Lebanon, Israel conclude talks, agree to implement ‘pilot zones’
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16/07/2026 - 03:01
This liveblog is no longer being updated.
16/07/2026 - 01:23
Air raid sirens activated in Bahrain
16/07/2026 - 01:23
Kuwait army says it is intercepting 'hostile drone attacks' from Iran
Kuwait said on Thursday it was intercepting Iranian drones, while air raid sirens rang out in Bahrain following another night of American strikes on Iranian territory.
In a statement on X, the Kuwaiti army said it was "engaging hostile drone attacks following the nefarious Iranian aggression". Bahrain's interior ministry urged citizens and residents to "remain calm and head to the nearest safe place".
16/07/2026 - 01:01
Iran releases American detainee, says Trump
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had allowed an American who was "wrongfully detained" under the Biden administration in 2024 to leave the country.
"She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition. The United States of America appreciates this gesture of goodwill by Iran," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
15/07/2026 - 23:36
Drones shot down over Erbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region
A US-led coalition shot down several drones on Wednesday over Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, Kurdish forces said.
AFP journalists reported seeing several drones hovering over Erbil before they were hit by air defences, resulting in explosions and visible smoke near the US consulate, which was repeatedly targeted by drone and rocket attacks during the Middle East war.
These are the first reported drone attacks near the consulate in Erbil since a fragile ceasefire began in April.
Kurdish counterterrorism forces said US-led anti-jihadist "coalition forces downed and destroyed eight explosive-laden drones over Erbil between 20:53 and 21:20 (1753 and 1820 GMT)".
15/07/2026 - 23:33
US approves $1.96 billion Saudi weapons sale
The US State Department said on Wednesday that it had approved the potential sale of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems and related equipment to Saudi Arabia for an estimated $1.96 billion.
The principal contractor will be BAE Systems, the State Department said in a statement.
15/07/2026 - 23:10
US military disables oil tanker heading for Iranian port
The US military disabled an unladen oil tanker attempting to sail towards an Iranian port, the US Central Command said in a post on X on Wednesday.
"The commercial vessel ignored multiple warnings as it attempted to violate the US blockade. A US aircraft disabled the vessel after firing Hellfire missiles into the ship's smokestack. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran," it added.
15/07/2026 - 21:58
'We're really doing well with Iran', Trump tells defence summit
President Donald Trump addressed a defence summit at the US Army War College, touting what he said was nearly $10 billion in promised investments in technology while the war in Iran has reduced the US supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot and THAAD interceptors.
The gathering in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was organised by Republican Sen. David McCormick. It also featured Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth; Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll; CIA Director John Ratcliffe; and Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the United Nations.
“We're really doing well with Iran," Trump said, addressing a roundtable of Cabinet officials and business and defense industry leaders, adding, “Iran is unhappy right now.”
15/07/2026 - 21:25
Iran summons UK ambassador to protest Revolutionary Guards ban, state media reports
Iran's foreign ministry on Wednesday summoned Britain's ambassador to Tehran to protest the ban this week on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, vowing that the move would "not go unanswered".
"Following the unjustified action of the British government in placing the name of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps under the 'State Threats Prevention Act', Hugo Shorter, the British ambassador to Tehran, was summoned today, Wednesday... at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," state news agency IRNA said, adding that the move would be "met with a reciprocal and decisive response from Iran".
15/07/2026 - 21:23
US military says it has launched fresh strikes against Iran
The US military has said it launched a new wave of strikes against Iran, saying it was targeting military capabilities used to threaten vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
15/07/2026 - 20:05
Iran's top negotiator says Tehran has no reason to honour US MoU without benefits
Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf has noted that if Iran did not benefit from its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US, "we have no reason to adhere to such an understanding".
Iran's national security depends on maintaining "Iranian arrangements" in the Strait of Hormuz, Ghalibaf added in a statement posted on Telegram.
He said Iran's approach to its war with the US and negotiations to end it should be based on national interests, national security and a long-term perspective, adding that Tehran had no choice but to rely on its own strength.
15/07/2026 - 17:59
US military denies striking civilian wheat storage facility in Iran
The US military has denied that its forces struck a civilian wheat storage facility in Iran on Tuesday and said Iranian military targets were struck to degrade Tehran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
15/07/2026 - 17:57
Lebanon, Israel conclude two days of 'positive' talks in Rome
Lebanon and Israel have completed a new round of Washington-mediated negotiations in Rome, agreeing to implement "pilot zones" in southern Lebanon under a recent framework deal, a US official said.
"Talks concluded after two days of productive and positive discussions," the official said in a statement shared by the US embassy in Beirut, adding that the participants "agreed on the structure and guidelines for the pilot zone process, to be finalised and implemented in the coming days".
