A quick recap of where we are at:
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US forces have carried out strikes against Iran for a fourth day in a row and reimposed a naval blockade to prevent ships from sailing to or from the country’s ports.
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President Trump backtracked on his threat to heavily tax ships passing through the strait of Hormuz, but warned he would expand US strikes on Iran next week to target power plants and bridges if Tehran does not agree to a deal.
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“Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges,” Trump told Fox News. “We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
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US Central Command (Centcom) said the latest strikes were aimed at “degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping” in the strait, the key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas where Tehran has repeatedly carried out attacks on civilian vessels.
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Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the US decision to renew the blockade “has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum”.
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Some more details now on the fresh round of US sanctions aimed at boosting efforts to disrupt an Iranian shipping network that Washington says helps to evade previous sanctions on oil sales and other activities.
The measures have been imposed on the network of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani represent the US Treasury’s latest effort to ramp up economic pressure on Tehran, the department said.
The Shamkhani network is a “major force behind Iran’s oil exports and has expanded into global containerized shipping and commodities trading,” Treasury said.
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said his department is “shutting down the financial infrastructure that allows the regime to continue its threats to U.S. national security and global shipping”.
Centcom commander Adm. Brad Cooper says that Iran has intentionally targeted civilians across the region by attacking seven commercial ships in the past week.
He said the attacks has “resulted in nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing or injured”.
Kuwait’s fire force says a blaze at one site has been brought under control after it was targeted in Iranian attacks, with no injuries reported, according to the Kuwaiti state news agency.
Trump also told Fox News that he would expand US strikes on Iran next week to target power plants and bridges if Tehran does not make a deal.
Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges,” Trump said. We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
Trump says strikes will continue until he says it's enough
Speaking in an interview on Fox News, president Donald Trump said that strikes will continue on Iran until “I say it’s enough”.
They [Iran] have some fight left but they don’t have much.”
Over in the US, after Senate Democrats blocked the advancement of a defense bill earlier on Tuesday, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said that Democrats will “not go along” with Donald Trump’s continuing hostilities with Iran.
“Donald Trump is dragging America deeper into a war in Iran with no authorization, no plan, and no exit strategy. Democrats will not go along,” Schumer said in a statement on social media, reposting a news article about the hold-up of the National Defense Authorization Act. He added:
Senate Democrats just sent a clear message: the day after Trump notifies the extension of this unauthorized war, defies bipartisan majorities in Congress, and refuses to level with the American people about the cost, the mission, or the endgame, we will not proceed as if business is usual while our servicemembers’ lives are at risk and Trump drives costs for groceries and gas out of control.
And Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency is now reporting several explosions in Bampur and Chabahar in southern Iran. The exact location of these explosions was not immediately clear.
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Per Al Jazeera, the Mehr news agency is quoting the Hormozgan Governorate officials as saying there were no civilian casualties or damage to residential and commercial properties following the latest US attacks on Iran, which included the port city of Bandar Abbas.
Iran’s state-run IRNA earlier reported impacts in the eastern part of Bandar Abbas and several blasts between the city of Sirik and the village of Tahrouyi. Per CNN, IRNA said a location near Sirik was hit at around 11pm local time (3.30pm ET) by “American projectiles”.
The United States is supporting efforts by Iraq and Syria to reconstruct a crude oil pipeline between the two countries, a US state department official said on Tuesday.
In comments reported by Reuters, the official said the US expects American companies to play a role in advancing the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the pipeline, which could help oil producers avoid the strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran.
The US expects American companies to play a role in advancing the construction of the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, which has been mostly out of service since suffering damage during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
The revitalized pipeline would run from Iraqi oilfields near Kirkuk to Syria’s western coast. It is one of several efforts by oil producers in the region to lessen dependence on the strait, through which 20% of the world’s oil and gas flowed before the US-Israeli war on Iran began on 28 February.
The United States has re-imposed a blockade of the chokepoint between Iran and Oman after strikes on ships in the strait that Washington blamed on Tehran.
Bloomberg reported earlier on Tuesday that Chevron could play a role in rebuilding the pipeline.
“As a matter of policy we do not comment on third party statements or matters of a commercial nature,” Chevron said in response to a Reuters request for comment.
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Kuwait’s defence ministry has said four Kuwaiti Naval Force personnel were wounded after Iranian attacks targeted a vessel.
It added that Iran launched one ballistic missile, five cruise missiles and 33 drones towards Kuwait on Tuesday, all of which were intercepted.
It said the attacks also targeted civilian infrastructure and that shrapnel fell in various locations across the country, causing material damage.
US resumes naval blockade of Iranian ports
The United States has resumed the naval blockade of Iranian ports as of 4pm ET, with Centcom saying there are “currently more than 20 US Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft operating across the Middle East”.
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The US has issued new Iran-related sanctions and a general license, according to details posted to the Treasury Department’s website.
The sanctions target several individuals, entities and vessels, while the general license allows wind down activities, limited safety and environmental transactions, and the offloading of cargo involving certain persons or vessels blocked on July 14, the Treasury Department said.
