• Trump said Washington is talking to Tehran “as we speak”, and while the US may not need to carry out a “massive” attack on Iran, it remains “locked and loaded”.
• Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain. Iran earlier said it was continuing to target US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

Trump says Washington is talking to Tehran

President Trump had convened a press meeting, where he said he had big announcements to make related to nuclear innovation.

But the topic and the interest, at least from reporters who were present in the Oval Office today, quickly shifted towards Iran.

President Trump was asked specifically about his remarks regarding what he was more or less considering would be a “massive attack” on Iran; he responded by saying that “we’re talking to them”, and he was asked about what that meant.

He said that there are talks currently taking place, which in many ways contradicts much of the signalling that we’ve been hearing from US officials over the course of the week, that suggested that diplomacy had essentially lost momentum, that the focus was on kinetic movements related to military actions when it comes to Tehran.

President Trump was also asked specifically about his exit strategy.

He says that from his point of view, he thinks that there are many exit strategies, though he did not elaborate on what those would be.

He says that the US is talking to Iran, and says, “Iran is getting very serious, and they should be.”

In that same breath, he also said that the United States remains “locked and loaded”.

He pointed to members of his cabinet, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as Vice President JD Vance, being involved in these talks.

But again, repeating that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, saying that he’s not in a hurry to make a deal.

Traffic through Strait of Hormuz ‘remains uneven’, tracking firm says

Maritime traffic monitor Kpler says shipping through the Strait of Hormuz “remains uneven” in its latest update, with six confirmed crossings on Thursday, down 60 percent from the day before.

At the same time, it says traffic through Bab al-Mandeb increased to 49 confirmed crossings.

“The data points to a cautious but selective return to transit activity as operators continue to assess security conditions,” it said.

US disables tanker near Iran amid growing signs of ‘expanding’ conflict

There is a statement from the US Central Command and is attributed to US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for CENTCOM.

He says: “We disabled the tanker after the crew attempted to run the blockade at least four times prior; the crew was repeatedly warned, didn’t comply, and US forces on scene disabled the ship after firing into its engine room. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran.”

Now, the broader significance of this, perhaps we could point to, is that the United States is no longer limiting its campaign to the borders within Iran; the Pentagon will likely be framing this as an instance where US military forces are enforcing the US blockade, but it could also be seen as evidence, perhaps, that the conflict itself is expanding beyond the limits of Iran itself.

So, that in itself is something that the United States, as well as US allies and partners in the Gulf region and the broader Middle East, have been trying to avoid, which is the scenario that could risk a spillover effect that could sort of drag the rest of the region into a broader regional conflict.

Iran blames US ‘breach’ of agreement for Hormuz tensions in meeting with China

Iran’s IRNA news agency reports that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned the “brutal attacks” on Iran’s vital infrastructure and the “war crimes” committed by the US during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kazakhstan.

Araghchi said that “the existing insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz and the region is exclusively caused by US breach of the agreement and disruption in the process of implementing Iran’s commitments in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 of the Islamabad Agreement”.

He emphasized Iran’s resolve to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity against US military aggression, calling on all nations to reject the normalization of force in international relations, the report added.

Trump says Iran in talks with US, warns Tehran cannot have nuclear weapon

US President Donald Trump says that the Iranians are in talks with the United States, and that he is willing to listen.

“They are talking to us right now; they’d love to make a deal. I don’t think they’re ready to. I don’t think it’s time yet, but I’m willing to listen, but they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said while giving remarks during the annual correspondents’ dinner in Washington, DC.

Trump asserted that American military action had severely weakened Iranian forces, claiming, “We’ve hit Iran very hard there.”

He said that “their navy is gone” and “their air force is gone”, specifically noting “250 jets no longer” and “159 boats” at the bottom of the sea.

“They have no radar, they have very few drones left, despite what you see every once in a while, they’re going to set some things up, but they don’t have much left,” he continued.

“This is all about: we will not let them have a nuclear weapon,” warning that “they would use it. They would use it if they had it”, he added.

Iran’s foreign minister welcomes Moscow’s stance against US, Israeli ‘aggression’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has blamed the United States’ “breach of promise and crimes” for the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.

The ministers spoke on Friday during a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kyrgyzstan.

Araghchi welcomed Russia’s “principled stance in firmly condemning the military aggression” of the US and Israel against Iran, the country’s official IRNA news agency reported.

