Attacks between US and Iran held off as diplomacy takes the lead

Speaking to The New Arab after a Q&A at Curzon Mayfair on Thursday evening, Theroux said Life Support —which follows British medics who volunteered in Gaza after October 2023—was less something to "enjoy" than a "compelling and insightful" record of extreme conditions during "the genocide in Gaza".

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President Joseph Aoun again defended against criticisms of the Lebanese government’s decision to negotiate with Israel.

"I assure you that I will not back down from the decision to negotiate that I have taken, while insisting that all my positions include clarifications to the Lebanese people about the importance of the path we are taking, and Lebanon's adherence to its sovereignty in all the steps we take", he said.

The "framework agreement" with Israel, co-signed by the US and reached last month, deeply split the Lebanese while Israel continues to attack the country daily.

Qatari negotiators are in Iran to meet Iranian officials to reduce tensions and create conditions for broader negotiations to continue, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Friday, adding that the talks are being conducted in coordination with the United States.

The talks aim to address the implementation of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding and the issues that triggered the recent round of attacks between Washington and Tehran, including disputes over navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the source said.

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Friday that the first six employees of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant have begun returning to the plant, RIA reported, citing its CEO, Alexei Likhachev.

Rosatom, which is building two new units at Bushehr, evacuated hundreds of staff after the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on 28 February. 

The United Nations Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that "explosive remnants of war continue to pose a threat to local communities in southern Lebanon." 

In a statement, it added, "UNIFIL peacekeepers continue their efforts to reduce these risks through unexploded ordnance and mine clearance operations."

UNIFIL further noted that, "Since the escalation of hostilities, UNIFIL's bomb disposal teams have located and neutralised dozens of unexploded ordnance, improvised explosive devices and crashed drones."

A member of the "Loyalty to the Resistance" parliamentary bloc affiliated with Hezbollah called on the Lebanese government to abide by the constitution and withdraw from the framework agreement that Lebanon signed with Israel because it "perpetuates the occupation and neglects Lebanon's sovereignty."

Fadlallah said in his speech at a celebration held by Hezbollah for the martyrs of the southern town of Markaba, “The authority in Lebanon took a trip to Washington, and signed an agreement written by the Zionist entity, and we did not find a single clause in it that was in the interest of Lebanon. Rather, it perpetuates the occupation, neglects the country’s sovereignty, places it under American-Israeli guardianship, and prevents it from even pursuing the enemy in international courts.”

"The solution lies in returning to national understandings and cooperation between the main forces in Lebanon, adhering to the obligations of the constitution and the National Accord Document, implementing the laws, and relying on the unity of our position in the environment of resistance," he added.

Daily tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz appeared to have slowed on Friday, after the US and Iran exchanged hostilities this week and renewed their arguments over who controlled passage through the critical waterway.

The attacks renewed concerns about the recovery of global oil supplies and shipping. They highlighted the fragility of an interim truce while the U.S. and Iran hammer out a lasting agreement.

Oil prices eased on Friday but remained on track for weekly gains of 4-5% after the flare-up.

The International Energy Agency said global oil supply rose by 4.1 million bpd in June as shipping through the strait resumed, but remained 9.4 million bpd below pre-war levels.

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Council threatens to target Israel as part of Tehran’s future response to US attacks.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said Israel "will not be spared" by Iran’s retaliation if US attacks on infrastructure continue.

Qatar held talks with the United States and Iran to ease the crisis that has developed between them in the region in recent days, two sources involved in the matter told The New York Times.

The latest round kicked off after Iranian attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, continued with US airstrikes in Iran and ended with attacks by the Revolutionary Guards against Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.

Israeli forces abducted Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, after Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The report said Israeli troops detained Hussein shortly after he delivered the Friday sermon and led prayers at the mosque.

No further details were given for his detention or on where he was taken.

China announced on Friday a temporary export ban on helium, effective immediately, as the resumption of the US-Israeli war on Iran is expected to trigger new shortages of the gas critical for chip manufacturing.

Earlier this year, the US-Israeli war on Iran led to helium shortages, disrupting companies globally, including in China, where the AI industry increasingly relies on domestic chips for training and running AI models.

Helium is essential for heat management in semiconductor production.

The helium ban is the latest example of Beijing seeking to prevent domestic shortages of critical materials by curbing exports.

Previously, it imposed similar measures on fuel, fertilisers and sulphuric acid. China is also looking to boost domestic chip manufacturing capacity and reduce the industry's dependence on cutting-edge Nvidia semiconductors subject to US export controls.

A series of mysterious, unclaimed airstrikes that hit Iran after the US said it finished its attacks has again raised questions about who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.

The strikes on Thursday, just as Iran prepared to bury the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hit areas across southern Iran. The country's theocracy hasn't directly blamed anyone for the strikes. However, one lawmaker issued a warning to the United Arab Emirates over allegedly providing support to the United States in its campaign against Iran.

Gulf Arab states, which repeatedly have been targeted by Iran since the US-Israeli war on Iran began Feb. 28, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday over the strikes. The attacks come as they and the US insist that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and free for ships to transit. Iran insists that the strait, through which about a fifth of all oil and natural gas passes, must now be under its sole control and that vessels should begin paying fees to Tehran.

Officials and residents in Ghandouriyeh reject both the Israeli statements and remarks by Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam regarding the town's inclusion in what was described as a "pilot zone", stressing that these descriptions do not reflect the reality on the ground.

A visit by The New Arab to Ghandouriyeh in the Bint Jbeil district found that Israeli occupation forces are not present in the town. However, they attempted to occupy it during the assault to advance into and seize it as part of efforts to reach Froun, but failed.

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The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz, citing an unnamed US source, reported that the Lebanese army is expected to deploy within days in an area occupied by Israel in southern Lebanon, as part of understandings between the two sides.

