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 (July 16, 2026), posing a potent new threat to global energy supplies.
Iran urges Houthis to prepare for closing the Red Sea oil route in response to potential U.S. strikes on Iranian infrastructure.
Kuwait and Bahrain faced renewed aerial attacks from Iran on Thursday, their militaries said, as Tehran and Washington exchanged strikes in a battle for control of the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The Kuwaiti army said it was responding to a fresh salvo of drones, blaming “Iranian aggression”, while an AFP journalist reported hearing explosions near the Gulf state’s capital Kuwait City.
Kuwait and the island kingdom of Bahrain both said earlier that their air defences had dealt with a previous round of Iranian attacks, with warning sirens sounding in Manama, the Bahraini capital.
AFP
Syrian authorities thwarted an attempted weapons smuggling on its border with Iraq, reportedly heading to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, state media said.
The truck that was seized was carrying advanced weapons and rockets, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency quoted an unnamed Interior Ministry official as saying. A preliminary investigation concluded that its intended destination was Hezbollah in Lebanon, which since early March has been at war with Israel, the official said.
The new leadership in Syria, which toppled former President Bashar Assad in 2024, has cracked down on the smuggling of weapons and illicit drugs along its borders, especially with Iraq and Lebanon, which for decades have served as strategic routes for supplying Hezbollah and other groups backed by Iran.
AP
A drone struck a ship located off the port in Iraq’s southern province of Basra on Thursday, a security official told AFP.
The ship, which was “carrying American-branded cars”, had arrived from the United Arab Emirates and was hit near an oil terminal, the official said.
Iraq’s Oil Ministry said it was verifying reports of an unspecified “object” falling on a tanker.
- AFP
Kuwait’s military said on Thursday (July 16, 2026) it was intercepting new incoming fire from Iran.
The attack by Iran comes as the United States has stepped up its attacks on the Islamic Republic as the two nations fight over the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. has intensified its strikes targeting Iran over the last days.
- AP
India urged local shipowners and firms that recruit sailors not to deploy seafarers on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, as fighting between the United States and Iran intensifies.
India is one of the largest contributors of sailors to merchant shipping worldwide, with more than 320,000 active seafarers in 2025, according to its shipping ministry.
India’s Directorate General of Maritime Administration (DGMA) appealed in a statement on Wednesday that there should be “no deployment of Indian seafarers on vessels undertaking voyages involving passage through the Strait of Hormuz until further orders”.
- AFP
The Kremlin said on Thursday (July 16, 2026) that Russia was in touch with officials in Iran amid what it called another cycle of destabilisation fraught with risks for the global economy.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave no details of the contacts but told reporters that Iranian authorities had not requested a phone call with President Vladimir Putin.
Russia has repeatedly called on both Iran and the United States to refrain from escalation.
- Reuters
Syria said on Thursday (July 16, 2026) it had foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon by seizing a shipment that included missiles at its border with Iraq.
“Specialised units thwarted an attempt to bring in a shipment of sophisticated weapons and missiles through the Syrian-Iraqi border,” a source from the interior ministry was quoted as saying by Syria’s official Sana news agency.
“Initial investigations established that the shipment was intended to transit through Syria for the benefit of the terrorist militia Hezbollah,” the source added.
- AFP
Israel’s economy shrank an annualised 3.8% in the first quarter, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, in its third estimate in which growth was hurt by Israel’s war with Iran that ended with a ceasefire in April.
The contraction was unrevised from a prior estimate a month ago.
The economy was hurt by declines in consumer and government spending and exports, which were offset partly by a rise in investment in fixed assets.
- Reuters
Tehran on Thursday (July 16, 2026) accused the United States of carrying out a “barbaric attack” after a cancer hospital in Iran’s southwest was forced to evacuate due to nearby strikes.
“This barbaric attack, reminiscent of Israel’s atrocities against healthcare facilities, caused severe suffering and anxiety upon the hospitalised children,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X, saying “211 patients undergoing chemotherapy” were evacuated.
- AFP
Israeli PM Netanyahu will not travel to U.S. next week after Graham funeral postponed, PM’s office says
- Reuters
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said some members of the Israeli government had tried to influence U.S. public opinion to oppose a deal by the U.S. to end the war with Iran, in a podcast episode with host Joe Rogan posted on Wednesday (July 15, 2026).
The comments echoed earlier criticism of Israeli government policy by Mr. Vance, whom many view as a potential future presidential candidate, in a widening public rift between the two countries.
Mr. Vance defended a deal reached last month to end the war with Iran, which critics in the U.S. and Israel have slammed for failing to curb Iran’s missile program and providing no clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities, while constraining Israel in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
- Reuters
Fewer vessels travelled through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday (July 15, 2026), the first day after the U.S. reimposed its naval blockade on Iranian ports with both countries escalating strikes across the Gulf, shipping data showed.
