{"id":562491,"date":"2026-07-22T12:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/562491\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T12:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:22:13","slug":"us-says-it-will-intensify-strikes-until-iran-agrees-to-reopen-strait-of-hormuz-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/562491\/","title":{"rendered":"US says it will intensify strikes until Iran agrees to reopen Strait of Hormuz \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Main PointsThe US widened the scope of its airstrikes on Iran overnight, as president Donald Trump signaled talks were unlikely in the near-term.Trump<\/a> confirmed that 18 US service members had been killed so far in the war.Fifty civilians have been killed and 500 wounded in the recent US strikes on Iran, a Tehran health ministry official said.US defence secretary Pete Hegseth<\/a> said the Pentagon\u2019s latest estimate of the cost of the war against Iran was $37.5 billion.Key Reads<\/p>\n

Katie Mellett – 18 minutes ago<\/p>\n

EU aviation agency adds Jordan to no-fly warning list as fighting continues<\/p>\n

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency on Wednesday asked airlines not \u200cto operate within the airspace of Jordan after it and other US Gulf allies were struck by \u200bIran in the renewed conflict. <\/p>\n

The agency last week reinstated and toughened its warning to airlines operating in the Middle East, telling them to avoid the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, \u200bthe United Arab Emirates and over the Gulf of Oman.<\/p>\n

The advisory for the Middle East countries was extended on Wednesday \u200cto \u200cAugust \u200b31st, from the previous July 29th deadline, while the newly issued advisory for Jordan is also valid until August \u206031st, EASA said. <\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s army said \u200bit attacked US military facilities in \u200bKuwait, Jordan and Bahrain with drones early on Wednesday. – Reuters<\/p>\n

Katie Mellett – 28 minutes ago<\/p>\n

US tanker aircraft and military personnel to be stationed in Bulgaria<\/p>\n

Bulgarian lawmakers approved a US request to station tanker aircraft and military personnel at one of the country\u2019s airports to support operations in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

As many as eight US KC-135 jet tankers with their crews and 250 troops with weapons and ammunition could be placed at Bezmer military base from July 24th until early October, according to the measure parliament backed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Bulgaria\u2019s civilian Sofia airport hosted tankers from mid-February until the end of June. <\/p>\n

While both the government and the US embassy in Sofia have said the planes are designated for drills related to Nato\u2019s forward presence, secretary of state Marco Rubio has praised the readiness of Bulgaria and other countries to offer logistical support to the US amid its Middle East campaign. – Bloomberg<\/p>\n

Oil price jumps 30 per cent this month <\/p>\n

Oil jumped above $95, extending this month\u2019s price jump to 30 per cent, as the US and Iran played down the prospect of talks and disruptions to global supplies continued to mount.<\/p>\n

The surge has sent Brent futures to levels last seen in early June, before an interim peace deal that has now unravelled. Iran said there are currently no negotiations, and only an exchange of messages was possible, according to the Mehr news agency.<\/p>\n

Those remarks came a day after US president Donald Trump vowed to respond if Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen disrupted shipping in the Red Sea, and reiterated threats to strike at Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected Iranian nuclear site. The European Union naval force in the Red Sea advised some ships to stay away after the Houthi threats.<\/p>\n

Oil futures have rallied this month as the US and Iran escalated hostilities across the Middle East, with three tankers attacked in recent days in Hormuz near Oman. <\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 2 hours ago<\/p>\n

The Trump administration plans to announce on Wednesday that it has reached a broad nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that could lead to the country enriching its own fuel for nuclear reactors, US officials have said. <\/p>\n

The move is likely to trigger a debate over whether the Saudi government can be trusted with a technology that can also be used to produce nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

Read more here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 3 hours ago<\/p>\n

Trump to witness return of US soldiers killed in Iran war<\/p>\n

US president Donald Trump will attend a ceremony \u200con Wednesday for four US service members killed in Iranian attacks in the Middle East, who will return to American soil in \u200cflag-draped caskets.<\/p>\n

The ceremony, known as a \u201cdignified transfer\u201d of the bodies, comes amid growing frustration with Trump\u2019s war against Iran.<\/p>\n

The war \u200bhas cost US taxpayers at least $37.5 billion so far, has led to the deaths of 18 US service members and injured more than 450 troops. It has killed thousands of Iranians.<\/p>\n

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have raised questions about \u200bthe war.<\/p>\n

Trump will travel \u200cto \u200cDover \u200bAir Force Base in Delaware for the ceremony.<\/p>\n

US presidents, vice-presidents and dignitaries regularly attend the solemn transfer ceremonies at Dover \u2013 home of the largest \u2060US military mortuary \u2013 during times of \u200bwar or conflict that result in the deaths \u200bof US troops.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon said on Monday that 100 service members have been injured since July 7th and 96 per cent have returned to duty.<\/p>\n

