War, latest news. New US air strikes on Hormuz; Tehran announces ‘decisive’ retaliation

Iran has struck the Jordanian airbase at Muwaffaq Salti, which hosts US forces, according to reports from the Iranian news agencies Mehr and Tasnim. The Haaretz website reports that the Israeli army has stated it detected Iranian missiles being fired towards Jordan.

The Iranian army has launched a ‘decisive operation’ against US targets in the region. This is according to the Tasnim news agency, which reports that ‘a decisive operation by the Iranian armed forces has begun in response to the US enemy. US bases and interests in the region are being targeted by Iranian missiles and drones”.

A US air strike has hit the civilian airport at Jiroft, in Kerman Province in south-eastern Iran. This was reported by the Iranian broadcaster IRIB.

US President Donald Trump has stated that an agreement with Iran is “not worth the paper it is written on”, adding that Washington has given Tehran many opportunities to reach an agreement.

“I don’t think a deal with them is worth the paper it’s written on. We’ve given them plenty of chances,” Trump told Fox News.

“Severe punishment awaits the aggressors. The United States will regret its latest attacks” against Iran. This was posted on X by Hossein Mohebi, spokesperson for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the Pasdaran.

“The lack of access to Iranian nuclear sites to verify nuclear material ‘must be resolved as a matter of the utmost urgency’.” This is according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a confidential report seen by AFP. “The Agency’s lack of information” on Iran’s nuclear programme and “the lack of access to the facilities that would allow for verification are a cause for concern in terms of proliferation”, the report states.

“If Iran retaliates against this more than justified attack, it will be struck again, harder and on a much larger scale.” The US President, Donald Trump, wrote this on Truth, confirming the new US strikes against Iranian targets.

The IDF and the Israeli Ministry of Defence have announced that the Dolphin 2-class submarine destined for Israel set sail from Germany this morning, becoming the sixth submarine in the Israeli Navy. “The INS Drakon will be equipped with innovative and advanced technologies that place Israel at the forefront of global military technology and will enhance the Israeli Navy’s operational flexibility for years to come,” they stated in a press release celebrating the submarine’s departure from the Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems shipyard, whose CEO, Oliver Burkhard, said: “With the departure of the INS Drakon, we are successfully completing a complex and challenging programme which, over the years, has been characterised by trust, technological expertise and shared responsibility. Israel is an important partner for us in the maritime sector.”

Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are being pushed back, whilst on the ground, despite the ceasefire, the Israeli offensive around a stronghold of Hezbollah – the Lebanese armed party allied with Iran – continues unabated. Following President Joseph Aoun’s diplomatic mission to Greece, the third round of talks in Rome between the State of Israel and the government in Beirut – originally scheduled for this week – has effectively been postponed until mid-September. The Lebanese authorities had been making it clear for days that it was not possible to sit down at the negotiating table whilst under the pressure of Israeli fire, whilst strong dissatisfaction has been leaked from Israel over what is described as the Lebanese army’s inability to disarm Hezbollah in the ‘pilot zones’ agreed upon in recent months. Against this backdrop, a senior US official has now ruled out any further withdrawal of the Israeli army from the ‘security zone’ in southern Lebanon in the short term, admitting that ‘it will take time’ to reach an agreement. Washington continues to present the government in Beirut as the sole ‘legitimate interlocutor’ on this issue, but the situation in Lebanon remains more complex than this formulation suggests. Although the US State Department states that Hezbollah does not engage in dialogue with anyone because it “takes its orders from Iran” and reiterates that the group “must disarm”, there is also the unshakeable Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, an ally of the Shia movement and the main channel of dialogue between Hezbollah and external interlocutors. In this situation, Berri rejects the framework agreement reached in June between the Israelis and the Lebanese, brokered by Washington, arguing that as many as seven rounds of negotiations have so far merely extended the scope of Israeli territorial occupation. President Aoun’s negotiating tactic, however, is different: in August he first asked Italia and then Greece – close allies of Israel and the United States – to intercede with the Jewish state to ensure it ‘fully and bilaterally’ the US-brokered agreement, centred on the formula of deploying the Lebanese army, disarming Hezbollah and an Israeli withdrawal from the south. Aoun’s recent visit to Athens coincided with a $3.5 billion military supply deal between Athens and Israel. Aoun reminded the Greek representatives of the more than 4,300 Lebanese killed and the more than 12,000 wounded since the start of the conflict with Israel last March. Meanwhile, on Ali Taher Hill, near Nabatiye, the Israeli army has for days been carrying out what the Beirut media are describing as a ‘gradual escalation’ to capture the hilltop where Hezbollah fighters are reportedly holed up inside underground tunnels and bunkers. Further south, in the districts of Tyre, Bint Jbeil and Marjayun, demolitions and raids by the Israeli occupying army are on the increase. On the diplomatic front, although speculation is rife at the UN Headquarters regarding a last-minute renewal of the UN mission deployed in southern Lebanon since 1978 – comprising some 8,100 peacekeepers, due to expire on 31 December – the United States and Israel remain strongly opposed to this idea. This is why the ‘light’ proposal from Brussels is gaining ground: the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, has spoken of the possibility of a European mission that would not seek to replace UNIFIL, but would be limited to training the Lebanese army to enhance its capabilities.

