House Republicans' $95 billion Iran war package clears first hurdle
Republicans on the House Budget Committee advanced a $95 billion package Thursday for the Iran war, farm aid and President Donald Trump's push for strict new voter ID requirements, moving forward on a party-line vote despite trouble in the full House — and the Senate.
Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington framed the proposal as one last push to deliver for voters ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. It advanced on a vote of 20-14.
Kuwait says responding to missile, drone attacks
IEA chief says world should be worried about energy security if Strait of Hormuz situation does not improve in next weeks
The head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol said on Thursday that if the US and Iran do not come together to improve flows of oil through the Strait of Hormuz soon the world should be worried about energy security.
"Oil security is still a critical issue," Birol told a Council on Foreign Relations event. "We should be worried, and I am worried if the situation does not improve in the next few weeks."
US strikes in Iran hit airport, bridges and railway station
Deadly US strikes overnight hit an airport, a railway station in the port city of Bandar Abbas and two bridges in southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said Friday.
"Three explosions were heard around the airport and at least one American enemy projectile hit Iranshahr airport," in the southeast, state television IRIB said on Telegram.
"A few minutes ago, the Bandar Abbas Railway Junction Station was targeted by the American enemy. According to this report, two Iranians were injured in the attack," Mehr said on Telegram.
An official report spoke of airstrikes on two bridges Hormozgan Province and cited IRNA as saying that two people had died and four were injured.
US Marines board vessel in Gulf of Oman, military says
US Marines boarded a vessel in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday for "verification", US Central Command said in a post on X.
The military added that the U.S. has also redirected three commercial vessels trying to run its US blockade of Iranian ports and disabled another to ensure compliance with the blockade.
Iran state media reports new strikes, explosions in south
Iranian state media reported explosions and US strikes in locations across the south on Thursday night, as hostilities between the two foes rekindled.
State TV reported two explosions in the city of Bushehr - home to Iran's only civilian nuclear plant - in a "continuation of the American enemy aggression", as well as a series of unattributed explosions in coastal Bandar Abbas.
The official news agency IRNA also reported "American enemy attacks on areas around Ahvaz", where fearful residents told AFP they had heard intense strikes for a second night in a row.
Iran judiciary denies Trump statement that American prisoner was freed
Iran's judiciary said that no American prisoner had been released or exchanged from its prisons, Iranian state media reported on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump said a US citizen detained during the Biden administration in 2024 had been freed.
The judiciary said checks showed no convicted American prisoner, person accused of spying for the United States matching the description given by Trump, or any other American detainee hadbeen released from Iranian prisons or exchanged.
Southern Iran's Bandar Abbas targeted by 'American projectiles', Iran state media reports
US launches new wave of strikes against Iran, military says
The US began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran on Thursday at 2 pm ET (1800 GMT) to "further degrade Iranian military capabilities", US Central Command said in a statement.
Latest round of US strikes due to Iran violating interim deal, White House says
"The reason for the recent strikes over the course of the last several days is because Iran violated the memorandum of understanding that we struck with them," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
"Specifically, in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and unfortunately they have made the tragic decision for them to do that.
Reporters raise their hands to as a question as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
How the conflict might evolve as US and Iran resume tit-for-tat strikes
Dubai media denies 'false' reports of explosions in downtown Dubai
Middle East war rekindles as US and Iran resume strike exchange
The United States and Iran continued to trade blows for a sixth day on Thursday as the foes battled over the vital Strait of Hormuz despite a call from mediator Pakistan to resume talks. The renewed fighting and US blockade of Iranian ports came a month after a preliminary deal was signed that aimed to end the conflict. Since last week, the renewed US attacks have killed at least 30 people in Iran, according to Iranian government authorities.
Booms heard in UAE's downtown Dubai, witnesses say
Witnesses said booms were heard in downtown Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
Yemen's Houthis threaten to target Saudi oil facilities
Yemen's Houthis warned on Thursday they will target Saudi Arabia's oil facilities and other infrastructure if conflict escalates between the two sides, days after the airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa was struck.
"All Saudi oil facilities and vital installations are targets for our missiles and drones if it gets itself involved in a full-scale aggression against our country and moves towards escalation," the group's leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi said.
On Monday the Iran-backed Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of attacking Sanaa airport, retaliating with strikes targeting an airport in the kingdom. The exchange of fire was the most significant escalation between the foes since a 2022 truce.
US strikes hit 'in vicinity' of Iran's Qeshm island, Iranian media reports
Iranian news agencies on Thursday reported that the United States launched strikes around Iran's Gulf island of Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz as renewed hostilities flared between Washington and Tehran.
Fars news agency reported an "American missile strike in the vicinity of Qeshm", citing local authorities, while Tasnim news agency said one of its correspondents reported locations around Qeshm "were struck by projectiles from the American enemy".
Lebanon and Israel conclude round of talks on IDF withdrawal
Syria said on July 16 it had foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon by seizing a shipment that included missiles at its border with Iraq. This comes after US President Donald Trump floated the idea of Syria intervening in Lebanon against the armed group and amid talks between Beirut and Tel Aviv in Rome over the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the south of Lebanon. FRANCE 24's Renée Davis tells us more.
Oil rises above 1% as Iran threat puts Red Sea route at risk
Oil prices rose more than 1% on Thursday as concerns over energy supplies increased after the Iran war escalated with intensifying strikes in the Middle East and as Tehran asked Yemen's Houthis to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route. Brent crude futures were up 93 cents, or 1.09%, to $85.88 a barrel at 1420 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 89 cents, or 1.12%, to $80.49 a barrel.
"Simultaneous disruptions affecting Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb would significantly amplify supply chain stress, increase tanker availability constraints, and raise insurance premiums," said Wael Makarem, financial markets strategist lead at Exness.
Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, three sources told Reuters on Thursday, posing a potent new threat to global energy supplies.
Closure of the Bab el-Mandeb strait — gateway to the Red Sea — would open a new front in the energy crisis and Iran's overarching conflict with the U.S.
EU plans to double electrification in reponse to Iran war's squeeze on oil
The European Union is eyeing a target for electricity to account for 46% of energy consumption across the bloc by 2040, doubling the rate today, a draft European Commission proposal seen by Reuters showed.
The draft plan, which the Commission is due to publish on Friday, is part of the EU's response to the fallout of the Iran war, which sent oil and gas prices soaring and spurred Brussels to prepare new measures to cut Europe's reliance on imported oil and gas.
A week of strikes shatters hope of a lasting US-Iran peace deal
Hopes of a lasting peace deal between Iran and the US are fading fast following a week that has seen consistent exchange of fire between the two sides.
The US resumed its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz firing at a ship that attempted to breach it.
For its part, Iran retaliated by launching strikes on US allies including Jordan, where projectiles believed to be of Iranian origin were spotted.
Yesterday's key developments:
• Lebanon and Israel completed a new round of US-mediated negotiations in Rome, agreeing to implement "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon where Israeli forces would withdraw and turn over control to the Lebanese army.
• The US military launched rare daytime attacks on Iran, including a 90-minute wave of strikes, as it reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports. Tehran responded with strikes on “US military targets” in Gulf states.
• After closing the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran threatened to shut additional energy export routes including the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, a major global shipping route through which Saudi Arabia exports its oil.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
