War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Shell has slightly raised the second-quarter outlook for its integrated gas production in a trading update, but production is expected to be lower than the previous quarter because of the impact of the Middle East conflict on Qatari volumes, according to Reuters.

Trading results at Shell’s chemicals and products unit, which includes the group’s big oil trading desk, are expected to be in line with the previous quarter’s strong performance.

A total of 108 vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz between 3 and 5 July, AlJazeera reports, citing data analyst company, Kpler.

In a post on social media platform X, the data tracking company says that traffic was “slightly weighted east to west and remained spread across predominantly Iranian and Omani routes”.

“While some crossings continued among IMO (International Maritime Organisation) and Dark/Unknown routes. This shows continued operations but fragmented routing patterns and cautious behavior,” it says.

“Sanctioned vessel activity was also present, with 14 crossings recorded. While the Strait remained open, a sizeable Dark/Unknown Route share and end-June IMO-confirmed attacks suggest that security, routing and insurance risks remain elevated,” it adds.

Gold prices ease, trading below a two-week high, with investors awaiting minutes of US Federal Reserve’s June meeting for insight into Chair Kevin Warsh’s monetary policy direction, according to Reuters.

Spot gold falls 0.9 per cent to $4,126.33 per ounce by 0458 GMT, while US gold futures for August delivery ease 0.7pc to $4,137.60.

“Gold price action looks like a little bit of a continuation of last week, some basing out, forming a support level, obviously waiting for a little bit of direction from the Fed minutes to get a bit more sense around what the Fed’s thinking is on the short-term interest rate policy,” said Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery.

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s June 16-17 meeting will be released on Wednesday.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd has chartered a vessel to load crude oil from Iraq, the first Indian state-owned refiner to do so since the partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, three shipping sources said, according to Reuters.

MRPL has booked the Aframax tanker Jasmin Joy to load crude from Iraq’s Basrah oil terminal on July 19-20, the sources said.

Indian state refiners have been struggling to secure ships to load crude from ports on the west of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies transited before the Israel-Iran conflict disrupted shipping in the region.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that millions of “proud Iranians rallied in unity” to honour assassinated supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and his legacy.

“Neither them nor our brave armed forces are moved by any threats,” he said. He added that the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States was clear.

“Negotiations on a final deal will not commence if threats continue. Honor your signature,” he said.

Hossein Royvaran, a Tehran-based analyst, says it is not yet clear why the tanker off the coast of Oman was targeted, noting that Iran has yet to issue an official statement on the incident.

According to Al Jazeera, he suggested one explanation was that the vessel had strayed into an area where Iranian teams were engaged in mine-clearing operations.

“The area near Oman is likely full of mines,” he said. “There is a possibility that these ships headed in directions where Iranian teams in that area are clearing mines, and the ships’ movement might have threatened those teams,” he said.

Two US officials have blamed Iran for the attack, telling the Axios news outlet that Iran’s military fired at least two missiles at commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera.

One of the officials said a second vessel was also struck and that both ships sustained significant damage, but there were no reported casualties.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr calls Trump’s threat “delusional”, according to Reuters.

“Iranians are unfamiliar with the language of threats. So speak to the Iranian people with respect, otherwise we will respond in another language,” Zolqadr says in comments carried by state media.

An “unknown projectile” has struck and caused a fire on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports, citing British maritime security agency UKMTO.

“A tanker has reported being hit by an unknown projectile on the port side causing a fire, whilst travelling southbound,” UKMTO says, adding that there are no reports of casualties or environmental impact.

Israel has targeted the towns of Deir Siryan and Toulene with artillery, while carrying out a bombing operation in Qantara, Al Jazeera reports citing the National News Agency.

The body of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has arrived in the holy city of Qom ahead of a planned procession the following day, AFP reports citing state television.

“The body of the martyred leader has arrived in Qom,” south of the capital Tehran, state television says on social media, alongside footage showing a helicopter carrying Khamenei’s body landing in the city.

Continued Israeli attacks have prevented more than 600,000 people from returning to southern Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera.

