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US Strikes Iran, Drawing Retaliatory Attack on American Base

Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. (Reuters).
Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. (Reuters).
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US Strikes Iran, Drawing Retaliatory Attack on American Base

Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. (Reuters).
Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. (Reuters).

The United States struck southern Iran on Thursday, drawing retaliation from Tehran against a US military base, in the most serious clashes since an April ceasefire began.

The fighting threatened to jettison a fragile diplomatic push to forge a peace agreement and open the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a key point of contention in efforts to formally end the war.

The fresh fighting appeared to begin when Iranian forces fired at four ships attempting to cross the Strait, state broadcaster IRIB reported on Thursday.

US forces launched strikes that hit a ground control station in the southern port area of Bandar Abbas, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP, prompting swift response by Iran.

"Following this morning's aggression by the invading US military against a location on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport using aerial projectiles, the American air base that served as the source of the attack was targeted at 4:50 am (0120 GMT)," the Guards said, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.

The Guards did not provide details on the location of the base, though Kuwait's military said its air defenses were responding to an "enemy" attack on Thursday.

The clashes threw into question talks aimed at formally ending the war that began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

A key focus of the proposed deal has also been restoring full traffic to the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively closed, leaving global energy markets grappling with curbed supplies of the huge amounts of oil and gas that normally pass through it.

Oil prices bounced higher on Thursday after reports of the strikes, reversing much of Wednesday's fall on the hopes of a possible imminent deal.

Fresh strikes were also reported in Lebanon, another front of the war.

Israel said it hit the southern city of Tyre, after warning it would take action against Iran-backed Hezbollah and declaring all areas south of the Zahrani River, which lies roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border, as "combat zones".

The United States Treasury also announced sanctions on Wednesday against Iran's Gulf Strait Authority, Tehran's new agency that collects fees for travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.

- Lebanon operations intensify -

Iran and the United States have traded threats for weeks while negotiating through Pakistani mediation.

Neither side appeared ready to compromise on the main sticking points: Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program.

On Wednesday, the Guards' navy said only ships "willing to abide by Iranian order" could pass through Hormuz.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that a deal remained within reach, but that the Hormuz would be reopened "one way or the other".

Iran has also insisted any peace accord must apply to Lebanon, where an April 17 ceasefire has done little to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which drew the country into the war by attacking Israel in early March in retaliation for the death of Iran's supreme leader.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday to "crush" Hezbollah, while army chief Lieutenant Colonel Eyal Zamir said Wednesday that Israel was "intensifying our operations" against the group.

After the warning to evacuate large areas in southern Lebanon, many residents fled to Tyre, according to AFP journalists -- the city subject to new Israeli evacuation orders and where the military said it had begun strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure on Thursday morning.

- 'Nothing is certain' -

In signs of a possible return to normality despite conflict around the region, Iranian authorities partially restored access to the global internet this week after a three-month shutdown.

"I do feel better now because I finally can use my favorite applications," said Hana, a 20-year-old student in Tehran who gave only her first name.

"At the same time, I have this concern that war might resume any minute and just cut me off again from my friends."

Amir, a 27-year-old software developer in the Iranian capital, also feared renewed fighting despite talk of a deal.

"I feel like nothing is certain yet," he said.

"The daily question is: Will there be missile strikes tonight?"

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World

Mystery Shrouds Leadership of Iran’s Intelligence Agencies

Questions mount over the identity of Iran’s deputy intelligence minister months after Esmail Khatib’s death (Iranian Presidency)
Questions mount over the identity of Iran’s deputy intelligence minister months after Esmail Khatib’s death (Iranian Presidency)
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Mystery Shrouds Leadership of Iran’s Intelligence Agencies

Questions mount over the identity of Iran’s deputy intelligence minister months after Esmail Khatib’s death (Iranian Presidency)
Questions mount over the identity of Iran’s deputy intelligence minister months after Esmail Khatib’s death (Iranian Presidency)

Six months into Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s rule, Iran has reshuffled its military and security leadership after a war that killed two cabinet ministers and a string of senior Revolutionary Guards commanders.

Yet two of the country’s most sensitive posts remain shrouded in secrecy: who is running the Intelligence Ministry, and who now commands the Guards’ powerful intelligence arm.

Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed on Feb. 28 in the opening strikes targeting the leadership, including the office of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran’s heavily fortified Pasteur district.

On March 2, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian appointed Majid Ben Reza as deputy defense minister. He is expected to be formally nominated to parliament to take over the ministry.

Pezeshkian announced the death of Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib on March 18. Since then, Iranian authorities have not disclosed who is serving as acting minister.

