US attack targets Revolutionary Guards naval headquarters in northern Iran
A US strike on an IRGC HQ. PHOTO: ANADOLU AGENCY
A US attack targeted an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy headquarters in Zibakenar, northern Iran, on Friday, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
The Gilan provincial government said the Hazrat Seyyed al-Shohada headquarters in the coastal town was struck in the attack.
No casualties have been reported so far, according to preliminary assessments, it added.
Explosions, smoke near Iraq's Erbil airport
Several blasts sounded on Friday near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.
Explosions were heard after air defences were activated, according to the journalist who also saw drones hovering over the city and smoke rising in the airport area.
Since hostilities resumed in the Middle East, drones have repeatedly been intercepted over Erbil, which is also home to a major US consulate complex.
Iran warns countries against assisting in US attacks
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Iran would hold accountable any country assisting the United States in an attack on the Islamic republic.
"Any participation, cooperation or assistance in committing aggression against Iran will create international responsibility for the relevant parties," Araghchi said at a meeting in Kyrgyzstan, adding that Iran "reserves its right to take all necessary measures within the framework of self-defence".
Iranian FM warns using Iran's frozen assets sets "incendiary precedent"
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X on Friday that "Seizing another nation's assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent" in response to Trump's threat to have Iran pay for any "damages done" to cargo ships.
Seizing another nation's assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 24, 2026
Those who celebrate or profit from such funds should remember: once governments normalize confiscation, no one's assets are safe. Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful.
No one's assets were safe once governments normalised such confiscation, he stated in response to US President Donald Trump's comments on Truth Social. "Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful."
On social media, Trump said "any and all damages done" to cargo ships would be paid for with "Iranian Money," referring to frozen Iranian assets held by the United States, but without saying how.
Iranian army says it launched drone attacks on US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan
The Iranian army said early on Friday that it had launched drone attacks targeting US military facilities at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain and Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan.
The army mentioned that “Arash” attack drones targeted fuel tanks, large equipment warehouses, hangars and accommodation facilities used by US forces at Sheikh Isa Air Base, the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.
It added that aircraft hangars, a maintenance facility and accommodation facilities housing US personnel at Al-Azraq Air Base were also targeted.
Shortly before the Iranian announcement, Bahrain sounded a warning siren and urged citizens to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place, according to the country’s Interior Ministry on the US social media company X.
“Any action against the legitimate and lawful interests of the Iranian people and the Islamic Republic of Iran will also undermine the security and economic interests of other countries in the region,” the Iranian statement warned.
There was no immediate confirmation from US, Bahraini or Jordanian authorities regarding the reported attacks, and no casualties or damage were immediately reported.
Number of Hormuz tanker crossings drop to lowest levels in two months, data shows
Shiptracking data revealed that only one tanker successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, marking the lowest level since May 7, according to Al Jazeera.
Crude oil carrier New Giant exited the strait yesterday and is due to arrive at China’s Rizhao port by mid-August, according to data from Kpler.
No ships entered the Strait of Hormuz on July 23.
Meanwhile, at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, tanker crossings totalled 32 on July 23, up from 26 the day before, the data showed.
Trump vows to punish Iran and Houthis for attacks in Red Sea
Trump promised "major military punishment" for Iran and its Houthi allies after the Yemeni fighters struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint.
Fears that disruption could widen to block another sea route sent global oil prices surging in one of the steepest rises of the war. Brent crude rose more than 6%, piercing the level of $100 a barrel for the first time since May.
Read: Trump weighing 'massive' US strikes on Iran: report
Two weeks since the effective collapse of an interim truce meant to end the war, the US military launched air strikes on Iran late on Thursday and early on Friday, for a 13th consecutive night of attacks, prompting Iran to fire at neighbouring Arab countries that host US bases.
On both Thursday and Friday nights, Iranian state media said missiles struck Qeshm Island on the Strait of Hormuz, the virtually closed waterway that is the focus of a war well into its fifth month that has killed thousands and fanned fears of a global economic downturn.
Four people were killed and five injured in a US missile attack on the Iranian city of Ahvaz, state broadcaster IRIB said.
Trump: Iran hasn't 'received enough pain yet'
After the Houthis said they had struck the two tankers on Thursday, Trump said he would hold Iran accountable for any further attacks by the fighters.
The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, said they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which has diverted millions of barrels of oil each day by pipeline to the Red Sea to skirt Iran's blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
"If they do this again, the US will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves," Trump wrote on social media.
He told Axios he was considering re-launching major combat operations in Iran and was close to a decision.
"They haven't received enough pain yet," the news outlet quoted Trump as saying.
Sources in Iran and Yemen told Reuters that Iran had flown Revolutionary Guard commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen days before the Houthis announced their blockade. The Houthis dismissed the report.
The Houthis said their forces had carried out missile and drone strikes on Saudi oil tankers, the Encelia and the Layla.
A maritime security source said the Encelia sent a distress call that it had been struck by a missile near the Saudi port of Jizan in the Red Sea just north of Yemen on Wednesday. Saudi state news agency SPA said the strike caused a fire at the bow.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the attack on the Layla, or other battlefield accounts, but Trump mentioned two attacks on Saudi tankers.
Shipping insurance costs through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies on Thursday, after the reported attacks, sources said.
Houthi attacks could close the strait known as the Bab el-Mandeb or "Gate of Tears" which controls access from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, the second most important route for energy shipments after the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.
In the days since they unveiled their blockade in the Red Sea, several tankers have changed course to avoid the Bab el-Mandeb.
Instead, they have headed north through the Suez Canal, potentially using a much longer and more expensive route to reach Asian customers by sailing around Africa.
The number of tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz fell to just one on Thursday, its lowest since May 7, shiptracking data showed.
Iran reports strikes on Jordan, Kuwait
Iran said it attacked US missile systems, weapons and fuel storage sites in Jordan, as well as US military posts in Kuwait.
Jordan's army said it engaged four Iranian missiles and six drones in the past day, intercepting all but one missile, which fell in an uninhabited area.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they struck a US electronic warfare unit at Al-Adiri base in Kuwait, causing unspecified casualties, in response to an overnight strike on Iran's Shalamcheh border crossing with Iraq.
Neither the United States nor Kuwait has reported casualties at the base.
Iranian military spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said Iran would keep retaliating as long as the US continued to attack its infrastructure and coastal areas, Iranian state TV reported.
Since the US and Israel began the war in February, Iran has demonstrated that it can hit US targets in the region, despite Trump having said early on that the US had wiped out Iranian military capabilities.
Four people familiar with US intelligence said Iranian strikes on CIA targets in the Gulf earlier in the war had prompted US intelligence to investigate whether Russia was assisting Iran with targeting information or drone technology.
Congress
High oil prices are stoking inflation globally, putting Trump's Republican allies under pressure ahead of congressional elections in November.
The Republican-led US House of Representatives backed legislation on Thursday directing Trump to halt US military action against Iran, for the latest rebuke by Congress, which has the exclusive power to "declare War" under the US Constitution.
Repeated similar resolutions passed in recent months have not led to cessation of the war. The Senate voted hours later to block a separate, similar measure.