Jordan’s air defences shot down five missiles launched from Iran Thursday morning, the country's state-run Petra news agency said, hours after the US military announced it had completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a US base in Jordan.
No casualties were reported from Jordan's interception of the missiles, the news agency quoted the spokesman for the country's armed forces as saying.
The US military has resumed strikes against Iran after Donald Trump promised Tehran would “get a beating”.
US Central Command announced early Thursday that it had launched strikes against Iran in what it called a “powerful response” to attempted attacks on American forces in the Middle East.
Trump unleashed an expletive-ridden threat to “beat the f****** s***” out of Iran” Wednesday following its “surprise” missile attack against the US.
Tuesday night, CENTCOM announced that it intercepted Iran’s latest “surprise attack” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after Trump’s meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier that day.
Saudi Arabia also joined US strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq Wednesday, killing at least 20 soldiers.
Key Points
- US says it completed latest round of strikes on Iran
- US attack kills three in Iran
- Oil prices slip below $90 a barrel
- Hopes of new ceasefire fade as Saudis join Trump’s war
- How the wars in Iran and Ukraine are colliding on the world’s largest lake
How the wars in Iran and Ukraine are colliding on the world’s largest lake
07:55 , Maira Butt
Fears have mounted over the world’s two major wars converging after Ukraine attacked an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, with Tehran vowing to respond.
Iran claimed one sailor was killed and another injured in the Ukrainian attack, as the ministry summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to protest against what it described as a “hostile and criminal” act.
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday the reported strike on a commercial vessel “cannot go unanswered” in a call with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain reports:
How the wars in Iran and Ukraine are colliding on the world’s largest lake
Jordanian air defences shoot down 5 missiles launched from Iran, state-run news agency says
07:36 , Maira Butt
Jordan’s air defences shot down five missiles launched from Iran Thursday morning, the country's state-run Petra news agency said, hours after the US military announced it had completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a US base in Jordan.
No casualties were reported from Jordan's interception of the missiles, the news agency quoted the spokesman for the country's armed forces as saying.
The US Central Command said in a social media post that for over two hours the US had struck “dozens” of targets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, including military command centers as well as missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance and defence sites.
Jordanian air defenses shoot down 5 missiles launched from Iran, state-run news agency says
How the wars in Iran and Ukraine are colliding on the world’s largest lake
06:32 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Fears have mounted over the world’s two major wars converging after Ukraine attacked an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, with Tehran vowing to respond.
Iran claimed one sailor was killed and another injured in the Ukrainian attack, as the ministry summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to protest against what it described as a “hostile and criminal” act.
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday the reported strike on a commercial vessel “cannot go unanswered” in a call with the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
More here.
How the wars in Iran and Ukraine are colliding on the world’s largest lake
Jordan claims Iran fired missiles at kingdom
06:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Jordan's armed forces this morning said it foiled Iran's attempt to target the kingdom with five missiles.
The military spokesperson said the Jordanian military radar detected the incoming missiles before air defence units downed all five of them.
US attack kills three in Iran
05:52 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
At least three people have been killed in a US attack on a residential building in Iran's Qeshm, according to Iran's Fars news agency.
A two-year-old child was among the three killed in the attack.
Watch: Trump says he'd be 'disappointed' if China armed Iran
05:43 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Hopes of new ceasefire fade as Saudis join Trump’s war
05:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
A furious Donald Trump has threatened to punish Iran following a “surprise” attack on US military targets in the Middle East.
The offensive took place days after the US president suspended air strikes over the region.
In an expletive-ridden outburst, he told Fox News: “We’re going to beat the f****** sh** out of them. We’ll be hitting them hard. They’re going to get a beating.”
In a day of escalation in the region, Saudi Arabia also joined the US in striking several Iran-backed groups.
More here.
Hopes of new ceasefire fade as Saudis join Trump’s war in the Middle East
Oil prices slip below $90 a barrel
05:15 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Oil prices gave up some of their gains today as oil tankers continued to make their way out of the Middle East even as tensions there escalated, with the US-Iran war spreading beyond its main fronts.
Brent futures fell $1.29, or 1.42 per cent, to $89.45 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 56 cents, or 0.66 per cent, to $83.90 a barrel.
Brent settled up 7.91 per cent in the previous session and WTI up 6.56 per cent in one of the sharpest spikes of the Iran war, reversing a 5 per cent plunge on Tuesday after a pause in hostilities in the five-month conflict.
QatarEnergy-controlled LNG tanker exits Hormuz
05:01 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
A QatarEnergy-controlled liquefied natural gas tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz overnight, the first such vessel visible on ship-tracking data to leave the waterway since 11 July, data from analytics firms showed.
The Al Areesh tanker, which loaded a cargo at Qatar's Ras Laffan terminal around 4-6 July, sailed out of the strait overnight on 29 July, according to Kpler and LSEG data.LSEG data shows it is currently heading to Port Qasim, Pakistan, with an estimated arrival date of 31 July.
