U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon and described the Strait of Hormuz as “American territory” amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, Al Jazeera reported.

“They want to make a deal so badly, we don’t even know if we want [a deal] because I view the Strait of Hormuz as an American territory right now, it’s an American territory,” Mr. Trump said, as per Al Jazeera.

Earlier, speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing for Myrtle Beach, Mr. Trump had claimed that the United States had “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz and supported the idea of declaring the strategic waterway a U.S. territory.

-ANI

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked a U.S. military base in Kuwait.Citing a source familiar with the details, The Jerusalem Post reported that the attack was carried out using at least three drones.

Heavy blasts were also heard in Iraq’s Basra province, which lies adjacent to both Kuwait and Iran, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing reports from Iranian and local Arab media.

Meanwhile, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB cited regional outlets noting that a major blaze erupted in Kuwait this morning.

ANI

The United States conducted a new round of airstrikes early in the morning targeting Iran after announcing the death of another American service member, and Iran fired missiles towards Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighbouring Israel.

Step by step, the U.S. and Iran have inched closer to all-out war as last month’s interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. 

The U.S.. military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.

-AP

Air defences were heard in parts of Tehran on Thursday morning (July 16, 2026), state media said, and explosions rang out in northern and western parts of the country.

“So far, no casualties have been reported in Tehran by official authorities,” state news agency IRNA reported. 

Explosions were heard in parts of the western Lorestan province and Semnan in the north, IRNA and the Mehr news agency reported.

– AFP

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed once again after a warning shot fired by its military struck a vessel using an unauthorised route in the critical waterway, further jeopardising the already tenuous ceasefire agreement with the United States.

U.S. Central Command said a short time later that its forces began a third round of strikes against Iran. There were explosions in Bandar Abbas and Sirik, two towns along the shores of the strait, Iran state media reported.

“The United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait,” the American military said.

A Cyprus-flagged container ship was hit by Iran and suffered “significant engine room damage,” and a civilian crew member is missing, U.S. Central Command said.

Senior U.S. officials had previously said in Washington that negotiations to further cement last month’s deal to end the war would be unable to progress without the strait being secure — and even said they wanted Iran to offer public statements to that effect.

Instead, the Revolutionary Guards Corps said multiple vessels “disregarded our warnings and instructions to correct their course and proceed along the approved route.” One of them “was struck by a warning shot and brought to a stop.”

Iran said that the strait would remain closed “until further notice” and said it would consider targeting “additional enemy bases in the region” if it faced more attacks.

A little more than an hour later, the U.S. announced its own new round of strikes.

“Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay,” Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on social media.

Attacks followed more diplomatic talks about the strait

The latest flurry of shots from both sides followed Iran and Oman’s foreign ministers meeting on Saturday (July 11, 2026) to discuss the strait that lies between them, after days of Iranian attacks on ships and U.S. retaliation that dealt a blow to the interim deal to end the war.

Iran’s new supreme leader, still unseen since the war began, also vowed in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Iranians would avenge his killing in the war’s opening strikes on February 28.

Such revenge “is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out,” Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement carried on state television, hours after President Donald Trump threatened more missile attacks.

Oman said it and Iran agreed to keep talking about the Strait of Hormuz “at the technical and political levels.”

Iran accuses Washington of violating ceasefire deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said before the new round of strikes that he met with his counterpart in Oman to discuss “appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the safe passage of ships.”

For decades, the world has considered the strait an international waterway. Iran has insisted that the strait now remain under its control and that it be allowed to charge ships moving through it, a stance it took after the war began. The U.S. urges mariners to transit on a southern route through Oman’s territorial waters.

About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began. Iran’s grip on it during the war led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.

Iran’s top diplomat also accused the U.S. of violating the interim deal by ending waivers allowing Iran to sell crude oil on the open market in U.S. dollars. Washington ended them in response to the attacks on ships in the strait.

“Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance,” Mr. Araghchi wrote on social media.

Trump says he responded to threats to kill him

Mr. Trump said he’s personally been the target of an Iranian plot, and he said the U.S. military would automatically retaliate if he was killed.

