Live: Hormuz tensions rise after US-Iran agreement expires

Iranian military commanders and politicians have recently underlined a shift in Iran's military doctrine, moving from a defensive to an offensive strategy against US forces in the Middle East.

The shift came with new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei appointing six military commanders to replace those killed by Israel and the US during the recent war. 

While some figures had previously mentioned this change in military doctrine, the new appointments have made the topic prominent in local media.

On Wednesday, Brigadier General Alireza Sheikh, the deputy commander of the army, explained this new approach towards US forces to the media. He pointed to recent attacks on the bases of Kurdish opposition groups as an example of this strategy.

Read more: Iranian press review: Tehran says it will no longer wait to be attacked

Turkey confirmed on Thursday for the first time that it had joined efforts to establish a multinational maritime defence coalition aimed at ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.

The announcement signals increased cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Ankara after the signing of a trilateral pact between the states and Pakistan in Mecca last week.

“At the invitation of Saudi Arabia, a technical meeting was held in Riyadh on 28 July to ensure freedom of navigation through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, followed by a meeting of the chiefs of general staff on 30 July 2026,” the Turkish Ministry of National Defence said in a statement.

The ministry added that Turkey was participating in another coordination meeting on the establishment of the maritime defence coalition in Jeddah on Thursday.

“Work continues with the Saudi Arabian authorities to reduce tensions in the Gulf region and ensure the uninterrupted flow of international trade,” the statement said.

Read more: Turkey backs Saudi-led maritime defence coalition in Red Sea

The Israeli army says it has dismantled "two illegal outposts" on the outskirts of the Qusra and Jalud areas in the occupied West Bank, which Israeli settlers were using to trap two Palestinian families inside their homes.

It added that one Israeli was arrested, and that equipment had been confiscated. 

The US killed and wounded hundreds of Yemeni civilians during its attacks on the country last year, according to an internal US Department of War assessment shared with Congress.

The US killed 153 civilians and wounded 243, the Pentagon said in a 12-page report that was sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday and reported by several news sites in the US.

US President Donald Trump ordered the American military to begin bombing the Houthis in March 2025. The attacks came in response to Houthi strikes on vessels in the Red Sea, which the group said were in solidarity with besieged Palestinians in Gaza.

The report detailed several specific strikes that the Pentagon said “more likely than not” caused civilian deaths and injuries. The report noted a 6 April attack on Sanaa that killed five civilians and wounded 25 others.

The report also noted a 17 April US attack on Hodeidah that killed at least 80 civilians. In a June report, Human Rights Watch said the attack should be investigated as a war crime.

Read more: Pentagon tells Congress US killed 153 civilians in Yemen air strikes

Israel has killed at least one person and injured seven in the Gaza Strip in the past day, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Since October 2023, when Israel's genocide in Gaza began, at least 73,389 Palestinians have been killed and 174,266 have been injured.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will form political and military mechanisms under a defence pact signed between the regional powers last week, Turkey's defence ministry said, adding the alliance would also deepen defence industry cooperation.

At a weekly briefing in Ankara, the ministry said the mechanisms would include the three countries' defence ministers, foreign ministers, and military chiefs. It added that joint military exercises were also being planned under the pact, while cooperation could include joint production and technology sharing in the defence industry.

British maritime security company Ambrey said it has been engaged in the salvage of the stricken tanker Caroline Bezengi off the Omani coast and that salvage vessels are en route to support the operation, Reuters reports.

Ambrey said it was "working diligently with all relevant stakeholders", and had contracted the support of a leading international oil spill response company. It added specialist personnel have already boarded the vessel to assess conditions on board, and commence cargo stabilisation operations.

The Caroline Bezengi, which sails under the flag of Cameroon, has been immobilised off the coast of Oman since 8 June, when the ship's crew reported an explosion, though the cause of the incident has not yet been identified.

Several Western governments have said the ship is part of Russia's shadow fleet, used to transport sanctioned Russian oil since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The Omani environment authority said yesterday the oil spill had reached its coast, and that up to 40km of coastline were affected by oil polution. Last week, Greenpeace warned of the risk of an “unprecedented oil disaster”.

