War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Three crew members were killed after Yemen’s Houthi group attacked a commercial vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Anadolu agency reported, citing a government-affiliated Yemeni broadcaster.

Al-Jumhuriya TV said two Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian were killed according to preliminary information.

The broadcaster did not identify the vessel or its owner.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

The price of Brent North Sea crude, the main international oil contract, climbed above $90 as hopes that the United States and Iran reach a deal to end the war fade, Reuters reports.

Brent reached $90.02 a barrel, a gain of more than 2.5 perc ent from Monday, while the main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, jumped 2.7pc to $84.32 a barrel.

Lebanon’s health ministry said that an Israeli drone strike in the city of Nabatieh wounded two civilians, Reuters reports.

The ministry added that a second strike targeted a rescue team from the Al-Risala Association, damaging an ambulance.

Iran will bring back 95 million cubic metres of gas to its production cycle by the end of September, Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad says according to the oil ministry’s news outlet, as Tehran conducts repairs on energy infrastructure targeted during the war against Israel and the US, Reuters reports.

In July, a senior government official said Iran expects to restore around 100 million cubic metres per day of natural gas production capacity “within the coming months,” after strikes removed about 230 million cubic metres from output since the war started in late February.

The Iranian foreign minister, speaking in a televised news conference broadcast by Iranian state television, has said that the US “begged” Iran for negotiations, Al Jazeera reports.

He recalled that US President Donald Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” from Iran at the beginning of the war.

“The US President wrote two words [on social media] at the beginning of the war: ‘Unconditional surrender’,” he said.

“That was what they wanted from us and, 20 days later, the same enemy was begging for negotiations,” the top diplomat added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country showed the world that it is “a tough and invincible power,” Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking at a televised press conference, he said: “I have heard this many times from foreign ministers and officials from other countries: ‘You Iranians created a miracle; you surprised the whole world.’”

“No one thought that Iran could resist America like this,” Araghchi said, adding that the US had the backing of Israel, the Western world and some other countries.

Israeli forces continue intermittent artillery shelling on the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah in southern Lebanon, accompanied by heavy machinegun fire towards several neighbourhoods, Al Jazeera reports, citing Lebanon’s National News Agency.

The attack came as UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, reported that Israel fired 455 projectiles into southern Lebanon and breached Lebanese airspace 97 times from Friday to Sunday, marking the heaviest fire seen in months.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has “strongly condemned the brutal attacks” by Israel on southern Lebanon over the past few days, which have resulted in deaths and injuries among civilians as well as the destruction of infrastructure and homes, Al Jazeera reports, citing Iranian media.

Israeli forces fired 455 projectiles into southern Lebanon and breached Lebanese airspace 97 times between Friday and Sunday, the heaviest fire seen in months, according to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.

Unifil said Saturday alone accounted for 229 of those projectiles, “the highest single-day total since 21 June”.

The UN secretary-general’s deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said that “most of the airspace violations came from drones, though helicopters and fighter jets were also involved”.

The UN says Israel’s activities violate Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted as the internationally agreed framework for peace and stability in southern Lebanon following the 2006 conflict.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his German counterpart Johann Wadephul have held a phone conversation, discussing bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments, IRNA reports.

Araghchi briefed Wadephul on ongoing consultations with Oman aimed at establishing a safe route for maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian foreign minister said the insecurity in the strategic waterway was solely the result of military aggression by the United States and Israel against Iran.

He called on the international community to hold the US administration accountable for the security and economic consequences of the Strait of Hormuz’s closure.

Araghchi emphasised that restoring security in Hormuz requires an end to US aggressive actions and unlawful interference, including a maritime blockade and other violations of US commitments under the Islamabad MoU.

Oil prices have risen as negotiations between the United States and Iran over a peace deal and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz hit an impasse, while Asian shares drifted on protracted uncertainty over the global inflation outlook, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures edged up to $88.09 per barrel and US crude futures rose to $82.52, both the highest levels since July 31, after the contracts rallied roughly 5pc yesterday.

“We’re now in a bit of a Mexican standoff, if you’d like, in terms of who blinks first,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.

“This is going to be almost a war of attrition now,” he said.

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to six on Monday, compared with a 10-day average of about 11 vessels, shipping data showed, amid fading hopes of a peace deal between the US and Iran, Reuters reports.

Four commodity vessels, including two empty oil product tankers, entered the waterway, data from Kpler showed on Tuesday as of 0420 GMT.

Two vessels a small tanker laden with liquefied petroleum gas and another carrying residual fuels exited the Strait, the data showed. In pre-war days, about 130 to 140 ships typically transited the strait.

Prompted by an Iranian threat, US President Donald Trump took a secret military flight from Turkiye last month when the White House said he was aboard Air Force One, Reuters reports, citing the Washington Post.

Trump had taken the newly renovated Qatari-donated jet to Ankara for the Nato summit but he unexpectedly used an older Air Force One when departing the country, a move that prompted questions about the newer plane’s security.

The trip to Nato was the first international travel for the new plane and took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, a country that borders Turkiye.

After Trump boarded the old Air Force One in front of cameras in Ankara, he was secretly shuttled by an airport catering truck to a smaller plane, an Air Force C-32A, the Post reported citing a US official familiar with the operation and another person familiar with the president’s travel.

The C-32A flew to Britain, arriving at around 10:20pm with the older Air Force One and media, arriving minutes later, the Post reported.

Trump said on Truth Social that he would use an older baby blue Air Force One plane “for old time’s sake” to fly from Ankara to RAF Mildenhall in Britain while the new plane stopped at the same base so US service members stationed there could tour the aircraft.

