War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

US Central Command (Centcom) has said a US service member in northern Iraq was “killed in action on July 18 during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone”.

“A second service member was wounded and continues to receive medical treatment for a minor injury,” it said in a statement.

Providing an update on the casualties of its personnel in Jordan, Centcom said US military personnel found unidentified remains at the location earlier today as they searched for a third missing service member.

“An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing,” it said, recalling that two US personnel had lost their lives in Jordan.

“Centcom is withholding additional information, including the identities of the missing and fallen warriors, out of respect for the families during the notification process.”

The United Arab Emirates has condemned Iran’s “renewed hostile attacks” targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait with missiles and drones, Al Jazeera reports.

The attacks are a “flagrant violation” of the three countries’ sovereignty, said a foreign ministry statement.

The emirate also reiterated its “full solidarity” with them, saying it supported “all measures aimed at safeguarding their security and stability”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington, praising the country for its “move towards peace” after the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks, AFP reports.

Aoun and Rubio held talks at the State Department, and Lebanese officials said Aoun is due to meet with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Rubio said Aoun’s government had made a “determined effort to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace,” according to a State Department release.

The Lebanese president stressed that Lebanon and the United States must “align… regarding the implementation of the tripartite framework, through achieving the first Israeli withdrawal from the first pilot zone.”

The State Department added that Washington was committed to the framework and to backing “Lebanon’s efforts to deliver peace.”

Kuwaiti defence ministry spokesperson Major General Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi says in a statement that Iran continues to target civilian facilities within the kingdom.

“The armed forces have detected, since dawn today, hostile ballistic missiles and drones within Kuwaiti airspace, which have been intercepted and dealt with,” the statement reads.

“The reprehensible Iranian aggression continues to target civilian and vital facilities in the country, as the attacks have struck facilities affiliated with the Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy, leading to outbreaks of fires and causing severe damage to a number of its facilities and vital installations.”

The statement says the military will continue carrying out missions and duties “with high efficiency, within the framework of ongoing readiness and constant preparedness, and the taking of all necessary measures to protect the sovereignty of the homeland, preserve its security and stability, in coordination with the competent authorities, in a manner that safeguards the safety of citizens and residents”.

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, Brigadier General Esmaeil Qa’ani, has vowed that the Resistance Front (also known as the Axis of Resistance)n will continue the “bright and honourable path of resistance” under the leadership of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, IRNA reports.

General Qa’ani’s statement came in response to a message issued by Khamenei a day earlier, in which he warned US President Donald Trump of “unforgettable lessons” from the Iranian nation and Resistance Front.

General Qa’ani expressed gratitude for the supreme leader’s support for the Resistance Front and reiterated the loyalty of commanders and fighters to the covenant made with the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“We emphasise our continued faithfulness to the covenant we made with the martyred Imam of the Ummah,” the statement read.

Kuwait has condemned Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and Jordan, calling them a “flagrant violation” of their sovereignty, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement, Kuwait’s foreign ministry expresses “full solidarity” with Bahrain and Jordan, adding that it supports “all measures” taken by them to protect their security, sovereignty and stability.

The IRGC says it shot down a spy drone in the south of the country, saying it was “conducting reconnaissance and surveillance of the operational areas of the south,” Al Jazeera reports, citing the IRNA news agency.

It also said that its aerospace force shot down a MQ-9 drone in the sky of Ahvaz in the southwest of the country.

The army also successfully intercepted a US cruise missile in the west of Iran, it added.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry has condemned what it described as an Iranian attack on a power generation and water desalination facility, calling it a direct strike on vital civilian infrastructure, Reuters reports.

The repeated targeting of civilian facilities amounted to a dangerous escalation and violated international law, the UN Charter and UN Security Council Resolution 2817, the ministry said in a statement.

It said Iran bore full legal and moral responsibility for the attack and its consequences.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi will visit Tehran within the coming week, Reuters reports, citing the Iraqi state news agency.

It added that during the visit, the prime minister will sign memoranda of understanding in Tehran in areas of cooperation.

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani have held a phone call, stressing the need for joint efforts to end the dangerous regional escalation, Jordan’s state media reports.

They called for an immediate ceasefire and a return to negotiations to secure a comprehensive resolution. They noted that a final agreement must address all root causes of tension and guarantee freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

The two pledged “full solidarity” in countering Iranian attacks, warning of the “severe consequences” if these hostilities continue, according to Jordan.

Jordan’s foreign ministry has summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires and delivered to him a “strongly worded protest message against the continued brutal and unjustified Iranian attacks” targeting the kingdom, state media reports.

Ambassador Fouad Majali confirmed that the ministry asked the chargé d’affaires to convey a clear message to his country to stop the attacks on Jordan immediately.

