live Saudi Arabia Establishes Defense Alliance To Secure Navigation In Red Sea

We are now closing the live blog until 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.

The US military launched strikes against Iran late on July 29, saying the operation was in response to what Washington described as Iranian attacks on US forces in the Middle East.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X that the strikes began at 8 p.m. ET (00:00 GMT).

"The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday's attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East," CENTCOM said.

A senior US official confirmed to RFE/RL that the US Army was carrying out strikes inside Iran.

Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations.

According to US officials, the action follows an attack on Tuesday, July 28, in which Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired five missiles at a US military base in Jordan. Hours later, the US and Saudi Arabia struck Iran-backed militias in Iraq, escalating tensions across the region.

US President Donald Trump earlier on Wednesday signaled that military action was imminent. In an interview with Fox News, he said the United States would respond forcefully to the alleged Iranian attack.

Later on July 29, speaking at the White House, Trump told reporters it was the US military's "turn" to strike Iran. "They know it's coming. They're asking us not to do it, but they tried shooting at us last night," Trump said.

The latest strikes follow a brief pause in US military operations against Iran after Trump delayed further action over the weekend to leave room for possible diplomatic engagement with Tehran.

The renewed military action raises fears of a broader regional conflict as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to escalate.

A drone struck a US-owned floating gas storage vessel at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta on July 29, British maritime security firm Ambrey said, in an incident that could signal a further widening of conflict across the Middle East.

Egypt's Petroleum Ministry confirmed a fire involving a gasification vessel and a storage vessel at the port but did not identify the cause.

It said the blaze was quickly contained, with no injuries or fatalities, and Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi visited the site to oversee the response.

Three trading sources said the drone hit the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Energos Winter, causing a fire that spread to another tanker, Gaslog Salem.

Two security sources said the blast was assessed as likely caused by a drone strike, while maritime risk management firm Vanguard said the vessel was struck by an unidentified projectile.

Responsibility for the incident was not immediately clear.

It came hours after Iran launched missiles at US forces in Jordan, while Washington and Saudi Arabia struck Iran-backed groups in Iraq, raising concerns the conflict could spread further across the region.

Reuters verified videos showing the damaged vessels at Damietta port.

With reporting by Reuters

The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) has said that commercial shipping continued to transit the Strait of Hormuz with American military support, despite what it described as threats and attempted attacks by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

In a post on X on July 26, CENTCOM said its forces had helped about 1,000 vessels carrying 500 million barrels of crude oil pass through the waterway since early May.

It also rejected the IRGC's claims that international shipping should use only routes approved that it had approved, saying the Strait of Hormuz "is an international waterway" and the IRGC "has no authority to dictate routes."

WASHINGTON -- The United States has imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting two Iranian maritime insurance entities, eight oil tankers, and 10 companies, accusing Tehran of using coercive insurance schemes and a "shadow fleet" to finance the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and evade US sanctions.

The US Treasury Department said on July 29 that it had sanctioned the Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, alleging they ran an IRGC-backed scheme that forced commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to purchase insurance against risks "created by Iran itself," including the threat of vessel seizures.

Treasury also designated eight companies operating tankers that it said transported illicit Iranian crude oil and petrochemical products to China and the United Arab Emirates, describing the vessels as part of Iran's shadow fleet used to circumvent international sanctions.

"With its economy in freefall and inflation in the triple digits, the regime is desperate for cash," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement, adding that Washington would not allow Iran "to hold global commerce hostage or use international shipping to finance the IRGC's terrorism, aggression, and repression."

The measures block any US-based property or interests belonging to the sanctioned entities and generally prohibit US persons from conducting transactions with them.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the sanctions support a US campaign that has now targeted more than 100 vessels this year and are aimed at countering what Washington described as Iran's exploitation of the Strait of Hormuz through coercive insurance schemes and deceptive financial networks.

The latest action underscores the continued hardline US approach toward Tehran despite intermittent diplomatic efforts.

"Iran is clearly trying to proactively establish companies to extract revenues from the Strait in the event they get their desired outcome from this war," Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert at Obsidian Risk Advisors, told RFE/RL.