Its departure marks the first time a QatarEnergy-controlled LNG tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz since the Al Rekayyat was struck in early July.
The previous LNG tanker to exit was the Al Hamra, which left on 11 July carrying a cargo loaded at the United Arab Emirates' Das Island, according to Kpler data.
US says it completed latest round of strikes on Iran
04:38 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
The US military said it completed its latest wave of strikes on Iran, which lasted two hours and hit dozens of targets, with Washington casting the strikes as a "powerful response" to Iranian missiles launched towards US forces in the Middle East a day earlier.
The US military said on Tuesday it intercepted multiple ballistic missiles launched by Iran towards US forces in what Washington called "an attempted surprise attack" by Tehran. Iran confirmed it had fired on US bases in Jordan.
President Donald Trump said after the missiles were intercepted that US forces would retaliate. "We're going to hit them very hard," he said
Watch: Trump vows to 'beat the f***ing s***' out of Iran
04:02 , Rachel Dobkin
Iran to get Chinese shoulder-launched missile systems 'in weeks'
03:00 , Alex Croft
Iran is reportedly expected to receive within weeks a first shipment of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defence missile launchers.
The purchase, valued at $60-70m, is one of Tehran's largest-known efforts to strengthen its short-range air defences since the outbreak of its war with the US and Israel, which exposed gaps in Iran's ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure.
The contract covers the purchase of between 300 and 400 man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), including Chinese-made QW-12 and FN-16 missiles, Reuters reported, citing sources.
The deal was signed with Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment. Sources told Reuters the Hong Kong-based company was acting as an intermediary between the Iranian side and the Chinese supplier.
US strikes Iran in 'powerful response' to attempted attacks on American forces
02:20 , Rachel Dobkin
The US military has launched strikes against Iran in a “powerful response” to attempted attacks on American forces.
“U.S. forces began launching strikes against Iran at 8 p.m. ET today. The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday's attempted Iranian attacks on U.S. forces based in the Middle East”, US Central Command wrote on X.
In pictures: US-Saudi strikes on Iraq kill at least 20 members of pro-Iran militia
02:00 , Alex Croft
Iranian asylum seeker’s 15-year fight to stay in the UK: ‘My dreams for my life are all gone’
01:01 , Alex Croft
A man who fears persecution in Iran has spent 15 years in the UK battling a failed asylum claim, homeless and unable to lead a normal life, after repeated refusals by the Home Office to allow him to stay.
In the more than a decade he has been trapped in the asylum system, Mostafa Rahmani has not been allowed to work or been housed in Home Office accommodation – forced to depend on the kindness of friends to get by.
Mr Rahmani, now 41, he arrived in the UK from Iran in 2011 as a 26-year-old student looking to learn English. He came on a student visa, but claimed asylum a few days after arrival when he says Iranian security forces turned up at his family’s home in Tehran looking for him. He said that he had taken part in anti-government protests in 2011.
The Independent’s social affairs correspondent Holly Bancroft reports:
‘I’ve been trapped in UK for 15 years, I worry I won’t see my mum before she dies’
US-brokered plan for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon suffers slow start
Thursday 30 July 2026 00:01 , Alex Croft
A US-brokered plan for Israel to withdraw gradually from occupied areas of southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia has started slower than expected.
The "pilot zone program" is the centrepiece of the US’ June 26 framework deal intended to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and establish peaceful ties between Israel and Lebanon.
Hezbollah still refuses to give up its weapons, while on the ground, the rollout of the first zone in the south Lebanese village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh last week offered a glimpse of a strained and complex process that will be no easier to repeat elsewhere.
A senior Lebanese military official, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely, told the Reuters news agency it had taken weeks of US-brokered negotiations with Israel and days of military operations to establish the first zone in a single village.
The agreement links Israel's progressive withdrawal to the "verified disarmament" of Hezbollah — which is not a party to the deal, has refused to give up its arsenal, and has raised the prospect of internal strife if the state tries to disarm it by force.
US troops could be forced to surrender cellphones as videos help Iran target bases
Wednesday 29 July 2026 23:00 , Alex Croft
The US military’s top commander in the Middle East has warned personnel that cellphone videos being shared online by troops are helping to target US bases.
Some deployed troops could soon be ordered to surrender their phones, in a crackdown on mobile communications that would add a new dimension to the conflict for the thousands in the region, many of whom still rely on phones to periodically message loved ones and assure them they are well.
Admiral Brad Cooper, in a previously unreported letter, said Iran was benefiting from being able to see the success or failure of its strikes in near real-time by searching news reports or online posts by journalists referencing "reactions, photos, and footage from the cellphones of our troops”, according to the Reuters news agency.
"The direct, unavoidable cost of this open-source intelligence could be measured in the lives of American service members and civilian residents in targeted Gulf countries," Cooper, head of US Central Command, wrote in his July 28 letter.
He called on troops to "redouble our focus on operational security," without prescribing specific steps in the memo.
