War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The United Arab Emirates has “strongly condemned” drone attacks launched from Iraqi territory that targeted oil facilities in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

In a statement published today, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the attacks constituted a “blatant violation” of Saudi sovereignty and a threat to its security and stability, without specifying the timing of the incidents or whether they caused casualties or damage.

Israel’s Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has said Israeli troops will not withdraw from occupied territory in southern Lebanon until the country’s security is assured, Al Jazeera reports.

He made the comments yesterday while visiting occupied territory in southern Lebanon, according to an Israeli military spokeswoman.

“In Lebanon, we have taken control of areas and continue to cleanse them of terrorist infrastructure,” he was quoted as saying. “And if necessary, we will expand the scope of our operations to include additional areas.”

He added: “We will not withdraw from the areas we have taken control of until long-term security is ensured.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the US and Iran to cease fighting and return to diplomacy, Al Jazeera reports.

“The Secretary-General has been worried for some time that if the parties do not return to negotiations, you could have a widening of the conflict, and that seems to be what has been happening in recent hours,” Deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq told reporters in New York.

“These are not positive developments, and he wants to make sure that the parties can cease fighting and again return to the diplomatic efforts, including the mediation efforts being pressed forward by Pakistan, Qatar and others.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that two oil tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz with US support turned back after one of them caught fire, AFP reports.

“Last night, two oil tankers, encouraged by American aircraft, attempted to leave through the unsafe southern route of the Strait of Hormuz,” the Guards said in a statement.

“After a major fire broke out on one of them, both vessels quickly turned back.”

The Jordanian Armed Forces say their air defence systems have intercepted and shot down five missiles launched from Iran targeting the Kingdom’s territory, Al Jazeera reports.

According to an official spokesperson for the Jordanian Armed Forces, military radar detected the incoming missiles before air defence units successfully engaged and downed all five targets.

The Fars news agency reports that three people have been killed in the US attack on the residential building in Qeshm.

Citing the Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Fars said the victims were a couple and their two-year-old child. Two other children, aged seven and nine, who were wounded remain at the hospital.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has said that the US has expended about a third of its Patriot and about half of its THAAD interceptor missiles since the start of its war on Iran.

It said the US had an estimated 2,330 Patriot interceptors prior to the war and now has about 759 to 827.

As for THAAD interceptors, the US had an estimated 452 prior to the war, and now has about 234-278.

CSIS said the numbers are drawn from US Department of Defense 2027 budget materials and public information.

A renewed war “would test diminished interceptor inventories,” it warned, adding that the reduced stoles “may force the United States and its coalition partners to take more risks with interceptions”.

Search and rescue operations continue for people trapped under rubble following a US strike on Qeshm Island, with officials confirming that the two people pulled from the debris and taken to hospital earlier were children, Al Jazeera reports.

The director general of crisis management for the Hormozgan governorate told the IRIB state broadcaster that “efforts are ongoing to rescue three other members of this family”.

The building struck by US forces was reportedly home to a family of five.

The US Central Command (Centcom) has said that its forces “successfully completed a heavy wave of strikes against Iran in response to yesterday’s attempted missile attacks on US forces”.

It said that Centcom assets struck “dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran, including military command centres, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defence sites, and maritime capabilities”.

“The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighbouring Gulf countries,” it said.

“On July 28, IRGC forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East. All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted,” it added.

The US military struck locations around Iran’s Qeshm island and Abadan city, Iranian media reported citing regional authorities, as American attacks resumed after a lull, AFP reports.

“At 04:00am (0030 GMT) a point near Qeshm was attacked by the American enemy military,” said Ahmad Nafisi, the deputy governor of the southern Hormozgan province, according to news agency Mehr.

“Points around Abadan city were attacked by missiles by the terrorist enemy of America,” the Fars news agency reported, citing the deputy governor of Khuzestan.

The US Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract worth up to $58.6 billion to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, Reuters reports, citing Pentagon, as conflicts in Iran and Ukraine strain US weapons stockpiles.

The US has supplied large quantities of weapons to allies while also using munitions in its own military operations in Iran, raising concerns about inventories of key air defense and precision-guided weapons.

The Lockheed award converts a previous one-year contract worth $4.7bn awarded in April into a seven-year draft agreement, creating a multiyear procurement plan for the interceptors from fiscal 2026 through 2032, the Army said.

Pentagon negotiators are pressing contractors to move much faster, with tentative production agreements struck earlier this year at the center of efforts to increase missile output.

The administration of President Donald Trump has also steadily increased pressure on defence contractors to prioritise production over shareholder payouts. Trump signed an executive order in January to identify contractors deemed to be underperforming on government contracts while continuing to distribute profits to shareholders.

Lockheed Martin says it is investing $8bn to $9bn through 2030 to modernise more than 20 US facilities, including new munitions centress in Alabama and Arkansas.

PAC-3 MSE is a hit-to-kill interceptor used within the Patriot air defence system to counter ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft.

The United States military launched “powerful” retaliatory strikes on Iran, marking the first attacks on Iranian soil in nearly a week, AFP reports.