At 6.00 pm Italian time, “US forces began striking targets belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran”. This was announced by US Central Command. “The strikes follow recent attempts by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to disrupt commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and to target US military personnel in the region,” US Central Command emphasised. (ANSA).

Iranian state television has reported several explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran, and on the island of Qeshm, in the Strait of Hormuz.

New US air strikes in Iran. The United States is in fact striking Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz. Axios reports this, citing a US official.

The United Kingdom is set to introduce measures in the coming weeks to counter settler settlements in the West Bank. This was announced by the British Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, in Parliament, where he explained that the E1 settlement project “risks making a Palestinian state unviable”. But “this government will not stand by and allow the two-state solution to be destroyed,” Miliband said. “We will take action, and in the coming weeks I will present a comprehensive package of measures.” The Israeli response was not long in coming. “We will act accordingly,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gedeon Sa’ar, arguing that the British measures would constitute interference in the elections. “If Britain were to act against the State of Israel, it would constitute interference in the Israeli election campaign,” Sa’ar told Ynet. Such a move “would have the opposite effect to what one might imagine,” he added.

From our correspondent – NABLUS (West Bank)

Ammar knows this only too well: the last time won’t be the last. In fact, the settlers’ next visit to the Tomb of St Joseph — an ‘incursion’, as his colleagues call it — will be a matter of weeks, perhaps not days.

A terrorist alliance between the Yemeni Houthi militants and al-Qaeda, via the affiliated group al-Shabab. This is the ‘new deadly headache for Washington’, as the Wall Street Journal puts it. The paper details the US attempt to break up ‘the unlikely alliance between two implacable enemies of the United States’.

On the one hand, the al-Shabab militants linked to al-Qaeda, who have been fighting in Somalia for twenty years; on the other, the Houthis, who receive weapons and training from the Iranian Pasdaran. Citing US, Somali and Yemeni officials, the WSJ explains that last February, two weeks before the attack on Iran, a US air raid killed the man who had been acting as a go-between for the Houthis and al-Qaeda since at least 2023, the Somali Jibril “Monco” Yahya Ali. But for the United States, Jibril’s death came too late to halt the chain of events that he himself had helped to set in motion.

The Strait of Hormuz has laid bare the central paradox of Iranian power: Tehran can influence the lifeline through which around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes, but it cannot choke it off without damaging its own economy. The crisis of 2026 has therefore accelerated a transformation destined to outlast the war: railways to Russia and China, Caspian ports and links with Iraq are forming a network designed not to replace Hormuz – a physically impossible undertaking – but to prevent prolonged maritime and financial pressure from leading to Iran’s total isolation. For Europe, and above all for Italia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the stakes span energy, inflation, industry, ports, sanctions and the security of shipping routes.

“More than 10 countries” in the European Union have expressed their willingness to “provide resources and personnel” for “a new EU mission” in Lebanon, which “is not intended to replace UNIFIL”, but “to provide advice and training to the armed forces, including on border and maritime security”. This was stated by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, at a press conference held following the informal meeting of EU defence ministers today in Wicklow, Ireland.

“Our aim is to strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Lebanese state’s capacity to ensure security throughout its territory,” Kallas emphasised. “Planning is progressing well and we are aiming to secure the Council’s decision to launch the project in October.”

The death toll from the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip, which was aimed at arresting a senior Hamas figure, has risen to four. In the early hours of today, around ten air strikes, along with intense drone attacks, hit the western part of Gaza City, a witness and a Palestinian security source told AFP. Gaza’s Civil Defence, the emergency service operating under Hamas’s authority, reported four deaths, including three children, and seven injuries following attacks carried out by “Israeli military fighter jets”. Two children whose bodies were wrapped in shrouds before being taken away, reports AFP. Shortly after the bombings, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that his country had arrested a “high-ranking terrorist”, without providing further details on the individual’s identity or the circumstances of the arrest. “We will not leave Gaza until the Strip is demilitarised, Hamas is disarmed and all terrorist tunnels are destroyed,” he added. The arrest has not been confirmed by the Palestinian Islamist movement. A security source in Gaza told AFP that an Israeli operation aimed at capturing a Hamas figure had been “foiled”, without, however, specifying who the target was. The Israeli operation was carried out jointly by the Israeli army and a Palestinian armed group hostile to Hamas, the source added, without providing further details. Another Palestinian official also stated that the operation had missed its target – described, without further details, as a “key figure” in Hamas – but claimed that another member of the movement had been “abducted” during the attack. In addition to the four victims in Gaza City, two other people, including a child, were killed today in the central part of the Strip by Israeli fire, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is under Hamas’s authority, Israeli operations have caused at least 1,318 deaths since the ceasefire came into force. The Israeli army reported that five of its soldiers had been killed during the same period, as well as one civilian contractor.

