We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.
CENTCOM Says Seventh Night Of Attacks Concluded At 5 A.M. Iran Time
The US Central Command at 5 a.m. Iran time on July 18 said its latest wave of strikes -- the seventh night in a row of attacks -- had been concluded.
"US Central Command (CENTCOM) hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities. US forces employed fighter aircraft, aerial drones, and warships in addition to other assets," it said on X.
Iranian media earlier reported that at least two bridges and a tunnel had been hit by US forces. News outlets also reported that three people had been killed in the attacks, but the report could not be independently verified.
Hormuz Shipping Comes To Near Halt Amid Latest Flareup Of Violence
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz -- through which some 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and gas supplies transited prewar -- has almost ground to a halt again following the renewed exchange of attacks, according to data supplier Kpler.
Only eight ships passed through the strait on July 16, the lowest figure in three weeks and down from 15 passages a day earlier and from 48 two weeks ago, Kpler said.
"Seven of the eight transits used the Iranian route, highlighting a growing concentration of movements through higher risk corridors as operators reassess security, crew safety, and insurance exposure," it said.
"While regional mediation efforts remain under way, commercial shipping patterns suggest military developments are now shaping operational decisions more than diplomatic progress."
Prewar, more than 100 vessels on average passed through the waterway each day.
The reduction in transit traffic has led to major shortages of oil and gas throughout the world and pushed energy prices sharply higher.
Prices had dipped and traffic increase following an interim cease-fire agreement between Washington and Tehran, but the latest attacks by both sides has again disrupted shipment of supplies.
Exiled Iranian Kurdish Group Reports 9 Killed In Suspected Iranian Attack
At least nine members of an Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group based in Iraq's Kurdistan region were killed on July 17 on an attack the exiled party blamed on Iran.
Idriss Kohlwazi of the exiled Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan told AFP: "The Iranian regime attacked at 4:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) with drones and rockets a camp."
The strikes killed nine members of the party at their camp near the city of Sulaimaniyah, he said.
The Iraqi government also blamed the attack on Iran.
The attacks come amid renewed military escalation between the US and Iran.
Thousands of self-exiled Iranian Kurds have established bases in the semiautonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region. The Iranian Kurds, although keeping ties, maintain separate militias from the Iraqi Kurds in the region.
With reporting by AFP
US Hits Iran For Seventh Straight Night As Tehran Strikes Gulf States
US forces have launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, marking the seventh straight night of strikes described as looking to degrade Tehran's military capabilities.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in an X post that it "launched a round of strikes against Iran at 3 p.m. ET today [10:30 p.m. on July 17 in Iran] for the seventh consecutive night. The strikes are designed to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities at the Commander in Chief's direction."
CENTCOM also said that over the first three days of a renewed blockade of Iranian ports, US forces have redirected four commercial vessels, disabled one, and boarded another to "ensure full compliance" with the blockade.
The announcements come as US-allied Gulf Arab states reported incoming Iranian missiles and drones, with some strikes causing some injuries and damages at infrastructure sites.
An X post by the Kuwaiti Army stated that the Defense Ministry spokesman said that "the sinful Iranian aggression resulted in the targeting of several facilities and camps affiliated with the Kuwaiti Army using hostile drones, leading to injuries among a number of Kuwaiti Land Force personnel while carrying out their duties."
"The injured have received the necessary medical care and treatment, and their health condition is stable," it added.
The Kuwaiti Army also said that fire broke out and caused damage to power-generation units at an electricity and water desalination plant, although the exact timing of that attack was not immediately clear.
Meanwhile, Iranian Major General Mohsen Rezaei threatened that Tehran is ready to resume "full-scale offensive operations" if US strikes against it continue for another two or three days.
Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said, "Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses...and no political border will be safe," according to the Iranian news agency IRIB.
With reporting by AFP
CENTCOM Says Strike Destroyed Iranian Maritime Surveillance Tower
The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces destroyed a surveillance tower at the Shahid Kalantari commercial port in the southeastern Iranian city of Chabahar.
It described the tower as part of a maritime surveillance network used "for decades" by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) "to track and target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz."
CENTCOM said in an X post on July 17 that the destruction of the tower the previous day "directly degrades IRGC's ability to coordinate attacks on innocent civilian crew members" and would help protect freedom of navigation in regional waters.
It included what it said was footage of the strike in its post.
Iranian authorities had previously said that the Chabahar maritime watchtower was used to ensure the safety of civilian navigation. The US military says that was instead used to support attacks on merchant vessels.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
US Strikes Hit Military, Infrastructure Sites In Iran As Tehran Threatens More Gulf States
As US forces targeted military sites and infrastructure, primarily in southern Iran, for the sixth night on July 16-17, Tehran responded by announcing it was launching strikes on five Persian Gulf states, including attacks on US military forces in Syria and Bahrain. Tehran's claims could not be independently verified. (Video by RFE/RL's Radio Farda and Will Tizard)
Iranians Send Anti-War Message To Hard-Liners With Rare Petition
Tens of thousands of Iranians have flocked to sign an online petition with a rare but pointed message to the country's hard-liners: Go fight the war against the United States yourselves.
Within a day of appearing on the online platform Karzar, more than 100,000 people -- and the number continues to climb -- demanded in the petition that members of Iran's ultraconservative Paydari Front political faction be sent to the country's southern war zones -- where US air strikes have focused much of their attention to "better understand the realities on the ground."
The campaign is a response to the Paydari Front's opposition to any negotiation between Iran and the United States, which has continued even as American strikes hit Iran's southern coastal cities.
Signatories, in a rare public showing of the depth of anger over the continued fighting, argue that hard-line factions, lacking firsthand experience of conditions in the south, are making decisions from a distance that put ordinary lives at risk.
Read more here
Kuwait Says Iranian Attack Hit Power Plant And Water Desalination Station
Kuwait said one of its power generation and water desalination stations was damaged in an Iranian attack on July 17, triggering a fire and disrupting several electricity generation units.
The blaze was brought under control, and technical teams are assessing the damage and working to restore affected units, the country's Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy said.
The incident came after Iran said it had launched fresh strikes on US facilities across the Middle East following a sixth consecutive night of American attacks on Iranian military sites.
With reporting by Reuters
Shipping Monitor Issues Alerts On Maritime Incidents In Middle East
A British shipping security monitor has issued three incident reports involving commercial vessels in the Middle East.
In its latest alert, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that on July 17 a vessel was boarded by "unauthorised personnel" around 65 nautical miles south of Al Mukalla, Yemen, while transiting east through the Gulf of Aden. Authorities are investigating.
UKMTO also reported that a tanker was hit the previous day by an "unknown projectile" 19 nautical miles east of Khasab, Oman, sustaining minor structural damage. It said all crew were safe and accounted for, no environmental impact had been reported, and the vessel was continuing to its next port of call.
In a another report issued on July 17, UKMTO said that a merchant tanker was "subject to interactions" with military forces in the Arabian Gulf on July 15 "as part of ongoing military activity in the region."
UKMTO said investigations into all three incidents are continuing and it urged vessels in the region to exercise caution.