US-Iran war Highlights: Trump describes war as ‘going well’, says US troops hitting Tehran ‘hard’

US President Donald Trump said that talks on Iran are being handled by a team comprising Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, JD Vance and Marco Rubio, as per Reuters.

The first two US military aircraft intended to provide support for operations in the Middle East arrived Friday at an air base in southeastern Bulgaria, drawing a complaint from Iran as Bulgarian residents have also been protesting the deployment.

The Trump administration has faced pushback from some European allies over the use of air bases in support of its war with Iran.

But lawmakers in Bulgaria - a member of NATO and the European Union - voted earlier in July to allow the deployment of up to eight US KC-135 refuelling aircraft, as well as 250 personnel with personal weapons and ammunition and airfield equipment, at Bezmer Air Base.

Under a 2006 US-Bulgaria defence agreement, the Bezmer facility, about 260 kilometres southeast of the capital, Sofia, is a joint-use facility. Any new use of the base requires parliamentary approval.

The deployment, requested by the US Embassy in Bulgaria, is authorised until October 1, 2026.

US President Donald Trump thanked Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev in a Truth Social post for allowing the deployment "despite Iran's threats."

On Thursday, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova assured her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, that the deployment "in no way means a change in Bulgaria's approach toward Iran." The two countries are important trade partners.

A Bulgarian Foreign Ministry statement quoted Petrova as saying "it was out of the question" that any direct military actions linked to the conflict in the Middle East would be carried out from Bulgarian territory.

The statement did not indicate what Araghchi said. But the Bulgarian state news agency, BTA, said Araghchi protested to Petrova over Bulgaria's support for US military operations against Iran during a telephone conversation initiated by the Bulgarian side. The report cited a report from Iran's state-run IRNA news agency.

Residents of the village of Bezmer and nearby settlements, including the regional capital Yambol, have staged peaceful protests in recent days against the deployment of the US aircraft.

Government officials visited the region to address people's fears, assuring them that the deployment is solely for logistical missions involving in-flight refuelling outside Bulgarian airspace.

— AP

During his cabinet meeting, Trump told journalists that America will be striking Iran “very hard” when asked what he expects over the next four weeks, as per Al Jazeera.

“At some point, they’re going to say we just can’t take it anymore,” he mentioned.

Oil prices rose on Friday after Iran said it had stopped two vessels seeking to exit the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring concerns over global energy supplies following a drone attack on ships in a Mediterranean Egyptian port this week.

Iran said four other tankers turned back after its forces intervened, although the Iranian reports could not be independently confirmed.

Two large tankers carrying oil loaded from the Gulf were recorded passing through the strait, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that normally carries about one-fifth ⁠of the world's energy shipments.

Two other commodities vessels also transited, according to shipping data from Kpler, which does not capture vessels that have been transiting the strait with their transponders off.

Iran has blocked most shipping through the Gulf Strait of Hormuz since the start of the five-month-old conflict while its Houthi allies in Yemen this month began threatening the Bab el-Mandeb the strait at the other end of the Red Sea from the Suez Canal, a third export route for Saudi crude.

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Friday, with traders citing the Iranian reports, which followed a similar report earlier this week that was not corroborated. Benchmark Brent crude futures were on track to rise 23% in July and economists and analysts polled by Reuters expect prices to rise further this year.

— Reuters

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said he held a telephonic conversation with Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi and conveyed India's deep concern over the ongoing hostilities in the region amid West Asia tensions.

"Strongly urged that attacks on commercial shipping and seafarers be avoided under any circumstance. India condemns any such attack by any party.

Was apprised of Iran’s perspective of current developments and discussions underway. India is always supportive of dialogue and diplomacy," he said on X.

US President Donald Trump, in conversation with Fox News, said that America and Israel’s war on Iran is “going well”.

Speaking to the US channel’s senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, Trump mentioned US troops are striking Iran “hard”.

“It’s going well. All you can do is keep winning, then eventually something will happen. But we’re hitting them hard, knocking them out for a loop, and we just keep winning. Eventually they’ll have no choice but to go home," he stated.

