US-Iran news highlights: US launches airstrikes to ‘swiftly punish’ Iran after 2 servicemen's death in Jordan

HKN Energy has paused operations in Iraq’s Kurdistan region amid the escalating US-Iran conflict, according to Rudaw, which cited a company official.

The suspension comes less than two weeks after HKN signed a deal to develop Iraq’s Hamrin oil field. It follows a wave of drone strikes in Erbil and Sulaimani provinces that killed nine members of an Iranian Kurdish opposition group.

Fresh explosions have been reported in Sirik which is the strategic Iranian city overlooking the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media said some of the latest attacks have also hit residential areas in addition to military targets.

Iranian military leaders have warned that any further US attacks will trigger a stronger response and could widen the conflict beyond the region. Al Jazeera has reported that an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also cautioned that the war risks expanding beyond Iran’s borders, raising fears of a broader regional escalation.

The US early Sunday morning launched fresh strikes to “swiftly punish Iran” after the death of 2 American soldiers were killed in Jordan.

The US Central Command said in a post: “The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night.”

The US State Department on Monday issued an advisory to Americans abroad, “especially in the Middle East” to exercise caution amid the increasing tensions in the region.

“Due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation,” the advisory read. ”We remind Americans in the region of the continued need for caution and encourage them to monitor the news for breaking developments.”

The US Central Command said on X that they are “strictly enforcing” the naval blockade as conflict with Iran escalates.

The update read: “USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) transits the Arabian Sea while an MH-60S Sea Hawk flies nearby. American forces continue to strictly enforce the ongoing naval blockade against Iran. As of July 18, CENTCOM has redirected 5 commercial vessels and disabled 1.”

UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that a vessel seized yesterday at the Gulf of Arden near Yemen has “been maneuvered into Somalian territorial water”. UKMTO branded it as a case of hijacking.

The US Central Command said on X: “On July 17, two U.S. service members in Jordan were killed in action as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Additionally, one service member is currently missing. Four American service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals.

“They have since been discharged. Other personnel who were evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty. Out of respect for the families, CENTCOM will withhold additional information, including the identities of the fallen warriors, until 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says it has received reports of an incident between military forces and a tanker some 100 nautical miles (185km) east of the Omani port town of Duqm.

“Reports indicate that the tanker was ⁠subject to interaction as ⁠part of ongoing military activity ⁠in the region,” ⁠UKMTO said in ⁠a note cited by Reuters.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has released a written statement saying the US’s repeated breaches of agreements with Iran show that the US president’s signature is “worthless and invalid”.

The statement was released by Iran’s IRIB broadcaster.

“The Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s message regarding the great epic of the farewell to Martyr Imam Khamenei, as well as an elaboration on key issues of the country, will be published shortly,” a post on Mojtaba Khamenei’s X account read.

Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan was hit by three U.S. airstrikes on Saturday, Mehr News reported.

The head of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jassim al-Budaiwi, has accused Iran of carrying out “war crimes” in its latest attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, saying they intentionally targeted infrastructure and civilian facilities.

“Iran’s actions constitute a highly dangerous escalation, a grave violation of international law and the United Nations (UN) Charter, as well as war crimes requiring international accountability and prosecution, given the deliberate targeting of infrastructure and civilian facilities in flagrant violation of all international norms and conventions and a persistent determination to destabilise regional security and stability,” al-Budaiwi said in a statement shared by the GCC’s general secretariat.

The Belgian federal government has approved a series of measures, including an import ban on goods originating from the occupied Palestinian territory.

The import ban was part of an agreement reached by the government last year in response to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Details on how the ban will be implemented have yet to be finalised, according to Belga News Agency.

Pakistan and Kuwait on Saturday urged the US and Iran to uphold the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last month and avoid any steps that could further escalate tensions amid renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz.

The appeal came during a telephone conversation between Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Office.

The call came as the US and Iran exchanged fresh strikes on Saturday, with attacks targeting military and infrastructure sites as fighting over the Strait of Hormuz intensified.

