TOP STORIES
Trump Pauses Iran Strikes as Officials Weigh Dwindling Air Defense Stocks | Wall Street Journal
“President Trump has put off a major escalation of his military campaign against Iran amid efforts to revive diplomacy to open the Strait of Hormuz and a debate over the impact of declining munitions stocks, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The U.S. military had been poised Friday to launch an intensive series of strikes against Iran, which could have lasted up to two weeks, the officials said. But the operation was delayed so diplomacy could proceed and as officials discussed the effect a major attack could have on the U.S.’s shrinking stocks of Patriot and other air defense interceptors. . . . Several officials said Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads Central Command, believes the U.S. can cope with the limited stocks of Patriot and other air defense interceptors because stepped-up U.S. strikes, if they are approved by Trump, would blunt Iran’s ability to launch large numbers of missiles.”
Bahrain, Kuwait Warplanes Struck Iran in Rare Gulf Retaliation | Wall Street Journal
“Bahrain and Kuwait secretly sent jets to attack sites inside Iran, their first such direct retaliation against Tehran and an indication of the difficult position Arab states find themselves in as the war grinds on, people familiar with the matter said. The airstrikes early this month targeted drone- and missile-storage depots, among other military sites, some of the people said. The United Arab Emirates—which attacked Iran multiple times early in the war—provided intelligence on targets and defensive air cover for the strikes in a sign of budding Arab cooperation in confronting Iran, those people said.”
“Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said Saturday that they fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi airstrikes on the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeida, in an escalation over vital shipping routes in the Middle East while the United States and Iran vie for control of the Strait of Hormuz. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesperson, said in a prerecorded statement that the attack targeted facilities in the Red Sea cities of Yanbu and Jizan that belong to Aramco, the world’s largest oil company.”
UANI IN THE NEWS
Letter to the Editor from UANI CEO Amb. Mark D. Wallace | New York Times
“The proposal to turn the Persian Gulf into a jointly administered ‘regional commons’ modeled on the European Coal and Steel Community mistakes the lesson of history. The E.C.S.C. did not create peace by giving a coercive state greater influence over strategic resources. It became possible only after France, West Germany and their partners reconciled, renounced territorial revisionism and committed to a common legal order underwritten by the United States. None of those preconditions exist in the Gulf. Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz as leverage over the world. Giving Iran a formal role in administering the waterway it has endangered would signal that coercion is rewarded while entrusting a critical artery of global commerce to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism—with dire consequences for regional stability, energy markets and freedom of navigation. The problem in the Gulf is not the absence of rules but Iran’s willingness to violate them. The answer is to deter and punish Iranian coercion, not renegotiate the rules every time they are breached.”
From Celebration to Escalation: How Trump’s Iran Cease-Fire Collapsed | New York Times
“Officials in the Trump administration said that an Iran deprived of oil revenue could hold out only for so long against U.S. demands to open the strait and surrender most or all of its nuclear program. But Iran at a minimum bought itself more time by selling as much as $6 billion of oil during the brief truce, according to the hawkish think tank United Against Nuclear Iran.”
“[T]he Islamic regime in Iran has long been at war with Britain. The latest example of this is The Telegraph’s revelation that the IRGC’s Unit 700 branch has been exploiting the small-boats crisis to smuggle ‘Islamic revolutionary agents’ into the UK and position them across London. As one Iranian regime official brazenly told The Telegraph on Friday: ‘We do not need a missile to target London.’ While shocking, the report should not be surprising. . . . [T]he most worrying part is that, while the Government appears to be overwhelmingly focused on a conventional Iranian strike, it is once again overlooking the IRGC’s asymmetric terrorist capabilities in the UK. And I am not just talking about ‘thugs for hire.’ Notwithstanding the latest revelations, the IRGC has had a long-standing covert presence in Britain. It has de facto built an entire ‘soft-power’ infrastructure on British soil under the “legitimate” guise of mosques, charities, and colleges.”
“Estimates compiled by United Against Nuclear Iran, a US-based advocacy group, and oil analysts indicated that Tehran moved about 70 million barrels during the window between mid-June and mid-July. Some 50 million barrels left Iran during the second half of June alone, roughly equivalent to one month of prewar Iranian exports to China, according to the advocacy group.”
As Signals of a ‘Massive’ US Attack Mount, Experts Skeptical It Will Break Iran | The Hill
“[UANI Senior Advisor] Saeid Golkar, an expert on Iranian security services who teaches political science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said the difficulty for the U.S. now is that it’s running out of targets, while Iran has become more effective at hiding what military assets remain. ‘Most of these targets are not very important, or not very strategic, or not very impactful in a way that we want to see the change,’ Golkar said of daily U.S. strikes over the past two weeks. He said killing Ahmad Vahidi, the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the parliament and the country’s chief negotiator, would move the needle if a diplomatic deal is the goal.”