Britain has asked Cyprus to extradite a dual British-Azerbaijani national suspected of spying on a British air base on the Mediterranean island and passing his findings to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, London police said on Friday.

Rashad Sultanov, 44, from Islington in north London, is being held in custody by Cypriot authorities as extradition proceedings progress, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The case marks Britain's first overseas National Security Act investigation, led by counter-terrorism police into incidents at Britain's RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus between May 11 and June 22 last year, the statement said.

Police in Cyprus, where Britain has two military bases, said the suspect was first arrested in 2025 and had been in custody since then. An Israeli minister at the time said Cypriot authorities had thwarted an attack on Israeli citizens.

He was formally rearrested on July 17 following Britain's extradition request, a Cypriot police spokesperson said.

— Reuters

India said Friday it will provide $8.8 billion in financial support for offshore oil and gas exploration as part of its efforts to reduce its heavy reliance on energy imports.

India, the world's third-largest importer of oil and the second-largest buyer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), has faced major disruptions due to restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz driven by conflict between the United States and Iran.

To cushion the impact, New Delhi has expanded its pool of crude suppliers from 27 to 41 countries, including Venezuela, while increasing purchases from Russia and several African nations.

The cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved what officials described as a "very ambitious" push to explore vast offshore areas on Friday under India's jurisdiction for untapped oil and gas reserves.

"If exploration is carried out properly, India can achieve substantial production," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters in New Delhi.

Modi first announced the offshore exploration mission during a speech marking the country's Independence Day in August last year.

India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told AFP last month that the recent energy crunch had provided fresh impetus to India to expand its domestic supplies.

India currently meets only around 10 percent of its crude oil requirements through domestic production.

— AFP

US petroleum giants ExxonMobil and Chevron released blowout profits Friday, reflecting a major lift in business conditions from the Middle East war that easily offset negative effects at both companies.

ExxonMobil's second-quarter profits more than doubled to $14.5 billion on surging oil prices and record refining margins due to the US-Iran war.

At Chevron, profits for the three-month period were $12.1 billion, more than five times the level in the year-ago quarter.

The results come on the heels of massive profits reported by other petroleum giants in the aftermath of Iran's virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

While both companies returned billions of dollars in dividends and share repurchases, pleasing investors, the profits arrive at a sensitive time in the United States, where gasoline prices sit above the psychologically important $4 per gallon level and polling has shown US President Donald Trump increasingly vulnerable on economic issues.

With revenues of $116 billion, up 42 percent, ExxonMobil pointed to higher oil prices as a factor but described the level as "within historical ranges," citing the effects of reduced refining capacity and crude inventory releases as offsets that kept crude prices from rising more.

— AFP

Kuwait's military on Friday said it had "engaged and destroyed" drones that entered the country's airspace, as per Al Jazeera.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Defence Ministry attributed the attack to "Iranian aggression", saying the drones were aimed at "vital military installations".

The spokesperson said falling debris caused some material damage but added that no casualties were reported.

American oil and gas giants reported raking in massive spring profits while fighting between Iran and the U.S. impeded petroleum shipments and consumers around the world paid more for fuel and confronted shortages.

That resulted in huge profits for some of the biggest publicly traded oil companies as they sold their goods for higher prices. Exxon Mobil on Friday reported doubling its second-quarter profits to $14.53 billion, up 105% from the same time a year ago.

Houston-based Chevron nearly quadrupled its profits to $12.07 billion, up 385% from the same quarter last year, and $70.06 billion in revenue, up 56% from the same time last year.

— AP

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday that they had struck two tankers attempting to pass though the strategic Strait of Hormuz under the "air escort" of the US military.

The IRGC said the "non-compliant oil tankers... were struck and brought to a halt, while four other oil tankers quickly changed course and returned to their previous positions".

The Guards said the tankers had attempted to pass the strait via "an undeclared route", the US-backed alternative to Tehran's designated waterway closer to its own shores.

