Iran war live: US fires on ship for defying blockade as Trump claims Hormuz control – The Independent

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The US military fired on a Panamanian-flagged ship in the Gulf of Oman yesterday after accusing it of trying to evade the American blockade on Iranian ports.
The military said the vessel had ignored warnings to stop, prompting an American helicopter to fire missiles into the engine room of the M/V Vela Nova, disabling the ship.
Details of the incident emerged as the US president told reporters late on Tuesday night that “we totally ⁠control the Strait of Hormuz … Nobody else, only us”. “At some point, maybe they’ll do something and then they get blown away,” he added of Iran.
Iran was resolute on Tuesday it continued to exert power over the strait, and that the US must end the war before they will allow normal shipping to be restored.
Mohsen Rezaee, the new secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on social media that the “message is clear” that the strait will remain shut until the US agrees to terms and pulls back.
Earlier this week, Trump snubbed Iran’s six conditions for reopening the strait, which included “payment in full” for damage inflicted on Iran throughout the war.
Four drones ⁠hit three Iranian ⁠Kurdish opposition ​camps ⁠near ⁠Erbil ​in ⁠Iraq ‌this morning, ‌with no casualties ‌reported, ⁠security sources told Reuters.
At least three Pakistani nationals were killed in an attack on a ship in the Red Sea, the foreign ministry said.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the Houthi attack on a non-combatant commercial vessel,” the foreign minister said on X.
The alleged attack comes as Iran-backed Houthis have been accused of increasing attacks on vessels near the waters of Yemen.
Syria will host a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency in the coming days ​to announce “significant progress” on the issue of nuclear materials, Syria’s Atomic ‌Energy Commission said.
Since the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Syria’s new authorities have committed to working with the United ​Nations’ nuclear watchdog to address the legacy of nuclear activities during ​decades of Assad family rule
The Israeli army said an interceptor was mistakenly launched in Southern Lebanon this morning.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the interceptor had been launched at a target that was later confirmed to be IDF fire from operations carried out within the Security Zone.
President Donald Trump is demanding that Iran pay compensation to American victims of Iranian-backed attacks as he responds to Tehran’s own demand for war reparations.
In a Monday post on Truth Social, Trump said he had “instructed my representatives to put this firmly into any, and all, future negotiations” — casting Iran’s compensation demand as a novel idea he was happy to borrow.
More here.
The US ambassador to Israel has claimed that the Iranian regime is the “weakest they have been since they took over in 1979” amid Donald Trump’s war on Tehran.
“The operation between the United States and Israel did an enormous level of damage,” Mike Huckabee told Newsmax, praising the US president’s bid to “bankrupt them”.
The US military said that its forces fired on a Panamanian-flagged ship in the Gulf of Oman that tried to evade the American blockade on Iranian ports. The move came as president Donald Trump tries to keep economic pressure on the Islamic Republic.
US Central Command said the vessel had ignored warnings to stop, prompting an American helicopter to fire missiles into the engine room of the M/V Vela Nova, disabling the ship.
The statement did not say whether the ship’s crew suffered any casualties.
Pakistani interior minister Mohsin Naqvi traveled to Tehran for meetings with Iran’s foreign minister and other officials.
Naqvi’s visit aimed to encourage Iran to resume negotiations with the US under an interim peace deal brokered by Pakistan in June, two officials said.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi posted photos from his meeting with Naqvi on his private Telegram channel.
It is Naqvi’s sixth trip to Iran as part of Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between Iran and the US.
A cable TV polling expert claims that numbers from two surveys conducted two years apart show just how deeply president Donald Trump has disappointed America’s voters when it comes to Iran.
A July poll of people extremely motivated to vote in November’s midterm elections shows that just 29 per cent now approve of how Trump is actually handling Iran.
More here.
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