Middle East conflict

July 26, 2026 12:16 PM

Iran war spreads to Red Sea and Caspian, Gulf quiet as US forgoes strikes

The Iran war broadened over the weekend despite a pause in U.S. strikes, as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast and Iran accused Ukraine of targeting one of its vessels in the Caspian Sea. The U.S. military said on Saturday its naval blockade against Iran "remains in full effect" but did not explain why it halted a streak of 13 nights of escalating strikes. There were also no weekend reports of attacks by Iran on neighbors, similar to its daily...

July 26, 2026 12:43 PM

Israel kills senior Hamas-led police official in Gaza, medics say

An Israeli airstrike on Saturday killed the head of the Hamas-led police force in the northern Gaza Strip, Brigadier-General Abdel-Nasser Al-Maqadma, the Hamas-run interior ministry and medics said. Maqadma, one of at least five Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday, was also known as the governor of the northern Gaza Strip. He was killed in the Sheikh Radwan area north of Gaza City, medics said. The Israeli military said he was also part of Hamas' military wing. Israel has kille...

July 25, 2026 10:17 AM

Trump says Israeli PM Netanyahu will visit US next week

President Donald Trump said on Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the U.S. next week. Trump's comments came in his speech at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Friday, while he was falsely casting U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer as Palestinian. "I am going to send him (Schumer) a beautiful Palestinian outfit tomorrow, so he can greet Bibi Netanyahu when he comes to town next week," Trump said. "He turned Palestinian," Trump said of Schumer, who is J...

July 25, 2026 10:14 AM

US missiles hit Iran as path towards de-escalation uncertain

U.S. missiles struck targets across Iran on Friday and President Donald Trump vowed "major military punishment" for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen, though he once again left open the door to a diplomatic deal with Iran. Two weeks after the collapse of an interim truce meant to end the war, Iranian armed forces responded by firing at U.S. bases in neighbouring Arab countries and warning that they could strike non-military buildings there used by U.S. personnel. Trump has threatened in re...

July 20, 2026 9:48 PM

US attacks deepen hardship, not dissent, in Iran’s restive south

Opposition to Iran's clerical rulers has long simmered in the country's impoverished south. But after bearing the brunt of U.S. strikes this month, many residents are directing their anger at President Donald Trump and an air campaign they say has upended their lives. Southern Iran, which borders the Strait of Hormuz, has been a major target of U.S. attacks on ports, energy facilities and transport infrastructure. Washington says the strikes are aimed at curbing Iran's ability to threaten shipp...

July 19, 2026 5:50 PM

US renews strikes on Iran after two military personnel killed by Iranian attack

The U.S. said it had completed an eighth straight night of attacks against Iran after earlier announcing that two U.S. military personnel were killed in Jordan and another was missing following an Iranian attack. The U.S. and Iran have intensified attacks since an interim ceasefire deal signed a month ago fell apart last week, raising the possibility of a return to all-out war. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the latest airstrikes began at 6 p.m. ET (2200 GMT) on Saturday, at ...

July 12, 2026 1:38 PM

US strikes Iran, Tehran says Strait of Hormuz closed, Gulf states hit

The U.S. military launched fresh strikes on Iran after it struck a container ship on Sunday, while Tehran said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and escalated attacks on U.S. facilities in states across the Gulf. A series of attacks between the U.S. and Iran over the past several days led President Donald Trump to declare the end of a ceasefire meant to halt the fighting that the U.S. and Israel began on February 28, though Trump has left the door open to continued negotiations. Iran sa...

July 12, 2026 11:30 AM

Iran’s supreme leader pledges revenge for slain father and predecessor

A written statement from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei threatened vengeance for the death of his predecessor and father on Saturday, but added that it would depend not only on Iran but also on "free people around the world". In the supreme leader's first public message since funeral ceremonies for his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, began a week ago, the statement read on state television said that vengeance was "the demand of the nation" and "must certainly" take place. Aya...

July 11, 2026 12:42 PM

US issues fresh Iran-related sanctions as conflict flares

The U.S. issued new Iran-related sanctions on Friday targeting a key financier for Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and 13 other individuals and entities, following Tehran's resumed attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the Treasury Department said. The sanctions took aim at Ali Ansari, an Iranian banker and businessman based in Dubai who had previously been sanctioned by Britain for his role in financially supporting the activities of Iran's Revolutionary Guards a...

July 11, 2026 12:37 PM

Trump says US, Iran agree to continue talks but ceasefire over

President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Iran had agreed to continue talks despite an escalation of hostilities this week but he declared that the ceasefire reached between the two sides last month was over. The United States also stepped up demands on Friday that Iran stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, where recent hostilities have pushed oil prices higher, a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of November congressional elections. Trump's comments came on a day of relative...