War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Six ships attempted to pass through an “illegal and unsafe” route in the south of the Strait of Hormuz after turning off their navigation and positioning systems, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reports.

One vessel suffered an accident, and the others returned to the Gulf under “decisive Iranian management”, IRIB said.

Singapore tightened monetary policy for the second time in three months, as the fallout from the US war against Iran keeps global energy markets volatile and inflation risks elevated, AFP reports.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it would increase the rate of appreciation of the local dollar’s trade-weighted value.

The move comes as oil prices remain elevated owing to tensions in the Middle East, sparked by the US-Israel attacks on Iran that began on February 28, and continue to cast a shadow.

The US president has rejected reports that the US is running out of munitions in its war on Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

“We have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need,” he told The Wall Street Journal in a statement.

The four American troops killed during renewed fighting between the US and Iran in recent weeks are no longer listed as part of the war death toll in the Pentagon’s official casualty count but have been placed in a new, separate category, according to the Associated Press.

The Defence Casualty Analysis System, which Pentagon officials have repeatedly pointed to as the definitive source on the numbers of dead and wounded from the conflict, removed the four fallen soldiers as well as dozens of wounded troops from its war tally last week.

On Sunday, a new category called “Overseas Operations” emerged on the system’s website, listing the four army deaths by name as well as 207 wounded. It was unclear if all of the wounded were injured in the Iran conflict.

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Oil prices tumble ‌5 per cent after the US and Iran paused strikes over the weekend after two weeks of attacks, raising hopes of a diplomatic solution that would de-escalate the conflict and allow shipping to ​resume in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures fall $4.89, or 5.05pc, to $91.89 after briefly slipping under the key support level of $90 earlier ⁠in the session.

US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $84.64 a barrel, down $4.67, or ​5.23pc.

Both contracts are trading at their lowest levels in nearly a week after rising for ​the past three weeks.

Brent had reached $100 per barrel as the conflict, which reduced oil shipments via the Strait of Hormuz, spilled over to the Red Sea, hindering exports from the world’s top exporter, Saudi ​Arabia, via the Bab el-Mandeb strait to Asia.

US Congressman Thomas Massie has accused the Trump administration of severely damaging the nation’s stability and resources in its war on Iran, AlJazeera reports.

In a social media post on X, he said: “The US has been significantly weakened by the war with Iran.”

“This administration depleted our missile defenses, drained our oil reserves, sacrificed our men & women, inflated the price of consumer goods, increased our debt, and neglected our domestic needs… all for Israel,” he added.

Ship traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait has slowed following Houthi attacks on Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast and their announcement of a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports, citing shipping data from analytics platform Kpler, according to AlJazeera.

Eleven commodity vessels passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Sunday — the lowest level in months — according to the data. Seven of those vessels were oil tankers, with three entering the Red Sea and four exiting on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Kpler data also shows that fewer than 10 vessels per day passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, despite the US and Iran pausing their attacks.

On Saturday, only three vessels passed through with their transponders switched off, while seven vessels transited on Sunday, including three Iranian-linked oil products tankers exiting the strait, according to the Reuters report.

The UK’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, condemned recent Houthi attacks and their threat to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, AlJazeera reports, citing Saudi Press Agency.

The two leaders also discussed recent regional and international developments, with Burnham affirming the UK’s support for Saudi Arabia’s security and sovereignty.

In a phone call with Deputy PM Ishaq Dar, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has expressed hope that the “parties would sustain dialogue and engagement following the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding”, FO says.

Yemen’s Defence Minister Lt General Taher al-Aqili says the armed forces, coordinating with the Saudi-led coalition and international partners, are committed to confronting “the terrorism perpetrated” by the Houthis until its threat is neutralised and state control is established over all national territory, Al Jazeera reports.

He said the Houthis have, for over a decade, proven they “thrive only on cycles of violence, terrorism, piracy, and chaos”, exploiting Yemen’s location to threaten international navigation allegedly “in service of the agenda of its financiers and operators in Tehran”.

Al-Aqili said regional and international peace “will not prevail, except by severing the arm of the Revolutionary Guard”, and by extending state control over all national territory.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has said that “preservation of Lebanon’s territorial integrity and the absolute, unconditional termination of the Zionist regime’s aggression are the primary conditions for any agreement to end the imposed war against the aggressive US”.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei says that Lebanon’s Hezbollah stands as “an unyielding rock” against the aggression of the Zionist regime.

“This steadfastness has become an inspiring message for the world’s free nations’ quest for liberation from Global Arrogance,” he said in a message shared on X.

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu claims Israeli forces had pushed Hezbollah back 5 to 8 miles (8km to 13km) from the Israeli-Lebanese border and destroyed about 94 per cent of its roughly 150,000 missiles and rockets, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu pointed to a new trilateral deal opening direct Israeli-Lebanese talks for the first time in decades, under which Israel is to withdraw from Lebanon as Lebanon disarms Hezbollah.