He wrote on social media early Saturday (July 11, 2026) that “1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat.”

However, such retaliation would have to be ordered by Vice President J.D. Vance, who would become commander-in-chief if Mr. Trump were to be killed.

Mr. Trump said he was responding to threats “to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate” him. During Khamenei’s funeral, mourners held posters or banners calling for Mr. Trump to be killed along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The U.S. President has declared the ceasefire over but said the U.S. would continue negotiations.

U.S. officials, speaking Friday (July 10, 2026) on condition of anonymity about the current situation with Iran, said the resumption of strikes even before the latest round came as a result of what they described as a rogue faction of Iranian hard-liners who were trying to sabotage the ceasefire.

Iran has insisted its theocracy is unified under the new supreme leader.

After the U.S. wrapped up strikes on Thursday (July 9, 2026), more attacks reportedly hit Iran, raising questions about who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.

Israel didn’t claim them, meaning the Gulf Arab states may have launched them, likely as a means to deter Iran from attacking them again. Iran on Thursday (July 8, 2026) retaliated for U.S. strikes by targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.

The strikes in Iran over two days — and before the ones in the wake of the warning shot — killed at least 17 people and wounded 115 others, Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said.

Published – July 12, 2026 08:08 am IST

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio appear to be staking out differing approaches to carrying out President Donald Trump’s national security agenda as the possible 2028 Presidential rivals jostle for position in a divided Republican Party.

With vastly different backgrounds and policy experience, they have moved along separate paths to stake out territory: Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants with a long history in the Senate and major interest in Latin America, and Mr. Vance, a child of the Midwest and Marine Corps veteran who served in the Senate for only two years before being tapped as Trump’s 2024 running mate, with a message of opposing foreign wars.

While deferential to each other — and with the White House and State Department denying any suggestion of a rift — Mr. Vance and Mr. Rubio appear the most divergent on West Asia. 

In discussing Iran, Mr. Vance has several times been critical of Israel and its actions in Lebanon, saying Mr. Trump has been frustrated by Israeli actions against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah that have angered Iran and made negotiations with Tehran more difficult.

Mr. Rubio, meanwhile, has remained supportive of Israel or held his tongue, particularly over the situation in Lebanon — an issue he has taken the lead on and resulted in a preliminary framework agreement last week.

-AP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised Gulf allies of the United States on Wednesday that Washington would protect their interests as it seeks to hammer out a final settlement of the Middle East war in talks with Iran. 

Mr. Rubio is on a regional tour to reassure the Gulf states, which were targeted by Tehran’s missiles and drones during the conflict and saw their crucial oil and gas shipments effectively cut off by an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. 

During a visit to Kuwait City, Mr. Rubio said Washington would be on the same page as Gulf states as it wrangles with Iran over a permanent settlement to the conflict.

“We’re going to be completely aligned with our partners in the Gulf,” he said, adding that the United States would “engage them on conversations about every decision that’s made with regards to this negotiation.”

Mr. Rubio is due to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Bahrain on Thursday after sitting down with the leaders of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. 

-AFP

Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said that the Strait of Hormuz will be administered by Tehran, state media reported today, following talks pushing to end the US-Israeli war on the Islamic republic.

Iran and the United States agreed on yesterday to set up communication lines to keep the vital shipping route open and end fighting in Lebanon, mediators said, after their first round of talks in Switzerland toward ending the conflict that has engulfed the West Asia.

“The Strait of Hormuz will never return to its pre-war conditions and will be administered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with international law,” Ghalibaf said on his return from the talks, according to IRNA.

In a video posted to Ghalibaf’s Telegram account, he said the talks at the luxury Swiss resort of Burgenstock produced “good achievements”.

-AFP

Switzerland said U.S. talks with Iranian negotiators on a pact to end the war in West Asia would not take place on Friday (June 19, 2026), while Vice President JD Vance dropped plans to travel there, fuelling uncertainty whether a lasting truce ‌can be found.