The Strait of Hormuz is part of Iran’s national security and it will exercise its sovereignty over it what ever that costs, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said in interview with state TV on Tuesday.
Tehran currently has no commitments when it comes to the Islamabad MoU signed with the US last month, Gharibabadi added.
US launching further strikes on Iran
The US military is launching further attacks on Iran, its Central Command said.
It wrote on X: “At 3 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran to continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The strikes are taking place as American forces prepare to resume the naval blockade against Iranian ports and coastal areas. The blockade goes into effect at 4 p.m. ET.”
Iran’s state news agency IRNA is reporting the sound of three consecutive explosions in Bandar Abbas.
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Iran strikes drone ramp at Kuwaiti airbase
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has struck a drone ramp at Kuwait’s Ali Al Salem airbase, adding the attacks were in response to US strikes.
Kuwait’s army said one of its navy vessels was targeted with four personnel injured, Reuters reports.
The injured personnel received medical treatment and are in a stable condition, the statement added.
Kuwait’s armed forces had detected and intercepted one ballistic missile, five cruise missiles and 33 drones on Tuesday’s attacks, which targeted several vital and civilian facilities, with debris falls caused material damage.
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said as long as US “evil actions” continue in the region, “not a single drop of oil and gas” would be exported from the region, Iranian state media reported.
IRGC also said US “aggressions” would have no result other than to delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, adding that their attacks on what it described as U.S. facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain came in response to the White House-ordered attacks on Iran.
Top House Democrats on Tuesday said they will oppose an effort to cut funding for Israel’s military, amid a rebellion from voters over US support for the Middle Eastern ally that has roiled recent primary elections.
The party has been debating how to vote on an amendment that would halt $3.3bn in military aid for Israel, which the Republican congressman Thomas Massie has proposed adding to an appropriations bill for the state department and related agencies. Democrats were debating the amendment, which may come up for a vote before the House of Representatives later this week, in the context of a slew of primary victories by candidates who have vowed to take a hard line against Israel.
The trend has seen Democratic incumbents unseated in New York and Colorado, and could play a role in deciding contested House and Senate primaries in Michigan and Missouri in the weeks ahead.
US forces carried out additional strikes on military targets in Iran earlier on Tuesday to eliminate “emerging threats”, a US official has told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official declined to offer further details except to say that there were only a few additional strikes.
The United States carried out a large wave of attacks on Monday against coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities in locations across Iran, including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas, the US military said.
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A statement on the social media page of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Iranian president known for his hardline anti-Israel stance, denied on Tuesday that he was at the centre of a secret Israeli operation to groom him as an intelligence asset.
A New York Times investigation, citing US and Iranian officials familiar with the operation, reported that Israel had orchestrated a years-long plan to install Ahmadinejad as Iran’s new leader once the US-Israeli war on Iran ended.
The statement from Ahmadinejad’s office denied what it called “Hollywood-style claims” designed to undermine his popularity. The NY Times investigation, he said, “sought to exploit the political sensitivities arising from military threats”, and was an example of “psychological warfare” against the public.
Here’s our report on that from yesterday:
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First day of new Lebanon-Israel talks in Rome has ended and was 'productive' - report
The first day of talks between Israel and Lebanon in Rome have ended and were productive, an unnamed official from the US state department has told Reuters.
Earlier, Israel said it was ready to move forward with plans to withdraw troops from two areas of southern Lebanon agreed under a US-brokered deal.
The US-brokered negotiations took place in the Italian capital over a framework agreement sealed last month after five rounds of talks in Washington, with Lebanese negotiators hoping for progress on an Israeli withdrawal.
The framework deal calls for an end to the war in Lebanon, disarmament of Hezbollah, the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south and for Israeli forces to steadily withdraw from the country in two “pilot zones”.
“Talks in Rome by Representatives from the United States, Israel, and Lebanon were productive and held in a positive atmosphere,” a US state department official said, adding that “both sides are eager to move forward” and that talks will resume on Wednesday.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said earlier on Tuesday that his country was “ready to move forward implementing these two pilot zones”. He added: “I hope and tend to believe that this round of discussions in Rome will promote it.”
The Lebanese presidency had announced on Monday that its delegation to Rome had been instructed “to demand the immediate start of Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the two pilot zones before any further discussion”.
A Lebanese diplomatic source familiar with the content of the talks told Reuters, “the Lebanese army is ready to gradually take control of the localities from which the Israeli army would withdraw”.
But Hezbollah rejects the agreement outright despite Lebanese government pressure, lowering expectations of success in the negotiations.
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Explosions were heard in Kuwait City on Tuesday, an AFP journalist reported earlier, as the Gulf nation’s army announced for the second time in less than half an hour that it was intercepting “hostile” aerial targets.
“The General Staff of the Kuwait Armed Forces announces that any explosions are the result of the Air Defense systems intercepting hostile attacks,” the army said in its statements earlier, without providing further details.
