War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Gulf stock markets closed higher on Sunday as investors took comfort from US President Donald Trump’s indication that Washington would pause further military action against Iran, while strong corporate earnings also boosted sentiment, Reuters reports.

At least five soldiers sustained minor injuries in the Israeli strike in Bint Jbeil in the Nabatieh governorate in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports, citing Lebanon’s National News Agency.

It said that the attack targeted a civilian vehicle escorted by a Lebanese army vehicle.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has held separate calls with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait on tensions in the region, Al Jazeera reports.

In conversations with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Jordan’s Ayman Safadi and Kuwait’s Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Sheikh Mohammed reaffirmed his country’s support for efforts to de-escalate tensions.

The leaders also discussed the need for “all parties to adhere to dialogue and diplomacy” and to commit to the memorandum of understanding signed on June 20, which will ensure free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and regional stability.

Loud explosions have rocked the town of Kunin in Nabatieh governorate’s Bint Jbeil district, Al Jazeera reports, citing the National News Agency (NNA).

Explosions rocked the town of Haddatha, also in Bint Jbeil, overnight.

In the town of al-Mansouri, NNA reported that Israeli forces dropped a stun grenade on an abandoned house. No casualties have been reported.

Separately, a drone belonging to Israeli forces was spotted circling southern Beirut, according to NNA.

Iran has not agreed to a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Fars news agency reports, citing informed sources.

“Some media outlets affiliated with the enemy had claimed that the Islamic Republic of Iran had agreed to a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz; however, informed sources have denied this claim and emphasised that no change has occurred in Iran’s policy regarding this strategic waterway,” the report said.

Iran’s Mehr news agency has denied President Donald Trump’s claim that the Islamic Republic asked the United States to refrain from conducting new strikes, AFP reports.

Citing military officials, the agency said the allegation “was nothing but a new lie” and that the Iranian armed forces were “on high alert and ready for any eventuality”.

Kuwait raised its average crude oil output in July to 1.971 million barrels per day from about 1.65m in June, a source familiar with the matter has told Reuters.

A spokesperson for state oil company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Tehran views every threat from its adversaries as “real and credible” even if made as part of psychological warfare, Iran’s acting defence minister Majid Ibn al-Reza said, Reuters reports, citing state media.

“We will neither be caught off guard nor remain passive,” he said, adding that Iran would use threats as a basis to increase its military readiness, strengthen deterrence and enhance its military capabilities.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stressed in a phone call with US President Donald Trump the “necessity of prioritising dialogue to de-escalate tensions” in the Middle East, Reuters reports, citing Saudi Arabia’s state news agency SPA.

The crown prince stressed the importance of paving the way for “diplomatic solutions that yield positive results to preserve the security and stability of the region, and prevent being drawn into a broader conflict whose repercussions affect regional and international security and stability”.

Areas of existing cooperation between the two countries were also reviewed, along with ways to strengthen them.

Ross Harrison, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, tells Al Jazeera that it remains difficult to identify a clear US strategy in the war on Iran because Trump has repeatedly signalled imminent escalation before pulling back.

Harrison said it was too early to tell why Trump called off the planned attacks on Iran, including what commitments Iranians may have made to the US during Araghchi’s calls with his counterparts in Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

“From the Iranian perspective, my sense is that they probably will believe that Donald Trump blinked, because of the potential risk of escalation,” he was quoted as saying.

He said the latest announcement would not represent genuine de-escalation unless the US and Iran reached a clear agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Opec+ has agreed in principle to raise oil output targets by about 188,000 barrels per day from September and then pause for the fourth quarter, Reuters reported, citing a source with knowledge of Opec+ talks.

One Opec+ delegate and one Opec+ source also said they expected a similar outcome from the meeting.

Ahead of Trump’s cancellation of threatened attacks this morning, Iran’s Araghchi warned the US against any adventurous action and said it would retaliate decisively if American forces followed through on the threat, according to a government statement.