Iran has effectively maintained control over navigation through Hormuz since the outbreak of the war on February 28, requiring vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before using the waterway.

On Thursday, the Guards said two oil tankers attempting to transit the Strait had turned back after one caught fire.

According to ship-tracking data from analytics firm Kpler, cited by Reuters, four vessels, including two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) transporting Gulf crude, exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, reported AL Jazeera.

The two VLCCs are Spain B, which is currently anchored off Fujairah in the UAE, and Nobel, which is en route to China.

Spain B is carrying crude oil loaded at Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura port on July 12, while Nobel is transporting crude loaded from Iraq's Basra port on July 25.

The latest movement comes a day after tracking data showed three commodity vessels had transited the Strait of Hormuz.

A dual British-Azerbaijani national has been arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of spying on a British air base on the Mediterranean island and passing information to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, London police said on Friday.

Rashad Sultanov, 44, from Islington in north London, was arrested on July 17 by Cypriot authorities and is being held in custody as extradition proceedings progress, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

He was arrested as part of Britain's first overseas National Security Act investigation, led by counter-terrorism police into incidents at Britain's RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus between May 11 and June 22 last year, the statement said. Cypriot police did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Iran's Army said in a statement, “As part of the 27th wave of Operation Thunder, and in retaliation for the US recent incursions into Iran's territory, including a brutal strike on a civilian residence on Qeshm Island, Armed Forces deployed suicide drones hours ago to strike the jet fighter, hangars, satellite communication arrays, and equipment depots belonging to this child-killing military at Kuwait's Ahmed al-Jaber airbase."

“The Ahmed al-Jaber base in Kuwait serves as a key hub for US aerial operations and intelligence surveillance; beyond its tactical functions, it stands as one of the primary logistical air-support centers for the US terrorist forces,” the army said, as pr IRNA news.

Here are key takeaways from the Board of Peace statement:

The Gaza Board of Peace says that Hamas and the mediating countries – Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye, and the US – have finalised a detailed roadmap to carry out the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire.

1. Hamas agreeing to giving up its weapons has been described as a historic breakthrough by the Board.

2. Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza will follow disarmament.

3. Governance of Gaza will transfer to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).

4. Heavy weapons, tunnels, and military production sites will be dismantled and stored under the supervision of the NCAG and an international monitoring mechanism.

5. No weapons will be transferred to Israel or any other Palestinian parties during the disarmament process.

6. NCAG’s independence is paramount as it works to operate public institutions and services and audit Gaza’s financial and administrative affairs, no factions will interfere in its work.

7. The International Stabilisation Force will support the NCAG to enforce rule of law, stabilize security, and facilitate humanitarian aid.

An update to the US military casualty database reports that 653 American service members have been wounded in the conflict with Iran, while US media additionally confirm 18 fatalities to date, IRNA reported

Several explosions have been heard in Sulaymaniyah, located in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, according to a breaking news alert from Al-Mayadeen. It adds that early reports suggest the strikes targeted positions of Kurdish separatist factions opposed to Iran.

In a post on X, the US Central Command said, “Over the past few hours, Iranian state media have continued to report false claims by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – three in particular.” These were:

🚫 FIRST CLAIM: The IRGC (again) claims free and open routes through the Strait of Hormuz are dangerous for commercial vessels.

✅ FACT: The immediate dangers posed to commercial vessels and their civilian crews are the IRGC’s verbal threats and attempted attacks.

🚫 SECOND CLAIM: The IRGC claims Three U.S. F-35 stealth fighters and three other aircraft were destroyed during a recent Iranian attack on an American air base.

✅ FACT: No U.S. aircraft were destroyed or damaged in recent attempted Iranian attacks. All missiles and drones were intercepted or failed to reach targeted areas.

🚫 THIRD CLAIM: Iranian state media is reporting that a commercial oil tanker, M/T Nora, has broken through the U.S. blockade.

✅ FACT: The commercial vessel has not broken through America’s steel wall blockade. More than 20 U.S. warships, hundreds of aircraft, and thousands of service members remain vigilant and continue to fully enforce the blockade.