The agency said Araghchi has emphasized Iran’s “seriousness in the field of diplomacy” and its determination “to defend its interests and national security and prevent the US from misusing the Strait of Hormuz to threaten Iran’s national security.”

Lavrov, the report added, offered Russia’s “readiness to provide any assistance” in creating “a security mechanism that relies on regional countries.”

Can China offer a better nuclear deal to the Saudis than Trump?

Trump’s offer of a nuclear deal to the Saudis – contingent on their recognition of Israel – might provide China and Pakistan with a unique opportunity, argues retired Lieutenant General Tariq Khan, former commander of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps.

Khan said now that Trump has suddenly made the nuclear deal conditional on the Abraham Accords, China has an opening to offer a nuclear deal to the Saudis and to Iran, unconditionally, and for Pakistan to play a diplomatic role.

“It can be a big opportunity for Islamabad to help replace a conditional US offer with an unconditional Chinese offer for nuclear energy. It can also help bridge differences between Iran and the Saudis, if Tehran is offered the same,” Khan said.

“Pakistan would need to side either with Iran and China or Saudi Arabia and the US. In any case, the pain, from the possibility of rejection and abandonment from either side would be devastating,” he added.

We don't believe that such was "suddenly" but something Trump has forgotten and reminded of either by the hard liners Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and or by Netanyahu, who with Kushner are the mastermind behind the Abraham Accords in 2020.

Iran accuses EU of ‘hypocrisy’ over human rights stance

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, has accused the European Union of hypocrisy, saying its stated human rights concerns about Iran cannot be reconciled with what he described as EU support for military attacks on the country.

In a post on X, Baghaei was responding to remarks by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, about the bloc’s human rights concerns regarding Iran.

Baghaei said the EU could not credibly profess a commitment to human rights while providing what he called logistical and technical support for “lethal aggressions” against Iranians that deliberately target civilians and critical national infrastructure.

He accused the bloc of refusing to condemn what he termed war crimes and of offering no sympathy for Iranian children he said had been killed by American and Israeli bombs and missiles. Baghaei described the EU’s stance as “the banality of evil” and “the purest form of hypocrisy”.

Italy and Germany have been assisting in the preparation of attacks on Iran by the United States. Both countries are EU member states.

Despite overnight lull, Iranians believe US strikes are not over

Last night was quite a surprise, because every night there were attacks particularly in the southern part of the country.

But it’s not over yet.

In major cities there were no direct attacks.

When it comes to the south, it was a different story. There were 13 consecutive days where depots, bridges, tunnels, hospitals and their vicinities, and nuclear power plants were constantly being bombed. And that was affecting their daily lives—disrupting power, water, food and other basic necessities.

What we’re noticing is that the Iranian people are indeed extremely concerned about the prospect of the war. They are tired, they’re exhausted and you can see that everywhere.

But one thing is quite clear when you talk to the people: they say this [situation] of no war and no peace needs to come to an end; there should be a settlement.

However, any final settlement must preserve Iran’s interests. There is a strong desire among the public to see the conflict end—and to ensure Iran is not further isolated, but rather more open to the world.

Tehran confirms ongoing exchange of messages with Washington via mediators

What we know beyond this battle of rhetoric and narratives is that Iranian officials are saying that messages are still being exchanged between Washington and Tehran, and mediators are actively involved in the process.

So, there have been proposals conveyed by the mediators, and Tehran is still reviewing them. Not much progress yet. There are fundamental differences between the positions of the parties here.

But in addition to that, now the main issue is the mistrust between the two parties. Iran has bitter memories.

Iran draws up new target list inside Israel in case of new strikes

Iran has drawn up a new list of targets inside Israel in the event of any Israeli attacks, an Iranian security source is saying.

The new targets would be of the kind that could not be repaired or rebuilt for years, the source said, and striking them would “accelerate emigration from Israel”.

The comments come during heightened Iranian sensitivity over the Shahid Alimohammadi facility, referred to in English-language reports as Pickaxe Mountain.

The site, about 2km (1.4 miles) from the Natanz nuclear complex, remains under construction but includes tunnels and complexes buried deep within the mountain, making it one of Iran’s most heavily fortified installations.

Iranian sources have warned any strike on the location would draw a response against Israel, even if the United States carried out the attack without declared Israeli participation.

Iran insists the site is for assembling advanced centrifuges, while US and Israeli intelligence suspect it may house a covert uranium enrichment facility.

