War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The US has received several warnings from Israel over the past year that Iran intended to assassinate President Donald Trump, including before a secret Air Force One ruse in Turkiye, that US intelligence officials could not independently verify, according to a current US official and two former officials, Reuters reports.

The warnings, passed to US intelligence agencies and in some cases relayed directly by Israeli officials to senior White House officials, included possible plots to shoot Trump with a sniper or recruit someone to attack him with a knife at a large public event, the sources said.

The tips began in the lead-up to the 12-day war in June 2025 and intensified prior to the US decision to go to war in Iran in February, the sources said.

Drones were intercepted over Erbil in northern Iraq early Friday, with wreckage falling on a residential complex near Erbil International Airport, according to Al Jazeera.

The Qatari-based broadcaster, citing Iraqi security sources, said no casualties were reported after the wreckage fell near the airport, which serves the regional capital.

Local media reports said the incident involved a drone attack targeting a US base near Erbil airport.

Oil prices inch higher after the US threatened to maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely, reviving crude supply concerns, after prices fell in the previous session on a weaker global demand outlook, according to Reuters.

Brent futures rose 9 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $87.16 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 4 cents to $81.29 a barrel.

The two benchmarks fell more than 2pc in the prior session, paring gains after a six-session rally for Brent and a five-session rise for WTI, but were on track for weekly rises of around 4pc.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to subject Iran to economic isolation “like the world has never seen before,” adding that new measures are expected next week, AFP reports.

“It will be a combination of economic isolation, like the world has never seen before,” Bessent told conservative television network Newsmax, adding that “the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz … will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports.”

“Watch this space for more announcements coming next week,” he said.

The United Arab Emirates has condemned Iran, saying it had attacked two vessels linked to state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) while they passed through the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

“The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned and denounced the hostile Iranian attack that targeted two vessels affiliated with Adnoc as they transited the Strait of Hormuz, with no injuries reported,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have reportedly targeted the Bab al-Mandeb strait in the western part of the country with two missiles, Al Jazeera reports citing the Saba news agency, which cited a local source.

The US military has enough assets to maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, adding ships could be rotated in and out of the region as needed, reports Reuters.

Hegseth’s comments suggest he is advising US President Donald Trump that the US military can keep applying economic pressure on Iran for as long as needed to help so-far failed negotiations to end the conflict, begun in February.

“Indefinitely, the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we’ll continue to,” Hegseth told reporters.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Thursday claimed a drone attack on an Aramco refinery in southern Saudi Arabia, the group’s affiliated news agency Saba reported, according to AFP.

“A military source confirmed that the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted an Aramco refinery in the Jizan region using two drones, achieving a precise hit by the grace of God,” Saba reported, referring to Houthi forces.

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth says reports about poor conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier are “completely misrepresented”, Reuters reports.

“We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment. Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do in those high seas in those austere conditions with less port calls — it’s incredible,” he tells reporters during a visit to Panama.

The US is preparing to deploy another aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln already in theatre as part of a prior rotation plan, The Wall Street Journal reports citing officials familiar with the matter.

WSJ notes that the Abraham Lincoln has undergone an extended deployment with few port calls.

According to Al Jazeera, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claims that the US military can maintain a blockade on Iranian ports for as long as needed.

“Indefinitely, the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we’ll continue to,” Hegseth tells reporters.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed a drone attack on an Aramco refinery in southern Saudi Arabia, AFP reports citing the group’s affiliated news agency Saba.

“A military source confirmed that the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted an Aramco refinery in the Jizan region using two drones, achieving a precise hit by the grace of God,” Saba reports, referring to Houthi forces.

Iran has warned of environmental degradation in the Strait of Hormuz after an oil spill reached Qeshm island, calling for compensation from those responsible, AFP reports.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei says the slick has “degraded the waters” of the Gulf and Sea of Oman, claiming “preliminary evidence indicates a foreign bulk carrier as the source”.

Baqaei writes on X that such spills have in “recent decades imposed trillions of dollars in damage on Iran’s coastal areas”, calling for compensation.
“Every party that benefits from commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz carries both a legal and a moral obligation to remediate the environmental harm inflicted,” he adds.

The Iranian military rejects claims by the US that ships are transiting the Strait of Hormuz normally, insisting that no ship can pass through without Tehran’s permission, Al Jazeera reports.

