War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly says Egypt has secured alternatives to cover its energy needs after a drone attack on Wednesday damaged a gas vessel at Damietta port, Al Jazeera reports.

No group has claimed responsibility, and authorities are continuing their investigation, he adds.

The commander of Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Major General Ali Abdollahi, has issued a harsh warning to US forces, stating “their coffins are a part of their equipment”.

“Today, the Americans and their mercenaries have realised to the very core of their being that their coffins are part of their equipment in the region,” Abdollahi says, according to the Fars news agency.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warns that the Middle East conflict is facing a serious escalation, after a drone struck a US-owned gas tanker in an Egyptian port, AFP reports.

According to his spokesman, during a call to Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Sisi “stressed the need for Egypt, Spain, Europe and the international community to work together to halt this escalation”.

Senate Republicans have blocked an effort to limit US President Donald Trump’s ability to continue military action against Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

The measure would have required Trump to end US hostilities unless it was authorised by Congress. The Senate has voted 50-49 against advancing the measure.

Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul joined Democrats in supporting the resolution, while Democratic Senator John Fetterman voted with most Republicans to block it.

Iran’s military says it has struck power generators, navigation systems and administrative and support buildings at the Sheikh Isa Airbase in Bahrain with Arash drones, state broadcaster Press TV reports.

The United States has issued new Iran-related sanctions that target global networks supporting Mahan Air, the Iranian carrier Washington says transports Iran’s Revolutionary Guards personnel, as well as weapons and drones, Reuters reports.

The US Treasury has designated six entities and individuals in China, India, Russia and Iran for acting as sales agents and support networks for the US- and EU-sanctioned airline, the department says in a statement.

Israeli forces have bombed the southern Lebanese town of Taybeh in Marjayoun district, but no casualties have been reported, Al Jazeera reports citing Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has exchanged views on regional and international developments, including those in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb, with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Foreign Office (FO) says.

The pair have also welcomed Jordan’s proposal to convene a meeting of Arab and Islamic countries to discuss the grave situation in Palestine, particularly East Jerusalem, the FO adds in a post on X.

The US military has rejected a claim from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that its attack on Al-Azraq Airbase in Jordan destroyed three US F-35 aircraft and caused “heavy damage” to three others, Al Jazeera reports.

“No US aircraft were destroyed or damaged in recent attempted Iranian attacks,” US Central Command (Centcom) writes on X. “All missiles and drones were intercepted or failed to reach targeted areas.”

Centcom also denies that a commercial oil tanker, the Nora, had “broken through” the recently reimposed US blockade on Iranian ports.

“More than 20 US warships, hundreds of aircraft, and thousands of service members remain vigilant and continue to fully enforce the blockade,” the statement adds.

Most Americans say the US-Israel war on Iran has not been worth fighting, according to a new poll conducted by The Associated Press (AP) news agency and nonpartisan research organisation NORC, Al Jazeera reports.

Roughly two-thirds of US adults said the war has not been worthwhile, a figure that includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents and about 37 per cent of Republicans, the AP reports.

The poll was conducted July 23-27, during a brief pause in fighting after a nearly two-week escalation.

Trump’s approval rating, meanwhile, is about 33pc, slightly below where he stood at this point in his first term.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaei, has paid tribute to an Iranian air force pilot killed during a mission in March, as funeral services began in Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement posted on X, Baqaei says funeral processions are under way for Second Brigadier-General Pilot Majid Kazemi, whose remains were recently recovered and identified.

Kazemi was among four crew members on board two Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Su-24 bombers involved in an attack on a US base on March 2, 2026. Iranian military officials said the aircraft were hit by air defence systems over the Gulf.

Baghaei noted that authorities are still searching for, or seeking to identify, the three remaining crew members.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has condemned the targeting of two ships in the Egyptian port of Damietta, warning against what he described as “cowardly attempts to expand the scope of the conflict in the region”, Al Jazeera reports.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has urged Bulgaria to reconsider its decision to allow the temporary deployment of US military aircraft at the Bezmer air base, Reuters reports citing Iranian state media.

During a phone call with his Bulgarian counterpart, Velislava Petrova-Chamova, Araghchi stresses that Sofia’s approval of a US request to station military aircraft at the base to support military operations amounts to facilitating aggression against Iran, adding that the move is unacceptable and contrary to the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries.

Iran has repeatedly warned countries allowing their territory to be used for US military operations against it that they could “face consequences”.

Bulgaria’s parliament last week approved the temporary deployment of up to eight US KC-135 tanker aircraft and up to 250 personnel at Bezmer air base despite Iranian objections. Sofia has said no offensive weapons would be deployed and that the move did not make Bulgaria a party to military operations.

Oil prices have ticked downward as Tehran and Muscat trade proposals for an agreement governing the management of the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.

Brent futures have fallen $1.42, or 1.56 per cent, at $89.32 a barrel just before 1330 GMT (6:30pm PKT) after hitting a high of $93.31.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures have lost $1.14, or 1.35pc, at $83.32, after reaching a high of $85.94.

“The fact that Oman is in talks with Iran could suggest that progress is being made on re-opening the Strait of Hormuz,” says Hamad Hussain, a climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics.