Donald Trump also said earlier that Iran had “shot first”, which he said was a “big mistake”.
“I wanted to give them a chance at making a deal,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “And they shot first, and that was a big mistake that they shot first because we have been knocking the hell out of them. They’re very difficult people.”
Along with his usual claims about the US destroying much of Iran’s military capabilities, Trump also said that Iran and Hezbollah might be added to the Russia sanctions bill currently under consideration in Congress.
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Trump tells Netanyahu to move forces out of Syria and Lebanon - report
Donald Trump told Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call last Thursday that Israel should start redeploying its forces out of Syria and urged him to do the same in Lebanon, Axios is reporting citing US and Israeli officials.
The IDF is currently occupying large swathes of southern Lebanon and southern Syria, which the Israeli government insists is necessary to prevent another October 7-style attack.
Far-right members of Netanyahu’s government want to retain control over those areas and some even push for the establishment of Jewish settlements there. Netanyahu, who is only three months out from an existential election, is unlikely to be inclined to redeploy his forces.
A US official told Axios that Trump told the Israeli PM that the presence of the IDF in Syrian territory creates tensions and could lead to an escalation.
“They don’t want you there. You should redeploy,” Trump reportedly told Netanyahu, adding that the same is true about Lebanon. The call came a day after Trump met with Syria’s president Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Ankara.
“The Prime Minister, on his part, raised the need for security zones along Israel’s borders,” the Israeli prime minister’s office told Axios in a statement.
Last Tuesday, US mediators met in Rome with Israeli and Lebanese diplomats to discuss the implementation of the framework agreement signed by the countries several weeks ago.
Under that agreement, Israel had committed to pull its forces out of two “pilot zones” it is currently occupying in southern Lebanon and allow the Lebanese military to deploy there. But that has yet to happen, and the Lebanese government is demanding a clear timetable for this to happen along with a plan for further withdrawals.
The White House declined to comment, but didn’t deny the account given to Axios.
A US official said: “President Trump has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Israel has always been a great ally to the United States. There has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump.”
The day so far
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Donald Trump has climbed down over his threat to levy a 20% toll on shipping for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz waterway, which had been opposed by the UK. The US president said the so-called “reimbursement fee” he only announced 24 hours earlier, would be replaced by “trade and investment deals” with Gulf states, which would see “billions and billions of dollars” pour into America.
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Trump told reporters the United States would be there for Iraq if it needed protection, but added that he did not think that would be necessary. He added that the US would be “doing a lot of deals” with Iraq and “taking a lot of oil out”.
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Explosions were heard today on Iran’s Gulf island of Qeshm, near the strait of Hormuz, the Fars news agency reported, amid renewed hostilities between the United States and the Islamic republic. “Around 6.45pm, the sound of several explosions was heard on Qeshm Island,” Fars said.
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Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said Isreal will strike powerfully against Iran if Tehran carried out an attack on his country. “I will say it to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us,” Netanyahu said at a conference.
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The US launched strikes on Iran for a third day and Iran retaliated with strikes on US allies and tankers, hours after Donald Trump said the US would take control of the strait of Hormuz and charge a toll to ships for safe passage. The US military said its five-hour operation early on Tuesday hit targets across Iran, including the port cities of Bushehr and Bandar Abbas. It shared videos of strikes that it said were meant to “degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping”.
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The United Nations human rights chief said on Tuesday the resumption of hostilities between the United States and Iran was a huge setback for civilians in the region, and he urged restraint. “The return to wider hostilities in the Middle East between the US and Iran is a huge setback for civilians in the region and beyond. It undermines peace efforts and deepens instability, with grave risks for human rights across the entire region,” the UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk said in a statement.
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Middle Eastern mobile networks were repeatedly hit with cyber attacks to monitor the locations of US personnel and contractors during the US-Israel war on Iran, according to a report in the Financial Times. These attempts came in the build up to the war being launched on 28 February and carried on into the early days of the conflict, according to the report, which cites telecoms data and people familiar with the matter.
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A Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early on Tuesday, a crisis response company said. MTI Network said in a statement that shipping company Stolt Tankers reported that at approximately 00.40am local time “its tanker vessel Stolt Magnesium while on passage in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman suffered from an explosion of an unidentified external device”.
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Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they shot down on Tuesday a Saudi-operated reconnaissance drone, as hostilities erupted a day earlier between the two sides for the first time in years. The fighters “succeeded in shooting down an enemy Saudi ‘Wing Loong II’ reconnaissance aircraft while it was carrying out hostile missions at dawn today over Al-Bayda Governorate in the centre of the country,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said.
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Fifty-five Iranian fishermen have been freed from custody in the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s embassy there said on its Telegram channel on Tuesday. The fishermen were detained by the UAE’s coast guard in recent months due to “special conditions” in the region, the embassy added, in a likely reference to the Iran war.