Four in five Americans expect the US war with Iran to drag on for an extended period, according to a Reuters\/Ipsos opinion poll conducted \u200cearlier this month. More than a third of respondents approved of US military strikes against Iran.<\/p>\n

\"USUS president Donald Trump waits to welcome Lebanese president Joseph Aoun for an Oval Office meeting at the White House on Tuesday. Photograph: Shawn Thew\/EPA <\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 3 hours ago<\/p>\n

US says it will intensify bombing campaign until Iran agrees to reopen Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n

The US widened the scope of its air strikes on Iran overnight, as Donald Trump signalled talks were unlikely in the near-term.<\/p>\n

American forces struck a military site near the northwestern city of Tabriz, according to Iranian media, the first time the area is thought to have been hit since hostilities between the warring sides worsened two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The Iranian government also activated air defences early on Wednesday in Tehran, the capital, Iranian media reported, adding that the US struck Abdanan and Chovar in the west, near the border with Iraq.<\/p>\n

Those were the 11th straight day of attacks on Iran, which again fired on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s interior minister visited Pakistan \u2013 the main mediator in the conflict along with Qatar \u2013 on Tuesday but there was no sign his meetings had deescalated tensions.<\/p>\n

The US says it will intensify its bombing campaign until Iran agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and stop attacking energy tankers and other ships going through the vital waterway. So far, Iran isn\u2019t backing down and has dismissed Trump\u2019s claims it\u2019s seeking a new round of negotiations.<\/p>\n

The interior ministry in Tehran said an \u201cexchange of messages\u201d with the US is possible although there are currently no negotiations under way, according to Mehr news agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to desperately meet and until they\u2019re ready to meet in a meaningful way we have no interest\u201d in talks, Trump said at the White House on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"USUS president Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a meeting with President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun at the White House in Washington on Tuesday. Photograph: Kenny Holston\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 4 hours ago<\/p>\n

Trump administration plans to announce broad nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n

The Trump administration plans to announce on Wednesday it has reached a broad nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that could lead to the country enriching its own fuel for nuclear reactors, US officials have said. <\/p>\n

The move is likely to trigger a debate over whether the Saudi government can be trusted with a technology that can also be used to produce nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

The accord is intended to further bind the United States with the Saudi government as the war with Iran strains the relationship. The Trump administration, according to officials, thinks it will provide billions of dollars for the US nuclear industry \u2013 starting with Westinghouse, which designs many of the reactors sold abroad.<\/p>\n

The administration plans to formally sign and announce the agreement with the Saudis on Wednesday, said two US officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to The New York Times to discuss sensitive diplomacy. <\/p>\n

It would tell the details to Congress soon afterward. Although the agreement would have support among many Republicans there, some US lawmakers from both parties and Israeli officials have expressed opposition to such a plan, fearing that the kingdom could use a civilian nuclear project to eventually develop nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

The accord has been under discussion for years, and during the Biden administration it was envisioned as part of a broader agreement that would include Saudi diplomatic recognition of Israel. But after the October 7th attacks on Israel by Hamas in 2023, that prospect receded. <\/p>\n

US president Donald Trump separated the proposal for US-Saudi civilian nuclear cooperation from any demand that Saudi Arabia recognise Israel. The agreement will require review by Congress, which under the Atomic Energy Act has the power to vote a resolution of disapproval. <\/p>\n

But as a practical matter, the agreement would likely pass, because Congress would have to assemble a veto-proof majority to override Trump\u2019s initiative.<\/p>\n

\"USUS president Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the Oval Office. Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein\/AP <\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 5 hours ago<\/p>\n

Senior Saudi and United Arab Emirates officials posted coordinated social media messages highlighting the two countries\u2019 longstanding ties, a display of public alignment after months of tensions between the Gulf neighbours and a renewed escalation in the Iran war.<\/p>\n

Saudi media minister Salman Al-Dosary and Abdulla bin Mohammed Alhamed, chairman of the UAE National Media Authority, posted on X at the same time on Tuesday night, affirming their close ties and underscoring their \u201cshared history\u201d.<\/p>\n

The posts came as the conflict involving the US and Iran entered a new phase, with Tehran-backed Houthis threatening to impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, the UAE condemned the Houthis\u2019 latest moves and reaffirmed its support for measures aimed at safeguarding Saudi security and stability.<\/p>\n

Months of strains between Saudi Arabia and the UAE have spilled into business and financial ties. Unusual delays in bank transfers from Saudi to the UAE have raised concerns among companies operating across the region\u2019s two largest economies, while Wall Street bankers and private equity executives have drawn up contingency plans in case relations deteriorate further. <\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 6 hours ago<\/p>\n

