War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

According to Al Jazeera, The New York Times is quoting the US military’s Central Command (Centcom) as saying that US forces struck more than 170 Iranian military targets along the Iranian coast near the Strait of Hormuz in the past two days, including air defence systems, drone and missile storage sites, military speed boats, and logistics infrastructure.

Centcom says the strikes were intended to degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the strait.

The US newspaper adds that the number of strikes was about 14 times the number of targets Washington hit in the most recent two-day escalation in June.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi says the framework agreement signed between Beirut and Tel Aviv under US auspices demonstrates that such decisions are a matter for the Lebanese state alone, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking during a visit to Cyprus, Raggi says the deal “has demonstrated to everyone, first and foremost Iran, that negotiations are an exclusively Lebanese responsibility, to be decided by no one other than the Lebanese state”.

Oil prices have risen as markets assess the escalating conflict between the US and Iran and its potential impact on efforts to end the war and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures are up 53 cents, or 0.68 per cent, to $78.55 a barrel as of 1148 GMT (4:38pm PKT). US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gain 39 cents, or 0.53pc, to $73.91 a barrel.

Bahrain has held talks about getting its Formula One Grand Prix back on this year’s race calendar.

“There is the talks about maybe plugging in some of the races that were cancelled back into the calendar. No confirmation still on that, [but] potentially,” Bahrain’s Minister of Sustainable Development Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, tells Reuters in an interview on just as regional tensions began to flare again.

The Bahrain Grand Prix was cancelled along with Saudi Arabia’s race back in March after the war broke out.

Hostilities between the United States and Iran will need to ease again, but Formula One sources say the most likely slot for Bahrain is the weekend of October 3-4, between the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku and the Singapore Grand Prix on October 11.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy says that US attacks on Iran and intervention in redirecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz are disrupting the strategic waterway’s gradual reopening and jeopardising the interests of countries benefiting from it, Reuters reports.

The Guards add that transit capacity under Iran’s supervision has recovered to about 50 per cent of pre-war levels over the past two weeks, and that transit capacity is only being expanded for vessels granted permits to use routes designated by Iran.

They warn that any further US intervention would draw a “crushing response”.

Al Jazeera, citing Iran’s Mehr news agency, reports that more explosions have been heard in Bandar Abbas, an Iranian port city on the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Al Jazeera, Iran’s ISNA news agency reports that a US attack on the city of Sirik has hit a fishing pier, killing three people and injuring 15 others, according to local authorities.

The US embassy in Jordan has issued a countrywide shelter-in-place alert for American nationals, according to a post on its X account.

“Reports indicate missiles, drones, or rockets are in Jordanian airspace. Seek overhead cover and shelter in place immediately. Remain indoors and pay attention to local announcements and alerts,” the embassy warns, adding that it will monitor the situation and provide information as needed.

It further instructs US nationals to monitor local media for information; contact airlines directly for flight change details; be aware of surroundings and “remain vigilant for anything appearing out of the ordinary”; and contact the Jordanian police if in immediate danger.

Shipping monitor TankerTrackers.com has written in a post on X that Iran has exported 10 million barrels of crude oil overnight, in anticipation of a renewed US naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Jordan has intercepted eight missiles launched from Iran, according to state news agency PetraNews.

“The interception operations resulted in the fall of shrapnel without any human casualties or material damage,” PetraNews quotes the Jordanian Armed Forces as saying.

“We are operating at the highest levels of readiness to protect the kingdom’s airspace and defend its sovereignty and the safety of its territories,” it adds.

Sirens are blaring in Jordan, an AFP correspondent reports, hours after Iran’s military said it had targeted sites in Gulf countries in retaliation for US strikes.

State broadcaster Al-Mamlaka adds: “Alarm sirens sounded in Jordan on Thursday to alert citizens and urge them to follow instructions.”

Lebanese presidency has said that a US delegation was expected to arrive in Lebanon soon to oversee the implementation of Israel’s withdrawal from “pilot zones” in the south, citing the American ambassador, AFP reports.

Lebanon is demanding that Israel withdraw from these zones before taking part in a new round of negotiations scheduled for July 15 and 16 in Rome, a diplomatic source familiar with the talks has told AFP.

A US projectile has struck the area surrounding Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran’s deputy governor of Bushehr province has told state media, Reuters reports.

The official has said several locations in Bushehr province, including the perimeter area of the nuclear facility, were hit in US attacks.

Bushehr’s governor has denied rumours of US attacks on Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Kharg Island, ISNA reports.

The governor has said that US attacked several locations in Bushehr county Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

No human casualties were caused, the governor says.

German exports unexpectedly rose in May, their fourth straight monthly increase, official data shows, as Europe’s biggest economy defied headwinds from the Iran war, AFP reports.

Exports rose 0.9pc from the previous month to 137.9 billion euros ($158bn), according to preliminary data from statistics agency Destatis, driven by a rise in demand from the United States and China.

Analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet had expected a decline of 1pc.

It was the latest evidence that Germany’s long-struggling economy is coping with the turmoil unleashed by the US-Israeli war against Iran better than some had feared.

Figures released earlier this week showed German industrial output and orders also increased in May.

Overnight US strikes on Iran hit the Aq Taqeh Khan railway bridge — a trade link to Tehran’s strategic partners China and Russia — in northern Iran’s Golestan province, Reuters reports, citing Fars news agency.

The Iranian media report says the route that goes on to pass through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan has been an important land link to China which gained further relevance during this year’s blockade of Iran’s Gulf ports by the US.

It adds that the route had also been used by Russia for cargo shipments to Iran since late 2025. The agency says repairs to the bridge were expected to be completed quickly.

At least one fighter jet has escorted the plane carrying late Iranian leader Ali Khamenei to his final burial in the eastern holy city of Mashhad, AFP reports, citing footage from the supreme leader’s website.

Khamenei’s coffin, alongside those of family members killed in US-Israeli strikes in February that began the Middle East war, have been transported from Iraq where massive crowds attended funeral ceremonies in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

At least one person was injured, Kuwait’s defence ministry said, following the latest Iranian attack on the country, AFP reports.

“The injured individual is receiving the necessary medical care and is in stable condition,” defence ministry spokesman Colonel Staff Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan said, adding that four missiles and 10 drones had been “successfully intercepted and neutralised” at dawn.

The head of the International Maritime Organisation says about 6,000 sailors remain trapped around the Strait of Hormuz as hostilities between the US and Iran continue, Al Jazeera reports.

“These reckless attacks have again placed innocent seafarers in grave danger. No seafarer should have to risk their life simply for doing their job,” Arsenio Dominguez was quoted by NBC News as saying.

Iran’s foreign ministry denounced US strikes against the country, which it said targeted civilian infrastructure including railway bridges, as a “gross war crime,” AFP reports.

The ministry in a statement said it “condemns in the strongest terms the aggressive attacks by the US terrorist army on several points in the southern coastal provinces and two bridges in the eastern provinces on the railway route to the holy city of Mashhad” and called the US administration “evil and psychopathic”.

An AFP correspondent in the Bahraini capital Manama heard explosions on Thursday as air-raid sirens were activated for a second time, hours after Iranian attacks in the night.

“The siren has been sounded.. Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” the interior ministry said in a post on X.

A plane carrying the coffin of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei has landed in the eastern holy city of Mashhad, ahead of his burial, AFP reports, citing state media.

Official news agency IRNA shared footage of the Mahan Air flight taxiing at the airport after landing in Khamenei’s home city. He was transferred from Iraq, where ceremonies took place in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.