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Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has condemned the attacks carried out against Saudi Arabia yesterday, calling them “reprehensible actions” that violated the kingdom’s sovereignty and undermined regional stability. “Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the Kingdom’s security and stands in complete solidarity with the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at this critical time,” he wrote in a post on X.
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Crude oil prices have hit their highest levels in four weeks, as Washington and Tehran traded attacks and the US reimposed a naval blockade of Iran. Brent crude has jumped $3.79 a barrel to $87.08 a barrel, a 4.55% increase, the highest since 12 June.
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The Indian foreign ministry said it summoned the deputy chief of mission of the Iranian embassy in New Delhi to register “a strong protest” against the attacks on two commercial vessels in the strait of Hormuz that were reported to have killed an Indian seafarer and injured several others. The two vessels had a total of 46 crew members, including 30 Indians, one of whom has “tragically lost his life”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Trump was also asked to explain his change in thinking over the 20% fee for ships to pass through the strait of Hormuz that he proposed yesterday.
He said that following that announcement, he’d received calls from Gulf leaders offering trade and investment opportunities instead.
The president added that he didn’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for ships transiting the strait.
“I don’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee,” he said. “I don’t like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it’s not fair that we’re protecting this strait for the entire world.”
President Donald Trump has told reporters the United States would be there for Iraq if it needed protection, but added that he did not think that would be necessary.
He added that the US would be “doing a lot of deals” with Iraq and “taking a lot of oil out”.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they shot down on Tuesday a Saudi-operated reconnaissance drone, as hostilities erupted a day earlier between the two sides for the first time in years.
The fighters “succeeded in shooting down an enemy Saudi ‘Wing Loong II’ reconnaissance aircraft while it was carrying out hostile missions at dawn today over Al-Bayda Governorate in the centre of the country,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said.
Blasts heard on Iran's Gulf island of Qeshm
Explosions were heard today on Iran’s Gulf island of Qeshm, near the Strait of Hormuz, the Fars news agency reported, amid renewed hostilities between the United States and the Islamic republic.
“Around 6.45pm, the sound of several explosions was heard on Qeshm Island,” Fars said.
“In recent days, the Masan area of Qeshm has been attacked several times by the American enemy”.
Return to US-Iran hostilities is huge setback for civilians, UN rights chief says
The United Nations human rights chief said on Tuesday the resumption of hostilities between the United States and Iran was a huge setback for civilians in the region, and he urged restraint.
“The return to wider hostilities in the Middle East between the US and Iran is a huge setback for civilians in the region and beyond. It undermines peace efforts and deepens instability, with grave risks for human rights across the entire region,” the UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk said in a statement.
Trump says US will take investment deals with Gulf states instead of fee for using strait
US president Donald Trump says that the strait of Hormuz is open to ships from all countries apart from Iran and that he has struck “massive” investment deals with Gulf nations.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said:
The Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran — and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION.
We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo.
Trump also said that trade and investment deals with the Gulf states will replace the 20% fee for ships to pass through the strait that he proposed a day earlier.
He went on:
Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.
Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future. As everyone is aware, we have the largest Dollar Investment into the United States, of any Country in History, but these new Investments will make that Number even larger, and we will see Factories, Plants, and Equipment pour into the United States at Historic levels, which will create additional millions of High Paying AMERICAN Jobs!
America is WINNING again, winning like never before. The days of Iran killing hundreds of thousands of people, including 52,000 protestors, are OVER and, most importantly, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!
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Israel’s security cabinet approved a budget of 1.3 billion shekels ($434m) for establishing 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, right-wing finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday, adding to tensions over territory widely viewed as central to a potential Palestinian state.
UN bodies, Palestinians and most countries view the settlements as illegal under international conventions - a stance disputed by Israel - and a primary obstacle to peace.
Smotrich, who has long opposed Palestinian statehood, is head of the Religious Zionism party that draws much of its support from settlements and is running in the upcoming legislative election on 27 October.
The planned settlements would bring the total established under his four-year tenure to 103.
Netanyahu warns Iran that Israel will hit back powerfully if attacked
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said Isreal will strike powerfully against Iran if Tehran carried out an attack on his country.
“I will say it to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us,” Netanyahu said at a conference.
“The days are over when someone strikes us and we don’t hit back with a decisive blow.”
Asked about reports of new attacks on Iran today, an American official has been quoted by the NY Times as confirming that US forces had conducted “a few additional strikes to eliminate emerging threats”.
Here are some of the latest images that have been sent to us over the newswires from the Middle East:
Middle Eastern mobile networks were repeatedly hit with cyber attacks to monitor the locations of US personnel and contractors during the US-Israel war on Iran, according to a report in the Financial Times.
These attempts came in the build up to the war being launched on 28 February and carried on into the early days of the conflict, according to the report, which cites telecoms data and people familiar with the matter.
One source told the FT that officials in the Gulf believe Tehran or its allies have taken advantage of roaming agreements with local phone providers to try to track US personnel.
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Fifty-five Iranian fishermen have been freed from custody in the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s embassy there said on its Telegram channel on Tuesday.
