TOP STORIES
Trump “Close” to Decision on “Massive Attack” on Iran | Axios
“President Trump told Axios on Thursday that he's seriously considering restarting major combat operations in Iran—including strikes that would be bigger than the ones carried out during Operation Epic Fury. . . . Trump said the Iranians ‘want to negotiate’ but are not ready to make a deal at the moment. ‘They haven't received enough pain yet,’ he said. . . . Two regional sources with knowledge of mediation efforts said Iranian leadership hasn’t accepted the latest proposal put forward. ‘We are trying, but the Iranians are not being helpful,’ one of them said.’
Satellite Images Show Iran Is Rebuilding. Fast | Wall Street Journal
“Iran has quickly rebuilt infrastructure damaged during the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign over recent months, from missile bases nestled deep inside mountains to bridges, ports and production facilities, according to Israeli and Western officials and a review of satellite imagery. The faster-than-expected progress worries some Israeli officials. It helps explain Iran’s continued resilience despite an air campaign that involved more than 20,000 strikes at the height of the war and that continues along Iran’s coast in an effort to break Tehran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz.”
Israeli Spy Agency Reveals Alleged Iranian Plot to Target Senior Officials Inside Israel | CNN
“Israel’s Mossad spy agency has revealed details of an alleged Iranian plot to target senior officials in Israel by recruiting operatives abroad. . . . The ministry used ‘criminal proxy operatives’ to recruit people who could enter Israel and use them to collect information about potential targets and ultimately carry out attacks, the Mossad said.”
UANI IN THE NEWS
Interview with UANI CEO Amb. Mark D. Wallace | Fox News
“Pickaxe Mountain has been one of the nuclear facilities that’s really been clouded in mystery. There’s been some divergence [in opinion] about whether it’s an active nuclear facility or one that’s being proposed and planned for the future. But the bottom line is it’s a deep buried mountain. There’s only one use for that in Iran’s military thinking and that’s a nuclear facility. That’s why the president is wise to take it out and remove any mystery over this one facility.”
MILITARY MATTERS & SHIPPING
Trump Is Losing Patience Over an Iran War with No Clear End in Sight | Wall Street Journal
“Trump has been trying to wind down the war for months. He announced a ceasefire in April after he threatened to end Iran’s ‘whole civilization.’ In June, he said the U.S. and Iran had signed a memorandum of understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But the brief periods of calm quickly gave way to continued fighting. The president in recent days has grown skeptical that negotiations with Iran can produce a lasting peace, according to people familiar with the matter. A senior administration official said Trump believes that the only thing Iran understands is military force, adding that he was in ‘revenge mode’ against Tehran. The president, the official said, sees few good options besides continuing strikes.”
Iran Flew IRGC Commanders, Missile Gear to Yemen’s Houthis, Sources Say | Reuters
“Iran flew Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen this month, according to four sources, in a move that suggests Tehran is seeking to strengthen the ability of its Houthi allies to threaten Red Sea shipping.”
US Military Says It Completed 13th Consecutive Night of Strikes on Iran | Reuters
“The U.S. military said late on Thursday it completed its latest round of strikes on Iran that marked a 13th consecutive night of American attacks. . . . The latest strikes lasted more than two hours, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). ‘CENTCOM targeted Iranian military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities to further diminish the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz,’ it said in a statement.”
US Military Says It Disabled One Vessel, Redirected 12 Under Iran Blockade | Iran International
“US Central Command said on Thursday that it had disabled one commercial vessel and redirected 12 others since resuming its naval blockade against Iran on July 14.”
2 China-Linked Supertankers Carrying Saudi Oil Transit the Bab El-Mandeb Strait | CBS News
“Two China-linked supertankers carrying Saudi crude oil transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait Thursday, according to MarineTraffic, carrying a combined 4 million barrels of oil.”
