The Israeli military said its troops had seized a Hezbollah militant during an encounter in southern Lebanon a day earlier and transferred him to Israel for questioning.
The militant was captured in the Bint Jbeil area on Tuesday (july 7, 2026), where Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah fighters.
“The apprehended terrorist is a member of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force ... responsible for carrying out attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians throughout the war,” the military said in a statement, adding that he had been brought to Israel.
AFP
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday (July 8, 2026) he expected the military flare-up with Iran overnight to end very quickly despite earlier statements saying the ceasefire was “over”.
“I think anything that happens is going to be over very quickly and will only make it safer, including for oil... Anything that happens is going to happen very fast. We’re not looking for long-term,” he said at the end of a two-day NATO summit in Ankara.
AFP
The latest U.S. strikes on southern Iran killed eight military personnel, Iranian state television said.
“Following the criminal aggression carried out this morning by the US terrorist army against areas in southern Iran, eight courageous members of the air and naval forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s military in Bandar Abbas (south) and Bushehr (southwest) fell as martyrs,” state television said, citing a statement from the military.
AFP
The IMF cut its 2026 global growth projection again, flagging “uncertainty and risks” to the economic outlook as fighting reignited in the West Asia.
Global economic growth is estimated at 3% this year, said the International Monetary Fund, down from 3.1% in its April forecast.
The projection, in its World Economic Outlook update, was made before renewed exchanges of fire between the United States and Iran in recent hours.
AFP
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure and to seize Kharg Island, with its oil infrastructure, as his ceasefire with Tehran appeared to be in tatters.
Mr. Trump made the threats after announcing that the U.S. was preparing for a second night of strikes against Iran after Iranian attacks on American military sites in the Gulf.
“Maybe we’ll take over Kharg Island. We may take over Kharg Island. There’s not a thing they could do about it,” Mr. Trump said.
AP
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran that the United States will likely engage in additional strikes tonight after attacks the previous day.
“I’ll give a little warning: We’re going to hit them hard tonight,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the NATO summit in Turkey before his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Reuters
Almost 6,000 seafarers “remain stranded” in the Gulf, the head of the International Maritime Organization said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) as he called for “maximum restraint and de-escalation”.
“I condemn the attacks over the past two days against several ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez said in a statement after U.S. President Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was over.
“These reckless attacks have again placed innocent seafarers in grave danger,” Mr. Dominguez added.
- AFP
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) that he admired Donald Trump’s determined stance regarding efforts to achieve lasting peace with Iran, shortly after the U.S. President said he believed the interim ceasefire deal was over.
Speaking at the opening of the NATO summit in Ankara, Erdogan also thanked fellow allies Spain, Germany, Italy and the United States for providing air defence support to Türkiye amid the war in Iran, and urged allies to be in solidarity against all forms of terrorism.
- Reuters
The new attacks by the U.S. on Iran were “absolutely necessary”, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026).
The U.S. military unleashed a new wave of strikes against Iran on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) and revoked a license allowing Tehran to sell oil after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, putting pressure on an already fragile ceasefire.
NATO chief Mark Rutte defends U.S. strikes on Iran, calling them essential to uphold international ceasefire agreements amid rising tensions.
Exchanges of fire between the United States and Iran “further complicate already fraught talks to end the war”, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026).
“Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait are unacceptable,” she said on X, adding EU Foreign Ministers would discuss with their Gulf counterparts on Monday how to “preserve freedom of navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea.
- AFP
World oil prices soared more than 5% on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) after U.S. President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was over, following fresh strikes in West Asia.
International benchmark Brent North Sea crude jumped 5.3% to $78.09 a barrel, while the main U.S. contract, West Texas Intermediate, advanced 5.4% to $74.23 a barrel.
The U.S. has launched extensive strikes on Iran following attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, triggering a wave of reprisals against American bases in the Gulf.
- AFP
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) that the interim agreement with Iran is “over” but he will allow talks to continue.
“For me, I think it’s over,” Mr. Trump responded when asked about the status of the ceasefire. “It’s just a waste of time dealing with them.”
He made the comment on the sidelines of the two-day NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, and hours after striking Iran in what the U.S. described as retaliation for strikes on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
- AP
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) that the memorandum of understanding signed with Iran to end the conflict was “over”, adding he didn’t want to engage with Tehran.
Mr. Trump was speaking in Ankara ahead of a NATO summit in the Turkish capital.
