Iran, US trade fresh strikes in escalating battle for Hormuz

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Trump threatens to hit Iran powerplants next week if no deal

Trump has told Fox News he would expand US strikes on Iran next week to target power plants and bridges if Tehran does not make a deal.

"Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges," Trump said in an interview with the US broadcaster.

"We're going to knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate."

He also said that US representatives held talks with Iran on Tuesday.

US expands sanctions targeting Iran oil sector

The United States on Tuesday expanded its sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector, taking further aim at the network of petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, said the Treasury Department.

The move came after US forces carried out a fourth straight day of strikes against Iran and reimposed a naval blockade, with Iran in turn hitting ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

"This action is part of Treasury's ongoing efforts to ramp up economic pressure on the Iranian regime after it resumed destabilizing attacks in the Strait of Hormuz," the Treasury Department said in a notice Tuesday.

It charged that the Shamkhani network remains a key force behind Iran's oil exports, and has expanded into global commodities trading.

The latest move took aim at more than 50 individuals, entities and vessels that it said enabled Iranian authorities to reap profit.

Iran air defences activated at Bushehr nuclear plan: Mehr

Iran's Mehr news agency says air defences around the Bushehr nuclear plant have been activated.

Catch up on the latest developments

• The US has resumed its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
• The American military resumed strikes in southern Iran for a fourth night. Iranian media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz, Sirik and Qeshm Island.
• Iran has attacked US sites in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. Four Kuwaiti armed forces personnel were injured in an attack on a naval vessel. 
• Trump said he has reversed plans to impose a 20 percent toll in the Strait of Hormuz and that Gulf states agreed to instead invest in the US.
• Lebanon and Israel ended the first day of a new round of US-sponsored talks in Rome focused on implementing last month's framework agreement.
• Israeli forces have killed at least seven Palestinians in Gaza, including a 10-year-old boy.
   

US resumes naval blockade of Iranian ports

The US military said Tuesday it has resumed its naval blockade of Iranian ports at 2100 BST amid renewed strikes on southern Iran. 

"There are currently more than 20 US Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft operating across the Middle East," it wrote on X.

U.S. forces resumed the naval blockade against vessels transiting to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas today at 4 p.m. ET.

There are currently more than 20 U.S. Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft operating across the Middle East. American forces remain… pic.twitter.com/ATRJHlLQNo

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 14, 2026

Iran strikes Kuwait naval ship, injuring four crew members

Kuwait's military said Tuesday that one of its naval vessels was hit during an Iranian missile and drone barrage, wounding four crew.

"The heinous Iranian aggression resulted in the targeting of a number of vital and civilian facilities, and the fall of shrapnel in several locations across the country, leading to material damage," defence ministry spokesman Colonel Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan said.

"One of the naval vessels belonging to the Kuwaiti Naval Force was also targeted, resulting in the injury of four members of the armed forces."

Renewed US blockade 'dismantles' truce deal: Iran deputy FM

Iran warned Tuesday that the announced resumption of the US naval blockade of its ports had wrecked a deal struck with Washington to pause the conflict to allow peace talks.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said US President Donald Trump's decision to renew the blocade "has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum".

US military says it is launching new attacks on Iran

US Central Command says its forces have begun a new round of strikes to "continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz".

"The strikes are taking place as American forces prepare to resume the naval blockade against Iranian ports and coastal areas," it said.

At 3 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran to continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes are taking place as American forces prepare to resume the…

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 14, 2026

Qatar condemns Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia

Qatar's foreign ministry has "strongly condemned" the Houthi attack on southern Saudi Arabia earlier today.

It described the missile strike as “a flagrant violation of the kingdom’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, a breach of international law, and a threat to regional security and stability”.

Death toll in latest Hormuz vessel strikes rises to two

The death toll from strikes on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday rose to two, according to the International Maritime Organization, after Iran was accused of hitting two ships in Omani waters.