The Houthis Have Opened a New Front in the U.S.-Iran War | Wall Street Journal
“A new front in the Middle East war has opened up with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis threatening Red Sea shipping, throwing a dangerous new variable at the U.S. and its allies and piling more pressure on the global economy. By declaring a blockade on Saudi oil shipments through the Red Sea and firing on two vessels, the Houthis have begun to cut off a second important commercial chokepoint, the Bab al-Mandeb, the strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The militant group’s actions threaten to draw in other regional military powers such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Pakistan.”
“Drones carrying explosives targeted a city in northern Iraq where U.S. forces are stationed and sirens rang out in Bahrain on Friday, hours after the American military said it finished its 13th night of strikes against Iran.”
Kuwait Says Air Defenses Intercepting Iranian Drones | Iran International
“Kuwait’s military said its air defenses were intercepting what it described as ‘hostile’ Iranian drone threats.”
Trump on Iran War: ‘We Have to Do What We Came to Do' | USA Today
“Trump defended his administration's ongoing military campaign hours after the House voted to end the war with Iran, while the Senate sided with the president. ‘We want to get it over with, and we want to do it right, but we have to . . . do what we came to do,’ Trump said . . . ‘We can't let them have what they want, which is nuclear weapons.’”
Iran’s Ghalibaf Mocks US Military Strategy in Sarcastic Tweet | Al Jazeera
“Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker has mocked the US military strategy aimed at degrading Tehran’s ability to control the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting it has backfired. ‘They wanted to punish Iran. Punished themselves with triple-digit oil instead. 10/10 strategy,’ Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X.”
UN Maritime Agency Calls for De-Escalation over Houthis Attacks in Bab El-Mandeb Strait | CBS News
“The International Maritime Organization, the U.N. maritime agency, is now condemning the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.”
“The current conflict with Iran has been plagued by ill-defined and shifting objectives, from aspirations of regime change to more focused aims of degrading Iran’s nuclear and military capabilities. Nearly six months in, it has evolved into something else entirely: a struggle over who controls the Strait of Hormuz and, with it, one of the world’s most important arteries for global energy. . . . The strategic objective now is increasingly about one issue. Does the Strait of Hormuz remain an international waterway, or does Iran acquire the ability to determine who passes through it and under what conditions? Ceding control to Iran would hand its regime tens of billions of dollars in transit fees per year, and the ability to meter energy flows to the rest of the world. Iran would effectively control the thermostat for the global economy.”
Iran Plays the Houthi Card | Wall Street Journal Editorial
“The President is understandably reluctant to re-engage militarily in Iran. There are political costs in committing weeks or months of naval and air power to opening the Strait, and risks of escalation. But the Houthis are making clear that ceding Hormuz to Iran will be a damaging precedent for global commerce and American deterrence.”
DIPLOMACY
Iran Rejects U.S. Cease-Fire Deal Presented by Iraqi Leader | New York Times
“Iran on Thursday rejected a cease-fire proposal from President Trump that was carried to Tehran by the Iraqi prime minister, according to Iranian and Iraqi officials. The failed mediation effort came as Mr. Trump was threatening to escalate the war and target Iran’s critical infrastructure. . . . The details of the cease-fire proposal were not immediately clear. But Iranian officials said that it was the only offer on the table, and that their government was not interested in a temporary deal that left the question of control over the Strait of Hormuz unresolved. . . . Two Iranian officials said that the country’s armed forces were anticipating—and preparing for—the possibility of the war expanding if Mr. Trump carries through with his threats to strike the capital of Tehran and critical infrastructure. If he does, the officials said, Iran will expand the fight regionally, including by striking Tel Aviv and asking its Houthi allies to close Bab al-Mandab, a strategic waterway in the Red Sea.”
Iran FM Says US Aggression Will Raise Price of Any Deal | Iran International
“Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday accused ‘compromised individuals’ in the US administration of ignoring realities on the ground and focusing only on the 2028 election. ‘The mindless aggression they advocate will only ensure that POTUS pays heavier price for deal he's trying to achieve,’ Araghchi wrote on X.”
