Air raid sirens sound in Bahrain: interior ministry
Bahrain's interior ministry said overnight Sunday to Monday that its air raid sirens had sounded.
"The siren has been sounded," it said in a statement posted on X. "Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place."
Oil jumps as US, Iran intensify attacks in Middle East
Oil prices jumped more than 3% on Monday, with Brent surpassing $90 a barrel, as the United
States and Iran intensified attacks in the Middle East that have curbed energy shipments in the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures climbed $2.75, or 3.12%, to $90.85 by 2202 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $85.05 a barrel, up $2.56, or 3.10%.
17 US service members have died in the Iran war, reflecting a conflict fought largely in the air
The US military said Sunday that another American service member was killed as part of the war with Iran, bringing the total number of deaths to 17.
The deaths reflect the complicated reality that American boots don’t need to be on the ground for there to be lethal risks in a conflict that involves drones, missiles and airplanes. American forces are arrayed across the Middle East, making other nations targets of Iran as the fighting has escalated after a breakdown in peace talks.
President Donald Trump has said the war is necessary to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
US service member killed in northern Iraq, CENTCOM says
A US service member was killed on Saturday "during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance" in northern Iraq, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said in a statement.
The unexploded ordnance was from a "downed Iranian one-way attack drone," CENTCOM said in a statement posted on X.
"A second service member was wounded and continues to receive medical treatment for a minor injury," the statement added.
Rubio hails Lebanon for peace efforts after meeting president
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Lebanon for its "move towards peace" after meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington.
Rubio said Aoun's government had made a "determined effort to reclaim Lebanon's sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace," according to a State Department release.
The Lebanese president stressed that Lebanon and the US must "align... regarding the implementation of the tripartite framework, through achieving the first Israeli withdrawal from the first pilot zone."
In Israel, Iranian missile interception sparks fears of war 'escalating'
Reporting from Jerusalem after Israeli and Jordanian forces intercepted an Iranian missile aimed at the Jordanian city of Aqaba, FRANCE 24's Noga Tarnopolsky explains that Israel was hit by sharpnel from the interception.
While no one was injured, there was a "sense in Israel that the war is escalating," says Tarnopolsky.
Aqaba lies across the border from the Israeli resort city of Eliat, a popular tourist destination spot in summer.
Kuwait condemns what it calls Iranian attack on power, water desalination facility
Kuwait's foreign ministry has condemned what it described as an Iranian attack on a power generation and water desalination facility, calling it a direct strike on vital civilian infrastructure.
The repeated targeting of civilian facilities amounted to a dangerous escalation and violated international law, the UN Charter and UN Security Council Resolution 2817, the ministry said in a statement.
It said Iran bore full legal and moral responsibility for the attack and its consequences.
Jordan summons Iran's envoy in Amman over 'unjustified' attacks
Jordan has summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Amman over what it called "unjustified and blatant Iranian attacks" and "provocative and inflammatory statements targeting the Kingdom's territory," Jordan's foreign ministry said in a statement posted on X.
Over the last week, Jordan has repeatedly said that it has intercepted Iranian missiles flying over its territory, including three that it shot down today, according to the country's military.
Iran war turns into ‘retaliatory system of one nation striking the other’
Since the July 8 collapse of the US-Iran ceasefire, the conflict in the Middle East has turned into “a retaliatory system of one nation striking the other", says Dafyyd Townley, a US national security policy expert at the University of Portsmouth.
The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed last month, collapsed last week after the US launched strikes on Iran in what it said was retaliation for Tehran’s attack on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
There has been no let-up in the retaliatory strikes and no roadmap for a de-escalation since, Townley notes.
“We’re seeing a number of accusations of civilian infrastructure being targeted,” he says. “This is now a war of propaganda as much as anything else. And it’s incredibly difficult to call how this is going to end,” he notes.
Israel warns will respond to any Iran attack with 'full force'
Israel's defence minister has said his country will respond powerfully to any attack by Iran, after Israeli and Jordanian forces intercepted an Iranian missile launched towards the Jordanian city of Aqaba.
"If Iran files missiles at Israel, we will attack them with full force," Israel Katz said during a visit to a rescue service facility. "If the United States changes its policy, which is also something that could happen, we are prepared for both defensive and offensive" action against Tehran, he added.
Rubio holding talks with Lebanese president in Washington
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is holding talks with visiting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington, AFP reports, citing a State Department official.
