War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The Strait of Hormuz has recorded the lowest navigational passage of ships since the signing of the MoU on June 17, with only four ships passing since this morning, Al Jazeera reports.

According to data from MarineTraffic, the passage includes an oil tanker and three container ships.

The navigational data also shows the four ships departing ports in Oman and the UAE before crossing the strait, but hiding their final destination and ownership registration data upon their return.

Oil prices have risen by over 3 per cent after fresh US strikes against Iran, fuelling fears for the future of Middle East peace efforts and raising the risk of another spike in inflation, AFP reports.

As of 1330 GMT (6:30pm PKT), Brent North Sea Crude is up by 3.8pc at $86.48 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate is up 3.1pc at $80.57 a barrel.

Iran’s IRIB broadcaster reports that 180 lawmakers have issued a statement demanding retaliation for strikes by the United States and ending the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding with the US.

The broadcaster adds that forming a special negotiation commission, passing the Strait of Hormuz Management Law and providing full support to the armed forces were also considered.

IRIB notes that Iran’s parliament has 290 members.

The Strait of Hormuz will never reopen through US attacks and “respecting the rights of the Iranian people” is the only path to restoring passage through the strategic waterway, an Iranian military spokesman says, according to Anadolu.

According to Iranian state television, Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia says: “The Strait of Hormuz will never reopen through US attacks, war or evil. The only way to reopen it is by respecting the rights of the Iranian people.”

Akraminia adds that Iran remains committed to avenging the assassination of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and all those who lost their lives during the war.

Israeli and Lebanese representatives have begun another two-day round of US-mediated talks in Rome, the sixth round of direct negotiations since the ceasefire between Iran, US and Israel was declared in April, Al Jazeera reports.

The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to Washington are leading the delegations, with the US ambassadors to Lebanon and Israel also in attendance.

Israeli media reports that, unlike previous rounds, military representatives from both sides will not be participating in this round of negotiations.

Beirut is hoping to secure an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon, although expectations for swift progress are low.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to strike powerfully against Iran if Tehran carries out a new attack on his country, AFP reports.

“I will say it to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us,” Netanyahu says at a conference, according to a video released by his office. “The days are over when someone strikes us and we don’t hit back with a decisive blow. “

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) — which governs the Strait of Hormuz — says that prior to the recent strikes by the United States, 200 vessels crossed the strategic waterway in the three weeks since the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding was signed.

“More than 200 non-Iranian vessels coordinated with [the] PGSA, and the majority of them obtained passage permits and insurance,” the body says in a post on X.

Fifty-five Iranian fishermen have been freed from custody in the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reports, citing a message posted by Iran’s embassy on Telegram.

The fishermen were detained by the UAE’s coast guard in recent months due to “special conditions” in the region, the embassy adds, in a likely reference to the Iran war.

The process to send them home has started, the embassy says.

India has expressed deep concern over attacks on the MT Al Bahiyah and MT Mombasa oil tankers during their transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs says both vessels were carrying 30 Indian seafarers, among their combined crew of 46.

“Of the 12 Indian nationals onboard MT Al Bahiyah, one has tragically lost his life and another has been injured. Of the 18 Indian nationals onboard MT Mombasa, 9 have sustained injuries, including 2 who are reported to be seriously injured,” the statement reads, extending condolences to the family of the deceased Indian national.

“Our mission and post in the UAE are closely monitoring the situation and are in touch with the UAE authorities to ensure all possible assistance to the affected Indian seafarers,” it adds.

“The Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Iran in New Delhi was summoned this morning by the Ministry of External Affairs and a strong protest against these attacks was lodged with him.”

India strongly condemns the attacks targeting seafarers and disrupting free and safe navigation through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz.

“We also reiterate our deep concern on account of the resumption of attacks and escalation of hostilities in the West-Asian region and call for immediate cessation of violence and a return to dialogue and diplomacy in the interests of peace, security and stability in the region,” the statement adds.

“In particular, the targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must cease in order that free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through international waterways in the region, in keeping with international law, can be restored at the earliest.”

Iran’s Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, warns that American aggression against the Islamic republic will lead to a “calculable and structural failure for Washington”, state news agency IRNA reports.

In a column titled ‘The New Geometry of Global Power’, published by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Jalali points to how Iran’s “deterrence doctrine” has been brought to a new level by the synergy of defence capability and active diplomacy.

Jalali, referring to the renewed US attacks on Iran, says “aggressive behaviour will only fail, given the Islamic republic’s diplomacy, which relies on social capital and popular legitimacy”, IRNA reports.