When asked for comment on the revelation of a secret flight on a third plane, the White House provided a statement from Communications Director Steve Cheung saying the Qatari-donated jet has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff.

“As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats,” Cheung said. It was the same statement provided to the Post.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Donald Trump insisted on Monday that his relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “very good” despite the Israeli leader’s rejection of a US-led Gaza plan, according to AFP.

“The relationship is very good,” Trump said in response to a shouted question from a journalist at the end of an Oval Office event.

After more than a week of gradually escalating criticism, Netanyahu explicitly stated on Sunday that he opposed the Gaza plan, which called for Israel to begin pulling back forces in tandem with disarmament by Hamas.

President Donald Trump has again extended a waiver that allows foreign ships to carry oil and other commodities between US ports, as the war on Iran continues to disrupt energy flows and elevate costs, AFP reports.

The 90-day extension of relief from the Jones Act — which requires cargo between US ports to move on US vessels — comes shortly before an earlier waiver was due to expire in mid-August.

But the scope covered is narrower this time, focusing more on the transport of energy, a White House official confirmed.

“Today, the Trump Administration issued a 90-day extension to the Jones Act waiver to ensure our military and key industries maintain uninterrupted access to critical resources,” said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers.

“Data shows the waiver has driven a significant increase in domestic deliveries of essential products such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel,” she added.

Oil prices have jumped over 4 per cent after Iran and the US traded demands for compensation, dimming prospects for a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.

Iran also said the US must lift sanctions on Tehran, and meet a number of other conditions for reopening the vital waterway, while US President Donald Trump said Iran must pay compensation for “all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded”.

Brent crude futures were up $3.57, or 4.3pc, at $87.13 a barrel by 01:17pm EDT (10:17pm PKT). US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up $3.36, or 4.3pc, at $81.51.

Leaking crude oil from a tanker grounded off a nature reserve in Oman has created a slick covering almost 400 square kilometres, the country’s government says according to Reuters.

The Caroline Bezengi is loaded with close to one million barrels of Russian oil bound for Asia and first reported difficulties on June 8 off Yemen, with two maritime security sources saying initial assessments indicated a blast had occurred onboard.

No party has taken responsibility for attacking the vessel.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has issued directives in the wake of the appointment of six top military commanders, saying that Iran is “in a strategic, fateful confrontation with Global Arrogance”.

In a post on X, Khamenei outlined these directives as an increase in capabilities to achieve “maximum deterrence” coupled with a “readiness in intelligence” for offensive operations; cultural advancement within the IRGC, and the development of a management and command throughout the organisational hierarchy, endowed with “spiritual and scientific foundations and modern skills”.

The commander-in-chief of Iran’s armed forces, the country’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, has announced that he has issued decrees appointing six senior commanders across the General Staff, IRGC and Basij.

Major General Ali Abdollahi was named chief of staff of the Armed Forces, with Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari as his deputy. Ahmad Vahidi, promoted to major general, was appointed commander-in-chief of the IRGC, with Mostafa Izadi as his deputy.

Rear Admiral Ali Ozmaei was named commander of the IRGC Navy, and Hossein Taeb was appointed head of the Basij.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has held a phone call with his German counterpart Johann Wadephul, Al Jazeera reports.

The two discussed regional and international developments, according to a statement from Araghchi.

Trump has expanded on his earlier comments demanding compensation from Iran, saying that it should also be held responsible for “damages and death” caused in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the Gaza Strip.

Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei named Revolutionary Guards general Ali Abdollahi head of the country’s armed forces on Monday, while also confirming a new commander of the Guards, putting his imprimatur on the country’s military, AFP reports.

Abdollahi had previously led the Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran’s inter-branch central military command tasked with coordinating operations.

An statement on Khamenei’s website announced that “Major General Ali Abdollahi has been appointed chief of staff of the armed forces. Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has also been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with the rank of major general.”

The pair represent Khamenei’s first senior military appointments since being named supreme leader early in the war after his father’s assassination.

Abdollahi has issued bellicose threats over the course of the war, warning regional neighbours earlier this month that “any country serving as a defensive shield for criminal and aggressive America will be engulfed by the flames of war”.

US President Donald Trump is demanding “compensation” from Iran “for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts”, saying he has instructed that this demand be made in any further negotiations.

In a post on Truth Social, he noted that Iran’s representatives were asking for compensation for damages done to the country over the last five months, despite this not being mentioned in negotiations.

“But it is an interesting idea,” the US president added, “because I am now likewise demanding compensation from Iran.”

He added that compensation should also be paid to the families of “hundreds of thousands of innocent protestors that Iran has killed over the last 50 years” as well as 52,000 killed in recent months.

“I have instructed my representatives to put this firmly into any, and all, future negotiations,” Trump said.

The sudden change in the office of the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), amid the volatile situation in the Gulf and with the Oman-Iran talks on the future of the Strait of Hormuz yet to produce a final arrangement, has implications that extend beyond Iran’s internal affairs.

The key appointment in fact signals a shift in the structure through which Tehran’s national security decisions are being processed and, potentially, a resetting of its game plan, even though there is little evidence so far of any change in the strategic objectives that have guided Iran through the conflict.

The replacement of Bagher Zolghadr by veteran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohsen Rezaei is significant because the SNSC, constituted under Article 176 of Iran’s Constitution, brings together the country’s top civilian, military and judicial leadership for deliberation on defence and foreign policy, with its decisions requiring confirmation by the Supreme Leader. Its secretary, however, is merely an administrative official controlling the Secretariat, setting the agenda, coordinating between state institutions, preparing policy options and implementing decisions.

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