According to Cooper, Iran intentionally attacked seven commercial ships over the past seven days resulting in \u201cnearly a dozen\u201d civilian crew members being killed, injured or going missing. He said Iran also launched dozens of missiles and drones at neighboring Gulf countries, including early Wednesday as Iranian forces claimed attacks on US positions at Jordan\u2019s Azraq base and in Bahrain and Kuwait.<\/p>\n
There were reports of injuries; material damage was reported in Kuwait from a fire caused by an Iranian attack, while Jordan said it intercepted three Iranian missiles fired at the kingdom.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, said in an interview aired by IRIB, Iran\u2019s state broadcaster, that the US was seeking to prevent Tehran from exercising what he described as \u201ceffective sovereignty\u201d over the Strait of Hormuz, which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps vowed would remain closed \u201cuntil the United States ends its acts of aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t \u201cWe\u2019re going to hit them very hard tonight. We\u2019re going to hit them very hard tomorrow night. We\u2019re going to hit them very hard the night after, and then next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges. We\u2019re going to knock out all their power plants. We\u2019re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate,\u201d Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired Tuesday night on \u201cSpecial Report with Bret Baier.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we\u2019ll hit energy targets,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Trump has threatened numerous times to bomb Iranian energy sites only to hold off in the end, apparently due to concerns that doing so would result in Iran becoming a failed state \u2014 a scenario the US is looking to avoid.<\/p>\n Listing Trump\u2019s war aims as preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and to degrade Iran\u2019s military capabilities, Baier asked if they can be accomplished through an air campaign alone.<\/p>\n Trump claimed his war aims have actually already been achieved even though the US has not secured Iran\u2019s stockpiles of enriched uranium and traffic through Hormuz is only at 10% of prewar levels.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s open if people want to go through it,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n \t As for Iran\u2019s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, Trump again downplayed the importance of securing it, saying the US was surveilling Iran\u2019s nuclear sites.<\/p>\n Asked whether the US was capable of striking the nuclear site deep underground at Pickaxe Mountain, Trump responded, \u201cNobody knows about Pickaxe,\u201d before insisting the US is watching that site too and could act if needed.<\/p>\n Trump gave a similar answer regarding the Taleghan facility outside Tehran, which satellite imagery suggests Iran has started repairing since it was struck during the war. \u201cWe can hit that one very easily,\u201d the president claimed.<\/p>\n Asked if he has been negotiating with the right people in Iran, Trump said he does not want to negotiate anymore because Iran purportedly reneged on a deal over the weekend.<\/p>\n But seconds later, he said his aides have been talking to Iranian negotiators in just the past hour.<\/p>\n Asked what message the US passed along to Iran, Trump said, \u201cYou better make a deal. You\u2019re not going to have anybody left. We\u2019re being very careful with the civilian population, but you better make a deal [or] you\u2019re not going to have anything left.\u201d<\/p>\n According to two regional officials, mediators are still trying to get the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate diplomatic process, said Pakistan-led mediation was working around the clock to reactivate the ceasefire.<\/p>\n Trump drops proposed Hormuz fee for Gulf investment in US<\/p>\n When Trump announced the return of the blockade Monday, he also said he would impose a 20% fee on ships passing through the strait. But he dropped the plan to collect fees hours before resuming the blockade, saying he was called by \u201ckings and emirs\u201d who suggested an alternate arrangement.<\/p>\n \u201cThey said we\u2019d love to do it a different way. We\u2019d love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars,\u201d Trump told reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n Trump said he preferred that arrangement to charging tolls \u201cbecause I don\u2019t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the strait.\u201d<\/p>\n It was unclear if the investment deals would be new commitments relative to what Trump announced after a visit last year to the Middle East.<\/p>\n \t Trump\u2019s plan to charge fees would have been a change to longstanding US policy and a departure from US promises that the strait would remain open to all without tolls \u2014 recently offered by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on a trip to the region.<\/p>\n Under the interim deal, Iran agreed that passage through the strait would remain free of charge for 60 days \u2014 but the agreement left open what would happen after. Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees. The US has disputed that.<\/p>\n The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, briefly topped $87 early Tuesday, still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war. The price dipped to $78 in the aftermath of Trump\u2019s announcement that he had changed course.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
\t\t\t
\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t That\u2019s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.<\/p>\n So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven\u2019t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.<\/p>\n For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n Thank you, \t\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26194774981470-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tThis image from video released by US Central Command shows an explosion at Bandar Abbas Naval Base, Iran, as three Corsair unmanned surface vessels, also called one-way attack surface drones, fired by the US military, hit the port July 12, 2026. (US Central Command via AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26195596071522-e1784069489550-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tUS President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Iraq\u2019s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office of the White House, July 14, 2026, in Washington (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AFP__20260713__C22T44G__v1__HighRes__UaeIranUsIsraelWar-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tThis picture shows ships sailing near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates at Khor Fakkan on July 13, 2026 (AFP)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tWe can’t do this work alone.\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-4-200x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYes, I’ll join\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYes, I’ll join\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYou’re a dedicated reader\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/334x334-200x200.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n