US Reports ‘Wave of Strikes’ on Iran as War Returns

This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)
This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)
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US Reports ‘Wave of Strikes’ on Iran as War Returns

This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)
This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)

The United States launched a wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, after it reimposed a naval blockade in a return to war between the two foes.

Nearly a month after they signed a memorandum of understanding towards ending the Middle East war, the two sides resumed fighting with strikes on targets across the region.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they targeted Bahrain, where the military said it had intercepted attacks against civilian targets, while Jordan's armed forces said they had downed three missiles from Iran.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, threatened to widen strikes next week to hit power plants and bridges unless Tehran returns to the negotiating table.

"Next week it gets really bad for them," he told Fox News. Despite a return to hostilities, mediated talks between the two sides have not formally ended.

At the heart of the resumption of hostilities has been the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is crucial for global oil and gas flows.

- Agreement 'dismantled' -

Iran blockaded Hormuz after the US and Israel launched their massive attack on February 28, using it for leverage against its foes for months before briefly reopening it, and then again vowing it would be closed "until the US ends its aggression".

The US, in turn, has reimposed its own blockade of Iran's ports, though Trump has backed down on a planned 20 percent levy on ships using the strait.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the renewed US blockade "has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum", referring to the interim deal reached last month to halt hostilities and pursue peace talks.

Days after the return to war, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it launched "a wave of strikes... designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz."

Iranian state media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, on the island of Qeshm and on Bandar Imam Khomeini. It later said fresh US strikes hit the southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country's only civilian nuclear plant.

In the capital Tehran, there was no sign of a return to conflict, with ordinary Iranians thronging cafes to watch the France-Spain World Cup semifinal in huge crowds, AFP journalists saw.

But in Kuwait, repeatedly targeted throughout the war, people were anxious.

"Every day, I wake up wondering whether the situation will de-escalate or worsen," said Mustafa Mohamed, a 39-year-old Sudanese accountant in the Gulf country.

"It has become difficult to feel at ease or plan anything because uncertainty grips everyone."

George Atef, a 38-year-old Egyptian civil servant in Kuwait, said: "What exhausts me most is not knowing when this situation will end -- the waiting itself has become draining."

- Trump scraps levy -

Since the war began, Iran has asserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on ships for taking routes it says are unauthorized.

"The retaliatory operations of the fighters will continue, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States ends its acts of aggression," the Guards said.

A Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early Tuesday, the crisis response company MTI Network said.

And Kuwait said one of its naval vessels was struck during an Iranian missile and drone barrage, wounding four crew members.

Trump meanwhile said he was scrapping a planned levy on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz that he announced Monday.

Since last week, renewed US attacks have killed at least 30 people in Iran, government spokesman Fatemeh Mohajerani said.

Separately, the military announced that seven of its personnel were killed in Wednesday's strikes on the southeast.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country has not so far rejoined the war, warned Iranian leaders on Tuesday that Israel would deal a heavy blow if they launched an attack on his country.

Speaking from Dimona, a southern town widely believed to house Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal, he told them: "Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us."



North Korea Preparing Further Russia Troop Deployments, No Sign Move Imminent, Seoul Says

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
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North Korea Preparing Further Russia Troop Deployments, No Sign Move Imminent, Seoul Says

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un examine a launch pad of Soyuz rockets during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

South Korea's Defense Ministry said North Korea was continuing preparations for an additional troop deployment to Russia, but had detected no signs that such a deployment was imminent, according to a South Korean lawmaker's office.

The assessment came ‌after North ‌Korea's Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim ‌Jong ⁠Un, last week ⁠denied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's claim that Pyongyang planned to send up to 50,000 more troops to Russia to fight for its ally, Reuters said.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement to lawmaker Yu Yong-weon that North Korea had continued to supply Russia with weapons systems, including short-range ballistic missiles, according to Yu's office.

North ⁠Korea is estimated to have supplied Russia with ‌more than 15 million rounds of ‌artillery ammunition, measured in 152-millimetre shell equivalents, it said.

The lawmaker's office, ‌citing a South Korean Defense Intelligence Agency assessment, said North ‌Korean missiles used in the war may have improved in accuracy through battlefield data, alongside Russian technical advice and component support.

The ministry also said the development of some North Korean ballistic missiles and multiple rocket ‌launchers assessed as being intended for use in a conflict with South Korea was nearing completion, the ⁠lawmaker's office ⁠said.

The ministry added that North Korea's Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, capable of reaching the US territory of Guam, was being prepared for operational deployment, according to Yu's office.

North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles have the flight capability to reach the US mainland, the ministry said, but key technologies, including warhead re-entry, have not been verified because all test launches have been conducted on lofted trajectories.

North Korea and Russia have deepened military cooperation since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Pyongyang supplying artillery ammunition and missiles since 2023 and deploying troops from 2024, according to South Korean, Ukrainian and Western assessments.

Moscow and Pyongyang have previously denied arms transfers.


US Vows 'Economic D-Day' as Iran Threatens to Halt all Oil Exports

Image published by the Iranian Parliament's website from Sunday's meeting of the Foreign Policy and National Security Committee.
Image published by the Iranian Parliament's website from Sunday's meeting of the Foreign Policy and National Security Committee.
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US Vows 'Economic D-Day' as Iran Threatens to Halt all Oil Exports

Image published by the Iranian Parliament's website from Sunday's meeting of the Foreign Policy and National Security Committee.
Image published by the Iranian Parliament's website from Sunday's meeting of the Foreign Policy and National Security Committee.