Tanker ‘incident’ reported in Gulf of Oman

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says it received a report of an incident involving a tanker and military forces in the Gulf of Oman.

The agency advised vessels in the area to review the latest maritime security information and stay aware of what it called an “evolving operational environment”.

Authorities are investigating the situation, UKMTO said. It gave no further details on the tanker, its flag, or the military forces involved.

Iran rescues 28 Indian seafarers after vessel attacked

All 28 Indian crew members on board a Mozambique-flagged ship have been safely rescued after coming under attack near Iran’s territorial waters.

The tanker DISHA transmitted a distress signal after being targeted by “hostile forces” as it entered Iranian waters.

“Upon the occurrence of the incident, the ship immediately transmitted a distress call to the Iranian coastguard,” Mohammad Fathali, Iran’s ambassador to India, told the ANI news agency.

“In response, the relevant Iranian maritime and rescue authorities were deployed to the scene without delay and promptly initiated rescue operations. All crew members on board the vessel, including the 28 Indian nationals, were rescued safely and remain in good health.”

Fathali cautioned against foreign naval involvement in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Experience has repeatedly demonstrated that the presence and intervention of extra-regional military forces have not enhanced security in the region; rather, they have contributed to heightened tensions and greater instability.”

Iran reports no new US attacks as Gulf tensions remain high

Iran reported no strikes overnight into Saturday, an apparent break from nearly two weeks of consecutive nights of US attacks.

The Iranian health ministry’s spokesperson, Hossein Kermanpour, said that “Iran had a peaceful night”. Unlike the previous 13 nights, US Central Command did not announce new strikes.

The war has so far killed more than 3,400 people in Iran, according to the ministry. Eighteen US service members, 24 civilians in Israel and smaller numbers of civilians have also been reported dead in countries across the region.

Egyptian, Omani, Iranian ministers talk de-escalation efforts

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke to his Iranian and Omani counterparts during separate phone calls to discuss efforts to de-escalate tensions and “ensure freedom of navigation”.

Abdelatty spoke to Abbas Araghchi and Badr Albusaidi over ongoing developments and efforts to “restore security and stability in the region”.

“The call highlighted the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, considering it a key factor for regional security and stability, and to prevent further escalation and speculation in the region,” a foreign ministry statement said.

Abdelatty emphasized the need to avoid any measures that could threaten the security of shipping “in a way that protects the interests of all countries in the region and the global economy”.

US employing ‘hot and cold’ strategy to pressure Iran

Former Austrian Defense Attaché Wolfgang Pusztai says the US is trying to use all forms of strategy with Iran, including diplomacy, economic pressure through its blockade and military action.

“All three of them are coordinated in a way to achieve the strategic objectives of the United States. This means, first and foremost, right now an opening of the Strait of Hormuz,” Pusztai said.

“There is some kind of hot and cold approach in order to facilitate the wish, the desire of the Iranians to achieve an end to the whole war. So one night they are bombarded, one night they are not bombarded. This would also be some kind of psychological stress on the Iranians,” he added.

Pusztai said while President Trump is seeking negotiations, in Iran there are two groups in the leadership: one that would like to resume the memorandum of understanding, while the other “seeks to establish, first and foremost, their control over the Strait of Hormuz by military means”.

Iran accuses US of opening separate route in Hormuz

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

• Clause 5 of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is clear and states that Iran is the party that determines the mechanism for passage through Hormuz.
• The United States’ opening of a separate route does not conform to the terms of the MoU.
• Washington should have consulted Tehran on adding or removing any corridor in Hormuz for it to fall within the framework of Clause 5.
• After clashes occurred in Hormuz, Iran decided during the Switzerland talks to open a direct line of communication to avoid misunderstandings.
• It appears the US is insistent on establishing other routes in the Strait of Hormuz.
• Washington is seeking to push towards escalation and it is the party that violated the agreement and brought us into this current situation.

The clause or paragraph does not read that Iran is the party but 'its role under defined conditions  ..'

However, the clause does not provide a clear view on 'arrangements' leaving Iran free to choose. It is the same about "using its best efforts,"

Iran official pledges revenge for children killed in US-Israeli attacks

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has warned attacks would continue “until the enemy is fully defeated”.

Zolghadr also pledged retribution for the US-Israel war on Iran and the killing of schoolchildren, state news agency IRNA reported.

“Ongoing and precision strikes by Iranian forces will persist until the enemy is fully defeated and retribution is exacted for the innocent children of Minab and Lamerd, and will continue beyond that point,” he said.