The fishermen were detained by the UAE’s coast guard in recent months due to “special conditions” in the region, the embassy added, in a likely reference to the Iran war.
The process to send them home had started, the embassy said.
A Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early on Tuesday, a crisis response company said.
MTI Network said in a statement that shipping company Stolt Tankers reported that at approximately 00.40am local time “its tanker vessel Stolt Magnesium while on passage in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman suffered from an explosion of an unidentified external device”.
The explosion triggered a fire in the ship’s engine room, but an MTI Network spokesman added that the crew “fortunately are all safe and accounted for”.
Israel’s foreign minister said he expected ongoing talks in Rome with Lebanon to help implement an agreement on two “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon, referring to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from those areas.
“We are ready to move forward implementing these two pilot zones. I hope and tend to believe that this round of discussions in Rome will promote it,” Gideon Saar told journalists at a press conference in Jerusalem.
The US launched strikes on Iran for a third day and Iran retaliated with strikes on US allies and tankers, hours after Donald Trump said the US would take control of the strait of Hormuz and charge a toll to ships for safe passage.
The US military said its five-hour operation early on Tuesday hit targets across Iran, including the port cities of Bushehr and Bandar Abbas. It shared videos of strikes that it said were meant to “degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping”.
More explosions were heard around noon on Tuesday west of Bandar Abbas, as well as in Bushehr and Choghadak, according to Iranian state TV, though no party had yet claimed responsibility.
Iran targeted Bahrain, which houses the US Navy’s fifth fleet; Jordan, which hosts US air force assets; and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates in the strait of Hormuz.
Bahrain said it had intercepted several of the attacks and accused Iran of targeting civilians, after explosions were heard in its capital, Manama. Jordan said it intercepted four missiles from Iran.
Lebanese and Israeli delegations were due to meet in Rome on Tuesday to continue US-mediated negotiations. Lebanon is seeking an Israeli withdrawal from the more than 600 sq km of the country that it occupies, though hopes for a swift withdrawal were low.
Last month Lebanon and Israel announced they had reached a “framework agreement” under which Israeli troops would withdraw from “pilot areas” in south Lebanon.
The Lebanese army would then enter those areas, with the promise that they would prevent Hezbollah from returning and continue to dismantle the armed group’s infrastructure there.
The negotiations are between the Lebanese government and Israel. Hezbollah is not a party to the talks.
Hezbollah has repeatedly called on the government to stop the talks, framing the direct negotiations as a surrender. It is unclear how agreements from the talks would be implemented on the ground without Hezbollah’s cooperation.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has condemned the attacks carried out against Saudi Arabia yesterday, calling them “reprehensible actions” that violated the kingdom’s sovereignty and undermined regional stability.
“Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering support for the Kingdom’s security and stands in complete solidarity with the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at this critical time,” he wrote in a post on X.
“On its part, Pakistan will continue to support all sincere efforts aimed at promoting peace, stability, security, and mutual understanding across the region.”
Pakistan has been the key mediator between the US and Iran, hosting delegations and passing messages between the two sides in an effort to reduce tensions and help bring about a lasting peace deal.
Sharif’s comments come after after Yemeni government planes, supported by Saudi Arabia, bombed the Houthi-controlled Sana’a airport on Monday in protest at Iranian efforts to send a plane to the city containing a Houthi delegation returning from the funeral of the late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. You can read more about the attack here.
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Crude oil prices hit highest levels in four weeks
Crude oil prices have hit their highest levels in four weeks, as Washington and Tehran traded attacks and the US reimposed a naval blockade of Iran.
Brent crude has jumped $3.79 a barrel to $87.08 a barrel, a 4.55% increase, the highest since 12 June.
The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict on 17 June and engaged in negotiations for a permanent peace deal.
Dutch shipping firm says tanker attacked off Oman in the Arabian Sea
Dutch shipping firm Stolt Tankers said this morning that one of its tankers came under attack off Oman in the Arabian Sea.
The shipping firm said Stolt Magnesium came under attack early this morning, around the time the UAE said two tankers were targeted by Iranian missiles while crossing the strait of Hormuz in Omani waters.
Stolt Tankers said in a statement that all the mariners aboard its vessel were safe and accounted for after the attack, which sparked a fire in the ship’s engine room.
The firm confirmed it was the same vessel referred to by the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre, which earlier said it received a report of a tanker being hit by “an unknown projectile” 40 nautical miles northeast of Qalhat, Oman, last night.
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Reports of explosions heard in Iranian cities
Iran’s Fars news agency is reporting that several explosions have been heard in the Iranian cities of Bushehr and Jaghadak.
The report said the exact location of the explosions is unknown and did not note any casualties or infrastructural damage. Bushehr is home to Iran’s only operating civilian nuclear power plant.
“Four points in the city of Bushehr were hit by enemy projectiles at noon (0830 GMT),” deputy provincial governor Ehsan Jahanian was quoted by official news agency IRNA as saying. He blamed the attacks on the US.
