War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran and the US are not ​engaged in talks and Tehran ‌will not start them as long as Washington breaches ​an interim deal signed ​in June, Iran’s Foreign Minister ⁠Abbas Araghchi says according to Reuters, adding that messages are ​being exchanged via intermediaries.

Araghchi repeated Iran’s position that an agreement on ​the Strait of ​Hormuz between Tehran and Muscat was ‌in ⁠the “final stages” but would not reopen the strategic waterway.

In comments reported by ​Mehr ​news agency, ⁠he said the agreement would set ​out the new shipping ​lanes ⁠to be used once the US fulfils other ⁠conditions ​and the strait ​is reopened to traffic.

Kuwait’s foreign ministry has lauded a UN Security Council statement condemning Houthi missile attacks against Saudi Arabia since July 13 and attacks on commercial shipping since July 22, Al Jazeera reports.

Kuwait expressed full appreciation for the UNSC’s affirmation of the need to adhere to international law and relevant resolutions, including Resolution 2216, and its rejection of acts threatening regional security and freedom of maritime navigation.

The ministry renewed Kuwait’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia and its support for all measures Riyadh takes to preserve its sovereignty and security. It also reaffirmed Kuwait’s support for Yemen’s legitimate government and for the UN special envoy’s efforts to achieve peace and stability in Yemen.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States accepts all of Tehran’s demands, reports AFP.

“Our current strategy is to maintain this strait until the enemy accepts all our conditions,” said Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi, as quoted by state TV, adding that “the strait is now actually a theatre of war for us and not just a waterway”.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have said they had struck an oil facility on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, reports AFP.

The group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said the Houthis had “succeeded in targeting the Aramco refinery in Jazan with a drone, and the strike was precise”, adding the attack had been launched in response to Saudi incursions into territory in northwest Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognised government have joined Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar and Syria in condemning the attack on an oil tanker operated by the UAE’s ADNOC while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.

The UAE blamed Iran for the attack and said it did not result in any injuries.

In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “These reprehensible attacks constitute an assault on the security and safety of maritime navigation, as well as on the security of global energy supplies.”

The kingdom “holds Iran responsible for the consequences of its continued acts of aggression and calls on Iran to immediately cease these violations”, it added.

Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a similar statement, calling it “a serious threat to the security and safety of maritime navigation and commercial vessels”.

It demanded an immediate end to such attacks and adherence to international law.

The leader of Iraq’s Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba has promised retaliation for joint Saudi-US strikes last month that hit sites of the country’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), of which it is a member, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement, Akram al-Kaabi said diplomacy with Saudi Arabia is “futile”, and that it must be disciplined “through a suitable military response” to avenge the strikes on the PMF.

“Missiles can only be countered with missiles, and fire can only be met with fire,” he said.

Saudi Arabia and the US Central Command said last month that the joint air strikes targeted militias in Iraq responsible for attacks on American troops and Saudi energy infrastructure. The PMF, a paramilitary force, said at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 wounded in the strikes.

The Trump administration has asked the US defence industry to rapidly escalate the production and delivery of weapons, including munitions that are in extremely short supply due to the war with Iran, The Washington Post has reported, quoting a Defence Department memo, according to Al Jazeera.

Deputy Defence Secretary Steve Feinberg wrote to industry leaders last Wednesday, noting that they have to submit plans to “drive significantly faster, more aggressive delivery schedules and/or increased production for critical capabilities”, within 21 days.

“Years-long development cycles are not acceptable,” Feinberg wrote. “We must dramatically accelerate our program schedules and expand our production capacity now.”

There have been multiple reports of the US running short on munitions stockpiles, and more critically, of anti-missile Patriot interceptors. Trump earlier said that the army has “massive amounts” of munitions, posting on Truth Social that “large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed”.

