War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz tells his US counterpart Pete Hegseth that Israel is determined to keep its forces in “security zones” it has carved out inside Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, Katz’s office said the two men spoke overnight and the minister “emphasised Israel’s determination to remain in the security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon in order to protect Israel’s borders and the communities near the border from the threats posed by … forces”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards they had struck a US air base in Jordan with ballistic missiles in response to what they described as an American attack near a children’s cancer hospital in Iran, AFP reports.

The IRGC said US forces had “used air bases located in Jordan to target various parts of Iran, including the vicinity of a children’s cancer hospital”, and that its aerospace force responded by “launching two waves of missile strikes” on the bases in Jordan, according to their website.

Gold fell on Thursday as an escalating Middle East conflict fuelled concerns that the US Federal Reserve could hike interest rates this year, overshadowing recent optimism over easing inflation, Reuters reports.

Spot gold was down 0.8 per cent at $4,029.29 per ounce by 0518 GMT. US gold futures for August delivery lost 0.4pc to $4,034.40.

“June’s inflation figures did not reflect the impact of the latest escalation in the US-Iran conflict, as the interim peace union reached last month has effectively unravelled,” said Jigar Trivedi, a senior research analyst at IndusInd Securities.

The US State Department said it has approved the sale of an estimated $1.96 billion in weapons to bolster Saudi Arabia’s air defenses, as the war ramps up in the Middle East, AFP reports.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a Major non-NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf Region,” the State Department said in a release.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi condemned a “drone attack” that violated the airspace of Erbil in the northern Kurdistan region, his office said Thursday, after several drones were shot down, AFP reports.

“We have directed the relevant security agencies… in coordination with the Region’s security forces, to take all necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such attacks and to thwart anyone attempting to harm the security of our noble Iraqi society, wherever they may be,” he said, without identifying the source of the drones.

Oil prices turned lower as traders took profits and evaluated the risks from a new wave of US strikes on Iranian military installations, which fuelled fears of renewed full-scale conflict and supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.

The United States struck Iran’s coastal defences and missile sites on Wednesday after reimposing a naval blockade of its ports, while Iran threatened to shut off more regional energy exports, saying it was engaged in an “existential war” with America.

Iran’s army said it carried out drone attacks against US bases and facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, state TV reported, after the United States carried out strikes on the Islamic republic, AFP reports.

Iran’s military said it targeted “radar systems, a Patriot air defense system, and fuel storage facilities at Ali Al Salem Air Base” in Kuwait and US military facilities at the Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, IRIB reported.

The Iranian army said that it targeted US military facilities in Jordan with drones, state media reported, after the United States carried out another wave of strikes on Iran, AFP reports.

“The Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced that… in response to the enemy aggression, it targeted the communication systems and fuel storage facilities of the US military in Jordan using suicide (kamikaze) drones,” state television IRIB said.

Fewer vessels travelled through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the first day after the US reimposed its naval blockade on Iranian ports with both countries escalating strikes across the Gulf, reports Reuters, citing shipping data.

Seven vessels crossed the strait on Wednesday, mostly on the Iranian route, down from 13 the previous day, Kpler data showed.

Four empty vessels entered the Gulf, including three small oil tankers and a dry bulk carrier for grains, the data showed. The three vessels that exited the strait on Wednesday carried liquefied petroleum gas, coal and fuel oil.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it carried out a combined missile and drone attack on Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement carried by the IRIB broadcaster, the IRGC said it targeted a C-RAM early-warning radar and a gathering point for US soldiers during the eighth wave of its “Nasr 2” operation.

It also accused the US of using Kuwaiti territory to launch attacks against Iran and called on Kuwaitis to demand the removal of US forces from the country.

Air defences were heard in parts of Tehran, state media said, and explosions rang out in northern and western parts of the country, AFP reports.

“So far, no casualties have been reported in Tehran by official authorities,” state news agency IRNA reported.

Explosions were heard in parts of the western Lorestan province, and Semnan in the north, IRNA and the Mehr news agency reported.

The US Central Command says that the US military completed its latest wave of strikes on Iran that it carried out at President Donald Trump’s direction, Reuters reports.

“US forces struck Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities,” it said in a statement, adding it also hit targets in Bandar Abbas, home to Iran’s largest port and key navy and Revolutionary Guards facilities on the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices rise for a fourth straight day after a new wave of US strikes on Iranian military installations fuelled fears of renewed full-scale conflict and supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.

Brent crude futures climb 33 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $85.28 a barrel by 0026 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate futures rise 42 cents, or 0.5pc, to $80.02 a barrel.

“With tensions in the Middle East flaring up again, buying is taking the lead,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist of Nissan Securities Investment.

“While mediation efforts by neighbouring countries continue and the consensus view is that a full-scale war is unlikely, WTI could still rise to $85-$87 depending on how the conflict develops,” he said.

Kuwait says it was intercepting Iranian drones, while air raid sirens rang out in Bahrain, following another night of American strikes on Iranian territory, according to AFP.

In a statement on X, the Kuwaiti army said they were “engaging hostile drone attacks following the nefarious Iranian aggression”.

Bahrain’s interior ministry urges citizens and residents to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place”.

India has raised windfall taxes on exports of diesel and aviation turbine fuel as global oil prices surge amid an escalation of the US-Iran conflict, Reuters reports citing a government order.

The duty on diesel exports has been raised to 15.5 rupees ($0.1610) per litre from 8.5 rupees per litre, while the aviation turbine fuel duty has been increased to 14.5 rupees per litre from 7.5 rupees.

The new rates will apply from July 16.

Iraqi air defences have intercepted three drones in the vicinity of the US consulate in Erbil, in northern Iraq, Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground are reporting.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says that a US-sponsored framework for negotiations with Israel is “the best possible option” and has already begun producing results, Anadolu reports citing a statement from the Lebanese presidency.

Aoun has made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation from the Orthodox Gathering.

“Our goals are clear, and we will not be lenient when it comes to Lebanon’s rights,” he says.

Aoun adds that disagreement is legitimate, but conflict is not, further adding that dialogue among Lebanese should serve the national interest rather than personal agendas.

“Hatred does not build a state or institutions. It destroys,” he says. “The road is not paved and there are difficulties, but hope is great for achieving results that end the bloodbath.”

Several explosions have been heard near the US consulate in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, AFP journalists report.

Air defences have been activated near the consulate, which was a target of repeated drone and rocket attacks during the Middle East war.

Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has vowed that the country will give a “definitive response” to the US for their “crimes”, according to the Tasnim news agency.

“We have pledged our jugular vein for the defence of this homeland,” Ghalibaf, also the speaker of Iran’s parliament, is quoted as saying.

“We have achieved great honours in a complex war with the greatest material power in the world, and our thinking and action must be equally great, complex, and resilient,” Ghalibaf adds. “Our position of strength in the Strait of Hormuz is the result of the same field strength that the people have created for us.”

In his statement, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stresses that the country’s national security lies in “preserving the ‘Iranian arrangements’ over the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring the maximum safe and harmless passage of commercial ships through this waterway”.

“America, which is legally empty-handed, wants to diminish the Iranian arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz by force, but we must stand firm so that the rights of the nation are realised,” he is quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf says that if his country does not benefit from its memorandum of understanding with the US, “we have no reason to adhere to such an understanding”.

Iran’s national security depends on maintaining “Iranian arrangements” in the Strait of Hormuz, Qalibaf adds in a statement posted on Telegram.

He adds that Iran’s approach to its war with the US and negotiations to end it should be based on national interests, national security and a long-term perspective, adding that Tehran has no choice but to rely on its own strength.