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India summons Iranian diplomat to protest after ships attacked in strait of Hormuz
The Indian foreign ministry said it summoned the deputy chief of mission of the Iranian embassy in New Delhi to register “a strong protest” against the attacks on two commercial vessels in the strait of Hormuz that were reported to have killed an Indian seafarer and injured several others.
The two vessels had a total of 46 crew members, including 30 Indians, one of whom has “tragically lost his life”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“India is deeply concerned by the attacks on two vessels, MT Al Bahiyah and MT Mombasa, during their transit through the strait of Hormuz today,” it said.
Indian sailors comprise a significant share of the global commercial shipping industry and have come under deadly fire during the conflict.
As we reported in an earlier post, the UAE’s defence ministry said overnight that two tankers - the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah - were targeted by Iranian cruise missiles while transiting the strait of Hormuz.
Three people killed in overnight US strikes on Iran - report
Three people were killed in US strikes on Iran’s Hormozgan province overnight, according to the Fars news agency, which is close to the Iranian security services.
We are also seeing breaking reports of several explosions being heard around the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, which is home to an Iranian naval base. We will bring you more details on this as we get them.
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Gas and oil prices have risen as tensions between the US and Iran ratchet higher. Brent crude, the global benchmark oil price, climbed 2.2% to $85.15 a barrel, after touching $85.64 in early London trading. You can follow the latest market developments in our business live blog here:
China has called on the US and Iran to restore safe passage through the strait of Hormuz after Donald Trump said the US was reinstating a naval blockade of Iranian ports and would impose a 20% charge on all cargo shipped as compensation for protecting vessels travelling through the waterway.
“Restoring normal and safe passage through the strait as soon as possible is a shared aspiration of the international community,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a news briefing, adding that Beijing would “make unremitting efforts to help de-escalate” the crisis.
Analysts say China, which has long maintained strategic reserves of energy, has been one of the biggest winners from the US-Israel war on Iran.
As my colleague Amy Hawkins notes in this story, the country’s large stockpiles of oil and the hugely ambitious rollout of renewable energy mean it was less exposed to the energy shock that resulted from the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz than other countries. China’s diplomatic clout has also risen over the conflict as Beijing cast itself as a proponent of peace.
Bahrain’s defence force condemned Iran’s missile and drone attacks against the country that targets its civilians and private property, actions it says constitute a “flagrant violation” of international law.
The country’s air defence systems intercepted and destroyed a number of Iranian aerial attacks this morning and the general command’s weapons and units remain on “high alert” to protect citizens from hostile threats, a statement read.
“'The General Command also urges everyone to exercise caution, avoid approaching any strange or suspicious objects resulting from the remnants of the brutal Iranian aggression, and report them immediately,” it added.
Earlier, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that a patriot radar, the US Navy’s fifth fleet air control radar, and an early warning radar system were destroyed in an attack on the country.
Two tankers hit in strait of Hormuz, UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre reports
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre has said two tankers reported being hit by a missile while sailing “outbound” of the strait of Hormuz via the southern route on Monday.
The US has urged vessels to use the southern route through the strait that hugs the coast of Oman instead of the northern route Iran wants ships to take.
The UKMTO said the incident happened 13 nautical miles southeast of Limah, Oman, and said authorities are investigating what happened.
“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO,” it said in a statement. The UKMTO did not give details about the two tankers it said were hit.
Overnight the UAE said Iranian cruise missiles struck two Emirati oil tankers while transiting the southern lane of the strait in Omani territorial waters, killing a crew member and injuring eight.
The UKMTO said another vessel was hit yesterday by an “unknown projectile” on the starboard side engine room, 40 nautical miles northeast of Qalhat, Oman. There were no reports of casualties.
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Two members of the Islamic State group were executed after they were convicted of armed rebellion against Iran, Iranian state television reported.
The report identified the men as Mohieddin Abdollahi and Hossein Palani. It said they belonged to an Islamic State cell that formed after the group’s territorial defeat in Iraq and Syria and had planned attacks inside Iran.
Israel sets October date for first elections since Hamas attacks in 2023
Israel will hold national elections on 27 October, giving its citizens their first chance to pass judgment on the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his coalition since the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023.
The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, will be dissolved on Friday. With just a few days left in session, the most far-right government in Israel’s history is now rushing to pass several controversial laws in an attempt to bolster its position before polling day.
A deadly campaign of extremist violence to expand Israeli control in the occupied West Bank is expected to continue until election day, as settler militants and their political backers exploit their seat at the cabinet table.
Netanyahu, 76, may be fighting for his personal freedom as well as his political future. He is on trial for corruption, despite interventions from Donald Trump calling for a pre-emptive pardon in the long-running case.
Current polling indicates voters will kick him out of office, although the man who has led Israel for much of the last three decades is a consummate political survivor who has repeatedly defied expectations. You can read the full story here:
The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, has condemned the “hostile” Iranian attacks on Gulf countries (and Jordan) that he says are designed to keep the “entire region in a state of permanent tension and anxiety”.
