Iran war news Highlights: Iran says US economic sanctions a ‘declaration of war’ on all nations

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Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said Tehran would take steps to shield the country’s economy and people’s livelihoods from US pressure, as per Al jazeera.

The government will “not allow America’s economic terrorism to target the economic stability and livelihoods of the people,” Aref said.

He added that the experience of the Islamic Revolution demonstrated that economic pressure could not weaken the determination of the Iranian people and instead produced the opposite effect.

“The experience of the Islamic Revolution has shown that economic pressure is incapable of altering the will of the Iranian nation and instead yields the opposite result,” the official said on X.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi discussed the broader regional situation and ongoing efforts “to create an environment conducive to de-escalation” during a phone call, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The two ministers also explored ways to “return to the diplomatic path – whether regarding the negotiation track between Oman and Iran or the resumption of the implementation of the US-Iran memorandum with the ultimate goal of reaching a comprehensive and sustainable agreement that addresses various concerns and enhances regional security and stability.”

Iran's president says the world has accepted that the country has won the war with the United States. France and Saudi Arabia are expected to discuss plans to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since the U.S. and Israel launched the war nearly six months ago.

Meanwhile, remarks by the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria appear to contradict the official U.S. position on the Golan Heights. And Israel has struck a vehicle in a Syrian village with a drone.

— AP

Hossein Taeb, who leads Iran’s Basij internal security paramilitary force, said the international power structure was undergoing a major shift, claiming that the US and Israel are “in one of their weakest positions”.

“Today, the map of global power is changing. It is no longer the case that the United States is the centre of the world and the Zionist regime the centre of the region,” Taeb said, according to Tasnim news agency.

Taeb also claimed that European nations had come to realise they had been “humiliated” by Washington. He said Europe’s declining influence was also evident in the Trump administration’s national security strategy.

Iraqi President Nizar Amidi said that Baghdad will not accept the use of its territory to launch attacks against any country, stressing that "Iraq comes first" and that all sovereign decisions are strictly guided by national interest.

According to state broadcaster Iraqi News Media (INM), speaking on the second day of the eighth Baghdad Dialogue Conference, the President emphasised the urgent need to prevent the nation from becoming further embroiled in broader conflict, noting that Iraq remains among the most affected by regional war.

"We are keen to prevent Iraq from becoming involved in the war. The country most affected by the war is Iraq. We do not accept the use of Iraqi territory to attack any country, and everyone wants weapons to be exclusively in the hands of the state. We speak frankly to all countries that Iraq comes first," he said.

— ANI

The repair of Iran's South Pars Phase 14 gas refinery, hit during an Israeli attack in June last year, is 70% complete, the Pars Oil and Gas Company's chief executive said, according to Iran's oil ministry news agency SHANA.

The refinery would be fully restored by the end of the year, CEO Touraj Dehqani said, and the damaged section will be fully integrated into the production cycle, he added.

— Reuters

An Iranian military official called on Qatar on Saturday to transfer detained Iranian pilots to a hospital on land, saying they were being held on water and were in "poor physical condition", Tasnim news agency reported.

Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, said the location where the pilots were being held was unsuitable and requested that the International Committee of the Red Cross send an air ambulance to Qatar to expedite the return of injured and sick detainees to Iran.

Qatar denied last week that it was holding Iranian pilots, saying they had violated Qatari airspace earlier this year and failed to respond to attempts to contact them.

Doha said it had contacted Iran to coordinate the handover of the remains of one pilot and had invited Tehran to review details of its search and rescue operations, but had received no response.

A foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday that the invitation remained open for an Iranian delegation to visit over the pilots issue.

In his latest statement, Baqerzadeh welcomed Qatar’s decision to receive a team of Iranian experts and called on Doha to provide them with the necessary cooperation.

Baqerzadeh had previously said an Iranian Air Force expert and fact-finding team had been waiting for months to enter Qatar and accused Qatari officials of repeatedly delaying the investigation.

— Reuters

Iran’s defensive weapons production has doubled over the past year, Reza Talaei-Nik, spokesman for the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, said.

“Our defence weapons production rate has doubled in the past year, from July of last year to July of this year,” Talaei-Nik said, according to Tasnim news agency.

