Trump sends Congress formal notice that Iran conflict has resumed
US President Donald Trump has sent Congress formal notification that hostilities against Iran resumed on July 7, a letter his administration sees as opening a new 60-day window to use the military in the region
without congressional approval.
"I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States' national security and foreign policy interests," Trump said in the letter, dated July 10, and seen by Reuters on Monday.
The letter outlines Trump's actions including ordering a two-week ceasefire on April 7, which was extended, and his administration's efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Missile attack targets Iranian Kurdish opposition group site east of Iraq's Erbil, security sources say
A missile attack hit a site belonging to an Iranian Kurdish opposition group east of Iraq's Erbil, security sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
No casualties were immediately reported in the attack.
UAE says two tankers hit by Iranian cruise missiles in Strait of Hormuz; one crew member killed
The UAE Ministry of Defence said on Monday that two national tankers were targeted by two Iranian
cruise missiles in the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz in Omani territorial waters, killing one Indian crew member and wounding eight others, including four seriously.
The ministry said fires broke out on both tankers but had been brought under control. It condemned the attack as a serious breach of international law and said the UAE retained its full right to respond and take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty and security.
Trump says deal with Iran still 'possible'
US President Donald Trump said Monday that a deal with Tehran to end the Middle East war was still possible, despite launching fresh strikes on Iran and reimposing a blockade of Iranian ports.
"Yeah, I think a deal is possible. Sure, I do," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "We had a deal with them two days ago and then they said 'Oh we can't make that deal. We have to negotiate it further.'"
Trump vows to hit Iran 'hard,' impose Hormuz transit fees
US President Donald Trump on Monday said the United States would again strike Iran "hard," as the military launched a fresh salvo of attacks for the third night in a row and reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
"We're going to hit them very hard tonight, and we're going to hit them hard tomorrow," Trump said at the White House on Monday.
Shortly after, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said strikes had begun at 2045 GMT, adding that they would "continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz".
Iranian FM mocks Trump's threat to charge fees for Hormuz passage
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has mocked President Donald Trump's threat to impose hefty fees on commercial shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz, saying Tehran would charge a lower rate.
"POTUS is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service," he wrote on X.
Tehran's top diplomat said Iran had "always been the GUARDIAN" of the strait and would "remain so FOREVER", claiming it would charge fair tolls for safe passage. "20% is of course too much. We will be fair," he said.
Iran condemns attack on Yemen's Sanaa airport
Iran has condemned the attack on the airport in Yemeni capital Sanaa conducted by Yemen's internationally-recognised government following a dispute over an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei described the attack "as a clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, as well as an affront to Yemen's national sovereignty and territorial integrity," state news agency IRNA reported.
Saudi-led coalition says intercepted Houthi missiles
The Saudi-led coalition for Yemen has said it had intercepted ballistic missiles launched by Iran-backed Houthis towards the southern region of the kingdom.
"Air defences intercepted a ballistic missile threat launched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards the southern region," coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said.
Israeli prison guards injure 'Palestine's Mandela' Barghouti with rubber bullet, family says
Israeli prison guards shot jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti in the leg with a rubber bullet last week, his family said Monday, an incident denied by Israeli prison authorities.
A senior Fatah official arrested by Israel in 2002 and sometimes called the "Palestine's Mandela" by his supporters, Barghouti, 67, is serving five life sentences for murder and his role in attacks against Israelis during the second intifada.
"One of the prison guards fired a rubber bullet at Marwan's leg, causing him to bleed and inflicting a painful injury," his wife, Fadwa Barghouti, wrote on Facebook. "It was a yet another episode in the ongoing assaults against him."
His son, Arab Barghouti, said the incident happened "some time last week" at Ganot prison in Israel's Negev desert. He said the family learned about the incident from his father's lawyer and that Barghouti had not received medical treatment for the injury.
In a letter to the prison service, Barghouti's lawyer, prominent Israeli civil rights attorney Avigdor Feldman, said his client had "complained that he had been shot in the leg" when the two spoke during his last visit.
Israel Prison Service dismissed the allegation.
"The allegation described is false and entirely without factual basis," it said.
UN chief warns over US strikes on Iran, Tehran targeting shipping
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has raised the alarm over US strikes on Iran as well as Tehran's attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and its neighbours.
Guterres expressed "deep concern at the serious escalation of renewed military confrontation in the Gulf region, including Iranian attacks on ships on the Strait of Hormuz, attacks by the United States on the Islamic Republic of Iran, and attacks by Iran on targets in neighboring countries," his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
UN shipping agency opposes 'charging fees for passage through straits'
More details are awaited after President Donald Trump said in a post that Washington was reinstating a naval blockade on Iran and would be reimbursed 20% on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, said the UN's shipping agency.
