It will be the second set of strikes targeting Iran during daylight hours today.<\/p>\n
In a post on X<\/a>, US Central Command said it had \u201claunched operations for a second wave of strikes today against Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway vital to global commerce.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement added: \u201cThe US military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief\u2019s direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.40 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Chaos and confusion bring US no closer to resolution on strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n Donald Trump has taken the war with Iran into a new, murkier phase as the two sides move further and further from the vague memorandum of understanding<\/a> (MoU) signed on 17 June.<\/p>\n And as during the opening phase of the conflict, the US leader\u2019s objectives and methods are clouded in confusion, daily U-turns and boasts that within hours are revealed to be false.<\/p>\n Washington\u2019s short-term aim is clear enough \u2013 to regain control of the strait of Hormuz from Iran<\/a> \u2013 and the president seems willing to extend the bombing campaign from beyond Iran\u2019s southern shores to achieve this.<\/p>\n But the resumed fighting is also likely to push oil prices towards $90 a barrel, potentially taking Trump closer to defeats at the US midterm elections that could bequeath him a final two years as a lame, if angry, duck.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Iran\u2019s foreign ministry has summoned the British ambassador following the UK\u2019s ban on support for Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n On Monday, outgoing prime minister Keir Starmer said<\/a> the government would designate the branch of the Iranian military under a new National Security Act, enabling law enforcement to take action against anyone deemed to be providing it with support, but falling short of proscribing the group as a terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Iran ‘better behave’, says Trump – as he claims he doesn’t like deadlines<\/p>\n Donald Trump \u2060said \u2060he does not \u200blike giving deadlines \u2060when asked by \u2060reporters \u200bon \u200cWednesday if Iran \u200chad a \u200cdeadline before the United States starts attacking Iranian bridges.<\/p>\n \u201cI \u200cdon\u2019t like giving \u200bdeadlines, but they pretty \u2060much know, they know \u200bthe story … \u200bthey \u200bbetter \u200bbehave,\u201d \u200cTrump \u200bsaid.<\/p>\n The US president, in fact, has a history of setting deadlines \u2013 or perhaps we should say, unenforced deadlines \u2013 for Iran<\/a> to end the war he started but has since struggled to end. Some counts have it as at least eight deadlines, which he then publicly shifted or extended.<\/p>\n Indeed, since the conflict began on 28 February, Trump has repeatedly threatened to resume bombing if Iran didn\u2019t reopen the strait of Hormuz, reach a deal, and\/or hand over its enriched uranium. Over the last few months that has included several infamous threats to bomb civilian infrastructure including bridges and power plants \u2013 which would potentially be war crimes under international law.<\/p>\n He typically then walks back his threats within hours, extending or postponing his deadlines citing \u201cprogress\u201d made in talks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n More on that now from Reuters, which reports that an explosive-laden \u2060drone \u2060was shot \u200bdown by \u2060air defences \u2060over \u200bErbil, \u200cciting security \u200csources.<\/p>\n The drone \u200cfell near \u200bthe US \u2060consulate \u200bin the \u200bcity, \u200bthe sources told the news agency.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Explosions have been heard near the US consulate in Erbil, Iraq, AFP reporters on the ground are reporting.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll bring you more on this as we get it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Iran’s top negotiator says Tehran has no reason to honour US MoU without benefits<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s top negotiator \u2060Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Wednesday that \u2060if Iran<\/a> \u2060did \u200bnot benefit from its memorandum of \u2060understanding with the United States, \u201cWe have no reason \u2060to adhere to such an \u200bunderstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran has \u201cnever welcomed war, nor do we now\u201d, the parliamentary speaker said in a statement posted on Telegram.<\/p>\n He said Iran\u2019s \u200capproach to the war \u200band negotiations to end it should be based on national interests, national \u2060security and a long-term \u200bperspective, \u200badding that Tehran \u200bhad no choice \u200bbut \u200cto rely \u200bon \u200bits own strength.<\/p>\n He called on Iranians to continue with their armed resistance, but to also \u201cuse the tools of diplomacy and negotiation to achieve and consolidate national interests\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must always be prepared for battle and stand firm to protect our national security and interests,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s \u200cnational security \u200cdepends on maintaining \u201cIranian arrangements\u201d \u200cin the strait of Hormuz, Ghalibaf said, adding that in order to do so, \u201cIranian armed forces have complete freedom of action as always to confront the enemy\u2019s aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.27 EDT<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s education ministry has delayed exams for students across six provinces in light of the renewed US attacks, Al Jazeera reports.<\/p>\n The ministry said \u201cfinal exams for all academic tracks in the 12th grade\u201d were postponed. They had been scheduled to take place on Thursday and Saturday.<\/p>\n Earlier, the ministry announced it had relocated exam centres near sensitive or military sites to safer locations.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The US government issued sanctions on Wednesday targeting individuals and entities \u2060that it said were \u2060a \u200bpart of an international network helping Iran<\/a> procure weapons.<\/p>\n The sanction targets \u2060include Iranian and Russian nationals, as well as entities bases in Iran, Russia \u2060and Nigeria, the US Treasury Department said in \u200ba statement.<\/p>\n The move \u200ccomes amid heightened \u200ctensions between Washington and Tehran, including recent hostilities \u200cover control of the strait of Hormuz, and as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Iran through a series of sanctions measures.<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s sanctions targets \u201cexemplify Iran\u2019s use of foreign aviation \u200cand transport firms, financial conduits, and travel coordinators to obscure the IRGC\u2019s role \u200bin illicit procurement and to move material and personnel globally,\u201d the Treasury said in a statement.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>The day so far<\/p>\n The US \u2060military \u2060has denied \u200bthat its \u2060forces struck a \u2060civilian \u200bwheat \u200cstorage facility \u200cin Iran<\/a> \u200con Tuesday. It said that Iranian military \u200ctargets were struck to \u200bdegrade Tehran\u2019s ability \u2060to attack \u200bcommercial shipping in \u200bthe \u200bstrait \u200bof \u200cHormuz.<\/p>\n Iran has threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East after the US reimposed a blockade<\/a> of its ports and ships, as the two countries traded strikes for a fifth day and Donald Trump threatened to expand US strikes on Iran next week. The US blockade came into force early on Wednesday, prompting Iran<\/a> to shut the strait of Hormuz and carry out a wave of retaliatory airstrikes on countries hosting US bases in the region.<\/p>\n![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Patrick-Wintour,-R.png\")
Patrick Wintour<\/p>\n