War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Flights resumed at Erbil International Airport after they were suspended following a drone crash near the airport, two security sources told Reuters.

No casualties were immediately reported, and fire at the site was brought under control

Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior has urged people “to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place” as sirens sound.

Daily vessel transits of the Strait of Hormuz were steady at three for each of the past three days, according to preliminary shiptracking data, amid continuing shipping risks in the Middle East and as oil prices surged back to $100 a barrel, Reuters reports.

Three vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz each day from July 22 to July 24, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.

On Friday, one more laden very large crude carrier (VLCC) Romania Prosperity appeared off Fujairah outside the strait with Murban crude, though its destination is so far unknown, and two empty soft commodity bulk carriers exited the strait into the Gulf.

Several blasts sounded near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.

Explosions were heard after air defences were activated, according to the journalist who also saw drones hovering over the city and smoke rising in the airport area.

Iranian authorities said that the United States struck a Revolutionary Guards’ base in the northern province of Gilan, AFP reports.

“This morning, an IRGC naval forces headquarters in Zibakenar was targeted by American enemy projectiles, which damaged some of the equipment in the complex,” said Ali Bagheri, deputy governor for the province, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran would hold accountable any country assisting the United States in an attack on the Islamic republic, AFP reports.

“Any participation, cooperation or assistance in committing aggression against Iran will create international responsibility for the relevant parties,” Araghchi said at a meeting in Kyrgyzstan, adding that Iran “reserves its right to take all necessary measures within the framework of self-defence”.

Sirens sounded in Bahrain, the interior ministry said, with an AFP correspondent hearing an explosion two weeks into renewed US-Iran hostilities that have seen near daily Iranian attacks on the island kingdom.

An overnight US attack on Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan killed at least four people and injured several others, AFP reports.

“Following the missile attack by the terrorist US enemy on areas around the city of Ahvaz, four of our compatriots were martyred and five others were injured,” Valiollah Hayati, deputy governor of the province, was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

Iran’s military says it has launched a new wave of drone attacks targeting US military facilities in Bahrain and Jordan, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement carried by Iran’s Mehr news agency, the Iranian army said it used drones to target fuel storage tanks, equipment warehouses, and troop living quarters at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.

The military added that aircraft hangars, maintenance facilities, and accommodation sites at the Muwaffaq Salti/Al-Azraq base in Jordan were also hit, warning that any actions against Iran’s interests would undermine regional security and economic stability.

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

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reports that two people have been injured following an early morning drone attack on Khorramabad, citing the deputy governor of the western Lorestan province.

Tehran said that US President Donald Trump’s threat to pay for shipping damage with Iranian assets was an “incendiary precedent”, AFP reports.

“Seizing another nation’s assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X.

“Those who celebrate or profit from such funds should remember: once governments normalise confiscation, no one’s assets are safe. Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful,” he said.

The number of tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz fell to just one on Thursday, the lowest level since May 7, according to shiptracking data, amid ongoing shipping risks in the Middle East and as oil prices surged back to $100 a barrel, Reuters reports.

Only one tanker crossed the Strait of Hormuz on July 23, compared with three the day earlier, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.

No ships entered the Strait of Hormuz on July 23.

Japanese companies are passing on rising costs from the Middle East conflict at a faster pace than in 2022, when the war in Ukraine pushed up fuel costs, Reuters reports, citing the government’s annual white paper.

Corporate and household inflation expectations are also accelerating, the white paper said, aligning with the Bank of Japan’s view that inflationary pressures are becoming embedded in a country once mired in deflation.

“Companies’ spending appetite remains strong with their investment plans exceeding the historical average for two straight years,” the white paper said, highlighting the economy’s resilience to the conflict-induced energy shock.

The white paper, however, warned that “close attention” was needed on the extent to which the Middle East conflict could hurt Japan’s economy and output gap.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi departs from Tehran after holding talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and other top officials, AlJazeera reports, citing his office.

During his meetings al-Zaidi reached agreements on international road freight transport and shipping as well as railway connectivity between Kermanshah, Khosravi, Khanqin and Baghdad, his office said in a post on social media platform X.

His visit to neighbouring Iran comes shortly after he returned from trips to Washington, DC and Texas, where he signed deals with Western oil firms to revive a pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump said that the US would begin using frozen Iranian assets to pay for ships and cargo damaged by strikes in and around the Gulf, Reuters reports.

“Please let this statement serve to represent, until further notice, that from this point forth, any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will be paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls,” Trump said on Truth social.

The US military says it completed its latest round of strikes on Iran that marked a 13th consecutive night of American attacks, Reuters reports.

The latest wave of strikes lasted more than two hours, according to the US Central Command.

The Gulf Cooperation Council and Jordan have condemned Iran’s continued attacks, calling them “a clear act of aggression that violates the United Nations Charter and international law”, Al Jazeera reports citing a joint statement.

“The seven countries affirm their inherent right to self-defence, individually or collectively, in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations”, the statement reads, calling on the UN Security Council “to recognise the right of countries affected by Iran’s attacks to defend themselves, and to issue an urgent resolution demanding an immediate halt to Iran’s attacks”.

It also affirms “the commitment to freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb and to maintaining regional security”.

Oman’s foreign minister has discussed the US-Israeli war on Iran with his UK counterpart on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines’ capital, Manila, Al Jazeera reports.

The Omani foreign ministry says Badr Albusaidi and Ed Miliband have discussed efforts to stop the fighting and compel both sides to return to negotiations, as well as restoring free and safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

They have also spoke about bilateral ties between Oman and the UK.

Oil prices have surged as worries about attacks in the Red Sea exacerbate supply concerns in a petroleum market limited by the quasi-shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

As of 1820 GMT (11:20pm PKT), Brent oil futures are up 8.4 per cent at $101.93, rising above $100 for the first time since late May.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate has risen 7.6pc to $93.44 a barrel.

US Central Command (Centcom) says that since resuming the naval blockade on Iran, 12 commercial vessels have been redirected and one has been disabled.