Iran declared the UK's RAF Fairford air base a 'legitimate military target' on July 23-24, citing its use by US B-1 Lancer bombers in strikes on Iranian territory; the British government said it was 'ready to keep the UK safe' and electronic warfare aircraft arrived at Fairford, marking the first explicit Iranian threat against a NATO ally's military base in the current conflict
The US military used B-1 Lancer heavy bombers against Iran on July 23, the first deployment of the aircraft in 12 days since fighting resumed, as Trump told Axios he is 'close to a decision' on an unprecedented 'massive attack' if Iran refuses to negotiate; US intelligence is separately probing whether Russia supplied targeting data for Iranian drone strikes on CIA facilities in Saudi Arabia and Iraq; the US House of Representatives passed a new troop-withdrawal resolution
US CENTCOM struck the construction site of Iran's Darkhovin nuclear power plant in Khuzestan province on July 19 in retaliation for the deaths of two US soldiers in Jordan; Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation condemned the attack as a strike on a safeguarded peaceful nuclear facility, and the IRGC reported shooting down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over Ahvaz
India's Directorate General of Merchant Marine Affairs ordered ship owners and recruitment agencies on July 16 not to deploy Indian nationals on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, citing the deaths of at least two Indian seafarers and three more feared dead after Iranian attacks on international shipping in recent days
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared Operation Nasr 2 on July 15, claiming strikes on US military facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, and threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East if the US naval blockade continues; Brent crude rose above US$85 as the US reimposed its Hormuz blockade and redirected two commercial vessels
US forces carried out a third consecutive night of strikes across a broad swath of Iran early on July 14, US officials said, as Tehran struck back against international shipping and US allies in the Persian Gulf; CNN's live feed confirmed the strikes, which coincide with US President Donald Trump's reimposition of a naval blockade and a 20% Hormuz shipping levy
US President Donald Trump said on July 13 that the US would 'take out Pickaxe Mountain', the underground nuclear facility near Natanz, and announced a reinstatement of what he called an Iranian blockade through the [[strait-of-hormuz]]; earlier that day US forces had struck Iranian targets for the third consecutive day, [[irgc]] forces struck US military facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman in a third retaliatory wave, and Brent crude climbed above US$75 a barrel; Iran and Oman said they would continue political and technical talks on Hormuz management
Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Iranian Ambassador Mousa Farhang on July 12 and handed him a note of protest after Iranian drones struck facilities in Oman's Musandam and Al Wusta governorates; Iran separately reported new attacks on military targets on its largest island near the [[strait-of-hormuz]], which the [[irgc]] has again declared closed 'until the end of US interference'; a defence technology report said Iran's Zolfaghar ballistic missiles, guided by China's BeiDou-3 satellite system, are maintaining 98 percent accuracy despite US Patriot and THAAD jamming attempts, while both interceptor stockpiles are described as depleted
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to all shipping on July 12, hours after fresh US airstrikes hit the Iranian port cities of Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Chabahar, Qeshm Island, Bushehr and Asaluyeh; Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and the UAE; three people were injured in Qatar by falling shrapnel; ceasefire talks in Muscat the previous day had ended without agreement; US envoys were headed back to Oman even as fighting intensified
Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since February 28; his three brothers prayed at the coffin in Tehran as Israeli threats and reported injuries kept him away from the largest state funeral in Iran's history
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched missile and drone strikes on US military positions in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman early on July 13, the third exchange of attacks between Iran and the US in one week; US President Trump announced he was reinstating what he called an 'Iranian blockade' and said the US would act as 'Guardian of Hormuz' with a 20% toll
Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and the UAE on July 12, expanding beyond the four states it struck earlier in the day, after the US carried out a third round of airstrikes against Iranian targets in retaliation for attacks on commercial shipping; Qatar's military intercepted incoming Iranian fire and three people were injured by shrapnel in Doha; the UAE said missiles fired at Gulf states did not enter its territory; the [[strait-of-hormuz]], formally closed by the [[irgc]] earlier the same day, was physically open to traffic but shipping was warned of a severe threat level
Iran's second Supreme Leader from 1989 to 2026, Khamenei commanded the IRGC, Iran's nuclear program, and regional proxy networks until his death in US-Israeli airstrikes on 28 February 2026.
The Islamic Republic of Iran controls the northern shore of the Strait of Hormuz and holds the world's second-largest natural gas reserves and third-largest proven oil reserves, placing it at the center of Middle East conflict, global energy markets, and US-led sanctions regimes.
Iran routes roughly 1.5 million barrels of crude per day through a shadow fleet and front-company network to circumvent US and EU sanctions that have been in place since the 1990s.
The interlocking US, UN, and EU sanctions regimes imposed on Iran since 1979 are the primary mechanism constraining Iran's oil revenues, nuclear program, and weapons procurement, shaping Middle East geopolitics and global energy markets.
Iran's ninth president since July 2024, a reformist cardiac surgeon who co-signed the June 2026 Islamabad Memorandum ceasefire framework with the US, operating within Supreme Leader authority in Tehran.
Iran's first hereditary succession installs a mid-ranking cleric the Guards pushed through; a third of the Assembly never signed on