The government-affiliated news outlet reported last week that the deputy intelligence minister had sent separate congratulatory messages to Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei and newly appointed military commanders, pledging the ministry’s cooperation with the new leadership on priorities set by the supreme leader for the armed forces.

Deadline to name two ministers

Pezeshkian is under pressure from close reformist allies over the delay in naming a new intelligence minister, one of five cabinet posts that require the supreme leader’s approval.

In practice, the intelligence minister is usually chosen with the supreme leader’s direct involvement.

The minister also sits on the 12-member Supreme National Security Council, giving the officeholder a direct role in Iran’s main security decision-making body.

Abbas Goudarzi, a lawmaker and spokesman for parliament’s presiding board, said this week that Mojtaba Khamenei had given the government a deadline to submit nominees for the intelligence and defense ministries.

“Under the authorization obtained from the supreme leader, the government has one and a half months from Aug. 20 to submit its proposed ministers for intelligence and defense to the Iranian parliament,” Goudarzi said.

But naming a new intelligence minister may first require a change in the law.

Current legislation requires the minister to have attained the religious rank of ijtihad, a senior scholarly qualification that sharply narrows the pool of candidates to clerics who meet the requirement.

“The idea was raised that ijtihad should not be a requirement for the intelligence minister,” Goudarzi said. “Since the current law conflicts with this proposal, the law must be amended. It was therefore decided that the government would submit a bill to parliament on the matter.”

Legacy of security breaches

Khatib served as intelligence minister under former President Ebrahim Raisi and kept the job when Pezeshkian formed his government two years ago, despite mounting criticism of the security services over a series of breaches attributed to Israel’s Mossad.

Those criticisms intensified after Israeli intelligence reached military commanders and officials involved in the nuclear program who were killed during the war.

The next minister will inherit an agency battered by a string of security breaches and assassinations targeting military, nuclear and security officials, as well as the legacy left by successive ministers who ran the institution.

Fresh questions over the security surrounding senior intelligence officials were raised by Khatib’s son.

In an interview published by the state-run IRNA news agency on Aug. 10, he said his father had faced four assassination attempts before he was killed, including two during the June 2025 war.

He said Khatib was later killed at the home of his second wife despite tight security surrounding his movements.

Cultural Heritage Minister Reza Salehi Amiri is among the names being considered for the intelligence portfolio.

Salehi Amiri, previously known as Reza Fallah, worked at the Intelligence Ministry during the 1980s and 1990s and was one of the agency’s leading interrogators before gradually moving into political and government posts.

He later held positions at strategic research centers affiliated with the Iranian presidency and the Expediency Council.

Under President Hassan Rouhani, he served for a year as deputy minister of sports and youth before becoming a presidential adviser and head of the National Library and Archives.

He also served for a year as culture minister at the start of Rouhani’s second term before returning to government after Pezeshkian became president.

Vacuum in Revolutionary Guards intelligence

The picture is even murkier inside the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence organization and its protection unit after several senior commanders were killed in the war.

On April 6, the Revolutionary Guards confirmed that Brigadier General Majid Khademi, head of its intelligence organization, had been killed in an Israeli-US attack, hours after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz first announced his death.

Khademi had previously headed the Guards’ protection organization before becoming intelligence chief on June 19, 2025, succeeding Mohammad Kazemi.

Before that, he oversaw the unit responsible for protecting political figures and sensitive sites, including key state institutions and nuclear facilities.

Kazemi was killed in Israeli strikes on June 15, 2025, three days after dozens of Revolutionary Guards commanders were killed in the opening strikes of the 12-day war.

That attack also killed Mohammad Reza Nasir Bagban, known by the alias Mohsen Bagheri, head of the Quds Force intelligence unit, and Brigadier General Hassan Mohaghegh, one of the Guards’ most prominent intelligence commanders and a figure with close ties to current Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

Tehran has yet to disclose who now leads the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence organization, its deputy command, or the Quds Force intelligence unit.

Hossein Taeb, however, who spent 13 years at the helm of Guards intelligence, has returned to a senior security role as commander of the Basij, tasked with expanding the “popular intelligence network.”