In a statement published by the Lebanese presidency, Aoun pledged complete Lebanese solidarity – both officially and “popularly” - with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and all the Gulf states, whose security is an “integral” part of wider “Arab national security” and who share “deep historical” ties with Lebanon.
As a reminder, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they struck Saudi Arabia’s Abha international airport with ballistic missiles and drones in retaliation for a strike on Sanaa’s international airport.
Jordan, meanwhile, reportedly intercepted four missiles this morning, resulting in no casualties or “material damage”.
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Over the last six hours, Bahrain’s interior ministry posted six times on social media urging residents to seek the nearest shelter as sirens were activated.
Earlier, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that a patriot radar, the US Navy’s fifth fleet air control radar, and an early warning radar system were destroyed in an attack on the country.
We have not been able to independently verify these claims.
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Interim summary
In case you’re just joining us, here’s a quick recap of the latest as the Middle East crisis escalates once again. It’s 9.30am in Tehran and 2am in Washington DC.
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The US carried out a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran on Monday and two tankers came under fire in the strait of Hormuz.
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Donald Trump said the US would reinstate its blockade of Iranian shipping in the Gulf. It would begin at 4pm ET on Tuesday, US Central Command said.
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Trump said the Hormuz strait would stay open “with or without Iran” but that the US would start charging fees on ships transiting through the waterway, in an apparent policy reversal. A 20% fee would be levied “for any and all costs necessary” to provide security and safety for vessels, the president said.
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Iran’s top joint military command said the US had no role in determining the strait’s future and would not be allowed to intervene. Foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran would “forever” be the guardian of the strait.
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Iranian media reported explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas, Iran’s Kish and Qeshm islands and on Abu Musa Island in the Gulf shortly after the US military announced the renewed strikes on Iran.
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The United Arab Emirates said Iranian cruise missiles struck two Emirati oil tankers while transiting the southern lane of the vital energy transit route in Omani territorial waters, killing a crew member and injuring eight.
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Oil prices rose 2% to their highest in four weeks amid heightened uncertainty about energy flows through the strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures climbed 2% to $84.98 a barrel by 0051 GMT on Tuesday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $79.79. Brent crude surged 9.6% in the previous session – its biggest daily gain since May 2020.
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Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will begin charging ships for safe passage through the strait of Hormuz is not only an about-face for his administration but upends hundreds of years of American policy supporting freedom of navigation around the world.
“We’re protecting a very rich portion of the world,” the president said. “We’re spending money. And so, what we’ve done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection.”
It’s a shift in US policy that, until now, said the strait should remain open to all without tolls – as it was before the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February. But as the Associated Press reports, any attempt by the US or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further economic disruption far beyond the region.
The US navy has fought for freedom of navigation on the seas since the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812.
Trump said on Monday the US was “taking over” the Hormuz strait and would be paid for its operations.
“We’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it. We’ll become the guardian of the strait,” he told Fox News. Wealthy nations would have to reimburse the US.
We’re going to get paid for guarding it. A lot of money, but we just want to be reimbursed for doing all of this, for putting our people in danger.
Trump later said on Truth Social that the US would be reimbursed – at 20% of all cargo shipped – “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security”.
Iran’s military warned that it would not allow the US to “interfere” in the strait’s management.
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'Clock ticking again' on global oil inventory depletion, economist warns
Resurgent oil and fuel prices could cement a fourth interest rate rise in Australia this year if Donald Trump’s renewed conflict with Iran is not resolved within a week, economists warn.
US missile strikes on Iran and Trump’s announcement of a new maritime blockade has lifted oil prices to their highest point in the month since the two countries agreed to a peace deal.
Brent crude oil hit US$85 a barrel on Tuesday morning, while the West Texas Intermediate benchmark price for US crude surpassed US$80 a barrel. Both had been trading near US$70 in early July.
Escalating hostilities could run down oil stockpiles and push prices far above their April high, an energy commodities strategist at Australia’s Commonwealth Bank said in a note on Tuesday.
“The clock has started ticking again on global oil inventory depletion,” Vivek Dhar said.
Continued conflict would push Brent oil prices to $US100 a barrel within 10 days and $150 a barrel within 10 weeks, he said.
Iran rescued 23 foreign crew members after a bulk carrier collided with another vessel north of Qeshm Island in the strait of Hormuz, according to the Fars news agency.
The carrier suffered serious damage to its hull and began taking on water, prompting the captain to order an emergency evacuation, the semi-official Iranian agency said.
All crew members were safely transferred to Qeshm Island, it said, cited by Reuters.
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Iran claims attack on US military base in Jordan
Iranian ballistic missiles targeted a US airbase in Jordan on Tuesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement published by Fars News, calling on the Jordanian people to dismantle American bases in their country.
The statement, cited by Reuters, said:
You know very well that not only do we not have any enmity with your country, but we also love you, the noble people, who understand the pain and oppression of the Palestinian people more than any other nation.