“The Iranian ambassador to Russia further wrote in this note about the current geopolitical coordinates, beginning with the unprovoked war of aggression, which, according to him, was out of desperation by the US and the Israeli regime,” IRNA adds.

Israel’s foreign minister expects ongoing talks in Rome with Lebanon to help implement an agreement on two “pilot zones” in the country’s south, referring to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from those areas, AFP reports.

“We are ready to move forward [with] implementing these two pilot zones. I hope and tend to believe that this round of discussions in Rome will promote it,” Gideon Saar tells journalists at a press conference in Jerusalem.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) says airlines should not operate over Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and near the waters of the Gulf of Oman, Al Jazeera reports.

“Unpredictable military developments, combined with the possible use of missiles, drones, combat aircraft and air-defence systems, create a high risk to civil flights at all altitudes and flight levels within the concerned airspace,” EASA says in a statement.

The agency advised airlines last week not to operate within the airspace of Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.

Iran has hacked mobile networks throughout the Middle East to track the locations of US personnel and contractors throughout the war, Al Jazeera reports citing The Financial Times (FT), which cites telecommunications data from the Mobile Surveillance Monitor research project and quotes people familiar with the matter.

US lawmakers were alarmed by the information, the newspaper says, as they warned that roaming systems and smartphone advertising technology have left the military vulnerable to attack.

Officials in the Gulf suspect Iran or its allies of exploiting roaming agreements with local phone providers to try to locate US personnel, one person familiar with the matter tells the FT. A US official speaking on the condition of anonymity tells the newspaper that actors linked to Iran abused commercially available advertising databases to track phones in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

“Iran absolutely has capabilities to get real-time, immediate and continuous location information,” Gary Miller, a senior research fellow at the cybersecurity watchdog Citizen Lab who reviewed the data, is quoted as saying by the FT.

“It would surprise me very much if Iran were not using SS7, or mobile network access in the region, to track US users.”

A Norwegian tanker has been hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast, AFP reports citing a crisis response company.

MTI Network says in a statement that shipping company Stolt Tankers reported that at approximately 12:40am local time (1:40am PKT), “its tanker vessel Stolt Magnesium, while on passage in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman, suffered from an explosion of an unidentified external device”, with a spokesman adding that “fortunately [sailors] are all safe and accounted for”.

The Omani foreign ministry has announced it will continue its “transparent and neutral cooperation with all parties to restore freedom of navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz, in compliance with international law.

The ministry, in light of “discussions and views concerning navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”, says it “remains fully committed to its obligations as a state party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and calls on all parties to respect and abide by international law”.

Bahraini authorities have said three people were sentenced to life in prison over charges of spying for Iran’s IRGC, the latest in a crackdown on Iran-linked cells, AFP reports.

“Three defendants were charged with colluding with the terrorist Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its operatives to assist in hostile and terrorist acts against the Kingdom of Bahrain and to harm its interests; the court sentenced all of them to life imprisonment,” the prosecution said.

Since the war began, Gulf states, which have borne the brunt of Tehran’s attacks, have cracked down on alleged IRGC-linked cells.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi says the US-Israeli war on Iran “has achieved none of its officially assigned objectives” and lacks a UN mandate.

“This war is a disaster,” he writes in an opinion piece published in the French newspaper Le Monde.

The minister adds: “Nevertheless, if it finally buries the myth of containment in the Gulf, then there is reason for hope: the emergence of a fairer, more realistic and more effective system, thus correcting nearly half a century of strategic errors.”

For him, the most serious threats to the region do not come from Tehran, but from Tel Aviv, he warns.

Oil prices have surged after the United States launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran and President Donald Trump vowed to reimpose a naval blockade, AFP reports.

International benchmark Brent North Sea crude climbed 5.1pc to $87.51 a barrel, while the main US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, advanced 3.9pc to $81.21 a barrel.

US strikes have hit an Iranian border area near Iraq and Kuwait on Tuesday, local authorities say according to AFP.

The city of Abadan, which hosts the oldest oil refinery in the Middle East, as well as the port city of Mahshahr were targeted, deputy governor of Khuzestan province Valiollah Hayati said, according to state news agency IRNA.

Qatar has condemned the attack on two UAE oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a “serious violation of the safety of international navigation, a direct threat to global energy supplies, and a clear breach of international law”.

In a statement, the foreign ministry stressed that the continuation of such attacks marked a “dangerous escalation that threatens regional security and stability”. It called on Iran to fully comply with international law and take measures to prevent such attacks from recurring.

A bill on the management on the Strait of Hormuz has been submitted to the Iranian Parliament, state-run IRIB is reporting.