“The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East,” US Central Command said.

US Central Command (Centcom) says that as part of the naval blockade of Iranian ports, American forces have redirected 20 vessels, disabled two and boarded two.

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has had a phone call with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, during which they reviewed bilateral cooperation and the latest regional developments, Al Jazeera reports.

The pair discussed diplomatic efforts and coordination to de-escalate tensions and enhance regional security and stability, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs says in a statement.

Sheikh Mohammed stresses the need for all parties to commit to “dialogue and diplomacy” and implement what was agreed under the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran — including guaranteeing freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz — to preserve regional security, safeguard gains made and strengthen stability.

He renews Qatar’s “full support” for all efforts to defuse tensions and reach a “comprehensive agreement” for lasting peace in the region.

Baghdad has complained that US-Saudi “aggression has hindered investigation efforts regarding the alleged targeting of Saudi Arabia”, Al Jazeera reports.

“We demand evidence and proof regarding the launch of attacks from Iraq, and no party has provided any evidence,” the spokesperson for the commander-in-chief for Iraq’s armed forces told the Iraqi News Agency.

Security leaders are working on a plan to “prevent attacks and preserve Iraq’s sovereignty”, the spokesperson added.

In the oil market, the price of Brent crude has leapt 6.7 per cent to $87.55 per barrel after fighting resumed in the US-Israel war on Iran, raising worries about the global flow of oil, Al Jazeera reports.

Brent oil’s price had swung as low as $72 early this month and as high as $102 last week on uncertainty about whether the United States and Iran could reach a deal to allow oil tankers to move freely again from the Middle East to customers worldwide.

The head of the Israeli army, Eyal Zamir, says his troops are prepared for Israel’s campaign to continue across all fronts, Al Jazeera reports.

“The campaign across all fronts is not yet over, and you must be prepared for it to continue. We are prepared for any change in the situation and ready for a wide range of scenarios”, Zamir told officers while on a visit to Israeli-occupied territory in southern Lebanon.

Zamir said Israeli forces would “push deeper and reach additional areas” on the Lebanon front if required.

Israeli forces have maintained their occupation of many points in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire, and have continued periodic strikes, as talks continue over Hezbollah’s disarmament and a full Israeli withdrawal.

Qatar has issued a statement strongly condemning Iran for launching strikes on Jordan, considering them a blatant violation of both Jordan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and international law.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the continuation of these aggressions represents a dangerous escalation that will complicate efforts aimed at containing tensions and undermine political and diplomatic endeavours geared toward achieving security and stability in the region,” the statement, posted on X, reads.

The ministry has emphasised the necessity of an immediate and complete cessation of all military operations that “threaten the region’s security and stability”, urging Iran to refrain from any actions that could expand the scope of escalation.

It further urges Tehran to make a “serious return to the path of dialogue and negotiations”, while committing to the understandings achieved through diplomatic efforts.

Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has confirmed that the incident at Damietta port saw a fire break out on a tugboat and storage ship, but that no casualties have been reported, Al Jazeera reports.

“The situation was dealt with immediately in accordance with the emergency plans … and firefighting and safety teams at the site,” the ministry says in a Facebook post without addressing the cause of the fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Washington, DC, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, Netanyahu’s office has shared photos of the gathering without offering more details.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has stressed the “restraint, dialogue, and diplomacy” to prevent further escalation in a telephonic conversation with his Egyptian counterpart, the Foreign Office (FO) says.

In a statement shared on X, the FO said, “FM Dar received a telephone call from the Egyptian Foreign Minister Dr Badr Abdelatty

“The two foreign ministers expressed grave concern over the deteriorating situation in Palestine, condemning the continued Israeli military actions in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank, escalating settler violence, and repeated violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem. They underscored the urgent need for an immediate end to all hostilities, unhindered humanitarian assistance, and full respect for international law.”

The two ministers also discussed Jordan’s proposal to convene a meeting of a group of Arab and Islamic countries to coordinate diplomatic efforts in support of the Palestinian people, it added.

“They further exchanged views on recent regional developments, stressing the imperative of restraint, dialogue, and diplomacy to prevent further escalation and preserve regional peace and stability,” the FO said.

US Central Command (Centcom) has stressed in a post on X that the Strait of Hormuz is open for maritime traffic, dismissing requests by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to only use routes it approves.

“After recently threatening and attempting to attack commercial vessels and innocent mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps continues to claim that international mariners should only use routes the IRGC prefers,” Centcom writes, dismissing the claim as false.

“The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway. The IRGC has no authority to dictate routes for free and open traffic flow. Commercial vessels continue to use the strait with U.S. military support,” Centcom states.

It adds that since early May, US forces have helped approximately 1,000 vessels and 500 million barrels of crude oil pass through the waterway.

“Local authorities responded promptly” after an explosion was reported at the Mediterranean port in Egypt, Al Jazeera reports citing port services firm Inchape.

“The vessels involved have been safely relocated outside the port area,” Inchcape’s statement says, adding that “port operations are expected to resume during the night-time at other berths and terminals”.