Maersk, a Danish shipping company that accounts for 15 percent of maritime transport worldwide, reported a second-quarter operating profit above expectations and raised its full-year earnings guidance.

CEO Vincent Clerc said he thought the "conditions for a full return to Suez during 2026 are in place", as long as "nothing happens in Yemen".

Yemen's Houthis have been attacking ships transiting through Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea since 2023, and announced a full blockade of vessels transporting Saudi oil last month.

Clerc added that high freit rates in the maritime industry were currently due to "congested ports, not the Strait of Hormuz". He said Maersk would continue assessing security conditions to start the "next phase of returning to the Suez [canal] with partner Hapag-Lloyd", a German shipping company which transports 7 percent of global maritime cargo.

The Strait of Hormuz is "under Iran's control and management", the head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit, Hossein Taeb, said on Thursday, according to Fars news agency.

The remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the US had "total control" of the strategic waterway.

The British maritime security company Ambrey said early on Thursday that it has been involved in the salvage of the stricken tanker Caroline Bezengi off the Omani coast.

It added that salvage vessels are en route to support the ongoing operation.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here is a recap of the latest developments: 

• The chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council indicated the government does not want a deal with the Houthis, and instead called for "lasting and sustainable peace" based on a state that holds a monopoly on weapons and sovereignty. He added that the internationally recognised government has concluded that the Houthis amount to "a project of war and destruction, not a project of peace". 

• Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi says Baghdad will not allow its territory or airspace to be utilised for launching attacks against neighbouring countries, according to the Iraqi News Agency. "Iraqi skies and sovereignty are inviolable, and any violation of its airspace or infringement upon its security will not be tolerated from any quarter," he said. 

• US intelligence officials were sceptical of an alleged Iranian assassination threat against Donald Trump that was relayed by Israel, sources told The Washington Post. One official described the reports of threats against the US president's life as "Israeli-derived, not U.S.-generated, and viewed as low confidence".

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticised France and other countries for what he described as "hypocrisy" when it comes to human rights and international law amid continued support for Israel. "Your backing of Israel’s genocide in Gaza - and aggression against Iran - has destroyed whatever moral high ground you imagined you had," he said in a post on X.

• Hamas has condemned Israel for a Wednesday air strike on Gaza which left one killed and others wounded. In a statement, the movement said that the attack "confirms the occupation's insistence on thwarting the efforts of the mediators, guarantors and the Board of Peace to reach an agreement that achieves a sustainable ceasefire".

Pakistan has expressed its rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said that a Palestinian state stands in "accordance with international law and UN resolutions", and added that its statehood had "an established international legality".

Andrabi argued that Israeli rejections cannot alter the legal and diplomatic reality of the issue, saying: "Remark to the contrary to this established international legality means nothing," 

With regards to Netanyahu's remarks about his refusal to withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad that this would constitute "serious setback to the decision taken at the Board of Peace, because the disarmament of Hamas and the evacuation of Gaza by Israeli troops were twin commitments".

"We hope that Israel will abide by its commitments," he added.

The National News Agency reported that Israeli forces carried out bombing and set ablaze homes early on Thursday in the southern Lebanese towns of Majdal Zoun, Mansouri and their general surroundings. 

Israel has continued its attacks in the country despite peace talks. 

US intelligence officials were sceptical of an alleged Iranian assassination threat against Donald Trump that was relayed by Israel, sources told The Washington Post. 

The threat was relayed by the Israeli government to the CIA, but analysts had doubts about the credibility of the information and conveyed their thoughts to the Trump administration, one official indicated. 

Another official described the reports of threats against the US president's life as "Israeli-derived, not U.S.-generated, and viewed as low confidence".

Earlier, The Washington Post broke the story that Trump secretly left Ankara on the military aircraft amid an alleged Iranian assassination threat.

The latest report follows confirmation of Trump secretly leaving Turkey on a military aircraft, instead of an Air Force One jumbo jet he was seen on television boarding. 

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree's X account has been suspended, with a message on the platform reading "Account suspended. X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules".

It is unclear as to why Saree's account has been removed. According to his last known profile stats, he had amassed around 121.5k followers.