In an interview broadcast yesterday on the pro-government Channel 14, Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed that the country’s leading opposition figure, Yair Golan, leader of ‘The Democrats’, had prior knowledge of the massacre that Hamas would carry out on 7 October 2023. This has been reported by the Israeli media.

Sara Netanyahu’s allegations, made without providing any evidence, have provoked a strong reaction from Golan, who stated today that he intends to take legal action against Netanyahu’s wife: “We will certainly file a complaint against Sara Netanyahu,” Golan told Army Radio. The Prime Minister’s wife does not enjoy legal immunity.

“The ministers discussed our plans for a new EU mission aimed at providing advice and training to the Lebanese armed forces, including on border and maritime issues. The EU does not intend to replace UNIFIL. We are investing in Lebanon’s capacity to ensure its own security independently. Our aim is to strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Lebanese state’s capacity to ensure security throughout its territory.” This was stated by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas at the conclusion of the informal Defence Council meeting. Planning is “progressing well” and a decision is expected by October.

“Russia stands in solidarity with the Iranian people; we admire your courage and determination in the fight for your national interests.” This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting today in Bishkek with his Iranian counterpart, Massud Pezeshkian. The Kremlin has reported this. This is the first face-to-face meeting between the two presidents since the Israeli-American attack on 28 February, which sparked the war in the Persian Gulf.

The peace framework between the United States and Iran, brokered with Pakistan’s assistance, offers the best prospects for lasting regional peace. This was stated by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the SCO summit in Bishkek, according to Iran International. Sharif said that ongoing diplomatic efforts had led to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, describing it as a crucial step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace. “We firmly believe that the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding offers the most viable and sustainable path to lasting peace,” he said.

The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, stated on X that the European Union “appears to be relinquishing its sovereignty and its own laws” in order to support “Washington’s economic terrorism” against Iran.

“The EU appears to be relinquishing its sovereignty, its laws and regulations, its values and its ethics in the face of American coercion,” wrote the spokesperson. “Under its own legislation, the European Union does not recognise the extraterritorial application of laws adopted by third countries and considers such effects to be contrary to international law. The EU Blocking Regulation expressly prohibits EU operators from complying with any requirement or prohibition based on specific foreign laws.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for the stance taken by Moscow during the war in the Middle East, in their first meeting since the outbreak of the conflict. “We appreciate and thank you for your stance at every stage – both during the period when fighting and acts of aggression were taking place, and under normal circumstances, when the United States was imposing sanctions on us, both at the United Nations and in international forums,” Pezeshkian told Putin during a meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan. “This demonstrates that ours is a strategic relationship; it is not an ordinary one,” he added.

Lessons have been suspended in all Christian schools in Jerusalem in protest at Israel’s failure to renew entry permits for over 70 teachers and staff members from the West Bank. This was reported by the Wafa news agency, which stated that the decision affects over 8,500 pupils.

“Whilst our schools were preparing for the start of the new 2026–2027 academic year, we were unfortunately taken by surprise, yet again, by the failure to renew the entry permits of over 70 teachers and members of our teaching, administrative and support staff. This happened suddenly and without warning, preventing them from reaching their respective schools and directly jeopardising the schools’ preparations for the start of the academic year,” stated the General Secretariat for Christian Educational Institutions in Jerusalem in a press release.

A woman and two children were killed in attacks carried out today by Israeli forces in Al-Katiba, west of Gaza City. A source at Al Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera this, adding that a further eight people were injured.

According to reports from the head of the Gaza media office, Ismail al-Thawabta, the Israeli army launched heavy air strikes in the area after an operation carried out by Israeli commandos was uncovered. Other Palestinian media outlets have claimed that the operation was carried out by local militias supported by Israel.

“Iran did not start the war. It defended itself. At the same time, Iran continues to regard diplomacy and negotiation as the main means of resolving disputes.” This was stated by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a speech delivered at the SCO summit in Kurdistan, as reported by the Iranian news agency IRNA. “But diplomacy without good faith, without honouring commitments and without refraining from the use of force cannot bring about lasting peace,” he added.

