The Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passage for world energy supplies effectively shut down by Iranian attacks, has been at the center of the conflict. The US military fired Friday on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman that was trying to breach its renewed blockade of Iran\u2019s ports, while Iran targeted US-allied Gulf Arab countries.<\/p>\n
\t And on Saturday, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards said their forces stopped four ships attempting to transit the strategic Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours.<\/p>\n \u201cFour vessels that had intended to transit through the southern area of the Strait of Hormuz via an illegal and unsafe route were stopped over the past 24 hours after warning shots were fired by the IRGC Navy,\u201d the Guards said in a statement quoted by state television, adding that the ships had \u201caltered course.\u201d<\/p>\n It was not immediately clear whether the halt in attacks signalled a return to diplomacy or if it was just a pause before a return to conflict.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump<\/a> said Friday that he had not decided whether to launch major strikes on Iran yet, as Tehran was now getting \u201cserious\u201d in talks with Washington.<\/p>\n His comments came after reports that an increasingly frustrated Trump was meeting senior advisors to discuss launching a large-scale military operation against Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cNo I haven\u2019t,\u201d Trump told journalists in the Oval Office when asked if he had made a decision. \u201cLook, we\u2019re talking to them right now. I think they\u2019re getting more and more serious as the days go by, for maybe the obvious reason.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump said Iran had a choice between making a deal or facing a \u201cmuch higher level\u201d of strikes, after nearly two weeks of US attacks and Iranian strikes across the region that have left a ceasefire in tatters.<\/p>\n \t \u201cWe\u2019re locked and loaded and ready to go. But we\u2019re talking to them, so I think while we\u2019re talking, we\u2019ll see what comes of it. I believe\u2026 they\u2019re very serious. They should be,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n US embassies in the Middle East also alerted Americans in the region on Friday that options to leave could become more limited, as Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard advised residents of neighboring countries to stay away from bases with US troops.<\/p>\n Saudi-Houthi clashes flare<\/p>\n But while Iran had a calm night, the conflict showed signs of intensifying in nearby Yemen.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Houthi allies targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea this week, raising concerns the group may again try to block Red Sea shipping routes. In response, Saudi Arabia struck the port city of Hodeida in Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said early Saturday.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, air defense systems in Saudi Arabia intercepted two ballistic missiles from Yemen on Saturday targeting oil refineries in Yanbu on the Red Sea, Greek security sources told Reuters.<\/p>\n Saudi civil defense had issued several warnings for Yanbu and later said the danger had passed. Civil defense also issued a warning for the port city of Jizan about 1,000 km (620 miles) to the south, close to the Yemeni border.<\/p>\n There were no immediate official reports of damage; however, footage from Jizan showed plumes of black smoke rising into the air from the Aramco refinery in Jizan.<\/p>\n \t The defense system was operated by Greek military personnel, the sources said. Greece has deployed a US-made Patriot air defense battery in Saudi Arabia since 2021 under an agreement to help protect the kingdom\u2019s energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n Later on Saturday, the Greek Patriot system also shot down a drone in the Yanbu region that had been launched from Yemen, Greek security sources said.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday denied any Iranian involvement in the escalating Yemen conflict and called for dialogue.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that there is no military solution to the issue of Yemen, Bab el-Mandab, and other regional issues,\u201d said Araghchi in an interview published on Saturday by the state-run Iran Daily newspaper, calling for \u201cdialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the situation in Yemen \u201ccannot be attributed to Iran\u201d and that the incidents occurring in the area of the Bab el-Mandab Strait were \u201crooted in old disputes and issues between Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the countries of the region.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Sources have said that Iran has asked the Houthis to block Bab al-Mandab if the US targets Iranian energy centers and have been sending IRGC officers<\/a> and equipment to Yemen.<\/p>\n Renewed conflict between the Houthis in Yemen and Saudi Arabia \u2014 which had largely been frozen since a UN-negotiated truce in 2022 \u2014 flared up this month with the Tehran-backed rebels declaring a blockade of Saudi ports and claiming attacks on tankers.<\/p>\n The blockade has threatened Saudi Arabia\u2019s ability to get its supplies to the world following Iran\u2019s parallel blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the kingdom\u2019s only other maritime route.<\/p>\n On Friday, a Houthi spokesman said the rebels were not blocking traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and that the maritime blockade \u201conly affects the Saudi side.\u201d<\/p>\n The war has so far killed more than 3,400 people in Iran, according to the Iranian Health Ministry. Eighteen US service members and 24 civilians in Israel were killed, and smaller numbers of civilians were reported dead in countries across the region.<\/p>\n In Lebanon, more than 4,000 people have been killed, according to figures that do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, as well as 38 Israeli troops, after the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group fired at Israel in support of the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n Israel says it has killed more than 2,500 Hezbollah operatives.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26167495359337-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tTankers and cargo vessels are seen in the Gulf of Oman, along shipping routes linking the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea, June 16, 2026. (AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26205719681557-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, July 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AFP__20260725__C36Q7WG__v1__HighRes__SaudiArabiaYemenIranUsIsraelWar-1-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tThis screen grab taken on July 25, 2026 from UGC video footage posted on social media and verified by AFPTV teams shows clouds of smoke rising after strikes on the Saudi Aramco refinery in Jizan. (various sources\/AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AFP__20260724__C33Z9WE__v1__HighRes__KyrgyzstanRussiaIranPoliticsDiplomacy-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tIn this handout photograph taken and released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on July 24, 2026, Russia\u2019s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) shakes hands with Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi prior to their talks on the sidelines of the Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the SCO Member States in Cholpon-Ata, northeastern Kyrgyzstan. (Handout\/RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY\/AFP)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tWe can’t do this work alone.\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-4-200x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYes, I’ll join\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n