Yemen\u2019s \u2060Iran-backed Houthi militia said it attacked two \u200bSaudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, with a Saudi news agency later confirming one of the vessels was ablaze on Thursday. The strikes came after the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia<\/a> \u2013 a move that current and former US officials said could significantly widen the US-Iran war and strain the American military.<\/p>\n The US launched its 12th successive night of strikes against Iran, saying military targets were hit to degrade Tehran\u2019s ability to attack commercial vessels.<\/p>\n Iranian state TV said two people were killed and 11 wounded in what a Khuzestan provincial official described as a US missile attack on the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it attacked US forces in Kuwait\u2019s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem airbase, while the army said its attacks there included on the Arifjan and Doha camps.<\/p>\n Before the latest US strikes the Islamic republic\u2019s foreign minister warned on social media: \u201cOur defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye.\u201d Abbas Araghchi also said: \u201cAny aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response. Those who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets.\u201d<\/p>\n The US and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark nuclear agreement that could allow the kingdom to enrich uranium in the future. The deal has caused alarm across the Middle East and in Washington. Its full details are yet to be released but, as Patrick Wintour reports<\/a>, the timing of the announcement is controversial as the US\u2019s war with Iran is being fought in part to prevent Tehran enriching uranium domestically and make it near-impossible for Iran to build a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n The IRGC said on Thursday it stopped three oil tankers from passing through the strait of Hormuz. It said in a statement quoted by Iranian state media on Thursday that the three oil tankers \u201cprovoked\u201d by the US military were trying to pass through a mine-laden route south of the strait \u201cbut after one of them exploded and caught fire, the other two quickly turned around and turned back\u201d.<\/p>\n Earlier, Donald Trump warned on Truth Social that from now any time Iran shot at a ship in the Hormuz strait, the US \u201cwill bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran\u201d\u201d.<\/p>\n The IRGC said its navy \u201cemphasises that the strait of Hormuz is under our control\u201d. US Central Command posted on X: \u201cIran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. The international waterway remains open for transit regardless of IRGC threats and attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n Two very large Chinese crude carriers carrying a combined 4m barrels of Saudi Arabian oil are heading towards the Bab \u2060el-Mandeb strait to exit the \u2060Red Sea, \u200bshipping data showed on Thursday \u2013 a test of how tightly the Houthis will impose their \u2060naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.27 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Rubio: ‘Iran is begging for a deal’<\/p>\n Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has claimed that Iran<\/a> is \u201cbegging\u201d for a deal with Washington, but that ultimately it is not serious about agreeing to one.<\/p>\n As a result, Iran will \u201ccontinue to pay a price\u201d that will get \u201chigher and higher and higher\u201d, Rubio added, after the US military announced it conducted a 12th night of strikes against the country yesterday.<\/p>\n US secretary of state Marco Rubio speaks to the press on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers meeting in Manila, the Philippines. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski\/Reuters<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) conference in Manila, Rubio was asked whether Donald Trump intended to make good his threat of hitting Iranian bridges and power plants, and whether this meant bombing civilian infrastructure.<\/p>\n Rubio responded:<\/p>\n double quotation markIran is begging us, OK, both directly and indirectly. Let\u2019s do a deal. Let\u2019s talk. Let\u2019s talk. Iran is begging every day.<\/p>\n The problem with Iran is every time they make a deal, the people that are in charge there, they either break it or they want to change it. So it looks like they\u2019re not ready to make a deal. So they\u2019re going to continue to pay a price, and every night the price gets higher and higher and higher.\u201d<\/p>\n He went further in saying that the price Iran will pay \u201cwill continue to get higher every single night until they come to their senses\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Oil giants see profits double amid Middle East war<\/p>\n French oil and gas company TotalEnergies said net profit doubled in the second quarter as conflict in the Middle East pushed up fuel prices.<\/p>\n In a statement, reported by AFP, TotalEnergies said net profit amounted to $5.4bn (about \u00a34.04bn) in the period from April to June, up from $2.7bn (\u00a32.02bn) in the same period last year.<\/p>\n Yesterday, my colleague Kalyeena Makortoff reported profits at Norway\u2019s state oil company Equinor nearly doubled to $11.5bn (\u00a38.6bn) in the three months to the end of June.<\/p>\n Equinor\u2013 which is the UK\u2019s biggest gas supplier \u2013 benefited from a decision to increase oil and gas production at the start of the conflict, filling a gap in the market after a near-halt to shipping through the strait of Hormuz caused Gulf oil flows to slump. It also profited from the jump in oil prices, with the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, reaching $95 a barrel mark for the first time in six weeks<\/a> as the US and Iran escalate attacks in the Middle East.<\/p>\n The climate campaign group Uplift hit out at Equinor for \u201craking in billions in profits while millions of people across the UK are struggling with unaffordable energy bills\u201d.