- Reuters
Trump declares the Iran ceasefire "over" amid escalating tensions and attacks in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) condemned strikes carried out by Iran against Kuwait and Bahrain and called for diplomacy as hostilities resumed following attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Qatar, a key intermediary in talks between Iran and the United States, said it “emphasises the need to spare the region the consequences of these unjustified attacks”, in a Foreign Ministry statement posted on X.
Doha also emphasised the need to “pursue the path of dialogue and diplomacy, to de-escalate tensions, and to build upon the progress achieved under the memorandum of understanding”.
- AFP
Iran’s military warned on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) that any site enabling the United States to attack the country would be considered a “legitimate target”, after hostilities resumed despite an agreement intended to end the war.
“Any support provided to the aggressive American army to violate the sovereignty and territory of Islamic Iran will be a legitimate target of the armed forces,” the military said in a statement.
- AFP
U.S. strikes in southwest Iran on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) killed a member of the Revolutionary Guards’ navy, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said.
“A member of the Guards, Mohammad Reza Khazini, was hit by shrapnel and died a martyr while confronting enemy drones” in Mahshahr, a port city not far from the Iraqi border, IRNA reported, citing a statement from the Guards, the ideological arm of the Iranian military.
- AFP
China denounced on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) a sharp escalation in hostilies in West Asia after the United States struck dozens of targets in Iran, with Beijing’s Foreign Ministry warning both sides against “reigniting” the war in West Asia.
“Reigniting the war is not in the interests of either side, and military means cannot solve the fundamental problems,” foreign spokesperson Mao Ning told a news conference, when asked about the strikes.
- AFP
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) that airlines should not operate within the airspace of Iran and Iraq, amid ongoing tensions and the potential for further military action.
The EASA said its bulletin for the airspaces of Iran and Iraq was valid until August 31.
The agency’s previous bulletin included Lebanon. It had also asked airlines to exercise caution when operating within the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
- AFP
Kuwait condemned on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) Iranian attacks on its soil, which it said undermined efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region, as Tehran claimed attacks on US bases in the country and in Bahrain.
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it expresses its “strongest condemnation and denunciation of the repeated, illicit Iranian attacks,” adding that “the continuation of these brazen attacks -- at a time when regional and international efforts toward de-escalation are underway -- systematically undermines efforts to lower tensions”.
- AFP
Crude oil futures rose to a two-week high of Rs 6,932 per barrel in the domestic markets, rising by Rs 227 on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) amid renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, which triggered a rally in global benchmarks.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil for July delivery increased by Rs 227, or 3.39%, to Rs 6,932 per barrel in a business turnover of 19,697 lots.
The contract was last seen around these levels on June 23, when it settled at Rs 6,964 per barrel.
- PTI
Iranian media reported Wednesday (July 8, 2026) a series of blasts in the port city of Bushehr following a resumption of hostilities with the United States.
“Explosions have been heard in Bushehr and the surrounding area,” the Mehr news agency said, without providing details.
Located in Iran’s southwest, Bushehr hosts the country’s only civilian nuclear power plant and lies near Kharg island, the main oil terminal through which 90 percent of the nation’s crude exports transit.
- AFP
- Fresh explosions were heard in Bahrain on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) after air-raid sirens sounded for the third time warning of attacks, an AFP correspondent said.
The latest blasts rang out after Iran said it struck Bahrain in retaliation for the United States bombing Iranian targets.
- AFP
Funeral processions for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei began Wednesday in the Iraqi city of Najaf with thousands of mourners present.
The Islamic Republic’s dayslong funeral for Khamenei began Saturday, with authorities shutting down streets, airspace and daily life in Tehran as mourners commemorate the life of the man who led Iran for decades with an iron fist while confronting the West. His body will later be taken from Najaf to the city of Karbala before returned to Iran.
The body of Khamenei arrived in the Iraqi city considered among the holiest for millions of Shiite Muslims around the world on Tuesday, alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and other senior officials. They were welcomed by mourners and supporters holding portraits of the late supreme leader, and others performing self-flagellation on the streets.
Khamenei’s body was in a casket draped in the Islamic Republic’s flag, encased in glass. Mourners waved flags of Iran as well as red and black flags symbolizing mourning and revenge.