Whether the Lebanese army can hold that territory is “yet to be seen”, he said, although Israel is “willing to give it a try”.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has discussed the situation in southern Lebanon with French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call, also updating Macron on his recent visit to Washington DC, Al Jazeera reports, citing the Lebanese presidency.

Highlighting continued Israeli attacks on border villages and towns in southern Lebanon, Aoun stressed the need to halt such violations and adhere to a cessation of hostilities, the presidency statement said.

Aoun briefed Macron on his talks with Trump and other American officials, which covered Lebanon’s position, the phase after its agreement with Israel and the implementation of its provisions, it added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Tehran that any attack on Israel – direct or via proxies – would be “a terrible mistake” and would be met with a “very, very forceful” response, Al Jazeera reports.

In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu said ending the war requires either Iran’s government to fall or Tehran to accept the cost of “wreaking economic chaos” and “shooting at everyone” – naming Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Israel and Jordan as its targets.

Netanyahu said he “fully backed” Trump’s diplomatic efforts but insisted Iran’s nuclear programme must end “with a deal or without a deal”.

Iran’s FM Abbas Araghchi has held a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

The two ministers discussed and consulted on the latest regional and international developments, Iran’s state media IRIB reports.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it’s moving to “nip in the bud” separatist and opposition groups it accuses of trying to infiltrate the country’s northwest, casting recent military operations there as a pre-emptive strike against US-backed unrest, Al Jazeera reports.

IRGC spokesperson Brigadier-General Hossein Mohebbi said Tehran is alert to what he called an “enemy plan” to reorganise anti-government factions, including the exiled Mojahden-e-Khalq, to reignite deadly protests that swept Iran in December and January.

“What we are doing in the northwest is to nip them in the bud before they enter,” Mohebbi told the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

He said the IRGC’s focus on the Strait of Hormuz, where it has been locked in a confrontation with the United States, had not left it blind to other threats.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency has published a list of 11 US drones that it says were shot down by Iranian-made air defences in July alone.

• July 8: An MQ-9 drone was shot down in the skies of Khormoj, Bushehr province.
• July 12: A cruise missile was shot down in the skies over Jahrom
• July 15: A Lucas drone was shot down in the skies over Lar
• July 16: An MQ-9 drone was shot down in the south of the country
• July 17: An MQ-9 drone was shot down in the skies over Andimeshk
• July 18: An MQ-9 drone was shot down in the skies over Asaluyeh
• July 19: An MQ-9 drone was shot down in the skies of Ahvaz, an MQ-9 drone was shot down in the skies of Asaluyeh, and a spy drone was shot down by the 48th Fateh Brigade
• July 20: An MQ-9 drone was shot down in the skies over Kermanshah, and a missile was shot down in Rudbar-e Janoub

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz says that talks between Washington and Tehran are “happening at every level”.

Speaking to NBC News, he said, “What we are constantly seeing though, is on the Iranian regime’s side, they are divided; there is internal fighting…“

Pope Leo XIV has renewed his appeal for peace in the Middle East, warning that intensified military operations are again unleashing destruction and endangering lives.

Reciprocal US-Iranian attacks on civilian infrastructure are worsening shortages of water and electricity, said the Catholic pontiff in an X post.

He urged all parties to halt strikes and urgently return to dialogue and diplomacy to secure lasting peace for the region.

Yemen’s Prime Minister Shaeed Mohsen al-Zandani says the Houthi militia’s continued targeting of commercial vessels and threats to Red Sea security demonstrate it’s executing an Iranian agenda, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, al-Zandani said the attacks jeopardise freedom of navigation, disrupt global supply chains and trade, and undermine UN regional and international peace efforts.

“The protection of freedom of navigation and maritime security is a collective responsibility,” the prime minister said, calling on the international community to take a firmer stance to deter Houthi behaviour and dry up its sources of support.

Al-Zandani also stressed that his government will continue close coordination with the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s “legitimate government”.

US Congressman Ryan Zinke, who is currently visiting Pakistan, says that “President Trump, the Field Marshal Asim Munir and the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are working together,” adding that he sees “enormous opportunity”.

Speaking to Pakistan TV, Zinke said there was “still scope for diplomacy with Iran,” stressing that Tehran must meet key conditions including abandoning nuclear weapons ambitions and keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.

The Lebanese army has said that Israeli forces are continuing their attacks in southern Lebanon, violating international law, Al Jazeera reports.

It said in a statement that Israel has destroyed or demolished more homes in areas of southern Lebanon it occupies.

Shelling and gunfire have been reported in the villages of Kfar Tebnit around Nabatieh, Haddatha and Konin near Bint Jbeil, as well as Nab’a Ibl al-Saqi, al-Mansouri, Bayt al-Sayyad and Majdal Zoun, surrounding Tyre.

It also reported Israeli forces burning olive groves and blowing up the Litani River Authority project in Markaba.