US Disables Vessels in Renewed Blockade as 26th Iran Tanker Reaches Asia | Seatrade Maritime News
“[O]n 25 July Charlie Brown, Senior Advisor to United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), who tracks Iranian tankers, said that Iranian-flagged tanker Humanity had transited the Singapore Strait eastbound to the Malaysian EOPL. . . . ‘The Iranians took full advantage of the MoU to build up inventory to where it was before the first blockade,’ Brown told Seatrade Maritime News.”
Bahrain, Kuwait Reportedly Carried Out Secret Iran Air Strikes | Jewish News Syndicate
“‘The loss of deterrence for Iran with strikes on Iranian soil that have become the new normal has truly been something to behold,’ stated Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran.”
Beyond Airstrikes: The Missing Phase of the Iran Campaign | Lance Gordon for Real Clear Defense
“United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) documented 47 ghost armada tankers generating over $5 billion in IRGC revenue through dark fleet exports since the MOU was signed. CENTCOM's May 29 disabling of the M/V Lian Star demonstrates one limited enforcement model for vessels that enter a declared blockade area, refuse lawful instructions, and continue toward a prohibited destination.”
MILITARY MATTERS & SHIPPING
US and UK Planning International Conference on Strait of Hormuz | Axios
“The U.S. and U.K. are planning to convene a high-level meeting in London next week that will focus on a potential international coalition to protect maritime shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, two European diplomats and two other sources with knowledge told Axios. … The itinerary and date are still under discussion and haven’t been finalized. It will potentially bring together defense ministers and top military commanders from Western countries and countries from the region, the European diplomats said.”
“The U.S. military said Friday that it fired on another merchant vessel that was trying to breach its blockade of Iran’s ports, while the Islamic Republic targeted American strongholds around the Persian Gulf.”
“Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that its coalition forces struck Houthi militia in Yemen after the Iran-backed group claimed to have attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea earlier in the week.”
Houthis May be Using Real-Time Satellite Intelligence for Targeting | Maritime Executive
“In previous Houthi anti-shipping campaigns, targeting tended to be indiscriminate and often inaccurate. The more specific targeting parameters now suggest that the Houthis have confidence in and access to improved maritime intelligence collection capabilities, to be able to identify ships which fulfil their attack parameters—and not necessarily close to the waters off Hajjah and Hodeidah Governorates, where fishing boats and coastal observation would be a primary source of information. This points to the Houthis having acquired reliable access to near real-time high resolution satellite imagery, as might be supplied with the help of Iran. Iran is known to have supplied terminal equipment to the Houthis, enabling them to access the Russian/Iranian Kanopus-V/Khayyam satellite constellation. The Houthis have also gained access with Iranian help to the Chinese Jilin-1 mini-satellite constellation, and the TEE-01B imagery satellite built by Beijing-based The Earth Eye Co, access for which the Iranians stumped up $37 million in March 2024.”
Top U.S. Military Commander in Middle East Advised Halting Hormuz Bombing | Axios
“The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, Adm. Brad Cooper, recommended stopping the bombing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz because it has reached the limit of its effectiveness, according to two sources with knowledge of his position. . . . The CENTCOM commander said a possible next step would be to resume major combat operations to finish the 20% of targets the U.S. military designated but didn’t strike during Operation Epic Fury.”
PMF Commander Says Iraqis in Iran Could Prepare for US Ground War | Iran International
“The presence of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces personnel in Iran could be intended as preparation for a possible ground war between Iran and the United States, a commander in the organization told Iran International on Monday.”
Iran Says It Still Controls Strait, Not Seeking Talks, After Trump Halts Bombing | Reuters
“Iran said on Monday it was still in control of the Strait of Hormuz and not seeking to resume peace talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump halted a two-week bombing campaign that his top brass told him had run its course.”
It Isn’t Just Pickaxe: Trump’s Other Potential Nuclear Targets in Iran | Wall Street Journal
“If President Trump goes through with his threat to launch a massive new attack on Iran, he may set his sights on a new array of targets: the remnants of Tehran’s nuclear program. Trump has repeatedly raised the prospect of ordering a strike on Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, the underground site where Israeli intelligence believes Tehran has stashed away centrifuges that could be used to enrich uranium if Iranian leaders opted to make a nuclear weapon. But there are other sites that the U.S. could target, former officials and experts say.”