The US-brokered negotiations took place after a framework agreement was sealed last month following five rounds of talks in Washington.
The deal seeks an end to the state of war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, disarmament of the Iran-backed militant group, the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south and for Israeli forces to steadily withdraw from the country, starting with two "pilot zones".
But the agreement, rejected by Hezbollah, does not set a timetable for Israel's withdrawal.
Israeli officials have also vowed that their forces will remain in a "security zone" 10 kilometres (six miles) deep along the frontier for as long as Hezbollah remains armed.
15/07/2026 - 17:37
Morocco signs agreement to join Gaza international force, state media says
Morocco has signed an agreement to participate in the International Stabilization Force (ISF) for Gaza, state media reported.
The agreement was signed in Rabat at a meeting attended by Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, senior defence officials and Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, along with a delegation including the commander of the ISF, the state news agency MAP said.
The Board of Peace set up by US President Donald Trump to lead Gaza's reconstruction.
15/07/2026 - 16:08
Israel's latest strikes kill a dozen people in Gaza
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least a dozen people in Gaza over the past two days, local health officials said Wednesday, as strikes continue almost daily despite a months-old ceasefire with Hamas.
Three members of a family were killed in central Gaza on Wednesday, according to Al Aqsa Hospital officials.
On Tuesday, a woman and six police officers were among those killed in an airstrike on a police station in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, hospital officials said.
A man also died in the bombing of a tent camp in Khan Younis in the south, Nasser Hospital officials said. Meanwhile Israeli forces shot and killed a child in the Muwasi area outside the southernmost city of Rafah, according to hospital officials.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes in central and southern Gaza. In a statement on the attack in Jabaliya, it claimed that four of the slain police officers were Hamas militants, without providing evidence on how those killed were involved in planning or carrying out attacks.
One of the officers, Col. Mohamad Marwan Salem, was a senior police commander and head of the Jabaliya police station, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry said.
15/07/2026 - 14:30
- US reimposes Iran port blockade, sparking retaliatory strikes
- Iran Guards say Hormuz to remain closed until US ends 'acts of aggression'
- Iran Guards say they have targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain
- US military says completed 90-minute wave of strikes on Iran
- Lebanon, Israel conclude two days of 'positive' talks in Rome
- Israel's latest strikes kill a dozen people in Gaza
- US military launches 'wave of strikes' on Iran
- US strikes killed seven military personnel in southeast Iran, says Iranian army
- Kuwait, Bahrain intercept Iran attacks
- US military says completed 90-minute wave of strikes on Iran
15/07/2026 - 14:29
US military says completed 90-minute wave of strikes on Iran
The US military has said it completed its latest wave of strikes against Iranian targets that "further degraded Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz."
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X that it "launched precision munitions against coastal defense systems and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island during the 90-minute wave."
15/07/2026 - 14:27
Iranian minister visits Doha for funeral, days after Iran attacked Qatar
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Doha on Wednesday to attend the funeral of former Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Iran's ISNA reported, days after Iran attacked Qatar.
Iran has attacked what it says are US targets in Qatar – a mediator between Washington and Tehran in the Iran war – most recently on Sunday when the death of the former emir was announced.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Sunday it was targeting Qatar's Al Udied, the biggest US base in the Middle East, with ballistic missiles.
15/07/2026 - 13:06
US military launches 'wave of strikes' on Iran
The United States launched a wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said, after Washington reimposed a naval blockade in a return to war between the foes.
US forces "began launching a wave of strikes ... designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz", CENTCOM said on X.
15/07/2026 - 10:40
Kuwait, Bahrain intercept Iran attacks
The Gulf monarchies of Kuwait and Bahrain on Wednesday confirmed they had intercepted fresh aerial salvos from Iran as Tehran and Washington exchanged fire over control of the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Kuwait's military said it was intercepting attack drones, and blamed "nefarious Iranian aggression", with Bahrain's army later saying it "succeeded in intercepting and destroying a number of the treacherous Iranian aerial attacks".
In the early hours of the morning, Bahrain's interior ministry said it had sounded warning sirens and urged citizens and residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.
Iranian state media reported Wednesday that Iran carried out separate attacks on US targets in Kuwait and on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain after US forces struck the Islamic republic.
Yesterday's key developments:
• US President Donald Trump announced a reversal of his plan to charge a 20% toll on cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz, saying he would instead seek investment deals with Gulf states.
• US forces reimposed a naval blockade to prevent ships from sailing to or from Iran's ports.
• The US military conducted strikes against Iran for a fourth day in response to Tehran's attacks on commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)