"This is effectively a public admission from Washington that the US and Iran are still very far apart on negotiations," he added.

Iranian writers, filmmakers, and other cultural figures have joined the local and international outcry against a surge of executions in the country, using the hashtag "Do Not Execute" to criticize the continued use of the death penalty in a crackdown on political dissent from mass protests that shook the country in January.

Following two executions on July 28 that marked the first public hangings to take place in a year, writer and novelist Hossein Sanapour condemned the actions, criticizing what he described as opaque judicial proceedings and arguing that the authorities were attempting to suppress public anger following the January protests.

Iran's judicial authorities executed Abolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi on July 28 in the city of Isfahan. The two men had been sentenced to death in connection with unrest during the January protests.

Since the start of the war with the United States and Israel on February 28, Iran has witnessed a surge in executions of people human rights groups consider political prisoners -- from demonstrators to alleged members of banned groups and those convicted of spying.

Read more here

President Donald Trump angrily warned Iran that US forces will strike back "hard" after a missile attack against US bases in Jordan.

"We'll be hitting them hard. They're going to get a beating," a Fox News correspondent quoted Trump as saying during a brief interview on July 29. "We are going to beat the 'effing s' out of them."

Iran resumed missile attacks on what it says are US targets in the Middle East on July 29 by firing several missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and the headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command in Jordan, according to the official state-run IRNA news agency.

Jordan's military said five missiles were intercepted in the attack, giving no reports of any casualties or damages.

Iran's attack came hours after US and Saudi forces carried out strikes on Iran-aligned targets in eastern Iraq late on July 28 in what US Central Command (CENTCOM) said was a response to recent drone attacks on American forces and Saudi energy infrastructure.

CENTCOM said in a statement the strikes targeted logistics and weapons sites used by Iran-backed groups following more than 30 drone attacks over the past 72 hours. It said the attacks on US forces were unsuccessful.

The attacks have raised fears that after a short lull in the conflict, both sides will resume the fighting.

Iran's Statistical Center reported that the country's year-on-year inflation rate reached 87.9 percent, according to its latest monthly data.

The figure, which measures the change in the consumer price index compared with the same month a year earlier, indicates that the cost of an identical basket of goods and services has nearly doubled over the past 12 months.

The Statistical Center also said annual inflation for the 12-month period ending in late July stood at 66 percent, compared with 62 percent previously reported by Iran's Central Bank.

The latest figures come amid growing concern among Iranian economists over accelerating price growth. In recent weeks, several economists have warned that inflation exceeding 100 percent could signal the onset of hyperinflation.

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella organization of mostly pro-Iranian militias that has formally been part of Iraq's security forces since 2016, said the death toll from joint US-Saudi air strikes had reached 20.

In a statement issued on July 29, the PMF described the toll as preliminary and said at least 32 people were wounded.

According to the PMF, the strikes targeted positions in Baghdad, Wasit, Nineveh, Basra, Kirkuk, Karbala and Diyala provinces, causing damage to military facilities and equipment.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the operation was conducted on July 28 after more than 30 drone attacks over the previous 72 hours. It said the targets were "Iran-aligned terrorists" directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to attack U.S. forces and Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure.

Iran expects to receive the first shipment of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-launched air defense systems in the next few weeks, Reuters has reported.

Citing three informed sources, Reuters said the contract, worth $60 to $70 million, includes the purchase of up to 400 QW-12 and FN-16 systems and is part of Tehran's effort to rebuild its short-range defenses following the war with the United States and Israel.

The contract was reportedly signed with Hong Kong-based Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment, a company that has acted as an intermediary between the Iranian side and the Chinese supplier, the sources said.

According to the plan agreed upon by the parties, the cargo will first be transported by air from Urumqi in western China and then via Pakistan to Iran. The sources did not specify whether the transfer from Pakistan to Iran will be by air or by land.

China's Foreign Ministry called the report "completely baseless," and Pakistan's military public relations department denied any role in the transfer of the equipment to Iran.

Iranian officials have not yet commented.