Cheap, Accurate and Lethal: Iran’s Best Missile Is Getting More Dangerous | Wall Street Journal
“The Kheibar Shekan missile is the workhorse of Tehran’s arsenal—a cheap, mobile, accurate weapon with a range of at least 900 miles. And recently, Iran has been using it in complex attacks, proving itself to be an adaptable adversary for the U.S. Since the fighting picked back up this month, Iran has been firing the Kheibar Shekan at American bases, U.S. officials said. It is using a combination of different flight paths, maneuvers and speeds to try to confuse U.S. defenses, they say.”
“A spokesman for the Houthi rebels in Yemen said Friday that the Iranian-backed group was not seeking to block all traffic through the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, just Saudi traffic.”
Indian Embassy Says 28 Crew Safe After Tanker Attack in Iranian Waters | Iran International
“A Mozambique-flagged LPG tanker came under attack in Iranian territorial waters Friday, the Indian Embassy in Tehran said in a post on X. The vessel, DISHA, has 28 Indian crew members on board, all of whom are safe, according to the embassy.”
Saudi Vessel Sustains Minor Hull Damage After Red Sea Attack, State News Agency Says | Reuters
“A Saudi vessel, NCC MASA, sustained minor hull damage after it was attacked while sailing in the Red Sea on Friday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, citing an official source at the General Transport Authority. The vessel continued to its destination after checks confirmed it and its crew were safe, SPA said.”
Senior IRGC Commander Threatens US Troops with ‘Free Tickets to Hell' | Iran International
“A top Iranian commander says Iran will kill one American service member for every Iranian citizen killed in US attacks, warning that US troops have been issued ‘direct tickets to hell.’”
Drones Downed over Erbil, Northern Iraq, Kurdish Forces Confirm | CBS News
“Kurdish forces said the U.S.-led coalition in the area shot down five drones Friday over Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, which has been repeatedly attacked since hostilities between the U.S. and Iran resumed in early July. An AFP news agency journalist reported earlier seeing drones over Erbil before air defenses were activated, resulting in explosions and visible smoke near the city's airport, which hosts U.S. forces and a U.S. consulate.”
Jordan’s Military Says 7 Iranian Missiles and 6 Drones Intercepted | CBS News
“Jordan's military intercepted seven missiles and six drones launched by Iran on Friday, it said, as Tehran pressed its attacks on U.S. allies across the Middle East.”
Kuwait Says Air Defenses Intercepting Drones Launched from Iran | Iran International
“Kuwait’s military said Friday in a post on X that its air defenses were confronting attacks by ‘hostile’ drones launched from Iran. The military said any explosions heard were caused by air-defense systems intercepting the attacks and urged the public to follow security and safety instructions issued by the authorities.”
Iran Lawmaker Warns US of ‘Painful’ Response | Iran International
“Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of Iran’s parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told state television that the Islamic Republic was fully prepared for confrontation with the United States and warned that its actions would be ‘painful.”
“Midnight Hammer showed that America’s most powerful Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker busters could severely damage even a deeply buried facility like Fordow. These weapons relied on smart tactics, precise targeting and fuses that enabled these weapons to drill sequentially through weak points, like ventilation shafts, before detonating to full effect. That same operation also showed that blocking access to a site can be nearly as effective as burrowing into it. . . . In the more than a year since these attacks, Iran has poked around but not reentered the site. Striking Pickaxe could combine elements of what worked best in last summer’s operation, seeking both to maximize direct damage and minimize Iran’s ability to access it afterward.”
DIPLOMACY
Diplomatic Talks on Strait of Hormuz Make Progress, Sources Say | CBS News
“Two regional sources told CBS News that there was progress in the talks between Oman and Iran regarding reopening the Strait of Hormuz and their respective territorial waterways in that area. The two sources indicated that while things are headed in a positive direction, the diplomacy needs more time in order to reach a deal.”
Trump Says Iran Talks Underway, No Decision Yet on Major Strikes | Iran International
“US President Donald Trump said Friday that Washington is in talks with Iran and has not yet decided whether to launch major new strikes, while warning that the US military is ‘locked and loaded’ to escalate the campaign.”
Trump Is Giving Iran Talks ‘A Little Bit of Room,’ US Ambassador to UN Says | Reuters
“U.S. President Donald Trump has paused attacks on Iran to allow more room for diplomacy, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Sunday.”
Araghchi Rebukes US over ‘Excessive Demands’ in Meeting with Pakistani FM | Iran International
“Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticized what he called Washington’s “breach of commitments” and ‘excessive demands’ during a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Friday.”