Brigadier General Hassan Hassanzadeh, of the IRGC’s Tehran Corps, has said that the US and Israel have “completely failed to achieve their goals against” Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

“The people’s power and the all-encompassing readiness of the Basij have transformed Iran into one of the major powers in the region and the world,” he said, quoted by Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

“Today, the leaders of the United States and the Zionist regime have no answers for the public, intellectuals, and the people about their repeated failures,” he added.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has said that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the US agrees to change its policies regarding Iran, state news agency IRNA reports.

He has laid out conditions that include an end to military aggression and sanctions, calling on Washington to lift its maritime blockade, withdraw its naval and air forces from around the country, and pay for damages caused by two wars against Iran in full.

“The Strait of Hormuz will not open until America corrects its behaviour,” he is quoted as saying.

US forces have begun to evacuate logistics support centres from Harir base in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, Iran’s Fars news agency reports, citing the Iraqi Al-Maalomah news agency.

Sources tell Al-Maalomah that “the technical and engineering teams of the US forces stationed at Harir Air Base near Erbil have begun evacuating logistical support centres, especially the large complex located in the eastern section.

“Evacuating these centres represents the penultimate stage in the withdrawal from this base, which will be free of any US presence by the end of September,” they add.

Iran’s central bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati has taken a jibe at the US Treasury Department, saying the country’s money is in its hands despite Washington’s efforts, according to the Fars news agency.

“Americans keep announcing, ‘We’ve shut down such-and-such trust or crypto exchange,’ but these claims are just propaganda fodder for the Americans,” he is quoted as saying. “The funds we’ve transferred are in our own hands, and we’re actively using them.”

Iranian military spokesman Amir Akraminia says that despite the wishes of the US, Iran’s new order in the Strait of Hormuz is “irreversible”, Al Jazeera reports.

“The United States has no choice but to accept the existing situation; otherwise, it will incur costs far greater than those it has faced in the past,” Akraminia is quoted as saying by Iran’s IRNA news agency.

The principal deputy director of the US Department of War’s Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) says the military has enough munitions for its campaign against Iran, amid reports of diminishing air defence weapons like interceptors.

“We have sufficient munitions for the task at hand,” Jarred Conley tells Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview. “The department has everything it needs today to execute a war.”

US Vice President JD Vance says Washington is trying to maximise the amount of oil and gas exiting the Strait of Hormuz, so that Americans can enjoy lower fuel prices.

“We’re just trying to make sure we get what we need out of this particular conflict,” Vance tells Fox News, reiterating that the US has destroyed Iran’s military and “asymmetric” capabilities, as well as their nuclear programme.

“Right now, we’re trying to see if they’re willing to make the kind of long-term changes that would be necessary to have a better relationship with the United States. If not, that’s fine too; we’re just going to keep on applying the pressure that we can apply, and getting as much oil and gas out of the Middle East so Americans can enjoy low gas and energy prices,” Vance states.

Speaking to the media, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian also defended the Islamabad MoU signed with the US, saying “you will not find any clause in it that we have surrendered anything there”.

According to remarks carried by IRNA, he said: “Anyone who has read it should compare it with the analyses of foreign news agencies. Are they saying we surrendered? Did we fail? Was this agreement, for example, an irrelevant agreement that was signed? We stand firmly by what we have written and defend it.”

Pezizkian stated that the enemy’s calculations were based on creating internal disintegration and division, adding: “This is not a plan that was designed with us in mind. The reason they are doing these things is that all their calculations were that if they attacked, Iran would be torn to pieces; but this did not happen.”

He considered social cohesion and the presence of the people to be important factors in the failure of these calculations, saying: “This was due to the cohesion that was created.”

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his country’s relations with neighbouring countries are improving, while reiterating that the US was “truly unreliable” for Tehran, according to IRNA.

Asked about attacks on Gulf countries, Pezeshkian acknowledged that it was a “complicated” situation but asserted, “We could not allow Iran to be attacked from the territory of a country and not respond.”

He added, “Despite these issues, our relations with regional countries are improving.