As mentioned earlier, Jordan hosts a number of US forces and aircraft. On Monday, Tehran claimed it hit the country’s Prince Hassan airbase as part of its retaliatory strikes against the US, but Jordan denied the reports.
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Bahrain has sounded its missile alert siren for the third time in about five hours as Iran continues its retaliation over American military strikes.
Bahrain’s interior ministry, posting on X, urged people to head to the nearest safe location.
Iran said on Monday it hit US military facilities and infrastructure in the country, while Bahrain’s military accused Tehran of targeting civilians in its “heinous attacks”.
A bit more now on the two Emirati tankers hit in the strait of Hormuz in the past few hours.
The United Arab Emirates’ defence ministry said early on Tuesday that the attack killed one mariner and wounded eight others. The ministry blamed Iran for the attack, saying it had launched two cruise missiles at the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah.
The strikes set both tankers ablaze, though the fires were extinguished.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack on the tankers, saying the vessels “ignored repeated warnings”.
“They chose to pass through a minefield and were subsequently targeted and disabled,” the Guards said.
Jordan’s military says it intercepted four missiles launched by Iran.
Jordan hosts a number of US forces and aircraft.
On Monday, Iran claimed it had struck Prince Hassan airbase in Jordan as part of its retaliatory strikes against the US, but Jordan denied the reports were true.
Stocks have fallen and oil hit a one-month high in Asian trading on Tuesday after Donald Trump said the US was reinstating its blockade of Iranian shipping in the strait of Hormuz.
Shares in Taiwan and South Korea were particularly hard hit, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.8%.
Brent crude futures climbed 1.7% to $84.72 a barrel, after earlier hitting their highest point since mid-June at $85.64. Markets were also rattled by comments on Monday from US federal reserve governor Christopher Waller, who said the central bank may need to raise interest rates “in the near term” if data shows inflation continuing well above the 2% target.
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Iran responded to the latest US strikes with attacks targeting American bases in Bahrain. It marks the third day in a row that Iran retaliated against Gulf countries after US attacks on its facilities.
Early on Tuesday, Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens twice, urging the public to seek shelter. There was no word on any damage or casualties from the attack.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed a US Patriot radar, a Fifth Fleet air control radar and other systems were all hit in Bahrain, but there was no independent confirmation.
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US Central Command said a little over an hour ago that it had finished the military’s latest wave of strikes against Iran.
It said in a statement posted on X:
During the five-hour mission, U.S. forces successfully struck military targets across Iran including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa, and Bandar Abbas to further degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping
Centcom said it targeted “Iranian coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities”.
More than 50,000 US service members were currently deployed across the Middle East, it added.
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US launches fresh strikes on Iran as tankers hit in Hormuz strait
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
The US carried out a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran on Monday and two tankers came under fire in the strait of Hormuz after Donald Trump said Washington was reinstating its blockade of Iranian shipping in the Gulf and would ensure that the strategic waterway stayed open, but for a fee.
US Central Command said it began strikes at the president’s direction just after he said Iran would be hit “very hard tonight and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow”, later saying the US was attacking Iranian capabilities in the strait.
Soon after, the United Arab Emirates said Iranian cruise missiles struck two Emirati oil tankers while transiting the southern lane of the vital energy transit route in Omani territorial waters, killing one crew member and injuring eight.
With the US-Iran memorandum of understanding in a shambles after fighting reignited between them last week, Trump claimed the strait was open and would stay open “with or without Iran”. The president also announced the US would start charging fees on ships transiting through the waterway, claiming a 20% fee would be levied “for any and all costs necessary” to provide security and safety for vessels.
Iran’s top joint military command said the US had no role in determining the strait’s future and would not be allowed to intervene. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said on X that Tehran would “forever” be the guardian of the strait, adding over Trump’s comments: “20% is of course too much. We will be fair.”
In other developments:
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Iranian media reported explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas, Iran’s Kish and Qeshm islands and on Abu Musa Island in the Gulf soon after the US military announced renewed strikes on Iran.
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The US military started preparing to resume blockading ships heading to and exiting Iranian ports from 4pm ET on Tuesday, US Central Command said, after Trump’s announcement.
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Oil prices rose 2% to their highest in four weeks amid heightened uncertainty about energy flows through the strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures climbed 2% to $84.98 a barrel by 0051 GMT on Tuesday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $79.79. Brent crude surged 9.6% in the previous session – its biggest daily gain since May 2020.
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The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) said passage through the strait of Hormuz “should remain free of any tolls and charges, in accordance with international law”.
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The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said its air defences dealt with ballistic missiles launched by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis towards the kingdom’s southern region, as tensions rose after Sana’a airport was attacked. The Houthis earlier said Saudi Arabia had launched strikes on the airport in the Yemeni capital. The Saudi-backed Yemeni government claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it wanted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. The Houthis earlier warned the strikes would end an informal truce between the two sides that has held since 2022.
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