US strikes continue for 11th night <\/p>\n

The US military resumed strikes in Iran early Wednesday, its 11th straight night of attacks, as a Red Sea blockade threat by the Iran-allied Houthi militant group in Yemen to affect global oil supplies already strained by the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The Houthis have yet to make good on its threat by firing on passing ships at the southern passage in and out of the Red Sea. But two oil tankers in that sea made U-turns, heading north instead, toward the Suez Canal, according to Kpler, a maritime intelligence firm.<\/p>\n

\"ShipsShips near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from a plane near the United Arab Emirates. Threats from the Iran-backed Houthi militant group this week to block Saudi Arabia\u2019s use of the Red Sea risk cutting off a crucial alternative path for Mideast oil. Photograph: Tomas Munita\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth,<\/a> under questioning during a congressional budget hearing, said the Pentagon\u2019s latest estimate of the cost of the war against Iran was $37.5 billion. That is in line with some independent assessments of direct expenses, but experts say indirect costs including higher fuel prices caused by standoffs such as those in the strait \u2013 and now potentially the Red Sea \u2013 have made the total much greater.<\/p>\n

The Houthis\u2019 announcement Monday added to fears of a wider regional war while global energy markets have been rocked for months by danger in the Strait of Hormuz, the portal to the Persian Gulf. The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, surpassed $90 a barrel Tuesday, nearing its highest level in the past month.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Donald Trump said that if the Houthis follow through on their threat, the United States would strike them as it did when they had targeted ships during the Israel-Hamas <\/a>war in the Gaza Strip. \u201cIf something like that happens, we take care of it,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 6 hours ago<\/p>\n

Eighteen US service members killed in Iran war<\/p>\n

US president Donald Trump <\/a>confirmed that 18 US service members had been killed so far in the war, including four in Iranian attacks on US military bases in Jordan and Iraq over the last few days. <\/p>\n

The Pentagon said that an army sergeant from the New York City borough of Queens was believed to have been killed last Friday \u201cduring an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan.\u201d The soldier, Angel S Rampersad (28), had been listed as missing.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Trump renewed his \u200bthreats to again attack Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities at Natanz \u201cpretty soon\u201d, which he said in June 2025 had been \u201ctotally obliterated\u201d after the US military bombed the facility, buried in a mountain range, that month. \u201cWe\u2019ll be hitting that area very, probably pretty soon, and there\u2019s not a thing they can do about it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Iran promised it would retaliate.<\/p>\n

Fifty civilians have been killed and 500 wounded in the recent US strikes on Iran, a Tehran health ministry official said.<\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 6 hours ago<\/p>\n

Rubio claims Iran not serious about peace talks<\/p>\n

US secretary of state Marco Rubio <\/a>has said the \u200cUnited States is still willing to negotiate an end to the Iran crisis<\/a> but Tehran is not serious about talks, as the widening conflict disrupted two of the world\u2019s most critical energy chokepoints. <\/p>\n

Rubio made his comments in a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers a \u200bday after three oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea, apparently in response to threats from Yemen\u2019s Iran-aligned Houthis. <\/a><\/p>\n

The Houthis, who control the coast at the mouth of the Red Sea, announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia on Monday, opening a potential new front in the war which has killed thousands of people across the Gulf since it began on February 28th with US and Israeli attacks on Iran. <\/p>\n

\"USUS secretary of state Marco Rubio attends the ASEAN post-ministerial conference in Pasay, Manila. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

A senior Iranian official said on Monday that Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire in efforts to salvage the \u2060interim ceasefire agreement signed by the US and Iran in June, which replaced an earlier April ceasefire.<\/p>\n

In another sign that diplomacy remains alive, Iran\u2019s interior minister Eskandar Momeni has visited mediator Pakistan and \u200casked \u200cIslamabad \u200bto continue its efforts.<\/p>\n

Rubio said Washington was \u201calways committed to diplomacy\u201d but doubted whether Tehran was equally committed to negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem we\u2019re having right now is that they\u2019re not serious about talks. If they\u2019re serious, we\u2019re serious. If they\u2019re not, then we will do what\u2019s necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our \u2060allies,” Rubio said in Manila.<\/p>\n

Nearly 100 US troops injured in two weeks since Iran war resumed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Main PointsThe US widened the scope of its airstrikes on Iran overnight, as president Donald Trump signaled talks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10748,969,37635,42,11829,3410,43,6000,40,38,41,39,90],"class_list":["post-562491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-binyamin-netanyahu","tag-donald-trump","tag-energy-crisis","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-oil","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}