Iran News

Oil tankers turn around, avoid Red Sea following warnings by Yemen's Houthis • Israel, Lebanon delegations to meet in Rome on August 4 for new negotiations round

"The strikes are designed to continue degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," the US Central Command said in a statement on X.

The decision, which follows a similar policy established by Burnham's predecessor, Keir Starmer, qualifies the strikes as "defensive" rather than an active war, Bloomberg reported.

The threat of attacking the Iranian site reflects escalating tensions as Tehran and Washington trade fire in the Gulf, setting back efforts to end the conflict.

Israel, US repeatedly failed to kill Iran's Alireza Tangsiri before successful strike • New details reveal Israeli naval attacks on Hezbollah commanders at Beirut's Ramada Hotel and a mobile HQ

Pickaxe Mountain has emerged as a major Iran nuclear concern, but questions remain over whether the facility is operational and whether a strike would achieve its goals.

The Iranian Foreign Minister's Telegram channel shared a statement claiming that both diplomats acted in an "unconventional and inconsistent manner compared with how foreign officials should act."

Sabti, an Iran researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, spoke following an Al Hadath report which said that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was not in the Islamic Republic.

Experts have frequently called into question the role of Khamenei, who has not been seen since being injured in the same attack that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Bulgarian government has said it will seek parliamentary approval to station up to eight US tanker aircraft at an air base in the Balkan country, which is a member of NATO and the European Union.