“The Strait of Hormuz, as in the past, remains under the full management and control of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” says Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfghari, according to state media.

“No commercial vessel or oil tanker can or will have safe passage through the Strait without the permission and supervision of Iran’s powerful Armed Forces.”

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters has dismissed US claims of full control over Hormuz as “baseless lies”, stating that no vessel can transit the waterway without Tehran’s authorisation, according to Anadolu.

A permanent Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon is “inconsistent” with a US-sponsored framework agreement signed in June and undermines long-term peace, Anadolu reports citing a senior US State Department official, who was cited by Israel’s Channel 12.

The unnamed official’s remarks come in response to Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz’s statement that Israel does not intend to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

“The US expects all parties to act in a manner consistent with the framework they agreed to, and Israel has made it clear that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon,” the official says.

“A permanent military presence in southern Lebanon is inconsistent with the commitments set forth in the framework, or with the long-term peace and security of both countries.”

The framework agreement clearly establishes a conditions-based pathway under which the Israeli army will gradually redeploy, provided Hezbollah is disarmed and its infrastructure is dismantled in a verifiable manner, the official adds.

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A Lebanese official has denied a Reuters report claiming that Beirut had agreed with Israel on a shortlist of countries that could send troops to Lebanon to verify the disarmament of Hezbollah, and said it was following up on the issue with Washington, Reuters reports.

The official stresses there is no such agreement and that Beirut is still in discussions with the United States on the matter.

A June 26 deal, brokered by the US, linked the progressive withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon to the “verified disarmament” of all non-state armed groups by the Lebanese government. Hezbollah, which is not a party to the agreement, has rejected disarming.

Reuters reported last week that Lebanon and Israel had agreed to a shortlist and reported on Wednesday, citing three sources, that the list included Britain, Italy, Switzerland and Indonesia as potential contributors to the verification mechanism.

President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam have held talks on the developments in southern Lebanon, where Israeli attacks continue despite a US-brokered framework agreement between the countries that dictates a ceasefire, Al Jazeera reports.

According to a post on the Lebanese presidency’s X account, Aoun received Salam in a meeting that addressed the Israeli attacks and the destruction of homes and infrastructure in towns and villages in the region.

The two leaders also discussed the agenda of an upcoming cabinet meeting, as well as the talks held with US General Joseph Clearfield, the head of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon (MCG4L), in Beirut a day earlier.

US Central Command (Centcom) says that as part of the naval blockade of Iranian ports, 59 commercial vessels have been redirected, three have been disabled and two others have been boarded.

The Iranian intelligence ministry has said two members “affiliated with American and Israeli intelligence agencies” were killed during a confrontation with security forces in the southeast of the country, state broadcaster IRIB has reported according to Al Jazeera.

The ministry also announced the arrest of four other people for attempting to enter the country to carry out plans to destabilise the Sistan and Baluchestan province and damage its infrastructure.

Brigadier General Rasoul Sanaei-Rad has said Iran will act more aggressively in the future, Al Jazeera reports, citing the Fars news agency.

“We stood firm in the recent war and, God willing, we will stand firmer and more aggressively in a possible future war,” said Sanaei-Rad, who serves as political adviser in the office of the supreme leader.

Without openly mentioning the US, the official said Iran’s “enemy” was aiming to create internal divisions through economic pressure, but that its plan did not succeed.

European shares edge higher as falling oil prices shifted investor focus toward weakening demand, while US-Iran peace efforts remain stalled and disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz persists, Reuters reports.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2 per cent at 660.57 points by 0830 GMT. The benchmark retreated from record highs in the previous session.

Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3pc despite the UK economy unexpectedly expanding in June, offering some reassurance over the domestic growth outlook.

“June might well prove to be the last real sweet spot for the UK economy this year,” says Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

She has warned that uncertainty around the Iran war, energy prices and potential budget measures could weigh on business confidence in the months ahead.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that the US has “long miscalculated” decisions due to poor intelligence, including in the Iran war.

In a post on X, the foreign minister warned that now the US was making “an ever bigger miscalculation on the Strait of Hormuz”.

“Worse than fake news is fake intelligence. Be careful,” he wrote.

“Allah is great, greater than any power on earth. In Allah we trust.”