Pakistan hosts the first round of face-to-face talks between the US and Iran in 47 years in April; the talks end without a breakthrough, but also without a breakdown
US, Iran hold high-level talks in Switzerland on June 20 after signingpreliminary agreement to end the war; hold talks in Doha on July 1, with mediators citing “positive progress”
US launches strikes on Iran on July 8 in response to attacks on ships in Hormuz, Tehran retaliates as strait heats up again
Jordan’s military has intercepted four Iranian missiles targeting the kingdom, while two other missiles fell in remote, uninhabited areas, according to the Petra news agency.
The agency said that air defence systems detected six missiles coming from Iranian territory and dealt with them “immediately upon entering Jordanian airspace”.
“Air defence forces intercepted and shot down four of the incoming missiles, while the remaining two fell in remote, uninhabited areas,” the agency cited a military source as saying.
It added that there were no casualties or material damage due to the attack.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has visited a town in southern Lebanon that his government is to take control of from occupying Israeli forces, Al Jazeera reports.
The premier was quoted as saying, “The return of life to the south is not merely a slogan but a national objective to which the state is committed.”
Salam shared the comments in a video on X from Zawtar al-Gharbiya, one of three towns that are in the first phase of a “pilot zone” project that is part of a larger framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel signed in Washington, DC, last month.
Salam said the Lebanese government’s goal was “the complete Israeli withdrawal from all our territories”.
“What we are witnessing today is merely the beginning, but we are determined and steadfast, and we will continue to mobilise all our political and diplomatic efforts to secure a complete withdrawal from all Lebanese territory,” he said.
A man arrested in Iran and tried on charges of belonging to an “anti-revolutionary terrorist group” and committing “operational acts benefitting the US and Israel” was executed following a judicial ruling, Al Jazeera reports, citing Fars.
The individual was identified as Mehdi Khanki. According to Fars, he was arrested in Karaj after security forces discovered an arsenal in his home, including handguns, ammunition, explosive remotes, handmade grenades, shoulder-fired explosive tubes and high-destruction bombs.
Dubai will offer more than $800 worth of discounts and deals to residents who bring friends and family to visit, the emirate’s media office says, as months of war have battered its tourism sector, AFP reports.
“The Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism launches ‘A Dubai Invite’, inviting residents to become ambassadors of the city by welcoming their loved ones to Dubai,” the Dubai media office has said in a post on X, adding that the programme would run until the end of October.
The Dubai government website says residents wishing to invite friends and family to visit from July 20 to October 31 can “receive benefits worth over AED 3,000 ($816), including hotel stays, dining experiences, attraction tickets and more”.
Residents can nominate people they wish to invite on the website to enjoy the benefits.
French shipping company CMA CGM says it will impose an emergency surcharge from August 1 due to rising prices amid renewed escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.
“Following the renewed escalation of hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz over the past days, fuel prices have surged sharply again, reversing the easing observed in recent weeks. As a result, bunker costs have significantly increased across all regions and trades, impacting the overall cost of ocean transportation,” the firm said on its website.
The surcharge, which will range from $65 to $165 per container, will be in place until further notice.
Oil prices have extended gains to trade near six-week highs as fears of further supply disruptions intensified after US forces struck Iranian military targets for the 11th straight night, while oil tankers made U-turns in the Red Sea after warnings by Houthis, Reuters reports.
Brent crude futures rose $1.84, or 2.0pc, to $92.85 a barrel at 11:30am PKT, the highest since June 11. US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $1.67, or 2pc, to $86.01, its highest since June 12.
The gains came after oil settled at a five-week high on Tuesday.
Beirut is working towards a “complete Israeli withdrawal” from areas it occupies, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says during a visit to a village where Lebanon’s army recently deployed, AFP reports.
“We will continue mobilising our political and diplomatic efforts to secure a complete Israeli withdrawal from the south,” he said in Zawtar al-Gharbiya, one of several “pilot zones” intended to demonstrate that the Lebanese army can remove and disarm Hezbollah as part of a Washington-sponsored deal with Israel.
After planting a Lebanese flag in the village, Salam said that “in parallel with the army’s deployment, we will continue opening roads, removing rubble, and securing essential services, enabling our people to return safely and with dignity to their homes and villages”.
A Lebanese army Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) stands at the entrance of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, as Lebanese army troops deploy in the area following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, under a US-brokered plan, in southern Lebanon, on July 21, 2026. — Reuters
As the US military bombed targets across Iran for an 11th straight night, Tehran residents reported hearing explosions in the early hours of Wednesday as Iran activated its air defences over the capital, Reuters quotes Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency as saying.*
Three locations in Iran’s Bushehr Province, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant, were hit by US attacks earlier today, an official told Iran’s state news agency IRNA, including an electricity post close to the plant.
Al Jazeera reported that the provincial deputy governor for security affairs told Fars that two explosions occurred in the city of Bushehr and a third took place near Khormoj. He said the attack resulted in no loss of life or injuries.
He said power was temporarily knocked out in Bandar-e Gah village after missiles struck an electrical substation near the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant but was restored within two hours.
