Firefighters work to put out a blaze on a gas tanker in Egypt’s Damietta port after it was reportedly hit by an Iranian drone strike, July 29, 2026.
HERE IS THE LATEST
- Iran said U.S. strikes killed three of its soldiers Thursday as the latest round of attacks threatened to engulf more countries in the region. Jordan said it intercepted Iranian missiles for a second consecutive day, while Kuwait said a strike there killed one person.
- Drone strikes at Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta sparked fires on two natural gas vessels Wednesday, in what appears to be the first time Egypt has been targeted. The origin of the strike remains unknown, but Iran’s Houthi allies have targeted ships in the nearby Red Sea.
- About two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran has not been worthwhile, according to a poll conducted by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents, as well as about 37% of Republicans.
U.S. says it has turned around 24 commercial ships in Iran blockade
The U.S. military’s Central Command said Thursday it has redirected 24 commercial vessels since restarting a blockade on Iranian ports earlier this month, up from 20 vessels a day earlier.
Since President Trump reinstated the blockade, U.S. forces have boarded two ships accused of violating it and have fired at two other ships to disable them, CENTCOM said.
The U.S. has publicly insisted the Strait of Hormuz is still open to commercial traffic, but transits through the waterway remain extremely low as Iran
New sanctions target Iran’s largest airline carrier, Mahan Air
The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Mahan Air, Iran’s biggest airline, in its latest round of financial punishments against the country.
“Although Mahan Air presents itself as a civilian carrier, it has long played a central role in enabling the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), providing travel services for IRGC‑Qods Force personnel, facilitating military training, and supporting Iran’s procurement and transport of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems and weapons,” the Treasury said in a statement Thursday.
The sanctions also target several, mostly Chinese-based, companies who do business with Mahan Air, including Shanghai Wings, which the U.S. said has “coordinated the transport of electronics from China to Iran.” Tang Xin, the company’s managing director, has also been sanctioned.
The U.S. has announced several rounds of sanctions targeting Iran — at least 12 since the war began on Feb. 28. The last round was announced just yesterday and targeted the Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, two entities involved in coordinating transit through the Strait of Hormuz.threatens to strike ships.
Iran war powers vote fails again in Senate
A vote in the Senate to limit President Trump’s war powers has failed again, likely the last one before the recess begins Aug. 10.
The resolution, brought by New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, lost 49-50. Three Republicans voted in favor of limiting Mr. Trump’s power to continue the war — Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Rand Paul — while one Democrat voted against it, John Fetterman. Republican Mitch McConnell, who remains in a rehabilitation facility, is the one senator who did not vote.
The resolution, if passed, would’ve “direct[ed] the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.”
The vote came exactly one week after the last Democratic effort failed.
NBA will not play preseason games in Abu Dhabi, sources say
The NBA will not be holding any preseason games in Abu Dhabi due to the ongoing war in the Middle East, according to sources.
There have been games at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, as part of its Global Games initiative every year since 2022. The defending champion New York Knicks played two games against the Philadelphia 76ers in October 2025. Historically, two teams have played a pair of games each year.
The NBA does still plan to hold future games in Abu Dhabi, the sources said.
In January, the NBA announced a continuation of its relationship with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism. At the time, the league said teams participating in the fall edition of the games would be named at a later date.
The league also announced the NBA Global Academy would move to Abu Dhabi in the future. The academy provides both education and basketball
development for elite high school-age players around the world.
Abu Dhabi is among the locations targeted by Iran as retribution for Israeli and American attacks beginning Feb. 28. Attacks in the UAE have decreased in recent months, but the country has intercepted hundreds of missile and drone attacks.
U.S. rejects several claims made by IRGC, including attack on F-35s in Jordan
The U.S. military rejected several claims by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Thursday, including the assertion three U.S. F-35 stealth fighters were destroyed in a missile attack.
Iran had claimed the attack earlier Thursday, saying the Muwaffaq al-Salti Air Base in Jordan was targeted and several F-35s were hit.
“No U.S. aircraft were destroyed or damaged in recent attempted Iranian attacks,” U.S. Central Command said on X. “All missiles and drones were intercepted or failed to reach targeted areas.”
The U.S. also denied an alleged Iranian claim that an oil tanker, M/T Nora, had been able to elude the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM highlighted that more than 20 ships have now been redirected by the reinstated blockade on commercial vessels entering or exiting Iranian ports.
U.S. Central Command also countered Iran’s claims that it is dangerous for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, saying, “The immediate dangers posed to commercial vessels and their civilian crews are the IRGC’s verbal threats and attempted attacks.”
