TOP STORIES
Iran Launches Surprise Missile Attack on U.S. Forces | Wall Street Journal
“Iran launched a surprise ballistic-missile attack on American forces in Jordan, a U.S. official said, a violent escalation that piles new pressure on President Trump to renew the war in earnest. The missiles were all successfully intercepted, the U.S. military said.”
U.S. and Saudi Arabia Strike Iran-Backed Groups in Iraq After Attacks on American Forces | CBS News
“The U.S. and Saudi militaries launched airstrikes late Tuesday on Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, U.S. Central Command said, after Iran and its proxies allegedly targeted American forces over the last few days.”
Iran Considered Retaliatory Strike on Ukrainian Seaport | New York Times
“Iran considered attacking a seaport in Ukraine in response to a Ukrainian strike on an Iranian ship, but a flurry of diplomacy has calmed the situation for now, according to Iranian and Western officials.”
UANI IN THE NEWS
Interview with UANI CEO Amb. Mark D. Wallace | BBC News
“The nature of dealing with hostile and rogue regimes like Iran has been to find alternative mechanisms to create leverage that don’t always result in military conflict. . . . Economic sanctions have been in place since 1978–79, although they haven’t always been enforced.”
One Megabuyer—China—Finds a Way to Get Mideast Oil | Wall Street Journal
“Iran appeared to take advantage of a monthlong pause in the U.S. blockade to rush out oil exports, exporting an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion in oil before the blockade resumed in mid-July, analysts said. Those shipments headed to an area off the coast of Malaysia where tankers from Iran unload oil to vessels that continue onward to China, a sanctions-evasion strategy. One of the Iranian tankers, the Humanity, arrived off Malaysia over the weekend, according to ship-tracking data and United Against Nuclear Iran, a U.S.-based advocacy group.”
Iranian Oil Hoard Swells Off Malaysia on Weak Chinese Demand | Bloomberg
“The US blockade ‘is disrupting the logistics cycle, as many Iranian-flagged tankers at the EOPL are now also unable to return to Iran to reload,’ said Charlie Brown, an adviser to nonprofit group United Against Nuclear Iran. That limits ‘Tehran’s ability to replenish those offshore stocks,’ he added.”
Iran Expert Brands Islamic Center of England Iran’s ‘UK Office,’ Urges Immediate Closure | Fox News
“A leading Iran expert has called on the British government to shut down an Islamic center that he claimed has been functioning as an office of the regime’s supreme leader amid a shocking report that Iran’s regime smuggled operatives into the United Kingdom. . . . Kasra Aarabi, director of IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] Research at United Against Nuclear Iran told Fox News Digital, ‘In light of the IRGC’s threat to attack Britain and reports that it has been exploiting the illegal migrant crisis to send ‘Islamic revolutionary agents’ to the country, the U.K. government simply must not tolerate the existence of this Islamist extremist infrastructure on British soil.’”
MILITARY MATTERS & SHIPPING
Iran Rejects Omani Proposal to Share Strait of Hormuz, Demands More Control | Wall Street Journal
“Iran rejected a proposal to evenly divide control of the Strait of Hormuz, jeopardizing hopes that Tehran and Washington would quickly resume negotiations to end the war. Oman, which sits opposite Iran across the strait, suggested a temporary plan to establish even lanes of control, but Tehran demanded Tuesday that it take the lion’s share of the waterway critical to the flow of the world’s oil supply, one of its top diplomats said. . . . Tehran will only move to the next stage of negotiations if Oman agrees to Iran’s Hormuz plan, said Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi.”
Iran to Get Chinese Shoulder-Launched Missile Systems in Weeks, Sources Say | Reuters
“Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters, as it rebuilds its defences amid war with the United States.”
Allies Shrug as US Pushes for Strait of Hormuz Patrol | Politico
“European allies are refusing to support a U.S. push to create a joint Strait of Hormuz patrol until they see an enduring ceasefire in the Iran war—the latest sign that Washington’s repeated bashing of its closest friends has carried consequences.”
Ukraine Warns Iran Against Escalation After Ship Attack | TVP World
“Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Tuesday he called his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, following Iran’s denunciation of a Ukrainian drone attack on one of its ships, warned him against escalation and told him to end all support for Russia. . . . Araqchi confirmed on X that he had been assured by Sybiha that the attack on the Iranian ship was unintentional and that Kyiv did not seek escalation.”
US Commander Warns Troops Their Videos Help Iran, Sources Say | Reuters
“The top U.S. commander for the Middle East has warned troops that cellphone videos shared online can help Iran target American bases, and sources told Reuters some deployed personnel could soon be ordered to surrender their phones.”
DIPLOMACY
Trump, Netanyahu Tout “Productive” Meeting After Weeks of Tensions | Axios
“President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in the Oval Office Tuesday for a ‘productive’ 90-minute session on the Iran war—free of any public sign of tensions that have marked their relationship over the past several weeks. . . . An account provided by the Israeli government stressed that the two leaders are in close coordination on the war and that there is no daylight between them. ‘There is no truth in the claim that Israel is pushing the U.S. in a certain direction on the Iran issue,’ Netanyahu’s communication director, Tzipi Hotovely, told reporters. ‘The Prime Minister is not telling the U.S. President what to do and is not pushing him in any direction. Both sides want to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons. There are many ways to achieve this goal.’”
ASSASSINATION THREATS & PLOTS
“Iran has stepped up attempts to physically harm current and former senior Israeli officials, including a group of top incumbent ministers, according to an assessment that the security establishment delivered to the threatened figures in recent days, unsourced Hebrew media reports said Tuesday. While Iran has long tried to harm Israeli officials, Israel’s security establishment has recently identified increasing efforts to ‘quickly’ score a ‘strategic psychological achievement’ against Israel in the form of an attack on high-ranking individuals, Channel 12 reported. The Shin Bet has beefed up security for several senior Israeli officials, and former senior officials are also being targeted, a similar Ynet report said.”
CONGRESS & IRAN
Senate Advances Graham Bill to Put Harsher Sanctions on Russia, Iran | The Hill
“The Senate, in a rare bipartisan vote Tuesday night, advanced a bill that would impose harsher sanctions on Russia and buyers of Russian oil and gas than the U.S. has previously enforced and extend existing sanctions on Iran, aiming to economically squeeze the two countries amid ongoing military conflicts. The bill, named for its co-author, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), has had strong backing from members in both parties for over a year as a way to further penalize Russia over its war in Ukraine.”