“Freedom of navigation must be respected. It is important to us that no tolls or charges are introduced on routes that were previously open.” This was stated by the EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, on her arrival at the informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Ireland. Kallas emphasised that diplomatic efforts regarding the Strait of Hormuz are still ongoing, but “have not yet yielded results”. “Freedom of navigation must be respected,” she reiterated. Maritime security will be among the topics discussed by EU defence ministers, alongside the protection of critical subsea infrastructure, such as the cables that run along the seabed and which, as Kallas noted, have a direct impact on the daily lives of European citizens.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused the United States of reneging on the agreement reached with Tehran in June, whilst stating that he is prepared to honour Iran’s commitments if Washington honours its own. “If America returns to fulfilling its obligations under the aforementioned memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will do so immediately,” Pezeshkian emphasised during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, according to reports by the Iranian news agency IRNA.

“The videos coming out of the West Bank are disturbing; all Member States have condemned them: some countries have called for a trade embargo on the occupied territories, but we have not yet received a proposal from the Commission and not all countries are in agreement.” EU High Representative Kaja Kallas made these remarks on her arrival at the Defence Council. “We have sent signals to Tel Aviv, but strong action would send a clear message,” she added.

The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei, stated that the EU’s recent support for US economic pressure on Iran constitutes ‘a violation of international law, contrary to EU laws, the values and moral standards that the EU itself professes, in the face of US intimidation. “The EU cannot condone US economic terrorism whilst at the same time claiming to want to ease tensions in the region,” he wrote on X, adding: “Such irresponsible actions demonstrate the EU’s moral and political incompetence, and Europeans should be held accountable for their actions.”

Iran will respond immediately if the United States honours the commitments it made under the interim agreement signed in June. This was stated by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as reported by the ISNA news agency.

“The United States must return to its commitments and honour the terms of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding to bring an end to the war.” This was stated by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan. The Iranian news agency IRNA reported this. “Only then can everything get back on the right track. We will continue to firmly defend our rights.”

The US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll has tendered his resignation to President Donald Trump and will step down from his post at the Pentagon in the coming days. The Wall Street Journal was the first to break the news of his departure. An army official told CNN that Driscoll “spoke to the President about the current situation in the army and tendered his resignation”.

The resignation of Driscoll, known as the ‘drone guy’, comes after months of tension with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. “Secretary Driscoll has proved extremely effective in advancing President Trump’s agenda to ‘Make America Strong Again’, providing exceptional leadership during historic military operations, restoring the focus on operational readiness and lethality, assisting in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and more’, said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly in a statement.

The Iranian armed forces have warned Middle Eastern countries against allowing the United States to use their territory and airspace for attacks against Iran, stating that Tehran will respond with ‘significantly greater’ force to any new aggression. The warning is contained in a statement issued by the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command and the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, broadcast by the state broadcaster Irib.

“Despite previous warnings and official statements from several countries in the region that they would never allow the US aggressor forces to use their territory and airspace, the US military continues to use them to attack our country and certain Iranian military facilities,” the statement reads.

JORDAN VALLEY – The man who sets bones arrives on the scorching plain like a mirage. His slender silhouette seems to split in two against the ochre landscape of the Jordan Valley. Harry gets out of the car. Yousef’s eldest son already knows what to do: he opens the boot and carries an aluminium case bigger than himself towards three small trees. Under the only shade available, Harry sets up the treatment table, whilst the children watch curiously. He touches Yousef’s spine, listens to it, then helps him lie down and begins with a wooden instrument of his own making. He has been an osteopath all his life. Now he is retired. He carries on practising.

‘To defend the rights of the Palestinians, we must ensure they are able to work. Without a functioning body, they would be lost. That’s what I do. I get them back on their feet,” says Harald Finkbeiner, 68, an Israeli national. “Here in Kirbet Makhoul, as in the other villages, everyone knows me as Harry.”

Three ‘unidentified projectiles’ struck an oil tanker as it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said today following the latest escalation in the conflict between the United States and Iran. The incident took place 31 kilometres east of Khasab, in Oman. No casualties or environmental impact have been reported. Earlier, the Iranian news agency Tasnim had reported that ‘a Saudi oil tanker named “Cedar” was intercepted whilst passing through the southern corridor of the Strait’.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has tendered his resignation to Donald Trump following months of tension with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. The Wall Street Journal reports this, noting that Driscoll will leave the Department of Defence in the coming days.

Further reading

War Department in chaos over Hegseth dismissals

23 April 2026