Several ships have come under fire from Iran in the strait, however, as recently as Wednesday. Three oil tankers were targeted, the IRGC said, after four days of there being no strikes.
Netanyahu had “cordial and productive conversation with Vance
Vice President JD Vance and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a “cordial and productive conversation” on Wednesday, a U.S. official told CBS News.
On a podcast earlier this month, Vance said some figures in the Israeli government were “manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely.”
Speaking to ABC News on Wednesday, Netanyahu denied the charge, saying: “I had a very good conversation with the vice president this morning, and I think we straightened that out, because we’re not. That’s not our policy.”
A U.S. official told CBS News that Vance and Netanyahu “had a cordial and productive conversation about Middle East issues that are important to both countries. They agreed to continue pursuing opportunities for Israel and the United States to cooperate in areas of mutual interest and shared goals.”
U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios the conversation was “frank” and “direct.”
Pakistan says U.S.-Iran talks ongoing despite trade attacks
Pakistan said Thursday that negotiations between Iran and the United States were ongoing, even as U.S. Central Command announced another “heavy wave of strikes” on targets in Iran in retaliation for further attacks targeting a U.S. air base in Jordan.
It appeared Pakistan, which has acted as a mediator for months, was referring to indirect talks, as Iran has repeatedly denied any direct negotiations with U.S. officials this week. Tehran said earlier this week that it had held further talks with Omani officials, over future mechanisms to control traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, but the foreign ministry insists there is no current dialogue with American officials.
The last two days have seen Saudi Arabia join the U.S. in striking militant groups in Iraq, and Egypt come under fire for the first time with a drone attack at a Mediterranean port – though the perpetrator of the attack is unclear. On Thursday morning, Jordan and Kuwait reported incoming Iranian strikes.
The return to direct hostilities followed a brief pause in fighting meant to give talks a boost.
“Negotiations between parties are ongoing, particularly on [the] Strait of Hormuz and to de-escalate,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad, the AFP news agency reported.
Pakistan previously helped broker a deal between the warring sides that laid the groundwork for negotiations on a permanent resolution. Andrabi said it was doing its “utmost to bring all parties back” to technical talks under the agreement.
Previous direct and indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. following an April truce have stalled, with the ceasefire collapsing earlier this month and Iran again declaring itself the sole authority over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for global oil and gas.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Thursday that two oil tankers attempting to transit the strait with U.S. support turned back after one of them caught fire.
Saudi Arabia’s GDP drops 4.8% and oil activities drop 24.7%
Saudi Arabia’s Gross Domestic Product, a key measure of its economic health, fell 4.8% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the previous year, while its “oil activities” fell a staggering 24.7% in the same period, Saudi’s state-owned Al-Arabiya TV said Thursday.
The kingdom acknowledged joining the U.S. to carry out strikes on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq Wednesday – the first public engagement of any Persian Gulf nation during the five-month war. At least 20 people, some of them Iranian military advisers, were killed in the U.S.-Saudi strikes, according to the Iran-backed militia groups.
Two-thirds of adult Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, says new poll
Most Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, and President Trump’s approval rating on Iran has fallen slightly since last month, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
The results are a stark repudiation of Trump’s approach to the conflict, which has dragged on far longer than he originally predicted.
About two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran, which began Feb. 28, has not been worthwhile, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents, as well as about 37% of Republicans.
The poll was conducted July 23-27, as the U.S. and Iran paused attacks following a nearly two-week escalation in the war. During the flare-up, the U.S. targeted Iranian military and commercial sites while Iran attacked U.S. military facilities in the Middle East, resulting in additional deaths of American service members. Since the war began, 18 U.S. service members have been killed, though the Trump administration has sought to revise those numbers.
The survey reinforces how unpopular the Iran war has become at home, a potential problem for congressional Republicans up for reelection in November who have defended Trump’s military actions. Just 28% of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling Iran, a slight decline from 34% last month. Even Republicans appear to be increasingly unhappy with the prolonged conflict. Roughly 61% of Republicans approve of how Trump is handling Iran, an apparent decline from 71% in June. The margin of sampling error for Republicans is 6 points, so the decline is considered slight, but it’s still noteworthy given Republicans’ much higher approval of how Trump is handling the presidency overall.
Trump’s overall approval rating is at 33%, slightly below where he stood at this point in his first term and similar to where former President Joe Biden stood about one and a half years into his presidency, when inflation peaked.
CBS
