War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Pakistan has strongly condemned drone attacks carried out against Saudi Arabia, according to a statement from the Foreign Office (FO).

“Such provocative attacks pose a grave threat to peace and stability across the entire region,” the statement reads, adding that Islamabad stands in solidarity with Riyadh and “reaffirms its strong and unwavering support for the kingdom’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and peace and prosperity”.

“Pakistan has taken, and will continue to take, all possible steps to support efforts aimed at achieving lasting peace, security and stability in the region,” the statement concludes.

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has discussed efforts to reduce regional tensions with Canada’s Foreign Minister, Anita Anand, Al Jazeera reports.

In their phone call, Qatar’s foreign ministry said Sheikh Mohammed has stressed the need for all parties to adhere to dialogue and diplomacy, as well as implementing the MoU, including ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

He also reaffirms Qatar’s support for efforts to defuse tensions and achieve a comprehensive, sustainable peace in the region.

UN Rights Commissioner Volker Turk tells Al Jazeera that after working for the United Nations for 35 years, he “never imagined that we’d end up in a situation where in Gaza, in Yemen, in Lebanon, our colleagues killed not only once or twice, but frankly in a way that is totally unfathomable”.

“We had, as you know, many hundreds of colleagues killed in Gaza,” he said, and “a lot of Unifil personnel killed” in southern Lebanon, as well as 74 colleagues detained in Yemen.

Turk says that his staff who have been monitoring the situation are exhausted and traumatised.

He calls for the protection of UN staff and all those who work in humanitarian and human rights positions, “because we are doing it impartially” in order to serve people all around the world.

“I do think that the majority of people around the world care about not only our work, but also about the truth coming out, and that’s what we are counting on,” he says, adding, “we need to point out that international law that nobody is above international law and there are no exceptions to it.”

Speaking on US missile interceptor stocks, President Donald Trump says the US has “a lot of ammunition, different types”, according to Al Jazeera.

He blames the Biden administration for sending the arms to Ukraine, saying, “And so we’re building that up. But we have a lot. We have a lot of the mid-level stuff too. I mean, more than we could ever use, no matter what.

“The Patriots, in particular, are being built,” he adds.

Asked if he is on the same page as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Iran, US President Donald Trump says they are “pretty close”.

US Central Command (Centcom) says its forces have redirected 17 vessels, disabled two and boarded two others while enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

US President Donald Trump says he will ask Russian President Vladimir Putin if Russian satellites are helping Tehran direct strikes in the Middle East, Reuters reports.

“I’ll ask Putin about it. We’ll find out,” Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One.

Asked how he is communicating with the Houthis, US President Donald Trump says he is dealing with Saudi Arabia and that Washington may “probably have to get involved” if “they’re a problem”.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he notes that the US struck Yemen’s Houthis some time ago and that “we didn’t have any problem with them after that”.

US President Donald Trump tells reporters that Washington and Tehran are “talking right now”.

“Their people said, ‘Please don’t shoot’ last night, the night before … ‘Don’t do it, we’re having good talks’,” he says. “I think there’s a good chance that something could happen, and if it doesn’t, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.”

US President Donald Trump has praised his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, as Iran’s military is “pretty much destroyed” and that Iran wants to come to the table.

“We’re meeting and we’ll see what happens,” he tells reporters on Air Force One. “There’s a chance we could make a deal, but without what we did, they wouldn’t even be talking to us.”

Trump claims that Tehran requested a meeting with Washington through its “surrogates and directly”.

Asked if he is running out of patience with Iran, he replies, “I have plenty of time.”

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jabber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah is slated to visit Pakistan from July 28-29 at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the Foreign Office (FO) has said in a statement.

“The two sides will review the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international developments of mutual interest,” the statement reads, adding that Kuwait’s top diplomat is expected to pay a courtesy call on other senior leaders.

“The visit reflects the shared resolve of Pakistan and Kuwait to further strengthen their enduring partnership and expand cooperation for the mutual benefit of both countries,” the FO says.

UN Rights Commissioner Volker Turk tells Al Jazeera that the UN has dispatched an assessment mission to Lebanon to look at “serious violations of humanitarian law” by all parties to the conflict.

Turk says that after visiting a residential building in a densely populated area in Beirut that was destroyed in an attack, he sensed that “the principles of distinction, precaution, and proportionality were absolutely not respected in this case, and that really needs to be brought to light”.

“We need to tell the truth about this, and we need to bring the human side of conflict into the spotlight, which also means, yes, there are issues around accountability because people should not get away with the commission of crimes,” he adds.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk says that many people in Lebanon have been displaced many times as a result of Israeli bombardments.