The US threatened Iran with what it called "the greatest financial offensive ever marshalled" as it prepared to roll out economic sanctions on Monday that target Iran's trade partners.

Iran in turn vowed to shut down all oil exports from the Gulf "if the economic war continues." US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) on Monday amid promises to reveal even more severe measures on a country that has endured near-continuous economic sanctions since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Reuters said.

"At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary," Bessent wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times on Sunday.

The warring nations have not conducted military strikes against each other for weeks, ‌but they also ‌have not engaged in meaningful talks to end the six-month-old conflict.

Thousands of people ‌have ⁠died, most of ⁠them in Iran and Lebanon, since the US and Israel began strikes on February 28, degrading much of Iran's conventional military capacity and inflicting economic pain while killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

But Iran has preserved enough missile and drone capability to attack its Gulf neighbors and threaten oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, bringing shipping in the key waterway to a near standstill and pressuring world fuel prices.

The exact state of Iran's nuclear program, which the Americans and Israelis aim to wipe out, remains unknown. Without detailing specific measures, Bessent signaled the US would target "fearful nations" that practice "appeasement" ⁠by engaging with Iran's economy and financial system.

"They would do well to consider ‌the consequences of sustaining it," he wrote in the Financial Times. Iran ‌has been bracing for the sanctions for days, issuing a series of strongly worded statements hinting at a major military response.

Mohsen ‌Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, on Sunday suggested economic retaliation.

Rezaei wrote in a social media post that if the economic war continues, “not ‌a single drop of oil will be exported”, neither through the Strait of Hormuz nor from anywhere in the Arabian Gulf . "Iran will regard any country’s participation in or support for America’s economic war against the Iranian people as an act of war." Bessent previously urged China to cooperate with the US, noting China historically has received half ‌of its oil imports from the Gulf region. A spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington responded with a statement that "sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem," ⁠while calling for diplomacy.

Iran's economy ⁠was already under pressure from international sanctions before the US and Israeli attacks destroyed parts of its infrastructure. Though Tehran remains outwardly defiant, Iranian officials have warned that further economic punishment could increase hardships, reignite unrest and further erode the Iranian Republic's legitimacy.

Iran entered the war with high inflation, a weakening currency, energy shortages, sanctions and deep structural weaknesses, and must now contend with damaged infrastructure, disrupted trade, lost production and the cost of rebuilding.

In the absence of official face-to-face talks between the US and Iran, which were last conducted in June in Switzerland, other nations including Qatar, Pakistan and Türkiye have attempted to promote diplomacy. Iran said Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, will visit Tehran on Monday as part of efforts to restore peace and security in the region, but gave few details.

Pakistan has been mediating in the conflict and a Pakistani government source said Munir would touch on recent developments including the US threat of new sanctions. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon during the war have killed thousands and displaced millions. The US reported 18 military personnel killed and more than 750 wounded.


US: Pro-Palestinian Protesters Sentenced over Blocking Golden Gate Bridge Traffic in 2024

The Golden Gate Bridge during sunrise seen from Marin Headlands viewpoint in Marin County, California, US October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo
The Golden Gate Bridge during sunrise seen from Marin Headlands viewpoint in Marin County, California, US October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo
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US: Pro-Palestinian Protesters Sentenced over Blocking Golden Gate Bridge Traffic in 2024

The Golden Gate Bridge during sunrise seen from Marin Headlands viewpoint in Marin County, California, US October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo
The Golden Gate Bridge during sunrise seen from Marin Headlands viewpoint in Marin County, California, US October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo

Seven protesters who blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest against Israel's assault on Gaza have been sentenced to 30 days, with credit for time already served.

They were convicted in July of misdemeanor charges by a San Francisco jury that remained deadlocked on the more serious charge of felony conspiracy.

Defense attorneys said demonstrators acted out of a moral responsibility to oppose the devastation from Israeli strikes on Gaza and Washington's support for its ally.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said the protest caused ⁠a safety risk ⁠for those stuck in traffic and there should be consequences when laws are broken.

"Throughout history, civil disobedience has mostly involved accepting legal consequences," Superior Court Judge Teresa Caffese was quoted as saying by KQED.

"In that spirit, those who blocked the bridge and disrupted the lives of hundreds of ⁠commuters should be treated respectfully, but should also be prepared to accept the consequences of their actions."

The sentences included half the time in county jail while the remaining days can be served at a work release program operated by the San Francisco Sheriff's Office. There will be four days' credit for previous time already served. The sentencing also included six months of probation, and fines and restitution of over $1,000, Reuters reported.

The defendants will remain free while the case is appealed, SFGate ⁠reported.

Defense ⁠attorneys argued that protesters resorted to blocking the bridge after writing letters and appealing to congressional representatives produced no result.

The jury convicted the seven protesters on misdemeanor counts including false imprisonment, obstruction of thoroughfare, unlawful assembly and in one defendant's case refusal to disperse.

The jury did not reach a verdict on the most serious charge of felony conspiracy, an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime coupled with an overt act, which could have had a sentence of up to 15 years. Prosecutors said they will not retry the charges.