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
EU Sanctions Iranian Judges, Leading Cyber Group Figure | CBS News
“The European Union has announced sanctions on five Iranian judges, as well as a leading cyber group figure, for human rights offenses. . . . In a statement, the European Council said it was including five judges ‘of Iran regional Revolutionary courts who have presided over trials targeting religious minorities and political dissidents . . . on the basis of vaguely defined national security and religious charges.’ ‘They have imposed death sentences and long prison sentences, flogging, fines or supplementary punishments on political dissidents and human rights activists,’ the bulletin added.”
UN Fact-Finding Mission Urges Iran to Halt Execution of 10 Protesters | Iran International
“Independent UN investigators have called on Iran to immediately halt the execution of 10 men arrested during Iran’s January uprising in Isfahan. The UN fact-finding mission on Iran warned that relatives of at least two of the men had been summoned for final visits, suggesting further executions were imminent. Two other defendants in the same case, Erfan Esfandiari and Afghan national Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, were executed on July 19.”
Political Prisoner Moved to Khorramabad Security Ward | IranWire
“Information obtained by IranWire indicates that political prisoner Sam Nasiri-Moghaddam has been transferred to Khorramabad Central Prison after being held for nearly three months in a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility. Nasiri-Moghaddam, who had previously served a one-year sentence in Evin Prison on the charge of ‘propaganda against the system,’ was re-arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents on April 29, 2026.”
Iranian Political Prisoner Faces Death over Alleged Insult to Adam and Eve | Iran International
“Hossein (Shahan) Alizadeh Azar, a 38-year-old political prisoner, has been charged with Sabb al-Nabi, or insulting the Prophet, an offense punishable by death under Iranian law, over his alleged insult to Adam and Eve. The survey engineer also faces accusations of insulting Iran’s supreme leader and spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.”
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
US Issues Sanctions Against Notorious Iranian Billionaire for Enabling Regime | CBS News
“The U.S. has issued new sanctions against Babak Zanjani, an infamous Iranian billionaire who is now allegedly helping Iran avoid previous sanctions and fund the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
Scandal Rocks Iran’s Secret Oil Money Network as Billions Go ‘Missing' | Iran International
“A widening scandal over the secret network used to move Iran's oil revenues around international sanctions has triggered growing criticism after senior officials acknowledged that intermediaries misappropriated at least $1.6 billion, with some fleeing the country.”
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
“Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is not in contact with any person or institution, says his father-in-law. ‘For the time being, due to certain issues, he is not in contact with any person or institution, but God willing, he is healthy,’ Gholamali Haddad-Adel said, according to ILNA news.”
“Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a teaser released on Friday for the second part of an interview that an agreement with the United States had been ‘the best possible agreement,’ but failed to win national consensus. ‘People on the ground were discouraged by lies, and sometimes I think Israel has infiltrated such a process,’ Araghchi said in excerpts released ahead of the full interview. Araghchi also said no decision on reaching an understanding with the United States had been imposed on Mojtaba Khamenei, saying that whenever he insisted on his position, ‘that path was followed,’ and when he accepted changes based on expert advice, ‘a new path was taken.’”
Senior Cleric Says Iran Hates Negotiating with US | Iran International
“Mohammad-Bagher Mohammadi Laeini, Friday prayer leader in the northern city of Sari, said Iranian political and diplomatic officials should deal with the United States ‘with dignity’ and that ‘as long as there is no change in its behavior, there is no reason for negotiations.’ ‘The Iranian nation also feels hatred and distrust toward negotiations with the United States,’ he said. Laeini said Iran's enemies had a problem with ‘an independent Iran, the Islamic Republic and Islam,’ adding that Western culture was incompatible with religious values. He also said any country that stood alongside the United States and Israel was ‘on the side of falsehood,’ while governments and nations that supported ‘the oppressed’ were ‘on the side of truth.’”
CHINA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE & IRAN
Iran Says Ukrainian Attack on Vessel in Caspian Sea Killed Sailor | Financial Times
“Iran’s foreign ministry said a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea early on Saturday caused an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another. . . . Earlier, [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had ‘achieved very strong results with long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea—including vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship.’ There has been speculation in Tehran that the strike was intended to increase pressure on Iran by signalling that its northern borders could also be threatened if it failed to reach an agreement with Washington.”
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday he will share evidence with the United States showing Russia is assisting Iran in targeting U.S. bases in the Middle East via satellite surveillance.”