A statement from Iran’s military has said Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Azraq and Bahrain’s Isa Air Base have been targeted with drones, Al Jazeera reports.
“The army targeted the ‘housing and welfare buildings’ and ‘equipment warehouses’ of the terrorist US army at the Azraq base in Jordan with drones in the morning,” the statement, cited by the Mehr News Agency, said.
The army said it later targeted equipment warehouses and aircraft maintenance hangars of the US army at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain using Arash suicide drones, AFP reported.
Satellite image shows smoke rising from Subiya Power and Water Desalination Plant, in Subiya, Kuwait, on July 18, 2026. — CNES 2026, Distribution Airbus DS via Reuters
Satellite image shows smoke rising from Subiya Power and Water Desalination Plant, in Subiya, Kuwait, on July 18, 2026. — CNES 2026, Distribution Airbus DS via Reuters
Satellite image shows smoke rising from Subiya Power and Water Desalination Plant, in Subiya, Kuwait, on July 18, 2026. — CNES 2026, Distribution Airbus DS via Reuters
The Indian rupee has weakened today as oil prices climbed to a more than one-month high on mounting fears of supply disruptions in the Middle East, although intermittent dollar sales by state-run banks limited the local currency’s losses, Reuters reports.
The renewed escalation in the Iran conflict has driven oil prices up more than 25pc this month, leaving the rupee increasingly vulnerable as higher energy costs threaten to lift India’s inflation and widen the current account deficit.
On the day, the rupee declined 0.2pc to 96.44 as of 11am IST (10:30am PKT). The currency’s 15-day correlation to Brent crude prices has climbed to 0.9, indicating the rupee is increasingly tracking moves in oil prices.
“Our model analysis suggests that the INR remains one of the Asian currencies most exposed to higher oil prices,” Barclays analysts said in a note, adding that even after controlling for broad dollar strength or weakness, two-year yield differentials and local equity performance, the rupee’s sensitivity to oil prices has increased in 2026.
Iranian media cites the IRGC as alerting residents that there is a possibility of hearing the sound of a “controlled explosion” in Lordegan city of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province till 3pm.
US forces have launched a missile strike on an area near the city of Baneh in Kurdistan Province, the province’s deputy governor for political, security, and social affairs says, IRNA reports.
A Houthi threat to impose a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea could significantly widen the Iran war and strain a US military already focused on stopping Tehran’s attacks across the region, current and former US officials say, according to Reuters.
Saudi Arabia, which hosts US forces, has not yet requested military assistance from Washington. But Trump suggested yesterday that a move by the group to obstruct shipping in the Red Sea, a vital corridor for global trade, could draw the United States in.
“If something like that happens, we’ll take care of it. We’ve done that with the Houthis before,” Trump told reporters.
For the US military, it may not be so simple. The Houthis have earned a reputation as hardened, nimble fighters who have successfully resisted earlier Saudi and US bombing campaigns.
Taking them on would mean stretching American resources already focused on fighting Iran and maintaining the United States’ own blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf.
A satellite imagery shows Bab el Mandeb Strait, a key shipping waterway and the gateway to the Red Sea, as Houthis threaten to shut the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, in this handout picture dated July 12, 2026. — Nasa Worldview/Handout via Reuters
The United Nations has said that more than 400,000 people are still displaced in Lebanon, with many families unable to “return home safely due to continued attacks”, Al Jazeera reports.
Thousands of families still living in shelters have said they are experiencing “worsening shelter conditions, reduced access to water and hygiene services, and limited opportunities to earn an income,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
“Many also said they are increasingly relying on borrowing funds to meet basic needs, including the purchase of essential medicines,” Dujarric said.
Their “repeated attempts to return home have often been reversed due to insecurity, damaged infrastructure and limited access to basic services back in their home areas,” he added.
Iran’s military claims to have launched drones at US military facilities at Camp Doha in western Kuwait, Al Jazeera reports.
In a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the Iranian military said its forces struck “ammunition depots” and “ground forces command logistics equipment” at the base in response to the US’s “repeated aggression”.
Vessel crossings via the Strait of Hormuz dropped further, shipping data showed, as security concerns lingered amid ongoing attacks by the United States and Iran, AFP reports.
A total of three commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from four the previous day, Kpler data showed.
The general cargo ship the Kaiser exited the strait loaded with cargo, while the dry bulk carrier H7 Smb8 entered the strait in ballast, Kpler data showed, meaning it will take on a cargo in the Gulf.
The United Arab Emirates has condemned the Houthis’ threat to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, warning that it could undermine freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.
In a statement, the UAE Foreign Ministry called for the enforcement of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and reaffirmed its “full solidarity” with Saudi Arabia.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Southeast Asian foreign ministers that Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz would set a dangerous precedent with repercussions beyond the Middle East, AFP reports.
“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation-state can decide to control an international waterway, charge a toll, and blow up your ships if you don’t pay, we have created a very dangerous precedent that will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including this region,” he told envoys at a Manila gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