The single largest casualty from an attack, according to Iranian authorities, was the attack on a girls’ school in the southern city of Minab in which 165 people were killed and 95 wounded, most of them children.

Iran’s presidency accuses broadcaster of censorship

A senior Iranian official called on state broadcaster IRIB to reflect a broader range of political views following government accusations that state media censored comments by President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Mohammad Mirzaei, spokesperson for the supervisory council overseeing Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), said the network must serve as “one of the symbols of national unity” and include “reasonable figures” from permitted political groups.

Mirzaei urged IRIB management to exercise “proper management and warnings” to prevent further broadcast controversy.

The oversight board’s comments follow complaints from Pezeshkian’s office that IRIB cut remarks from a televised interview.

 

Monitor says attacked vessel was US-sanctioned Houthi fuel carrier

A tanker under US sanctions was struck after crossing the perimeter of a US Navy blockade in the Gulf, according to vessel-tracking monitor TankerTrackers.

The Disha had been on the US Treasury’s sanctions list for the past two years, it said. The ship entered the blockade perimeter on Wednesday “without much difficulty” and travelled some distance before being attacked.

TankerTrackers said the Disha transported Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen for years.

Iran’s coastguard rescued all 28 Indian crew members of the Mozambique-flagged tanker. The vessel had transmitted a distress call after being targeted by what Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Fathali described as “hostile forces” as it entered Iran’s waters.

Iran’s IRGC says it stopped 4 ships in Hormuz after warning shots

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval forces stopped four vessels in the Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours after firing warning shots, Iranian state television reports.

The ships were intending to cross through the southern corridor of the strait, which the IRGC considers an “unsafe passage”.

The IRGC has said any ships that attempt to cross the Strait of Hormuz using “unapproved” routes face a “forceful response”, casting new doubt over trade flows in the critical conduit for global energy supplies.

Vessels to resume activities in Qatar starting on Sunday

Qatar’s Transport Ministry said ships and other maritime vessels can fully resume activities starting on Sunday.

In a post on X, the ministry urged “everyone to abide by the maritime regulations and instructions in effect, to ensure highest levels of safety & security for all trips”.

Restrictions were imposed after the US and Iran restarted nearly two weeks of deadly tit-for-tat strikes.

Qatar and Egypt discuss regional stability and de-escalation efforts in Doha meeting

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has met Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Doha.

In a post on X, Qatar’s Foreign Affairs Ministry says they discussed “joint coordination to de-escalate tensions and enhance security and stability in the region”.

The post said Qatar urged the US and Iran “to commit to dialogue and diplomacy, and to implement what was agreed upon within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding” signed by both parties in June.

The post said Sheikh Mohammed stressed that both parties should ensure “freedom of navigation on the Strait of Hormuz, to maintain regional security.”

IRGC says US warplanes destroyed on the ground

A spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Iranian attacks destroyed US aircraft on the ground at bases throughout the region.

“Furthermore, 17 reconnaissance and operational drones, one F-15 fighter jet inside a hangar, one P-8 aircraft, one C-17 transport aircraft and 8 refuelling aircraft were also destroyed”, the spokesman said in a statement published by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

Iran says it sold $18 billion worth of oil during war and ‘ceasefire’

Iran’s oil minister said it has sold $18 billion worth of oil during the war and “ceasefire” with the United States.

Mohsen Paknejad said sales generated more than 60 percent of the oil revenue forecast in Iran’s annual budget.

Lower risks to tanker traffic helped increase exports and enabled the sale of some of the 100 million barrels of Iran’s stored crude oil and gas condensate.

US military leaders believe ‘effectiveness’ of attacks has peaked

It’s being reported by Axios that the US president was given a plan for what would have been a 14th night of airstrikes on Iranian targets, but instead did not order them.

Instead, he indicated that he wanted to give renewed diplomatic efforts a chance to work.

It’s also being reported that perhaps the 14th night of airstrikes was put on hold because there is a growing belief among military leaders that the effectiveness has reached its peak and that there wouldn’t be anything more to be gained by targeting more Iranian facilities.

‘Military action alone’ won’t change Iran’s perspective

Iran has “no perfect choices or even good ones”, according to Michael Mulroy, former US deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and a CIA paramilitary operations officer.

However, if Iran can sell energy, then the US is “not going to be able to isolate them to the point where they change their perspective on a new agreement that’s more conducive to the United States”, he told Al Jazeera.

