War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

An Al Jazeera correspondent has reported the strike on the town in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district.

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref says the US initiated its attacks on Iran “before the ink on the Islamabad MoU had even dried”, Al Jazeera reports.

In comments carried by Iran’s Fars news agency, Aref says the US attacks occurred despite the MoU assigning Iran responsibility for managing traffic in the Strait of Hormuz during the first 60 days.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei says that the US broadcasting images of destroyed Iranian infrastructure erodes its moral standing.

“For a State that once cast itself as the global champion of order, liberalism, and the war on terrorism, proudly displaying images of destroyed bridges and civilian infrastructure has become its only remaining ‘victory’“, he writes on X.

“Yet with the collapse of every bridge, every tower, and every civilian facility, it is not merely steel and concrete that is being reduced to rubble. It is America’s moral standing — along with the entire architecture of international law and the civilizational claims of the West — that is crumbling before the world’s eyes.”

Baqaei says that the question that must now be asked of the US and its allies is “stark and simple: What is the real difference between what they have done in Chabahar, Minab, Lamerd, and Jask, and the very acts of terrorism they once invoked to justify their wars and occupations?”

US Central Command (Centcom) has issued a statement saying two military personnel stationed in Jordan were killed in action in Iranian missile and drone strikes.

“Additionally, one service member is currently missing in action,” the statement, posted on X, reads.

“Four American service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals. They have since been discharged. Other personnel who were evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty,” it adds.

A merchant vessel and military forces have been involved in an incident about 100 nautical miles east of Duqm, Oman, Reuters reports citing the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO).

“Reports indicate that the tanker was subject to interaction as part of ongoing military activity in the region,” UKMTO has said without giving further details.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has said that since the US is seeking to escalate the conflict and incur “even heavier costs and further humiliation, it should know that the noble nation of Iran and the Resistance Front have unforgettable lessons in store for it”.

Continuing his written address, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei says the US “has once again revealed its true, unmasked face, so that this dark episode of criminality and broken promises serves as yet another indisputable testament to the US’s dishonesty, irrationality, unreliability, and malicious nature”.

“Coercion, totalitarianism, and brutality are inseparable components of the US creed and doctrine,” he adds.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry has said it strongly condemns “the continued brutal Iranian aggression” against Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, according to Al Jazeera.

In a statement, the ministry says it fully supports the measures those countries take against Iran’s attacks, which “violate international law and the principles of good neighbourliness”.

The Saudi statement follows earlier condemnations of Iran’s recent attacks on Gulf neighbours by Qatar and GCC chief Jassim al-Budaiwi.

In a written statement, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has said that repeated breaches of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding have “once again laid bare a fundamental truth: the signature of the US president is utterly worthless and devoid of credibility”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei is the latest Iranian official to address the status of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU), saying the US has violated every aspect of the agreement over the last week, Al Jazeera reports.

In comments cited by Iran’s Fars news agency, Baqaei accuses the US of pushing ships to use a “parallel route” in the Strait of Hormuz, away from the route designated by Iranian officials, which he says violates the MoU’s terms.

Baqaei adds that Iran has not sought war and has only defended itself in the “imposed” war.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has held a meeting with Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch and other senior Foreign Office (FO) officials, where recent diplomatic developments came under discussion.

“The meeting covered follow-up actions, ongoing diplomatic priorities, and preparations for upcoming engagements,” the FO says in a statement.

“DPM/FM emphasised the importance of close coordination, effective implementation of diplomatic initiatives, and sustained efforts towards advancing Pakistan’s foreign policy objectives and national interests.”

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has spoken by phone with his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Al Jazeera reports citing Russian news agency RIA Novosti, which cited the foreign ministry.

The ministry says the two officials exchanged views on the situation in the Gulf, and both stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire between the US and Iran and a return to negotiations.

Three US airstrikes have targeted areas near Sirik in Iran’s Hormozgan province today, Al Jazeera reports citing Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency.

Mehr adds that the latest strike was at 4:40pm local time (6:10pm PKT).

Hezbollah has held a mass funeral for dozens of people, most of them fighters killed in the most recent fighting with Israel, in southern Lebanon’s Majdal Selm, according to AFP.

In the heavily damaged village, Hezbollah has buried 44 people, 39 of them fighters and four civilians said to have been killed in Israeli operations, and one man who died of natural causes.

An AFP correspondent reports seeing trucks carrying the coffins to the burial site, as weeping women held portraits of the dead and of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli strike on Tehran in February.

Many Lebanese have been unable to bury their loved ones in their hometowns as the fighting is still raging.

“You are invited to participate in the blessed funeral of Majdal Selm’s martyrs,” reads an announcement to Hezbollah’s supporters, with the names of the dead.

Jordan has condemned renewed Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, in which a Kuwaiti power and water desalination plant was struck, state news agency Petra News reports.

“The attacks are a blatant violation of the sovereignty of countries, a threat to their security, stability and territorial integrity, a dangerous escalation, and a flagrant breach of international law and the United Nations Charter,” it adds quoting the kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs.

The ministry reiterates Jordan’s full solidarity with Bahrain and Kuwait, and supports “all measures they take to protect their sovereignty, security, and the safety of their citizens and residents”.

Melhem Khalaf, a Greek Orthodox member of the Lebanese parliament, says the repeated entry of Israeli settlers into territories in the country’s south occupied by the Israeli army is “not a mere border incident, but a direct assault on Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a dangerous attempt to impose a new reality by force”, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement reported by the country’s National News Agency, Khalaf says the fact that civilians are involved “does not change the nature of these actions” backed by the Israeli forces.

Khalaf condemns the “aggressive actions” and calls on both the UN and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) to take immediate action to stop the settlers, officially document the incidents, and report them to the UN Security Council.

The United Arab Emirates has condemned in the strongest terms renewed attacks by Iran targeting Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan with missiles and drones.

In a statement, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that these hostile attacks “constitute a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the brotherly nations and a threat to their security and stability”.

“The ministry reiterated the UAE’s full solidarity with the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and its support for all measures aimed at safeguarding their security and stability,” the statement adds.

US Central Command (Centcom) has denied claims by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that two oil tankers exploded after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Like most IRGC claims, this is false,” Centcom says in a post on X.

Qatar has condemned in the strongest terms renewed attacks launched by Iran on the territories of Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, calling them a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the targeted states and the integrity of their territories, and a blatant breach of international law, the United Nations Charter, and the principles of good neighbourliness”.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that targeting power stations and water desalination plants in the State of Kuwait crosses all red lines, and constitutes a brazen violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2817, and what it contains in terms of emphasis on respecting the sovereignty of these states and the integrity of their territories, and rejecting the targeting of civilians and vital facilities,” Qatar’s foreign ministry says in a statement.

The ministry adds that the continuation of these attacks represents a dangerous escalation which complicates efforts to contain regional tensions and undermine political and diplomatic endeavours aiming to ensure regional security and stability.

“The ministry stresses the necessity of an immediate and complete cessation of all military actions and attacks that threaten the security and stability of the region, refraining from everything that would expand the scope of escalation, and a serious return to the path of dialogue and negotiations, and commitment to the understandings achieved through diplomatic efforts,” the statement concludes.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu belongs “in the Hague” and is “a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court”.

Netanyahu is expected to visit New York City for the UN General Assembly in September.

The mayor tells a US media outlet that he is unclear on whether he has the legal authority to order the New York Police Department, which he oversees, to arrest a foreign leader like Netanyahu. He says he is in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department over the matter.