“They were displaced in 2024, were displaced again and again in 2026,” he tells Al Jazeera. “So there is a deep sense of exhaustion and despair, I have to say, that I felt from people, [and] anxiety about what the future brings.”

He notes that one man he met with had tried to return to his home four days earlier only to be prevented from entering his village.

“He saw how his village had been demolished in front of his eyes.

“The ceasefire has to hold,” he stresses. “People have to find a way to get back to their lives and live in peace with their neighbour.”

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi has affirmed with his regional counterparts the importance of reaching an understanding that ensures the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports citing the Oman News Agency.

Albusaidi has also discussed the latest regional developments and efforts to reduce tensions.

Entire villages south of the Litani River in Lebanon have been razed by Israeli forces and are no longer habitable, says the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking at a media conference in Beirut during a two-day visit, Turk says his office has documented widespread Israeli violations of international humanitarian law, some of which may amount to “war crimes”.

Shipping monitor Kpler reports that 100 vessels have crossed the Bab al-Mandeb Strait over the past 48 hours, while only 29 crossed the Strait of Hormuz.

“Bab el-Mandeb, meanwhile, saw 100 verified crossings and largely stable daily activity, despite ongoing regional security concerns,” the monitor notes.

Kpler adds that several vessels which had previously reversed course later completed their transits, indicating that operators “are increasingly making route decisions based on real-time risk assessments rather than broad avoidance”.

“With no sign of a lasting regional stabilisation, vessel behaviour may prove a more important indicator than headline transit volumes,” Kpler notes.

US President Donald Trump says Washington is in “very deep talks with Iran” and warned that he is ready for “strong military action” if diplomacy fails, Reuters reports.

“Not much time. Either it goes fast or not at all,” Trump tells Axios when asked how long he was willing to give for talks.

Jordan has denounced attempted air attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, according to Al Jazeera.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says projectile strikes, that Riyadh says originated from Iraq, are a “flagrant violation of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty, a threat to its security and stability and a serious breach of international law and the United Nations Charter”, the Jordan News Agency reports.

Amman reiterates its solidarity with Riyadh, saying it supported all efforts taken to protect its security.

Iran’s Fars news agency reports that drone and missile attacks have caused a fire at Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq oil facility.

This comes after a statement from the spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthis, also carried by Fars, which claims drone attacks on “several sensitive points along the route for supplying and transferring crude oil from eastern Saudi Arabia to Yanbu”.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has thanked the United Arab Emirates for its continued support of his country and reiterated his condemnation of attacks targeting Gulf countries, Al Jazeera reports.

During a meeting with Saqr Ghobash, speaker of the UAE’s Federal National Council, Aoun has thanked the emirates for support “in all fields” and renewed his “condemnation of attacks” which he says threaten “the security and stability in the Gulf countries and the region as a whole if they continue”.

Aoun welcomes the UAE’s recent decision to allow citizens to travel to Lebanon, saying it reflected the “depth of the fraternal relations” between the two countries and their peoples, reads a statement from the Lebanese presidency posted on X.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed they launched drone attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure in response to alleged incursions by the kingdom’s drones.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said “a number of sensitive targets and points involved in the supply and transport of crude oil from eastern Saudi Arabia to Yanbu were struck using several drones”, referring to the port city where the kingdom’s East-West pipeline reaches the Red Sea.

The Pentagon has updated its war casualty database, recording more than 140 additional wounded — bringing the total to 624 — and restoring the four soldiers killed due to Iranian strikes last week amid questions about a lack of transparency over the war’s toll, CNN reports.

The Defence Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) also features a new tracking category called “Overseas Operations”, for personnel killed and wounded “starting July 7.”

CNN adds that after combining the new Pentagon data with updated totals for Operation Epic Fury, it shows that 18 troops have been killed and another 624 have been wounded since the US launched its war against Iran on February 28.

The number of wounded is a significant increase from the previous peak of 482 observed by CNN last week.

Saudi Arabia has called on the Iraqi government to prevent attacks from being launched from its territory, after accusing pro-Iranian militias based there of targeting the kingdom with drones, AFP reports.

The kingdom “affirms the necessity for the Iraqi government to take all necessary measures to ensure the prevention of the use of its territory as a launching point for aggression”, reads a statement posted by an official Saudi broadcaster.

A survey says 76 per cent of Americans believe the ongoing US-Iran war has proven “more challenging” than the Trump administration expected, Al Jazeera reports.

The CBS News and YouGov survey between July 22-24 says 20pc of respondents believe the war unfolded as expected, while 4pc think it has proven easier than expected.

Meanwhile, 58pc of respondents say they feel uncertain about the ongoing conflict, while 57pc report feeling frustrated. In addition, 36pc express pessimism, and only 19pc said they feel optimistic.

Only 22pc say they believe Iran is in the more advantageous position.