Israel is posting videos of its military blowing up neighbourhoods. The soldiers have been doing this for months – wiping villages off the map – actions that rights groups say violate international law, reports Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr.

From Tibnine, Hussein Sabra is able to see his hometown of Hadatha, just a few kilometres away, yet unreachable. From there, he watches and hears the explosions.

“This is hard for anyone to bear … watching your homes … your livelihoods destroyed … all your childhood memories gone,” Sabra tells the Qatar-based broadcaster.

More than 90,000 homes, according to a government survey, have been damaged or destroyed, said Khodr. The reconstruction bill is estimated at more than $1 billion, money people there do not have, she added.

“People are only making minor repairs to make their homes livable, but they are worried the violence will escalate again,” Ahmed Hamza, a Tibnine resident, says.

Those who have returned say they live in fear.

“The children are always scared because of the sound of explosions … the whole house shakes,” saysAbu Hussein, a Tibnine resident.

According to Al Jazeera, Iranian authorities are hoping to avoid a repeat of the chaos that marred the 1989 funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini, which drew an estimated 10 million people.

At that event, crowd surges killed 10 people and injured more than 10,000 others.

Jafar Miadfar, the head of emergency services, tells state news agency IRNA: “To date, no fatalities have been recorded during this ceremony, and more than 34,000 participants have received medical treatment and emergency medical services.”

Speaking to US media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged “differences of opinion” between Washington and Tel Aviv, but denies a deeper rift, saying, “We see eye-to-eye on just about everything,” Al Jazeera reports.

“My relationship with the president is fine, and we have a way of ironing out our differences as allies who respect each other,” he adds in an interview with Fox News.

As the mourning continues in Iran, the authorities are presenting ceremonies for late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as both a religious farewell and a demonstration of national unity, Al Jazeera reports.

“The US and Israel aimed to divide Iran. They wanted to kill our leaders, ordinary people, and commanders to achieve that. But our leader prevented that division. Iranians are here to appreciate what he has done for Iran,” a man who identified himself as Hamid tells Al Jazeera.

Marzieh, another person attending, said he showed up to honour Khamenei, who ruled Iran for nearly 40 years.

“We came here to tell our martyred leader that his blood is not wasted. We came here to renew our allegiance to him,” he says.

Israeli forces have carried out an air strike on the town of Baraachit in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district, Al Jazeera reports citing the National News Agency.

The attack comes following a mass funeral for civilians in the same town on Sunday that became the target of Israeli artillery fire. No casualties have been reported in the strike.

Russian state nuclear company Rosatom is planning to ⁠send personnel back to ⁠Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant starting in mid-July, Al Jazeera reports citing the Interfax news agency.

Rosatom is ⁠building two new ⁠units at Bushehr, which sustained multiple attacks by the US and Israel following their February attack on Iran.

Nearly 200 Rosatom employees were evacuated from the plant in April.

US President Donald Trump has once again threatened Iran with military action, but is in favour of making a deal.

“We’re either going to make a deal, or we’re going to finish the job. It won’t be tough to finish the job,” he tells reporters at the Oval Office.

Trump says he would rather make a deal, but warns that the US can “knock out” bridges and energy infrastructure in an hour.

“We can knock out their electricity and power-generating plants … in the small part of an afternoon,” he adds.

US President Donald Trump says Washington has “gotten concessions” from Tehran and reiterates that it will secure Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

“We’ve gotten concessions, and they have to hold those concessions, but there will be no nuclear weapon,” he tells reporters in the Oval Office.

“We’re going to be getting the … dust, the enriched material,” Trump adds.

Israeli forces have bombed homes in the town of Qounine, in Lebanon’s southern Bint Jbeil district, Al Jazeera reports citing the official National News Agency.

Its correspondent says the Israeli army has attacked civilian homes in the town, claiming it is an Israeli tactic to stop people from returning.

More than 1.6 million were displaced after Israel began its aerial assault and ground invasion of southern Lebanon on March 2. Hundreds of thousands have attempted to return to the area.