The foreign minister’s comments in separate phone calls on Saturday with senior Pakistani, Turkish and Saudi officials came just hours after Kuwait’s army said it destroyed hostile drones launched by Iran against several vital facilities.

Speaking to Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Araghchi said Iran would respond decisively to any “aggression” and discussed the consequences of destabilising actions” by the US, as well as prospects for heightened regional insecurity, according to Araghchi’s Telegram account.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran is fully prepared to safeguard its sovereignty and that any act of aggression by the US, Israel or regional partners will meet a “firm and proportionate” response, state-run IRNA reports.

In a telephone conversation with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, late on Saturday, Araghchi underlined Iran’s full readiness to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security.

He stressed that any aggressive or hostile move by the US and the Israeli regime — as well as any participation from regional states — would face an appropriate and forceful reaction from Iran’s Armed Forces.

Writing before Trump cancelled the planned attacks, Hassan Ghashghavi, a senior Iranian lawmaker and spokesman for the Parliament’s Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy, has said regardless of how the war progresses, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will be managed by Tehran, according to Al Jazeera.

“In the media, they speak of escalation, while through existing channels they demand negotiations,” Ghashghavi said. “They cannot deceive the Islamic Republic of Iran. Whether by escalating or by negotiating, Iranian arrangement for passage through the SoH [Strait of Hormuz] is the only option on the table.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman raised concerns over US President Donald Trump’s plans for strikes on Iran, US media outlet Axios reports.

“The Saudis expressed concern and asked for clarity about the plan of action,” one US official told Axios.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran is more willing to negotiate, including on its nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz, as a result of Washington’s military attacks, Al Jazeera reports.

In an interview with Fox News, Rubio repeated his claims the attacks had destroyed Iran’s navy, air force, missile defences, launchers and weapons-production facilities, and had “severely degraded” its defensive capabilities.

“They still have missiles, and they still have drones, and they can still do damage,” Rubio said. He claimed, however, that Iran no longer had the “conventional shield that they were going to hide behind”.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and five other members of OPEC+ are expected to raise their oil production quotas for September when they meet online today as the Middle East war continues to disrupt global energy supplies, AFP reports.

The enlarged Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will likely increase production by 188,000 barrels per day, following several months of similar hikes, said Jorge Leon, an analyst at Rystad Energy.

However, the September increase is likely to be the last in the current series of production adjustments, he said.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, says Tehran will “tighten” its closure of the Strait of Hormuz if the US continues its threats and naval blockade of Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

“The continuation of the US regime’s maritime blockade and warmongering will further tighten the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and also close other straits and chokepoints,” Zolghadr said, according to the IRNA news agency. He warned that “the global economy, energy markets, and American voters will pay the price” of the closure.

Despite having “cancelled” his attack, Trump has made it clear that this is subject to a deal being quickly made.

On Truth Social, he stressed that the deal, the perimeters of which had been agreed to, included the “Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat”.

Trump said he was cancelling the attack “subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL” and added that “the country of Israel joins me in this commitment”.

US President Donald Trump has said he has decided “to cancel the attack” against Iran upon request from Middle Eastern countries, despite being “locked and loaded”.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “The USA is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” but added that the US had “just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to”.

“I have agreed, for the future benefit for the WORLD and likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack,” he said.

Ebrahim Rezaei, an Iranian lawmaker and member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, is the latest official to warn of a strong response to any US attack, Al Jazeera reports.

“Our response to any potential enemy attack will not be limited to the Persian Gulf region,” he said in a post on X. “We will respond to all enemy bases and to the origin of the attacks from anywhere.”

Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolph Haykal has stressed the need to ensure the country’s territorial integrity, as Israel continues to occupy about 2,000 square kilometres of southern Lebanon’s territory, Al Jazeera reports.

“We believe that every inch of our land is our right, and we reject the continued Israeli occupation of any part of our territory,” Haykal has said while visiting troops in the area of Tyre, according to the Lebanese Army’s X account.

“The sacrifices of our martyrs and wounded will not be in vain. We will continue to stand by our people and support their return despite all challenges,” he adds.