- AP
A large gathering of mourners turned out in Iraq’s Karbala as funeral procession for Iran’s deceased Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei got under way. Visuals below:
Several explosions rang out across Bahrain on Wednesday, an AFP correspondent said, after authorities sounded air raid sirens to warn of an attack.
“Loud” blasts were heard in the north of the island state, the correspondent said, in the first incident since Bahrain reported intercepting Iranian drones and missiles on June 28.
- AFP
The overnight strikes on Iran by U.S. forces were “absolutely necessary”, NATO chief Mark Rutte said today as the alliance began a key summit in Ankara.
“I think it was absolutely necessary because when you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating the ceasefire — we see what happened yesterday with ships being attacked — I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully react,” he told journalists.
- AFP
At least four oil and gas tankers have turned back from attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data showed, as renewed attacks on vessels in the critical waterway heightened safety and security concerns.
The diversions come after a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker and a Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker were damaged near the strait yesterday following reports that Iran fired missiles at ships in the waterway, prompting maritime authorities to raise the threat risk for transiting vessels to “severe.”
LNG tankers — Al Ghariya, Duhail and Al Ruwais — have all been inching westward towards the Strait of Hormuz before changing course to turn away late yesterday, according to data from analytics firms Kpler and LSEG. All three tankers controlled by QatarEnergy were empty and heading towards Qatar’s Ras Laffan export facility to load cargoes.
- Reuters
Funeral procession for the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, is underway in Najaf, Iraq.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they targeted 85 U.S. Military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait ‘in response to U.S. Ceasefire violation’.
- Reuters
Kuwait said today that its air defenses are engaged to intercept incoming fire after the United States launched airstrikes targeting Iran.
Kuwait’s announcement via its military came after Bahrain also said it faced incoming missiles today morning.
There was no word on what, if anything, had been struck in either country.
- AP
Air sirens were activated in Bahrain today, the Interior Ministry said, after U.S. strikes on dozens of targets in Iran further shook efforts to end the Middle East war.
“The siren has been sounded,” the ministry said on X, without giving details of the apparent threat. “Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”
- AFP
Iran’s speaker of the Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf accused the United States today of major violations of an MOU, citing U.S. attacks on Iran, renewed oil sanctions, threats of further strikes, violations of Iranian “adjustments” in the Strait of Hormuz, and continued Israeli attacks against Lebanon.
“The era of bullying and extortion is over,” Qalibaf said in a post on X. “We don’t fold.”
The U.S. military unleashed a wave of strikes against Iran yesterday and revoked a license allowing the country to sell oil after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, putting pressure on an already fragile ceasefire.
- Reuters
Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s coffin arrived in Iraq ahead of the funeral procession.
- PTI
Iran’s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said today that Iranian armed forces would deliver a “crushing response” after accusing the U.S. military of targeting parts of southern Iran in what it called a “blatant act of aggression”, and warned that Tehran would not allow U.S. interference in the management of the Strait of Hormuz.
It said that the only safe passage for commercial vessels and oil tankers through the waterway was the route determined by Iran.
The U.S. military unleashed a new wave of strikes against Iran yesterday and revoked a license allowing the country to sell oil after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, putting pressure on an already fragile ceasefire.
- Reuters
Iranian President Pezeshkian has expressed his gratitude towards Iraq for honoring martyred Leader, and called for stronger cooperation, according to a post on Iran’s official news agency’s X handle.
The U.S. Central Command forces have completed a new round of offensive strikes against Iran yesterday, hitting over 80 targets with precision munitions as an immediate response to Iran’s latest attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Conditions in Iran’s Bandar Abbas city and Qeshm are back to normal, but blast sounds continue in Sirik, says Iranian state television.
- Reuters
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning to visit Israel on Wednesday (July 8, 2026), CNN reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter.
- Reuters
Iranian President Pezeshkian leaves Iraq for Iran after U.S. strikes on the southern parts of Iran, reports Iranian state television.
-Reuters
Iran’s foreign ministry said yesterday that the United States has repeatedly violated their agreed memorandum of understanding, and warned of retaliation following Washington’s strikes on targets in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran is issuing a serious warning about the consequences of America’s breach of the treaty, and will take decisive measures to protect its interests and national security,” the ministry said in a statement posted to Telegram by IRIB News.
- AFP
U.S. strikes Iran after Hormuz attacks; Tehran threatens retaliation, escalating tensions over maritime security and energy supplies.
Published - July 08, 2026 06:45 am IST