a ceasefire deal. And today he is threatening to launch more,” she wrote on X.

“We cannot rely on warmongers to bring an end to this war. Congress must reclaim our authority and hold the administration accountable!” she added.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they had struck US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait in response to fresh American strikes, in a statement carried by state television IRIB, AFP reports.

The Guards said they struck “key infrastructure and facilities” at US bases in Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Juffair and Sheikh Isa in Bahrain with missiles and drones.

They also warned their responses would expand to other bases across the region if US attacks were repeated.

Oil prices have climbed as new US military action against Iran dampens expectations for a swift resolution to the conflict and the subsequent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Reuters.

Brent crude futures gained 78 cents, or 1 per cent, to reach $78.8 a barrel as of 00:54 GMT. Similarly, US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) climbed 74 cents, or 1.01pc, settling at $74.26 a barrel.

Air raid sirens ring out in Bahrain, the interior ministry has said, after the Iran Revolutionary Guards vowed to respond to US strikes on the Islamic republic, according to AFP.

“The siren has been sounded,” the interior ministry said in a post on X.

“Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”