"We are gravely concerned by the latest attacks on shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz reported since last night, which have claimed the lives of at least two seafarers and injured several others," the IMO said, as New Delhi summoned an Iranian diplomat over the death of an Indian crew member.

Trump told Netanyahu to withdraw from Syria, Lebanon: Axios

Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call last Thursday that Israel should withdraw its forces from Syria and Lebanon, US and Israeli officials have told Axios.

"[Syrians] don't want you there. You should redeploy," Trump told Netanyahu, according to one US official, who added that the same is true about Lebanon.

Israel allocates $434 million for 34 new illegal settlements

Israel's security cabinet approved a budget of 1.3 billion shekels ($434 million) for establishing 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, right-wing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday.

Settlement expansion has accelerated to its quickest rate in history as the far-right Netanyahu government attempts to foreclose the possibility of a future Palestinian state.

Air raid sirens sound in Bahrain: interior ministry

Air raid sirens were sounded in Bahrain on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, after Manama announced it had intercepted several Iranian attacks earlier in the day.

"The siren has been sounded ... Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place," the interior ministry said in a statement posted on social media.

Trump: Iran and Hezbollah might be added to sanctions bill

Donald Trump says that Iran and Hezbollah could be added to ⁠the Russia sanctions ⁠bill currently ⁠being considered by ⁠Congress.

He was speaking to reporters at the White House alongside Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

Yemen's Houthis say shot down Saudi surveillance drone

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said they shot down on Tuesday a Saudi-operated reconnaissance drone, as hostilities erupted a day earlier between the two sides for the first time in years.

The fighters "succeeded in shooting down an enemy Saudi 'Wing Loong II' reconnaissance aircraft while it was carrying out hostile missions at dawn today over Al-Bayda Governorate in the centre of the country," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said.

Explosions heard on Iran's Qeshm Island

Iran's Fars news agency is reporting explosions on Qeshm Island.

Qeshm is located north of the Strait of Hormuz and has been attacked multiple times by US forces over the past three days.

Kuwait 'confronting hostile aerial targets'

The Kuwaiti army says it is currently confronting "hostile aerial targets" in Kuwaiti airspace. 

"Any explosion sounds, if heard, are the result of air defence systems intercepting hostile attacks," it wrote on social media.

Trump U-turns on Hormuz toll, says GCC to invest instead

Donald Trump has scrapped plans to impose a 20 percent toll on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz following discussions with regional leaders.

He claimed that Gulf states will instead make "massive" investments in the United States in return for the American military's blockade on Iranian ports.

"Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States," he wrote on a post on Truth Social. 

"Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future," he said. 

Gaza 'ceasefire' death toll climbs to 1,122

Some 1,122 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli forces since the "ceasefire" came into effect in October, the Gaza Government Media Office said Tuesday.

Another 3,599 have been injured, it said.

The office also said it had recorded 3,639 violations by Israeli forces during the ceasefire.

Israel says ready to move on pilot zones amid Lebanon talks

Israel said it was ready to move forward with plans to withdraw troops from two areas of south Lebanon, as the two countries held a new round of talks in Rome on Tuesday.

US-brokered negotiations were taking place in the Italian capital over a framework agreement sealed last month after five rounds of talks in Washington, with Lebanese negotiators hoping for progress on an Israeli withdrawal.

The framework deal emerged after war broke out between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah on 2 March against the backdrop of the wider Middle East war.

It calls for an end to the war in Lebanon, disarmament of the Lebanese movement, the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south and for Israeli forces to steadily withdraw from the country in two "pilot zones".

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Tuesday that his country was "ready to move forward implementing these two pilot zones".

"I hope and tend to believe that this round of discussions in Rome will promote it."

Netanyahu issues threat to Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday to strike powerfully against Iran if Tehran carried out a new attack on his country.

"I will say it to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us," Netanyahu said at a conference, according to a video released by his office. "The days are over when someone strikes us and we don't hit back with a decisive blow."