Nine vessels crossed the strait on Wednesday (July 15, 2026), mostly on the Iranian route, down from 13 the previous day, Kpler data showed.
There were no Very Large Crude Carrier or liquefied natural gas tankers visibly passing through the strait on Wednesday (July 15, 2026).
- Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump has called the release of a U.S. citizen held in Iran a “gesture of goodwill”, even as conflict raged for a fifth night across West Asia.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday (July 15, 2026) that an American who was “wrongfully detained” under the Biden administration in 2024 had been allowed to leave Iran.
“She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition. The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran,” Mr. Trump wrote.
- Reuters
Pakistan said on Thursday (July 16, 2026) it would encourage the United States and Iran to stop violence and resume talks under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) it helped mediate last month.
“While the implementation of the MoU is facing challenges, Pakistan will continue to encourage all sides to end violence and resume technical-level talks in accordance with the MoU,” Tahir Andrabi, Pakistan’s foreign office spokesman, told reporters in Islamabad.
“We express the hope for an early normalisation of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and underscore the importance of ensuring the continued safety, security and freedom of maritime navigation,” he added.
- AFP
The spokesperson for Iran’s top military command said Tehran would not allow U.S. interference in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a red line.
Iran would target infrastructure across the region if U.S. President Donald Trump carried out threats to attack Iranian infrastructure, the spokesperson warned.
- Reuters
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz told his U.S. counterpart Pete Hegseth early Thursday (July 16, 2025) that Israel is determined to keep its forces in “security zones” it has carved out inside Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, Mr. Katz’s office said the two men spoke overnight and the minister “emphasised Israel’s determination to remain in the security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon in order to protect Israel’s borders and the communities near the border from the threats posed by jihadist forces”.
- AFP
The U.S. military’s Central Command said on Wednesday (July 15, 2026) that it had launched airstrikes on Greater Tunb Island in the Strait of Hormuz, targeting Iranian defence installations and missile sites.
Greater Tunb is a small island in the Persian Gulf near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. The island, under Iranian control since 1971, is regarded as a strategically important location in the strait.
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Greater Tunb Island, a strategic site in the Strait of Hormuz, is crucial for controlling maritime traffic and regional tensions.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said Thursday (July 16, 2026) they had struck a U.S. air base in Jordan with ballistic missiles in response to what they described as an American attack near a children’s cancer hospital in Iran.
The IRGC said U.S. forces had “used air bases located in Jordan to target various parts of Iran, including the vicinity of a children’s cancer hospital”, and that its aerospace force responded by “launching two waves of missile strikes” on the bases in Jordan, according to their website.
- AFP
Jordan’s military said Thursday (July 16, 2026) it shot down eight missiles launched by Iran targeting the kingdom.
The military made the announcement via the kingdom’s state-run Petra news agency.
The United States has intensified its strikes targeting Iran, hitting targets further north. American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic.
- AP
Iran’s Army said on Thursday (July 16, 2026) it carried out drone attacks against U.S. bases and facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, state TV reported, after the United States carried out strikes on the Islamic republic.
Iran’s military said it targeted “radar systems, a Patriot air defence system, and fuel storage facilities at Ali Al Salem Air Base” in Kuwait and U.S. military facilities at the Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, IRIB reported.
- AFP
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday (July 15, 2026) it has approved the sale of an estimated $1.96 billion in weapons to bolster Saudi Arabia’s air defences as the war ramps up in West Asia.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a Major non-NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in the Gulf Region,” the State Department said in a release.
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U.S. approves nearly $2 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia to enhance regional security and strengthen defense capabilities.
The Iranian Army said on Thursday (July 16, 2026) that it targeted U.S. military facilities in Jordan with drones, state media reported, after the United States carried out another wave of strikes on Iran.
“The Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced that... in response to the enemy aggression, it targeted the communication systems and fuel storage facilities of the U.S. military in Jordan using suicide (kamikaze) drones,” state television IRIB said.
- AFP
Air defences were heard in parts of Tehran on Thursday morning (July 16, 2026), state media said, and explosions rang out in northern and western parts of the country.
“So far, no casualties have been reported in Tehran by official authorities,” state news agency IRNA reported.
Explosions were heard in parts of the western Lorestan province and Semnan in the north, IRNA and the Mehr news agency reported.
- AFP
The United States launched a new wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday (July 15, 2026) to curb its ability to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, as President Donald Trump warned he could widen attacks unless the Islamic republic returned to talks.
U.S. Central Command said the strikes began at 19:00 GMT and targeted Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting the vital waterway.
The U.S. military also said one of its aircraft fired on and disabled an empty oil tanker that was trying to break the naval blockade of Iran’s ports.
- AFP
Published - July 16, 2026 08:50 am IST