<\/p>\n You can read Kalyeena\u2019s report here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.58 EDT<\/p>\n Some images on the newswires from Lebanon, where the health ministry says 4,328 people have been killed and 12,232 wounded in Israeli attacks since 2 March:<\/p>\n This picture, taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows a UN interim force in Lebanon (Unifil) armoured vehicle driving past destroyed buildings in southern Lebanon. Photograph: AFP\/Getty ImagesLebanese army soldiers stand near a woman after preventing her from entering the southern village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah, Lebanon. Photograph: Mohammed Zaatari\/APA bulldozer accompanied by Lebanese army soldiers works to clear roads at the entrance of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area. Photograph: Lebanese Army Press Service\/UPI\/ShutterstockLebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam places a national flag along a damaged street in Zawtar al-Gharbiyah on Wednesday, 22 July 2026. Photograph: Lebanese Prime Minister\u2019s media office\/UPI\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.21 EDT<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said it targeted a US base in Jordan, claiming to have destroyed a number of military equipment including air defence systems, an aircraft hangar and fuel tanks.<\/p>\n The IRGC\u2019s statement, published by Iranian state media this morning, did not name the US base.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Interim summary<\/p>\n In case you\u2019re just joining us, here\u2019s a snapshot of the latest developments in the Middle East as the threat of a new front<\/a> opens up in the US-Iran war. It\u2019s 9.30am in Tehran and 2am in Washington.<\/p>\n Yemen\u2019s \u2060Iran-backed Houthi militia said it attacked two \u200bSaudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, with a Saudi news agency later confirming one of the vessels was ablaze on Thursday. The strikes came after the Houthis declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia<\/a> \u2013 a move that current and former US officials said could significantly widen the US-Iran war and strain the American military.<\/p>\n The US launched its 12th successive night of strikes against Iran, saying military targets were hit to degrade Tehran\u2019s ability to attack commercial vessels.<\/p>\n Iranian state TV said two people were killed and 11 wounded in what a Khuzestan provincial official described as a US missile attack on the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq.<\/p>\n Scattered debris and smoke at an unknown location during what the US military said were strikes on Iran. Photograph: US Central Command\/Reuters<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it attacked US forces in Kuwait\u2019s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem airbase, while the army said its attacks there included on the Arifjan and Doha camps.<\/p>\n Before the latest US strikes the Islamic republic\u2019s foreign minister warned on social media: \u201cOur defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye.\u201d Abbas Araghchi also said: \u201cAny aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response. Those who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets.\u201d<\/p>\n The US and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark nuclear agreement that could allow the kingdom to enrich uranium in the future. The deal has caused alarm across the Middle East and in Washington. Its full details are yet to be released but, as Patrick Wintour reports<\/a>, the timing of the announcement is controversial as the US\u2019s war with Iran is being fought in part to prevent Tehran enriching uranium domestically and make it near-impossible for Iran to build a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n The IRGC said on Thursday it stopped three oil tankers from passing through the strait of Hormuz. It said in a statement quoted by Iranian state media on Thursday that the three oil tankers \u201cprovoked\u201d by the US military were trying to pass through a mine-laden route south of the strait \u201cbut after one of them exploded and caught fire, the other two quickly turned around and turned back\u201d.<\/p>\n Earlier, Donald Trump warned on Truth Social that from now any time Iran shot at a ship in the Hormuz strait, the US \u201cwill bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran\u201d\u201d.<\/p>\n The IRGC said its navy \u201cemphasises that the strait of Hormuz is under our control\u201d. US Central Command posted on X: \u201cIran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. The international waterway remains open for transit regardless of IRGC threats and attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n Two very large Chinese crude carriers carrying a combined 4m barrels of Saudi Arabian oil are heading towards the Bab \u2060el-Mandeb strait to exit the \u2060Red Sea, \u200bshipping data showed on Thursday \u2013 a test of how tightly the Houthis will impose their \u2060naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.27 EDT<\/p>\n Asean summit to call for open straits amid Iran war<\/p>\n Foreign ministers from fuel-stressed south-east Asia will call for freedom of navigation in international straits when they wrap a week of meetings largely overshadowed by the US-Iran war, according to a draft communique seen by Agence France-Presse.<\/p>\n It reports that the draft statement expected to emerge from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) gathering in Manila will also repeat calls for self-restraint in a Middle East conflict that has carried economic ripple effects throughout the region.<\/p>\n Visiting US secretary of state Marco Rubio this week warned Asean envoys that Iranian control of the strait of Hormuz would set a \u201cdangerous precedent\u201d, saying: \u201cThere is a fundamental principle about freedom of navigation that is threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n Foreign ministers at the Asean forum in Metro Manila on Thursday. Photograph: Ezra Acayan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The draft communique inserts previously unused language targeting \u201cfreedom of navigation in and overflight above straits\u201d while separately calling for \u201cunimpeded\u201d passage through the Hormuz strait.<\/p>\n Tehran\u2019s closure of the crucial energy waterway after US-Israeli attacks has left many in the region scrambling to deal with energy shortages and price spikes, with the import-dependent Philippines declaring a national emergency in March.