“So I think we need to build an international coalition to identify how we’re doing this: sanctions, secondary sanctions, freezing assets, the IRGC’s global infrastructure – all these things need to happen”, he said, adding “they probably won’t happen fast enough for the White House’s perspective, but they do need to happen because it’s clear that just military action alone is not changing that perspective”.

“From the US perspective, it needs several things to happen for this not to be considered a strategic failure; they need the Strait of Hormuz to be open, completely open and they need a new nuclear agreement that guarantees Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon, and we’re pretty far from that.”

Iran condemns Ukrainian attack on commercial vessel in Caspian Sea, calls it irrational

Iran has strongly condemned a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea.

In a statement, Iran’s foreign ministry said the attack today caused an explosion on the ship that killed one sailor and injured another.

The statement continued that the “Ukrainian regime’s attack on the Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, which was explicitly acknowledged by the head of that regime, is a sign of the continuation of the irrational and hostile approach of the Ukrainian regime towards the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Araghchi condemns Ukraine’s attack on Iranian vessel in call with EU Chief Kaja Kallas

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, held a phone call to discuss latest regional developments, according to a statement shared on Telegram by Araghchi’s office.

The statement said that Araghchi strongly condemned Ukraine’s military attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea. Araghchi reportedly “called for a firm response from the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, and the international community, and for the perpetrators and supporters of this criminal act to be held accountable.”

Araghchi and Kallas also discussed the need “to adopt diplomatic initiatives to manage tensions” in the Strait of Hormuz, the statement added, following the IRGC’s military response to US attacks on Iran.

The US does not want to do is see the military conflict expand

Israel, for the most part, has been on the sidelines, and this has been primarily a US-Iranian conflict for the past several weeks.

In the meantime, the US has put a lot of energy into getting the Lebanese government and the Israeli government to agree to try to start this pilot program of demilitarization in southern Lebanon, in order to try to bring peace.

The Houthis are a proxy organization for the Iranian government; so the US does not want to see another potential part of the conflict move to another part of the region, and so we can expect that this would be brought up as a point of discussion between the US and Iran.

US faces limited choices in Iran standoff as Strait of Hormuz remains under Tehran’s control

With additional financial sanctions on Iran unlikely to have an immediate impact, US faces limited options to break the stalemate in war with Iran.

Michael Mulroy, a Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, and a Retired CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer says there’s three options the US could take.

“One is that the US could capitulate with the Strait still closed. I don’t see that happening with the nuclear program still up in the air, that would be viewed as a strategic failure for the United States.”

Mulroy says US “can either have a stalemate or essentially have a naval blockade with the Strait of Hormuz is closed, but that would cause issues all around the world and of course that would only compound over time as oil reserves dwindle and that really would turn this crisis into a catastrophe.”

“If US thinks they could work, and there’s some indication from the US intelligence community in the US that it won’t, increasing the size and scope of the target militarily could put pressure on the regime that would have them come back to the table with something that’s more on the line of what the US would accept. So it seems to be one of the latter options that the President is going to choose.” Mulroy said.

“It doesn’t look like there’s any type of breakthrough in negotiations and Iran seems perfectly happy to keep controlling the Strait of Hormuz and Iran is still making billions of dollars on the sale of their energy but I do think that what US is going to focus on now is how to stop that, how to build an international coalition for secondary sanctions, there’s more that can be done, there’s more assets that can be frozen. But it’s not likely to have an immediate impact.” Mulroy said.

US military says 16 commercial vessels ‘trying to run blockade’ of Iran stopped

“The US naval blockade against Iran remains in full effect,” US Central Command says in a statement on X.

“As of July 25, CENTCOM has redirected 12 commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled 2 that didn’t comply, and boarded 2 to ensure total compliance,” it continued.

IRGC warns that UK could become target if it sides with US

An IRGC spokesman has told Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB that “any country, whether the UK, the Gulf Coast countries, or others” would become a “legitimate target” if they support the US in its attacks on Iran.

The spokesperson, who wasn’t named, highlighted the role of the UK, saying that American B-1 bombers used British airports to carry out recent attacks.

“If they cooperate [with the US], they will be our definite and legitimate target,” the spokesperson said.

This comes two weeks after the UK government designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization under new measures allowing foreign state bodies deemed a national security threat to be listed. Those who support or assist the IRGC could face up to 14 years in prison.