"We are aware of the post and awaiting more details," a spokesperson with the UN's International Maritime Organization said.
"We have always been consistent on our stance on fees – IMO stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation. There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait."
EU ministers favour Israel settlement trade ban most, Kallas says
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said banning trade with Israeli settlements gained the most support from EU foreign ministers among a range of options presented by the European Commission to respond to increasing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
Kallas, who did not quantify the size of such support, said the issue would be passed to EU ambassadors to press forward with potential action. Kallas referred to an opinion from the European Commission's legal service that measures were possible without unanimity among EU members.
Under pressure for the EU as a whole to take measures, the bloc's executive last week laid out options to curb trade with settlements, including a ban.
The slow pace of the discussion has angered countries keen to curb trade -- with some diplomats accusing the European Commission of dragging its feet.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said ahead of the meeting that the options laid out appeared to be more "a bone to gnaw on than a genuine desire to move forward."
Trump says US will blockade Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and will charge ships for passage
President Donald Trump has said the US was reinstating a naval blockade on Iran, and would be reimbursed 20% on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran claimed it had closed the strait.
Trump said the process would begin immediately, without elaborating.
In a post on social media, Trump said Iranian ships will no longer be able to travel through the strait.
“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving,” Trump said online. “All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”
The president said the toll would help cover “any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World.”
Iran's Guards accuse US of endangering global oil supply
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accused the United States on Monday of jeopardising global oil and gas supplies by interfering in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, as renewed hostilities flared.
IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi said Washington had "seriously endangered the security of the world's oil and gas supply and must be held accountable", adding in a post on X that Tehran "will continue to exercise sovereignty over and management of the Strait of Hormuz".
UN urges de-escalation after Yemen attack on Sanaa airport
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen has the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognised government to turn to diplomacy after the country's internationally recognised government claimed responsibility for attacks on Sanaa's airport.
"I am actively engaging with all actors and my Office has contacted military representatives from all sides. We are urging them to de-escalate and refrain from any actions that would risk a new cycle of violence in Yemen," said Hans Grundberg in a post on his office's X account.
Iran won't let US intervene in Hormuz management, top military command says
Iran will not allow the US to intervene in the management of the Strait of Hormuz, the country's top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, has said in a statement.
Any attempt by the US army to arrange transit through the strait outside the paths designated by Tehran and without coordination with Iran's armed forces will be strongly resisted, said the statement published by state media.
Germany, France, UK condemn Iranian attacks in Strait of Hormuz and on states in the region
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain have condemned Iran's attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on countries in the region.
"We condemn Iran' heinous attacks on merchant shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on countries in the region, including Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan," they said in a joint statement.
The group, which is known as the E-3, called for the restoration of the ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations
between the warring parties.
Iranian plane lands in Yemen after strikes fail to stop it, Houthi media reports
An Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation back from Tehran has landed in Yemen, rebels said, after Yemen's internationally recognised government said it struck Sanaa airport to prevent the aircraft from landing.
Houthi broadcaster al-Masirah quoted the group's transport minister as saying "the Iranian plane has landed on the homeland's soil, carrying a number of medical patients and stranded citizens, accompanied by the official delegation of the Republic of Yemen".
It did not specify where the plane landed.
The Houthis blamed the internationally recognised Yemeni government's Saudi backer on the attack earlier Monday on Sanaa airport.
Tensions have been rising in recent days as the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia earlier this month of attacking an Iranian plane that landed in Sanaa and took off carrying the delegation.
The rebels had threatened at the time to hit Saudi airports and vital assets should Riyadh violate its airspace or attempt to attack it again.
The latest escalation raised the spectre of renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia after years of relative calm.
- US strikes Iran as Gulf states targeted in flareup over Hormuz
- US strikes kill one, wound 4 in southwest Iran, says state media
- Iran's Guards say struck US military bases in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait
- Iran says will stop complying with deal if US does not honour commitments
- Trump says the US will control Strait of Hormuz and get paid for it
- Iran won't let US intervene in Hormuz management, top military command says
Trump says the US will control Strait of Hormuz and get paid for it
President Donald Trump has said the US would probably take over the Strait of Hormuz and should be reimbursed for controlling the vital waterway.
"We're going to keep the strait, and we'll probably run it. We'll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we'll call it the guardian angel of the strait. And we should be reimbursed for that," he said in a phone interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" programme.
Yesterday's key developments:
- More than 10 projectiles struck Iran 's Gulf island of Qeshm in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, state media reported, as hostilities resumed between Tehran and Washington.
- President Donald Trump said Sunday the United States hit Iran hard in response to its latest attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
- The US military insisted Sunday that ships are moving through the Strait of Hormuz despite Iran's claim to have closed it in the latest flare-up of the Mideast war.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