“Pakistan is now cooperating with all its might. Afghanistan is also cooperating very well. Turkmenistan is cooperating well; Russia and Iraq also helped us well. In the case of Azerbaijan, despite some political issues, dialogue and interaction have continued,” he was quoted as saying.

On the US, Pezeshkian said, “America is truly unreliable for us, but in any case, if we can move forward a little and solve the problem, we are trying to achieve it.”

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said right now is the “best time” for a peace agreement with the US as his country is considered “victorious” in the war, given that Washington recognises the rights of Iran and its people, IRNA reports.

He told the media: “If there is sometimes talk of reaching an agreement, I believe that now is the best time for an agreement; because there is cohesion, strength, and unity in the country, and as far as I know, Iran is considered victorious and powerful in this war and this conflict.“

The president continued: “In such circumstances, we can pursue our rights and demands through dialogue. They must accept to recognise our rights and ensure them. Naturally, we also demand nothing but the rights of our country and people.”

He answered a query, saying: “Almost every day we discuss how we should manage this process so that we can get out of the situation of neither war nor peace and be able to reach an understanding within the framework of which our own fundamental beliefs and values ​​are preserved, while at the same time disappointing the enemy from any greed or hope of attacking our country.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has stressed the need to maintain internal cohesion in the current situation, cautioning that the US and Israel may seek to create division within Iran, IRNA reports.

Speaking at a press conference, he said: “The United States, Israel and their analysts themselves know that a country can no longer be forced to surrender and accept demands through war and missiles, but this can be done through disagreement, division and internal conflicts.”

He further said that Tehran’s position toward the US remained unchanged despite recent diplomacy, defending the MoU signed between the two countries and insisting Iran has made no concessions, Anadolu reported.

“The US is colonialist, the US is criminal, and the Islamic Republic remains the Islamic Republic. There is no doubt about that,” he said. Pezeshkian, however, argued that diplomacy had compelled Washington to negotiate with Tehran.

Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, says they do not want to be a “party to any conflict in the region” and that presently, no party has pressured the Iraqi Kurds to engage in the war, Al Jazeera reports.

Barzani tells Al Jazeera that his people support Baghdad’s restriction of weapons to regular forces only, adding that all his people want is to “protect the Kurdistan region and keep it away from any conflict”.

“The Kurdistan region has been subjected to more than a thousand missile and drone attacks. The attacks on the region came directly from Iran or from within Iraq through some militias,” the prime minister states, adding that the region has no ties with Israel and that foreign policy is the “prerogative of the federal government”.

“There have been no American soldiers at Harir Air Base for 10 years,” he notes.

Oman has denounced continued attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, branding them “a violation of international law and the sovereignty of territorial waters, and represent a threat to the safety of maritime navigation, the security of the region, and its stability”, according to its state news agency.

“The Sultanate of Oman affirms in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the ongoing negotiations regarding arrangements related to navigation in the Strait of Hormuz are proceeding in a positive and constructive atmosphere, emphasising the importance of avoiding any actions that could affect these negotiations and the progress achieved, which takes into account the interests of all parties,” the Oman News Agency adds.

A ship has been hit by a projectile off Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire that was extinguished but with no casualties, AFP reports citing United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO).

“A verified source has reported that a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile, which caused a fire that has been extinguished. There is no reported environmental impact. The vessel and crew are reported as safe,” it says.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said he is “not afraid of fighting or staying” in the country, according to comments carried by the Fars news agency.

“I, for instance, can’t just step back from work, skip meetings, and stop following through. Now, it’s possible that one day they’ll assassinate us; well, let them do it,” he is quoted as saying.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that he will stand by whatever decision is taken by the country’s supreme leadership “until the end”, according to comments carried by Iran’s Fars news agency.

He notes that Iran’s commanders know their own capabilities “better than you and me” about whether or not to continue fighting, adding, “The duty is not to wage war against the government; neither is it with the government in law, nor is it with the government in continuation. The government is the place that must provide the supplies.”