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran Sentences January Protester to Death, Upholds 10-Year Jail Term for Student | IranWire
“The judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran has issued harsh sentences against two individuals arrested during the nationwide protests of January 2026. Mahnam Navab-Safavi has been sentenced to death, while a 10-year prison sentence for Ali Sanei has been upheld on appeal. Mahnam Navab-Safavi, currently held in Esfahan’s Dastgerd Prison, was sentenced to death on charges of ‘moharebeh’ (enmity against God) by Branch 5 of the Esfahan Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Hemmatinejad. … Concurrently, the 10-year prison sentence of Ali Sanei, a 22-year-old computer science student, was upheld by an appeals court.”
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Iran Bears Biggest Economic Cost of Hormuz Closure | Dalga Khatinoglu for Iran International
“Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz appears to have dealt far greater damage to its own trade with China than to Beijing's commerce with the rest of the Persian Gulf, according to newly released Chinese customs data. Between March and June 2026, Iran's non-oil trade with China totaled just $830 million, down from $3.3 billion during the same period last year—a decline of roughly 75%. Kpler shipping data reviewed by Iran International also point to a sharp decline in Iranian oil exports to China.”
“The president of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the country’s economic problems will continue as long as power is concentrated among ‘powerful groups’ with political influence and economic strength.”
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran Prosecutor Denies Mashhad Takeover Claim in Araghchi Interview | Iran International
“The prosecutor of Khorasan Razavi province denied a claim raised during an interview with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and left unchallenged by him, that protesters had controlled Mashhad for several hours in January. ‘The claim that Mashhad was taken over for several hours in January is untrue,” the prosecutor said.”
Senior Iranian Official Says Trump’s Threats Are a Sign of Desperation | Al Jazeera
“An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader says Trump’s threats to strike Iranian civilian infrastructure show that he is becoming desperate as Tehran continues to absorb military strikes and retaliate by attacking Gulf countries.”
CONGRESS & IRAN
House and Senate Split on Votes to Rebuke Trump on Iran War | Politico
“Congress delivered President Donald Trump a mixed message Thursday on his handling of the war in Iran, just as hostilities flare in the Middle East. The two chambers split on whether to halt the war in a pair of hotly contested ballots. House Democrats—aided by a handful of Republicans—succeeded for a second time in rebuking Trump over the military campaign. But the Senate GOP rejected a similar effort just hours later, as Democrats couldn’t muster the needed support to advance another anti-war measure.”
GOP Hawks Urge Trump to Go Big as He Weighs ‘Massive Attack’ on Iran | The Hill
“Republican defense hawks are urging President Trump to unleash major combat operations as the commander-in-chief weighs a ‘massive attack’ on Iran.”
EUROPE & IRAN
Iranian Lawmaker Warns Britain Could Lose Control of Diego Garcia | Iran International
“Head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee warned that Britain could eventually lose control of Diego Garcia, saying London should recognize its vulnerabilities and that the Islamic Republic’s capabilities extend beyond military power.”
UK Says Armed Forces Ready After Iran Warning over US Bombers | Iran International
“Britain said on Thursday that its armed forces were ready to defend the country from any attack after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned against allowing US bombers to operate from UK bases.”
Germany to Move Ships to Mediterranean as Hormuz Mission Still on Hold | Deutsche Presse-Agentur
“Germany plans to move two naval vessels from Djibouti to the eastern Mediterranean in the coming days after concluding that conditions are not yet in place for a possible military mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz given the ongoing Iran war, a Defence Ministry spokesman has said.”
UK Withdraws Remaining Diplomats from Iran | CBS News
“Britain's government said Thursday it had withdrawn all remaining diplomatic staff from Iran as the conflict between Iran and the U.S. escalates.”
ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS
40°C Heat, Zero Water: Sistan and Baluchestan in Crisis | IranWire
“As temperatures rise above 40 degrees Celsius in Sistan and Baluchestan, widespread water outages in the city of Zahedan and several other areas of the province have plunged the daily lives of thousands into a serious crisis. Residents report that when the water supply is cut off, evaporative coolers also stop functioning, rendering homes virtually uninhabitable in the scorching summer heat. Residents in certain neighborhoods of Zahedan have reported water interruptions lasting three to four days, forcing them to purchase water from private tankers.”