World

Colombia Estimates Quake Damage at $9.6 Billion

A view of the damage to the Carrasquilla Industrial Educational Institution, as seen during a visit by singer Shakira, in Quibdo, Colombia, 17 August 2026. (EPA)
A view of the damage to the Carrasquilla Industrial Educational Institution, as seen during a visit by singer Shakira, in Quibdo, Colombia, 17 August 2026. (EPA)
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Colombia Estimates Quake Damage at $9.6 Billion

A view of the damage to the Carrasquilla Industrial Educational Institution, as seen during a visit by singer Shakira, in Quibdo, Colombia, 17 August 2026. (EPA)
A view of the damage to the Carrasquilla Industrial Educational Institution, as seen during a visit by singer Shakira, in Quibdo, Colombia, 17 August 2026. (EPA)

The powerful earthquake that killed hundreds of people in western Colombia caused $9.57 billion in economic losses, President Abelardo de la Espriella said on Tuesday, issuing a preliminary estimate.

The 7.4-magnitude tremor, which struck on August 10, was the most powerful in Colombia in nearly half a century.

The death toll stands at 289, with a further 4,187 injured and 143 missing.

Nearly 27,000 homes were destroyed, leaving many people sleeping in the streets or in public parks.

Dozens of hospitals and schools also collapsed or were damaged.

"Imagine the scale of the disaster," said De la Espriella, a political novice who took office just three days before the disaster.

The crisis has been a baptism of fire for De la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer and business magnate who was elected on a promise to flush out the drug-trafficking rebels that control part of Colombia.

He said Tuesday he had tasked his housing minister with launching a "miracle" reconstruction plan, with the backing of the private sector.

But the minister, Jaime Andres Beltran, has been under fire for taking a Caribbean holiday in the immediate aftermath of the quake.

World

Trump Says No Talks Planned with Iran, Tehran Says Strait of Hormuz Still Shut

Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 17, 2026. (Reuters)
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Trump Says No Talks Planned with Iran, Tehran Says Strait of Hormuz Still Shut

Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 17, 2026. (Reuters)
Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 17, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday no talks were taking place with Iran and none were scheduled, and he insisted that the Strait of Hormuz was open, contradicting an earlier Iranian assertion that the critical waterway remained shut to shipping. 

The receding prospects of a deal to end the nearly six-month conflict drove up oil prices again on Tuesday, while stock markets sagged and borrowing costs for major economies including the US hit multi-decade highs, amid concerns about the long-term inflationary and fiscal impact of the crisis. 

A temporary ceasefire agreement expired on Monday and a senior Iranian official told Reuters that his country was moving to a "fully offensive" military posture due to the diplomatic stalemate, though there were no reports of fresh strikes by either side on Tuesday. 

"There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with Iran," Trump said ‌in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday. 

"The Naval Blockade remains in full force and ‌effect. ⁠The Hormuz Strait is ⁠open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated," he added. 

On Monday, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and special envoy, had sounded an optimistic note, saying talks with Iran were still under way and were "probably more robust" than they had ever been. 

SHIPPING DISRUPTED 

Despite Trump's typically ebullient remarks about the situation in the Gulf, preliminary shipping data on Tuesday showed ship crossings via the Strait of Hormuz were still in single digits on Monday. 

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it received a report on Tuesday that a vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting outbound in the Strait of Hormuz, causing engine room damage and a crew casualty. 

The ⁠remaining crew were being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard, according to the report. 

Top Iranian ‌negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in comments published by state media that the ‌strait would remain shut until the US met the conditions of an interim deal signed with Iran in June. 

These conditions include the US ‌lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, lifting oil sanctions, releasing Tehran's frozen assets, and ending threats and military operations on ‌all fronts, Qalibaf told parliament. 

A memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 had set a 60-day time frame for a broader deal on Iran's nuclear program and US sanctions. That period elapsed on Monday and Trump said he had no plans to extend it. 

The agreement, which declared the "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts," had quickly unraveled over a dispute about control of the Strait of Hormuz, the ‌narrow waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war. 

IRAN SAYS IT STILL OPEN TO TALKS 

Both Trump and Tehran have frequently ⁠switched between threats and more emollient ⁠rhetoric as they seek a way out of the crisis, which erupted when the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28. 

Iran remains open to dialogue with the US but does not confuse negotiations with surrender, Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on Tuesday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. 

Mokhber said military pressure and sanctions would not break Iran's resolve and that the country would defend its security, dignity and allies while not seeking war. 

Even as Iran projects resilience in the war, its leaders are worried that a threat of more economic punishment could increase hardships, reignite unrest and further erode the regime’s legitimacy, according to three Iranian officials. 

Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. Iran has bombed countries including Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. 

Benchmark Brent crude oil futures have surged during the conflict, hitting a peak of $126 a barrel, roughly 75% above pre-war levels. Brent crude futures settled up 20 cents on Tuesday at just over $91 a barrel. 

For Americans who will vote in November congressional elections, gasoline prices have risen above $4 per gallon, up from less than $3 before the war, according to the automotive group AAA.