Bessent says goal of US sanctions is to get Iran to 'come to the table'
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC in an interview on Monday that the goal of US sanctions on Iran is "to create the conditions that they will want to come to the table" for negotiations.
Lebanon urges Greece to help implement truce with Israel
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asked Greece on Monday for support to help implement a ceasefire agreement with Israel and end Israeli attacks on his country, hours after Greece and Israel announced a multibillion arms deal.
The June 26 accord, brokered by the US, says both sides must cease hostilities and allow the Lebanese army to restore control over the entire country.
Beirut wants Israel to withdraw from all territory it has occupied in southern Lebanon. Israel first wants Lebanese militant group Hezbollah evacuated from the sector.
Greece has historically maintained cordial relations with Arab states while simultaneously developing strong military ties with Israel.
Senior Iranian source says latest hostilities with US are a 'limited' confrontation
Hostilities that flared overnight between the United States and Iran remain a "limited and contained confrontation", a senior Iranian source told Reuters on Monday, adding that Tehran was ready to deliver a harsh response if attacked again.
The source, who has direct knowledge of Iranian decision-making and declined to be named, said that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz "will become worse for vessels that violate" rules set by Tehran for passage through the waterway, adding that no target in the region was beyond Tehran's reach.
Trump says US will respond to Iranian attacks on US targets
President Donald Trump said Monday that the US will hit back against Iranian attacks on US targets in the Middle East, as the war flared after a prolonged pause, according to Fox News.
"We're going to hit them hard," Trump said, according to a Fox News reporter who said he talked to Trump briefly.
"There will be a response," Trump said after Iranian attacks which were themselves a response to American strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz.
US denies hitting mines in Strait of Hormuz
The US military said on Monday that no ships had hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and that Iran's claim that a supertanker struck two mines in the area was false.
Iranian state TV, citing a statement by the Revolutionary Guards, had earlier reported that a supertanker caught fire and came to a complete halt after striking two naval mines in the southern Strait of Hormuz.
US says Iran is lashing out amid economic pressure of sanctions
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that Iran is taking the US sanctions on it seriously and is lashing out now because it is losing economically.
"I would think that they are lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically," he told reporters at a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in North Carolina.
Relentless heat worsens Gaza's ongoing struggle to access water
In Gaza, securing drinking water is a relentless daily struggle. The war with Israel has destroyed critical water and sanitation infrastructure, and as temperatures soar, the extreme heat is escalating an already severe shortage into a deadly humanitarian crisis.
Two and a half years of war have damaged or destroyed nearly 90% of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure, according to UNICEF.
Iran state media says US attack on island in Strait of Hormuz killed two people
The US attack on Iran's Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz killed two people and wounded several others, Iranian state media reported.
"During the attack on Larak Island late Sunday, two people were martyred and several others were injured. The injured in the incident are receiving medical services and their treatment is ongoing," said the official IRNA news agency, quoting Hossein Amir Teymouri, governor of nearby Qeshm Island, without specifying whether the victims were soldiers or civilians.
Iran's Pezeshkian says Tehran still seeking negotiated solution to conflict with US
Tehran still seeks a negotiated solution to its conflict with the United States, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, according to semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Pezeshkian told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, that continued war was in no one's interest and that dialogue and cooperation were the way to resolve existing problems.
Oil prices rise as US launches fresh attacks on Iran
Oil prices were trading nearly 2 percent higher on Monday after the US attacked Iran's Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz and drew retaliation from Tehran.
Brent crude futures climbed $1.77, or 2 percent, to $89.87 a barrel by 0733 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $84.85, up $1.45, or 1.74 percent.
US President Donald Trump also claimed in a brief social media post on Sunday that Iran's energy hub of Kharg Island was being "blown to smithereens", but there was no evidence that the island was under attack and the post, accompanied by an AI-generated clip, contained no further details.
Iran denied the attack on the island, adding that oil operations continued.
Israel signs three-billion-euro arms export deal with Greece
Israel's defence ministry announced it had signed a deal with Athens worth approximately three billion euros to set up an "Achilles Shield" aerial defence system for Greece.
"Under the deal, Israel will build Greece a comprehensive, multi-layered air defence array, drawing entirely on Israeli-made systems and on the extensive operational experience Israel's defence establishment has gained during the war," the ministry said in a statement, adding that "this is the largest defence export deal in the history of Israel-Greece relations, and one of the largest in the history of the State of Israel".
UAE presidential adviser says Iran's policy of targeting Gulf states has failed
The policy of targeting Gulf Arab states and Jordan has failed, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said in a post on X on Monday.
"A state of neither war nor peace cannot be a sustainable solution," Gargash said, adding realistic political solutions should begin with de-escalation and the restoration of normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
UAE denies claim Iran targeted base hosting US forces
The United Arab Emirates denied claims that Tehran targeted a base housing US personnel with missiles, after announcing it had intercepted an Iranian drone over its waters.
"Media reports regarding a missile attack on Al Minhad Air Base are baseless," the Emirati defence ministry said in a statement on X.
Earlier on Monday, Iran had said it targeted the base using "dozens of attack drones".
Iran denies US attack on Kharg Island, calls Trump's post 'laughable', Nournews reports
Oil operations at Iran's Kharg Island have not stopped, National Iranian Oil Company CEO Hamid Bovard said, according to Nournews. Bovard reportedly denied the key oil hub was being destroyed, as US President Donald Trump had earlier claimed in a social media post.
"Trump's tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate," Nournews cited him as saying, adding that the island, from which 90 percent of Iranian oil exports originate, had been bombed repeatedly by US and Israeli forces in the past, but oil workers had not allowed operations to stop "even for a moment".
Contractors were currently rebuilding and modernising storage tanks and jetties, he added.
UAE says it dealt with a drone coming from Iran over its waters
The United Arab Emirates said it had dealt with a drone over its territorial waters coming from Iran, after Tehran claimed an attack on a US base in the Gulf country.
"The Ministry of Defence announced that the UAE Air Force responded to a UAV detected over the country's territorial waters, approaching from Iran," the ministry said in a statement on X.
Supertanker hits mines in Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say
A supertanker caught fire and was brought to a complete halt after being struck by two naval mines in the southern Strait of Hormuz, Iran state TV reported, citing a statement by the Revolutionary Guards.
The Guards said the tanker had been attempting to pass through the waterway illegally. It did not identify the vessel or provide information about its crew.
The Guards warned that other ships violating its security rules would face the same fate and said compliance with its regulations for passage through the Strait of Hormuz was mandatory.
Iran says it struck US bases in Jordan used to support Larak attack
Iran's armed forces struck US military bases in Jordan in response to a US attack on Larak Island, the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said the US bases in Jordan had been used to launch and support the attack on Larak that killed and wounded members of Iran's armed forces and civilians.
It said Iran would respond decisively to further military aggression and stressed that the US and parties supporting its actions bore full responsibility for any escalation.
Iran’s army says it attacked UAE’s Al Minhad Air Base with drones, state TV reports
Iran's army said it attacked the United Arab Emirates' Al Minhad Air Base with drones, Iranian state TV reported, citing a statement from the army.
The army said the attack targeted locations where US forces and helicopters were stationed at the base.
It said the attack was in response to the killing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Iranian civilians on Larak Island.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they shot down a US drone over Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz with air defence missiles, causing it to crash into Gulf waters, the Mehr news agency reported on Monday, citing an IRGC statement.
(the broadcaster with AFP, AP and Reuters)