On Thursday evening, the newspaper quoted an unnamed US source as saying that "the Lebanese army is expected to deploy within days in an area controlled by Israel in southern Lebanon."

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later today after his arrival in Turkey, accompanied by his wife, Ambassador Sahar Baasiri, who was given an official reception at Istanbul Airport.

Today, Friday, the Iranian Tasnim agency quoted a member of the board of directors of the Pasht Shahr Fishermen's Cooperative in Bandar Abbas, Faramarz Jameh Ghir, as saying that the US attacks that targeted the coastal strip of Hormozgan Province on 8-9 July destroyed at least 30 fishing boats.

The International Energy Agency said Friday that "a recovery" in global oil demand had begun as supplies tentatively began moving through the strategic Strait of Hormuz again and prices eased.

"A recovery in world oil demand is underway, with consumption set to rise from its May nadir," the IEA's monthly report said. The agency revised its forecast for demand through 2026 to be 1 million barrels a day lower than last year because of the US-Israeli war on Iran, compared with the 1.1 million barrels a day decline predicted in its last report.

"Global oil supply rebounded by a sharp 4.1 million barrels a day (mbd) to 98.8 mbd in June, as a resumption of flows through the Strait of Hormuz underpinned a partial recovery in Gulf production. World output was nevertheless some 9.4 mb/d below pre-war levels," it said.

During a phone call with the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty discussed developments in the recent escalation in the region, stressing the importance of containing tensions and preventing the widening of the circle of conflict.

According to a statement by the spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two ministers stressed the need to give priority to the language of diplomacy and dialogue, and to return to the negotiating table to work on implementing the memorandum of understanding signed between the US and Iranian sides, for reaching a final agreement that contributes to reducing escalation and enhancing regional security and stability.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister also renewed his condemnation of recent attacks against several Gulf states and Jordan, stressing the need to respect the sovereignty of these countries and the unity and integrity of their territories, including those of the rest of the Arab Gulf states.

The Lebanese president's office announced that President Joseph Aoun reviewed with Lebanese Army chief Rudolph Heikal the security situation in the country in general, and in the south in particular, in light of the continued Israeli attacks on several southern villages and towns.

The discussion also touched on ongoing preparations to implement what was stated in the framework agreement in the designated "pilot zones", from which the Lebanese army is supposed to deploy in conjunction with the Israeli withdrawal.

For six-year-old Yahya Abu Nassira, childhood has been replaced by relentless itching, fever and pain. Instead of running between the tents, where displaced children try to make games from what little they have left, he spends his days lying on a thin foam mattress in his family's tent in western Gaza City, his small body covered in red chickenpox blisters.

As temperatures soar, the tent traps the heat like an oven, while the smell of uncollected rubbish and stagnant sewage hangs in the air, turning an already painful illness into a daily ordeal.

"Every morning begins the same way. Yahya wakes with a fever, crying as he struggles to resist scratching the blisters covering his face, chest and limbs," Heba, his mother, told The New Arab.

She said that she repeatedly pulls his hands away, worried the sores will become infected, but there is little relief to offer in a tent without electricity, fans or adequate water.

"My son has completely changed. It started with a high fever, then red blisters appeared on his face and chest before spreading across his body within two days," she added. "Since then, he barely sleeps. He cries constantly because of the itching. Every time he scratches, I worry the blisters will turn into wounds."

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Two people were injured, Friday morning, as a result of an Israeli drone attack on a small garbage truck on the outskirts of the towns of Shokin and Kfardgal in the Nabatieh District, southern Lebanon.

The truck was targeted at approximately six in the morning local time, while it was unloading a quantity of waste in the area, resulting in the injury of two people, according to what was reported by the official Lebanese National News Agency.

From 1948 to Gaza today, sexual violence has been central to Israel's settler-colonial project of ethnically cleansing Palestinians, writes Nada Elia.

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Ahmad al-Dalati, commander of internal security in the Damascus countryside, announced that preliminary investigations into the detonation of two explosive devices in Damascus during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit showed that they belonged to ISIS.

Last night, Syria's Interior Minister Anas Khatab announced the arrest of the cell.

More liquefied natural gas tankers have resumed transiting the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, ship-tracking data showed, and 22 Japan-linked vessels have left the Gulf since Tuesday, Tokyo said, despite renewed fighting in the Middle East.

The Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and LNG shipments, has been closely watched by shipping companies and governments following Iranian attacks this week on commercial vessels and U.S. retaliatory strikes on Iran that have reduced traffic through the waterway.

But at least five ballast LNG tankers have entered the strait in recent days, according to data from Kpler and LSEG.

The vessels include GasLog Shanghai, controlled by Greek shipping company GasLog, and QatarEnergy-linked carriers Al Samriya, Al Dafna, Al Gattara and Al Rayyan.

The GasLog Shanghai and Al Rayyan likely transited into the strait overnight, having been seen outside the waterway on July 9, the data showed.

The other three QatarEnergy-linked vessels were last seen outside the Strait of Hormuz, off the west coast of India, several weeks ago: Al Samriya and Al Gattara around June 18-19, and Al Dafna on June 29.

QatarEnergy and GasLog did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of business hours.

On Thursday, the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Nissos Kea entered the strait, while the VLCC Lila Vadinar exited.

"What's different now, compared to the start of the conflict, is that Iran is striking vessels using the 'Omani route' rather than targeting all vessels, which means vessels will increasingly turn towards the 'Iranian route' or transit dark when transiting through the strait," said Xavier Tang, a senior market analyst at Vortexa.

A US official told Reuters that Washington remains committed to reaching a solution with Iran, stressing that technical talks are ongoing.