Ukraine Moves to Aid US in Iran War After Striking Tehran-Moscow Supply Link | Iran International
“Ukraine is moving more directly into the Iran war, offering to share intelligence about Russian assistance to Tehran while striking vessels that Kyiv says form part of the military supply network connecting Iran and Moscow.”
Iran Foreign Minister Says Ukraine’s Attack on Iranian Vessel ‘Cannot Go Unanswered’ | Reuters
“Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday a Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel ‘cannot go unanswered.’”
Trump Says “I Trust” Xi and Putin When They Say They Aren’t Helping Iran | CBS News
“After posting that he takes Chinese President Xi Jinping ‘at his word’ when he said he wouldn't sell weapons to Iran, President Trump said he trusts both Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin that they wouldn't assist Iran. That's despite Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying China and Russia, ‘at different levels,’ are ‘enabling what Iran is doing.’”
EUROPE & IRAN
Iran Smuggling Agents Into UK as Channel Migrants | Telegraph
“Iran has been caught sending suspected covert operatives across the English Channel into the UK, The Telegraph can reveal. Individuals with links to Tehran’s intelligence agencies are understood to have been intercepted by UK authorities while attempting to enter Britain on small boats. People smugglers working on the Continent told The Telegraph that the Iranian regime facilitated the passage to Britain of migrants living at Calais in exchange for a ‘favour’ for Iran after they settled in England.”
Unit 700: The Elite Iranian Force with Britain in Its Sights | Telegraph
“Iranian transport links were established across the Middle East decades ago to carry guns and arm various militias. The corridors were used to move rifles, rockets and cash from Iran to its allies and proxies, including Syria and Lebanon. Today, these have been extended into Europe, and their cargo has expanded to include heroin, migrants and—according to Iranian officials and the smugglers who work them—people Iran believes it can call on inside Britain. A Telegraph investigation has established that the Iranian government is running smuggling routes into the UK, and officials in Tehran now regard these routes as weapons in their own right. The operation is being led by Unit 700, the Quds Force’s smuggling and logistics arm. Britain imposed sanctions on the unit in 2024 for facilitating activity intended to destabilise the UK and other countries.”
Britain Would Be Target If It Supports US in War, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Say | Reuters
“A spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Britain would become a ‘definite and legitimate target’ if it supported the U.S. in any war with Tehran, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.”
Iran’s ‘Sabre-Rattling’ Should Not Intimidate UK, Wes Streeting Says | BBC News
“Defence Secretary Wes Streeting says the UK should not be intimidated by ‘sabre-rattling’ threats of attack from Iran. Last week, the regime said the country was a legitimate target because of its role supporting the US/Israel war on Iran. Speaking to the BBC, Streeting said Britain should not put ‘too much stock’ on what Iran had said. ‘We stand ready to response to any attacks Iran wishes to wage against this country or our allies and we will continue to do that,’ he added.”
“Iran has issued a fresh warning to Bulgaria after the Balkan country allowed the United States to use its military bases, escalating diplomatic tensions between Tehran and Sofia. In a statement posted on social media, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that ‘those making decisions in Bulgaria must bear responsibility for the dangerous decision to host a US aerial refuelling aircraft at their military bases.’”
French Embassy in Iran Mocks State-Run Newspaper’s Report | Iran International
“The French Embassy in Iran on Friday mocked a report by state-run Tehran Times newspaper claiming European diplomats had met at the French ambassador’s residence in Tehran on July 20. ‘Next time, please check your information with your friends in the Iranian intelligence services, who have around 10 cameras monitoring the French Embassy,’ the embassy said in a post on X addressed to Tehran Times journalists.”
CONGRESS & IRAN
Cassidy: Trump Ending Iran War Soon ‘Seems Unlikely’ | The Hill
“Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Sunday said that President Trump ending the Iran war soon is something that ‘seems unlikely,’ suggesting that the president go to Congress to find a path toward peace. ‘At this point, I do think there needs to be a fuller national discussion as to how we go forward,’ Cassidy said . . . ‘If the president wraps this up quickly, it seems unlikely, but they seem to reassure that it can happen. OK, that’s fine.’”
“GOP Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.) on Sunday defended President Trump’s handling of the war with Iran. ‘Nobody wants war. I think if you were going to ask Americans at large, whether they’re MAGA Republicans or any other American, nobody wants to be involved in another military conflict,’ Donalds said . . . But Donalds, who is running for governor of Florida, said that while Trump ‘doesn’t want to be involved in conflict’ either, the president ‘cannot let a radical terrorist regime like Iran’ have a nuclear weapon and have control over the Strait of Hormuz.”