War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The White House has invited Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to visit the United States on July 21, a White House official told Reuters.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they had hit dozens of US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait in response to American strikes, in a statement carried by state broadcaster IRIB.

“In an initial response to this aggression, the IRGC Navy and Aerospace Force carried out a joint missile and drone operation, striking 85 key US military facilities” in the two countries, while also shooting down an MQ-9 drone, the statement said.

The Kuwaiti army said on Wednesday it was responding to missile and drone attacks, after Iran threatened retaliation for a wave of US strikes, AFP reports.

“Kuwaiti air defences are currently engaging hostile missile and drone attacks,” the army said on X, without saying where they were coming from.

“The General Staff of the Army notes that any explosions heard are a result of air defence systems intercepting hostile attacks.”

Air raid sirens have been activated across Kuwait, Al Jazeera reports ciiting state-run KUNA news agency.

Air sirens were activated in Bahrain, the interior ministry said, after US strikes on dozens of targets in Iran further shook efforts to end the Middle East war.

“The siren has been sounded,” the ministry said, without giving details of the apparent threat

“Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”

“The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold,” Iran’s top negotiator Bagher Ghalibaf said on X following US strikes on the country.

He also listed “major violations” by the US of the deal signed between the two countries.

“Violating Iranian adjustments in the Strait, persistent threats of further strikes, reinstating oil sanctions, attacks on southern Iran, continued Zionist aggression on Lebanon,” he said.

The US Central Command (Centcom) says that it had struck over 80 targets during its latest strikes on Iran, Reuters reports.

“US forces struck Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait (of Hormuz) to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor,” it says in a statement.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was in Iraq to participate in the funeral ceremonies for assassinated supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, left for Iran after US strikes on southern Iran, state television reported, according to Reuters.

Iran’s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said that Iranian armed forces would deliver a “crushing response” after it said the US military targeted parts of southern Iran in what it called a “blatant act of aggression”, and warned that Tehran would not allow US interference in the management of the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.

It said that the only safe passage for commercial vessels and oil tankers through the waterway was the route determined by Iran.

Iran’s foreign ministry said Tuesday the United States has repeatedly violated their agreed memorandum of understanding, and warned retaliation following Washington’s strikes on targets in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

“Iran is issuing a serious warning about the consequences of America’s breach of the treaty, and will take decisive measures to protect its interests and national security,” the ministry said in a statement posted to Telegram by IRIB News.

Iranian state media on Tuesday reported a series of explosions heard in the Strait of Hormuz region, moments after US officials announced “powerful” strikes on Iran, AFP reports.

IRIB news reported six explosions were heard on the Iranian island of Qeshm, seven explosions were heard in the city of Sirik and more were heard in the major port city of Bandar Abbas.

US forces launched “powerful” strikes against Iran in response to attacks on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said, AFP reports.

“The US strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz” and will “impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping,” US Central Command said in a post on X.

“Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” it added.

A ceasefire took effect on April 8, but sporadic violence has continued in the Gulf region, including attacks on ships by Tehran’s forces and US strikes on Iran.

The strikes were the first by US forces on Iran since a series of air raids late last month that Washington also said were in response to attacks on commercial vessels by Tehran’s forces.

The dollar clings to its highest levels of the week against most of its peers at the start of trading in Asia as the US renewed strikes on Iran, renewing geopolitical tensions and sending oil prices higher, according to Reuters.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, traded at 101.18, its highest level since July 2.

The kiwi dollar was 0.1 per cent stronger at $0.5681 ahead of a decision by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand later at which it is narrowly expected to raise interest rates for the first time in more than three years.

Against the yen, the US dollar strengthened 0.1pc to 162.28 yen.

The euro slips 0.1pc to $1.1405, while the British pound nudged 0.1pc lower to $1.3353.

The Australian dollar was steady at $0.6926.

Bitcoin was down 0.2pc at $63,518.35, while ether was 0.5pc lower at $1,774.45.

The benchmark US oil contract increases more than 2.5 per cent when markets open, as Mideast tensions rise with new US attacks on Iran, AFP reports.

West Texas Intermediate crude, one of the two major global benchmarks, was up 2.63pc at $72.29 per barrel.

Oil prices are still well below the peaks they shot up to as the war began in late February and Iran largely shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s defence ministry spokesman has vowed that the country will respond to any act of aggression by enemies, hailing its “self-sufficient defence capability”, state broadcaster Press TV reports.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran pursues the path of diplomacy with authority, but in the face of any aggression or crossing of red lines, it will give a decisive, effective and proportionate response. Past experiences have proven this reality to the enemies,” Brigadier General Reza Talaei-Nik tells journalists.

The spokesman adds that Iran will continue to strengthen its national power, develop deterrence and maintain sustainable security with the support of its people, domestic capabilities, valuable defence experiences and the guidance of supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the broadcaster reports.

The United States is revoking a general license that authorised the sale of Iranian oil, Reuters reports citing a US official, warning that Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz were “wholly unacceptable” and would be met with consequences after attacks on tankers in the strategic waterway.

A US official says negotiators continue to work in good faith toward a final agreement with Iran despite the latest escalation.

Saudi Arabia has issued a statement strongly condemning the attacks on Saudi and Qatari tankers today, holding Iran responsible.

In a statement from the foreign ministry, Riyadh affirms that the “unacceptable attacks constitute an assault on the security and safety of international maritime navigation and on the security of global energy supplies”.

“The Kingdom further emphasises that Iran’s continued perpetration of these attacks constitutes a grave violation of international law, international norms, and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2817, which guarantee freedom of maritime navigation and the safe passage of ships through international waterways,” the statement adds.

Saudi Arabia reiterates its demand that Iran immediately cease all actions that “threaten regional security, the safety of international shipping, and global energy supplies”.

It also holds Iran fully responsible for these attacks, as well as for all resulting damage and consequences.

The body of late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has arrived in the Iraqi city of Najaf, ahead of a funeral procession tomorrow, state broadcaster Press TV reports.

Qatar has summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador and delivered a formal protest note following the targeting of a Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement posted on X, the foreign ministry said the incident constituted a “serious violation of international navigation safety”, a “direct threat to the security of global energy supplies” and a “clear and explicit breach of the rules of international law”.

The ministry has demanded that Tehran “immediately cease any practices that undermine regional security” and endanger international shipping and energy supplies.

Israeli attacks across Lebanon since March 2 have killed 4,320 people and wounded 12,203, Al Jazeera reports citing Lebanon’s health ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a CNN interview that despite occasional disagreements with US President Donald Trump on Iran, they see “eye to eye” on the big things related to handling Tehran.

Netanyahu says it is too early to say what would happen after Washington and Tehran signed an interim peace deal.

“The President believes that he can stop Iran’s nuclear program,” Netanyahu told CNN, but added that he has his doubts. “On the big things we see eye to eye, and occasionally we don’t, but we’re true allies.”