He added that weapons and ammunition used in combat were being quickly replenished, with production continuing alongside the deployment of domestically manufactured equipment.

Iran’s army reportedly said its military doctrine is shifting from defensive to offensive, including the possibility of preemptive strikes and retaliation more extensive than the attack it is responding to.

Army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia told state-run IRNA that the shift had emerged through the two recent wars.

He cited an Iranian attack on a US base in Jordan as an example of a preemptive operation and said any future attack on Iran would receive an immediate response that could be broader than the original strike.

Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.

IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s visit to Iraq.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) says Israeli forces carried out heavy artillery shelling early on Saturday in the town of al-Mansouri, around Bayt al-Sayyad and on the outskirts of Majdal Zoun.

NNA said the Israeli army also conducted extensive demolition operations overnight in the three towns and villages, where it reported that “no homes remained undamaged.”

Similar demolitions were reported in Haddatha, Beit Yahoun and Aita al-Jabal, along with machinegun fire towards nearby valleys.

Separately, Israel has carried out an air raid in the vicinity of the Ali al-Tahir heights in southern Lebanon, one of our correspondents reported.

Israeli drones were also reported flying continuously over villages and towns in the western and central sectors of southern Lebanon.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) claimed that the commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains heavily suppressed, with daily transits hovering in single digits due to ongoing Iranian military activity and maritime security risk.

Despite persistent IRGC harassment, including UAV overflights, VHF hailing and active mine danger areas, UKMTO said that 103 ships entered the strategic waterway and 89 departed over the past week.

However, the combined total represents only around 20 percent of the pre-war seven-day average.

Tanker traffic continues to dominate movements through the Strait, accounting for 45 percent of all traffic, the report found.

The southern Omani route remains the highest-risk corridor, accounting for 16 of 18 projectile strike incidents reported by UKMTO since July 6.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says new US sanctions against Iran go far beyond an illegal economic war on a single nation, characterising them as a “declaration of war” against all governments, according to remarks carried by Iran’s Fars news agency.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the US military helped ship more than 15 million barrels of oil and other products out of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

Combined with pipelines, the total oil leaving the region was close to 20 million barrels, he said on X.

The seven-day average of oil leaving the strait is now more than eight million barrels a day, Wright added.

“Make no mistake, thanks to the US Navy, oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

His remarks come amid Iran’s ongoing efforts to block shipping through the critical waterway since February.

The eight million barrels per day figure Wright cited as the latest seven-day average is still less than half of the daily average before the war.

“On Tuesday, the US military helped ship over 15 million barrels of oil and products out of the Strait of Hormuz — combined with pipelines, the total leaving the region is closer to 20 million barrels,” Energy Secretary @SecretaryWright said.

“7-day average of oil leaving the Strait is over 8 million barrels a day. Make no mistake, thanks to the U.S. Navy, oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran war news LIVE Updates: “Someone told me that when you go near the Supreme Leader’s compound, you can still smell burned flesh. I went there myself and found it was true — you can still smell burned flesh," a Shiite cleric told a nighttime gathering of Islamic Republic supporters in Tehran’s Tajrish Square, as per Iran International.

“Our leader had a frail body, but contrary to reports that seven or eight bombs were dropped on the site, they hit the Supreme Leader’s compound with 110 bombs and missiles,” he added, according to a video circulated by Iranian media.

President Donald Trump reposted a message by US lawyer David Schoen on Truth Social saying Trump had given Iran “every possible chance” to change its behavior.

US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) 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.

“‘I view Strait of Hormuz as an AMERICAN territory RIGHT NOW. It’s an American territory,” he reportedly said.

Addressing a rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Trump said, "We cannot let them have a nuclear weapon; we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, or you will see some very bad things."

"We went down, and we stopped them; they will never have a nuclear weapon," he added.

Trump said Iran wanted to reach an agreement but questioned whether Washington would accept a deal, asserting control over the strategic waterway.

"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," Trump said, as per Al Jazeera.

“We have total control of that entire region having to do with the Strait of Hormuz, and that means well into it, the land areas. So, they would love to make a deal, but they’re not ready to make the right deal, in my opinion,” Trump said, as per the Times of Israel.