<\/p>\n But while the communique alludes to energy cooperation among Asean states, no progress on previously announced initiatives like a regional energy grid or fuel-sharing scheme has been revealed<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.53 EDT<\/p>\n US attacks against Iran<\/a> on Thursday lasted five hours and struck at Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities, missile and \u2060drone storage facilities and air defence assets, according to the US military.<\/p>\n Iranian media reports said the US twice on Thursday attacked a military target in Bushehr, near the country\u2019s only operating commercial nuclear power reactor, marking three strikes there in two days.<\/p>\n State TV reported two people were killed and 11 wounded in what a Khuzestan provincial official described as a US missile attack on the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq.<\/p>\n There\u2019s more in our latest full report:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard is reportedly saying it had attacked US forces in Kuwait\u2019s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem airbase.<\/p>\n Iranian state media is meanwhile quoting the army as saying it has attacked US bases in Kuwait including the Arifjan and Doha camps.<\/p>\n The reports come as Iran has continued to strike out at regional countries hosting US forces amid the ongoing American strikes against Iran.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n More now on Iranian-aligned Houthis attacking two Saudi oil tankers<\/a> earlier today. The Houthis identified the two vessels as the Encelia and the Layla.<\/p>\n Saudi state news \u200bagency SPA cited an official source as saying the Encelia was struck, causing a fire at the bow. \u200cThe attack on the Layla remained unconfirmed.<\/p>\n A maritime security source said \u200cthe Encelia had transmitted a distress call, reporting it had been struck by a missile near the Saudi port of Jizan in the Red Sea late on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Millions of barrels a day of Saudi oil have been heading to the kingdom\u2019s \u200cRed Sea port of Yanbu to avoid the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n In announcing their \u200cattack on the two tankers, \u200bYemen\u2019s Houthis<\/a> claimed they had forced about 10 ships to retreat and return.<\/p>\n Five tankers changed course in the Red Sea on Wednesday, with two signalling the Suez canal as their new destination after the Houthis warned ships to avoid Saudi ports, ship-tracking data showed.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.54 EDT<\/p>\n Investors appear to be growing increasingly nervous that the renewed strikes between US and Iranian forces could reignite inflation, with oil prices creep higher.<\/p>\n Brent crude futures were up by more than 1.3% to $95.31 a barrel on Thursday, after the US said it had launched a new round of strikes on Iran \u2060and the Iranian-aligned Houthis<\/a> claimed military strikes on two Saudi oil tankers.<\/p>\n Brent crude on Wednesday jumped more than 3% and broke back above $95 for the first time in weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is different from the start of the conflict five months ago \u200cis inventories. Lower inventories mean shortages of oil and gas are more likely the longer the conflict continues, exacerbating the negative economic impact of high energy prices which favours the USD,\u201d the head of international economics and foreign exchange at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Joseph Capurso, said in a note.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.20 EDT<\/p>\n Two Chinese supertankers with Saudi oil head for Red Sea exit<\/p>\n Two very large Chinese crude carriers carrying a combined 4m barrels of Saudi Arabian oil are heading towards the Bab \u2060el-Mandeb strait to exit the \u2060Red Sea, \u200bshipping data shows, even as at least one Saudi vessel came under attack in the region.<\/p>\n The ships\u2019 attempt to transit the strait will clearly test how tightly the Houthis will impose the \u2060naval blockade on Saudi Arabia they announced on Monday. The group said they attacked two Saudi tankers<\/a> with drones and missiles earlier on Thursday.<\/p>\n The Singaporean-flagged VLCC Xin Long Yang, \u200cwhich made a U-turn and took a \u200cpause in the middle of the Red Sea on Tuesday, resumed its journey southward late on Wednesday, LSEG shipping data cited by Reuters showed.<\/p>\n The \u200cvessel was sailing past the Yemeni coast and heading to the port of Qinzhou in southern China, the shipping data showed.<\/p>\n The Chinese-flagged VLCC Cosnew Lake was following and it was signalling it would discharge its cargo at the port of Huizhou in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, the data showed.<\/p>\n Both vessels indicated through their automatic identification system transmitters that there were Chinese crew onboard, the data showed.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.47 EDT<\/p>\n Explained: the US-Saudi nuclear deal and why it’s causing concern<\/p>\n The landmark nuclear agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia<\/a> would use American technology and expertise to establish a civilian nuclear program in the Gulf country \u2013 a move that has caused alarm across the Middle East and through the corridors of power in Washington.<\/p>\n Much of the deal remains unclear, but concerns centre on whether Saudi Arabia would have the capability to enrich uranium domestically and what that means for nuclear proliferation, with critics saying it could set off a regional arms race.<\/p>\n In this explainer Jonathan Yerushalmy<\/a> looks into the deal and the anxiety around it, why it is so contentious and whether it can be blocked.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.22 EDT<\/p>\n US says latest attacks against Iran completed<\/p>\n The US military says it has completed its 12th consecutive night of strikes against Iran.<\/p>\n![\"Scattered](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784795170_281_1800.jpg\")
Scattered debris and smoke at an unknown location during what the US military said were strikes on Iran. Photograph: US Central Command\/Reuters<\/p>\n