China has denied a Reuters report claiming that Iran was poised to receive 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers within weeks, calling the account “not true and not factual at all”, according to Al Jazeera.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has told a regular news briefing in Beijing that China has made “its position clear on relevant issues on multiple occasions”.

“The reports are not true and not factual at all,” she says, adding that Beijing “always works for peace and the end of the conflict”.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have declared that they were not behind a drone strike the day before that hit a US-owned-and-operated gas storage ship in the Egyptian port of Damietta, AFP reports.

According to the Houthi-affiliated news agency Saba, an official in the movement’s foreign affairs office says, “Rumours claiming Yemen targeted a ship in Damietta Port in the Arab Republic of Egypt are unfounded”.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims that it has destroyed American military helicopters at Ali Al-Salem Airbase in Kuwait, according to the Fars news agency.

“This morning, continuing Operation Nasr 2 and the punishment of the aggressor (the US), by attacking the American airbase at Ali Al-Salem, two drone hangars and one aircraft fuel tank were set ablaze and destroyed, along with military helicopters,” Fars reports.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi has strongly condemned renewed Iranian attacks on the territories of Kuwait and Jordan, describing them as a flagrant violation of sovereignty and international law, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement, Albudaiwi says the attacks represent a dangerous escalation threatening regional security and stability.

He affirms the full solidarity of GCC member states with the two countries and their support for all measures taken to protect their security and sovereignty.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has shot down a hostile drone over the southwestern port city of Bandar Imam Khomeini, with debris falling on a residential property but causing no injuries, Al Jazeera reports citing a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency.

The IRGC’s local unit says the unmanned aircraft was intercepted and destroyed in the city’s airspace.

Debris from the downed drone crashed into a home in Bandar Imam Khomeini, but the incident resulted in no loss of life, the statement adds.

After the drone was identified, an IRGC ordnance disposal team secured the wreckage, neutralised any potential hazards, and removed it from the site, Tasnim reports.

About 100 Israeli soldiers from the Givati Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion left the Sde Teiman base in the Negev desert and abandoned their weapons following a protest regarding their commanders, Al Jazeera reports citing Israeli media outlets, such as Ynet.

According to an Israeli army spokesperson, the dispute stemmed from the battalion commander ordering the removal of symbols related to “irregular incidents involving the battalion’s veteran-junior tradition”.

“According to soldiers in the battalion, the removed symbols had accompanied them during fighting in Gaza and Lebanon and were passed down from one recruitment class to the next,” Ynet reports. “They viewed the items as representing their connection to the battalion and its traditions.”

Israeli news outlet Maariv, citing an unnamed military source, reports that due to the incident, the battalion is now unqualified to participate in combat missions it was preparing to carry out in Gaza.

Israel Hayom says the fighters and commanders left Sde Teiman carrying their personal bags, without their military equipment and weapons, and headed to their homes.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims that in an attack on Jordan’s Al-Azraq Airbase, it destroyed three US F-35 stealth fighter jets, the Fars news agency reports.

“This morning, IRGC Aerospace Force fighters, in an attack on the deployment ramp and maintenance hangar of American F-35 fighter jets at Al-Azraq Airbase using several ballistic missiles, completely destroyed three F-35 aircraft and inflicted heavy damage on three others,” it says in a post on X.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson says that talks with Oman are continuing through several rounds, while blaming the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and disruption to international shipping on US and Israeli military actions, Al Jazeera reports.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei says the discussions with Omani officials, which began last week in Tehran, are ongoing and that further meetings have been held.

“What is clear is that currently, the Strait of Hormuz is closed due to American actions and the insecurity that America has imposed on this waterway,” Baghaei tells the ILNA news agency. “International shipping is being harmed and damaged solely because of American actions.”

He adds that the situation is the result of “military aggression” by the US and Israel, which began on March 28 and continues in various forms. Baqaei cites attacks on Iranian vessels, what he calls an illegal blockade of ports and transit routes, and continuing strikes against Iran.

A Qatari LNG vessel has passed through the Strait of Hormuz for the first time in three weeks, after one of its tankers was targeted in the waterway, Al Jazeera reports.

According to the Iranian Fars news outlet, the vessel passed through the Iranian-approved route after gaining permission from Tehran.

Ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows that the vessel sailed through the Strait of Hormuz with its transponder turned on and was entering the Gulf of Oman.

Iraq’s military spokesperson says there is no evidence that recent attacks in the region were launched from Iraqi territory, Al Jazeera reports.

Brigadier General Sabah Al-Numan, spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, tells the state-run Iraqi News Agency that “there is no evidence that attacks were launched from Iraqi territory.

“The government will not allow any individual actions from the inside, and at the same time will not accept any violation coming from outside the borders,” Al-Numan said.

Al-Numan explains that “The visit of the prime minister and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Ali Falih al-Zaidi, to the headquarters of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and his receiving a detailed briefing on the attacks targeting PMF members in several governorates confirms that the PMF is an integral part of the national defence system.”

He adds that the security establishment is currently preparing a comprehensive plan to prevent future attacks and preserve Iraq’s full sovereignty.

Al-Numan stresses that official security forces are solely responsible for the security file and will not allow any armed presence outside the state’s framework.