On his first trip to Washington as president, Aoun is set to meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
The meeting comes at a crucial moment for Lebanon: Israeli troops are occupying a swathe of the country's south, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced following Israeli strikes and Hezbollah has firmly rejected the government's direct talks with Israel -- and efforts by the state to strip it
of its arms.
In comments published by his office last week, Aoun said he would ask Trump to "exert the necessary pressure on Israel" to implement a U.S.-brokered June 26 agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
Jordan shot down three Iranian missiles, state news agency reports
Jordan's armed forces said they shot down three Iranian missiles targeting the kingdom, while a fourth fell in a remote area, the state news agency has reported.
There were no casualties or material damage, the agency said, citing a military official.
IAEA investigates reports of attack on Iran's Darkhovin nuclear power plant site
he International Atomic Energy Agency said that it was investigating reports of an overnight
attack on the construction site of Iran's planned Darkhovin nuclear power plant.
The facility was in the very early stages of construction and contained no nuclear material when last inspected, the agency said.
Israel says Iran missile towards Jordan's Aqaba intercepted
Israeli and Jordanian forces have intercepted an Iranian missile aimed at the Jordanian city of Aqaba, the Israeli military told AFP.
When asked by AFP about reports of explosions near the Israeli city of Eilat, a military spokeswoman said both Israeli and Jordanian forces had intercepted a projectile.
Sirens sound in Jordanian capital
Sirens have sounded in the Jordanian capital, Amman, according to reporters, just minutes after the Israeli military said it had identified missiles fired from Iran towards Jordan and warned of a spillover of fire into Israeli territory.
Earlier Sunday, the Jordanian government denied to AFP that authorities had ordered the evacuation of the airport and seaport in the coastal city of Aqaba, after the US embassy in Amman said the transport hubs had been evacuated over a threat.
Israeli military says identified launch of missiles from Iran towards Jordan's Aqaba
Israel says Iran has launched missiles toward Jordan and warns fire could spill over into its borders.
"A short while ago, the IDF identified the launch of missiles from Iran toward the city of Aqaba in Jordan, adjacent to Israeli territory," the military said. "It is possible that as a result of the fire, there will be spillover into Israeli territory."
Trump says Republicans should add Iran to Russian bill
Israel to receive more US refuelling planes, officials say
Israel is preparing to receive more US refuelling aircraft, an Israeli military official has said, as attacks launched by the United States and Iran have escalated over the past week.
The US had "decided to adjust its force posture in the region" and "to reinforce the existing fleet of aerial refuelling aircraft stationed in Israel with additional refuelling aircraft," the official said.
Citing three US and Israeli officials, Axios reported on Friday that the Trump administration notified Israel that it was sending dozens more refuelling planes to the country ahead of a potential expansion of military operations against Iran.
Kuwait says water, power plant on fire after second hit in days
An Iranian attack on a power and water plant in Kuwait caused a fire for the second day in a row on Sunday, Kuwaiti authorities said, as Tehran retaliates to US strikes with attacks across the Gulf region.
"As a result of the heinous Iranian agression on Kuwait, a power and water distillation plant, for the second time in two days, has been subjected to an attack that caused a fire in some facilities of the station," the Kuwaiti ministry of electricity, water and renewable energy said in a statement on X.
It added that firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze.
Gulf crude exports jump in July but shipments slow amid renewed hostilities
Gulf countries boosted crude oil and condensate exports in the first half of July to the highest levels since before the Iran war began in late February, shipping data showed, although flows through the Strait ofHormuz are now slowing as fighting escalates.
Crude and condensate exports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait and Iran rose about 16% from the whole of June's daily average to 12 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of July, Kpler data showed.
Vortexa estimated exports during the period at an even higher 13.06 million bpd.
Yesterday's key developments:
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US Central Command said that two US service members in Jordan were killed in Friday and one was missing in action marking the first US deaths due to direct Iranian fire since the start of the Iran war.
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As Iran continued attacks on its Gulf neighbours, Kuwait accused Tehran of targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure in the country, after reporting attacks on an oil facility and two power and water plants.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayotollah Mojtaba Khamenei warned of "unforgettable lessons" if US attacks on Iran continued and accused Washington of repeatedly breaching commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). He said the US president's signature was "worthless and invalid".
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