It was further conveyed that the security of Jordan and the safety of its citizens represent a red line that cannot be crossed, as well as the need to stop the unacceptable incitement statements.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog has called for restraint after Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said the United States had attacked an under-construction nuclear power plant in the country’s southwest, AFP reports.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it was looking into the reports, noting the plant “is in the very early stages of construction and contained no nuclear material when last visited by the IAEA”.

While the incident “is not believed to pose any radiological risk”, IAEA director Rafael Grossi reiterated his “call for military restraint in the vicinity of all nuclear-related sites”, the agency said in a post on X.

Lebanon’s health ministry has said the death toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 has reached 4,328 with another 12,229 wounded, according to Al Jazeera.

The Iranian military has said its navy air defence systems intercepted and shot down an American Lucas drone in southern Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

Iran’s IRNA news agency showed a photo of what appears to be a damaged drone.

US forces started using the Lucas – Low-cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System – drones in Iran earlier this year.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington after the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks wrapped up in Italy, AFP reports.

The Lebanese president’s office said Aoun would meet with President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Aoun planned talks “on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire” as well as on “the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies,” his office said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has delivered “heavy blows to American bases in Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and other nations, and this seriousness will continue,” Al Jazeera reports.

“The Americans are trying to compensate for their defeat in this war through military actions and return the Strait of Hormuz to its pre-war conditions, but they will certainly not succeed,” said Brigadier-General Yadollah Javani, an IRGC commander, in a post on Telegram.

He also vowed “revenge and retribution” for those who killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, “and these individuals must bid farewell to peaceful sleep and comfort”.

Israel’s defence minister has said that his country would respond powerfully to any attack by Iran, after Israeli and Jordanian forces intercepted an Iranian missile launched towards the Jordanian city of Aqaba, AFP reports.

“If Iran fires missiles at Israel, we will attack them with full force,” Israel Katz said during a visit to a rescue service facility.

“If the United States changes its policy, which is also something that could happen, we are prepared for both defensive and offensive” action against Tehran, he added.

Most Gulf stock markets have fallen as escalating US-Iran attacks across the region stoked inflation concerns and strengthened expectations of further US interest-rate hikes, Reuters reports.

Qatar’s stock market index retreated 1.5pc, dragged down by a 3pc slide in the Gulf’s biggest lender by assets, Qatar National Bank. Qatar Gas Transport also fell 2pc.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index closed flat, with oil major Saudi Aramco rising 0.6pc. Since the war began, the kingdom has rerouted over 70pc of its usual daily crude exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

Elsewhere, Bahrain’s index was down 1.2pc and Kuwait’s fell 0.4pc. Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index fell 0.7pc.

Saudi Arabia finished flat at 10,717. Qatar retreated 1.5pc to 9,955. Egypt was down 0.7pc to 52,560; Bahrain closed 1.2pc lower to 1,962; Oman declined 1pc to 7,407 and Kuwait dropped 0.4pc to 9,036.

US President Donald Trump has said that Republicans should add Iran to the Russian sanctions bill, Reuters reports.

Jordanian Armed Forces have intercepted and shot down three out of four Iranian missiles, Al Jazeera reports, citing the country’s state news agency.

The fourth missile fell in a remote area in the south, it said. No casualties or damage were reported.

Israeli and Jordanian forces have intercepted an Iranian missile aimed at the Jordanian city of Aqaba, the Israeli military tells AFP.

When asked by AFP about reports of explosions near the Israeli city of Eilat, a military spokeswoman said both Israeli and Jordanian forces had intercepted a projectile.

The Israeli military has claimed it identified missiles launched from Iran towards Aqaba in Jordan, after Jordan’s government denied that the city’s airport and seaport were evacuated over a threat, AFP reports.

“A short while ago, the IDF identified the launch of missiles from Iran toward the city of Aqaba in Jordan, adjacent to Israeli territory,” the military said.

“It is possible that as a result of the fire, there will be spillover into Israeli territory.”

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has told the Iranian people it is crucial to maintain unity during American attacks on the country, Al Jazeera reports.

“Insisting on sacred unity is not just a moral or social recommendation, it is rather a necessary condition for victory in the field of struggle against the enemy,” Ghalibaf has said in a social media post.

“We should consider obedience to this religious and national command of the supreme leader of the revolution as an important part of our historical role in this national resistance and in the administration of the country.”

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has met Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Doha, Al Jazeera reports.

The two leaders during the meeting discussed bilateral relations as well as regional developments, including the latest escalation between the US and Iran, according to an official statement.

Sheikh Tamim and al-Zaidi have stressed the importance of all parties involved in the war in adhering to “dialogue and diplomacy, and implementing what has been agreed upon within the framework of the memorandum of understanding… including ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and promoting regional stability”.