Jimmy Carter used to be one of President Donald Trump’s favourite political targets, a catchall foil for feckless Democrats that he could jeer at to make himself look strong and decisive.

But lately, Trump’s sentiments on the 39th president have become more wistful as he faces some of the same challenges the late Carter did.

Those include the war in Iran with no end in sight — and now escalating as the U.S. moves to control the Strait of Hormuz — and inflation, a drag on the economy Trump hasn’t tamed despite long insisting that his business background would wipe it out.

The comparison seems to be on Trump’s mind, too. Asked last month why he didn’t dispatch U.S. Special Forces into Iran to forcibly remove its enriched uranium, he responded, “I didn’t feel like being Jimmy Carter.”

That recalled the failed 1980 raid to free U.S. hostages that killed eight American servicemen. Trump also said in March that the unsuccessful mission “cost them the election” against Ronald Reagan in 1980, sounding cognizant of political realities in a way he didn’t when using Carter as a punchline.

The shift in tone coincides with Trump’s increased focus on his personal legacy and comes as the parallels between the two presidents become harder to ignore.

“I think it is dawning on him — it’s getting through even his thick skull — that he’s kicked over a hornet’s nest and his presidency might be remembered for some of the same things Jimmy Carter’s presidency is,” said Jonathan Alter, author of “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life.”

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the attacks, calling them a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the targeted countries, and a blatant breach of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and the principles of good neighbourliness”.

It described these attacks as a “dangerous escalation” that would “complicate efforts to contain tensions and undermine political and diplomatic endeavours aimed at achieving security and stability in the region”.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani says Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu belongs “in the Hague” and is “a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court”.

Netanyahu is expected to visit New York City for the UN General Assembly in September.

The mayor told a US media outlet that he was unclear on whether he had the legal authority to order the New York Police Department, which he oversees, to arrest a foreign leader like Netanyahu. He said he was in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department over the matter.

Passenger trains have resumed from southern Iran’s Bandar Abbas railway station, two days after the US military had hit and damaged railway lines, reported the country’s IRIB news agency.

Iranian authorities said Sunday they have executed a man convicted of killing a member of security forces during the 2022 nationwide protests that erupted after the death of a woman in custody of the country’s morality police.

Authorities said the fatal shooting took place during unrest in Tehran, where protesters blocked roads and clashed with security forces.

They said Aref Khoshkar was armed with a pellet gun and fired at security personnel, wounding Salman Amirahmadi, who later died in a hospital.

According to the authorities, Khoshkar confessed that he fired the gun from the roof of a house and threw it in a trash bin.

The execution is the latest reported in connection with the 2022 protests, which had spread after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died in police custody following her arrest for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that his country has suspended its commitments under the MoU amid US attacks, Iran’s Fars news outlet reports.

“The US has violated and suspended all its commitments within the framework of the Islamabad MoU,” Gharibabadi said.

He added that Tehran has suspended its commitments and implementation of the agreement and is “busy defending the country”.

Air raid warning sirens have been activated in Bahrain for the sixth time in the last few hours.

The Interior Ministry told people to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place”.

Iran’s Head of Public Relations and Information for the health ministry has announced that since July 6, US attacks on the country have killed at least 50 people and injured more than 500 others.

In a post on X, Hossein Kermanpour said among those killed were five women, two children and teenagers under 18.

He added that 32 women were injured, as well as 18 children and teenagers.

“So far, 28 surgeries have been performed, 460 people have been discharged, and 37 people remain hospitalised,” Kermanpour said.

Kuwait accused Iran on Saturday of targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure in the country, after reporting attacks on an oil facility and a power and water plant.

“The repeated targeting of these vital facilities reveals a systematic hostile approach targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure that endangers the lives and safety of civilians,” the foreign ministry said.

The US embassy in Beirut has asked all Americans not to travel to Lebanon and to reconsider travel to or through the Middle East.

“Due to high tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation,” the embassy said in a statement.

The US embassy in Jerusalem also released a similar statement, saying Americans “should not travel to Gaza, Northern Israel, and the Egyptian border except for the Taba crossing”.