Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has congratulated six senior military officials appointed to key leadership positions in Iran’s armed forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij.

The newly appointed commanders are Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of the armed forces; Kioumars Heydari, deputy chief of staff; Ahmad Vahidi, commander-in-chief of the IRGC; Mostafa Izadi, deputy IRGC commander; Ali Azmaei, commander of the IRGC Navy; and Hossein Taeb, head of the Basij.

Araghchi said the appointments reflected the commanders’ years of military experience and service in protecting Iran’s security, independence and territorial integrity.

The foreign minister also praised their roles during what he described as Iran’s “two recent imposed wars”, saying their record demonstrated their commitment to defending the country.

Araghchi wished the newly appointed commanders success in strengthening Iran’s “security, dignity and power” under the direction of the country’s supreme leader.

The appointments come as Iran continues to reorganise its senior military leadership amid heightened regional tensions and the fallout from recent conflict involving Israel and the United States.

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen below 300 million barrels for the first time since January 1983, as the government continues to draw on its emergency crude stockpile to cushion the impact of supply disruptions linked to the war with Iran, according to the Department of Energy.

The reserve declined by 6.1 million barrels last week to 298.7 million, marking its lowest level in more than four decades.

The latest drawdown represents a sharp acceleration from the previous two weeks. The SPR fell by 5.1 million barrels in the week ending July 17, followed by declines of about 3.7 million and 2.85 million barrels in the subsequent weeks.

The US began tapping the reserve heavily in March after President Donald Trump authorised the release of up to 172 million barrels following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran. Analysts described the resulting disruption to global crude supplies as the largest on record.

When the conflict began on February 28, the SPR held roughly 415 million barrels. Since then, its stockpile has fallen by about 116 million barrels.

The sharp decline has raised questions about how much further the US can rely on the emergency reserve.

The SPR has an authorised storage capacity of about 714 million barrels. However, the Department of Energy considers roughly 70 million barrels the minimum required to keep the system operational.

The reserve is also facing infrastructure problems. Government Accountability Office auditors found in May 2026 that more than 25 per cent of the SPR’s crude inventory, equivalent to around 103 million barrels, was unavailable for rapid deployment because of ageing infrastructure and operational outages.

Energy Department officials told the GAO that the reserve’s ageing network of pipelines, pumps and storage facilities is effectively being maintained with temporary fixes, underscoring the challenges facing the system.

Replenishing the reserve could prove considerably more difficult than drawing it down. Analysts have warned that restoring stocks to previous levels would require substantial purchases and infrastructure investment and could take years.

The shrinking SPR leaves the United States with a significantly smaller emergency buffer at a time when global oil markets remain vulnerable to geopolitical disruptions. The pace at which Washington can rebuild the reserve will depend on crude prices, domestic production, future supply shocks and the government’s willingness to allocate funds for replenishment.

The United States could take several years to replenish supplies of some of its most important missiles after nearly six months of war with Iran, according to defence analysts, raising concerns about the readiness of the country’s missile-defence systems.

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the conflict has significantly reduced US stocks of key interceptors.

Cancian estimated that the US has used around 60 per cent of its global stockpile of Patriot missiles, while its supply of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors has fallen to roughly half of pre-war levels.

“If the war with Iran were to end today,” Cancian said, it could take between one and five years, depending on the type of munition, for US stockpiles to return to their pre-war levels.

The strain on missile supplies highlights the challenges facing the US defence industry as Washington attempts to expand production while meeting demands from ongoing security commitments around the world.

Patriot production needs major expansion

Cancian said annual Patriot missile production has already doubled from roughly 300 before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to about 600 today.

However, the US has set a much higher production target of 2,000 Patriot missiles a year. Reaching that level could take until at least 2030, he said.

The situation is particularly concerning for long-range weapons and missile-defence interceptors, which are among the systems most heavily used during the conflict.

The depletion of these weapons could limit Washington’s ability to respond quickly to another major conflict while manufacturers work to rebuild inventories.

Defence industry faces production challenges

Dan Grazier, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, said simply increasing defence spending would not be enough to resolve the shortages.

He argued that the US needs to rethink how it designs and manufactures weapons, with greater emphasis on systems that can be produced quickly and in large numbers.

“We need to design simpler weapons that can be bought at scale and produced in a relevant time span,” Grazier said.

The concerns come as the US defence industry faces pressure to expand production capacity after years of high demand for advanced weapons and missile-defence systems.

For Washington, the challenge is not only replacing missiles already fired during the Iran war but also ensuring that future stockpiles are large enough to sustain prolonged conflicts without creating dangerous gaps in US military readiness.

US-brokered talks between Lebanon and Israel are expected to resume in Rome early next month, as Washington works to advance a trilateral framework aimed at reducing tensions and improving security along the border.

A US State Department official told Al Jazeera that no specific date has yet been agreed for the next round of negotiations. The talks follow recent US-facilitated discussions in Rome focused on implementing the framework and expanding pilot zones in southern Lebanon.

Initial implementation of the pilot zones has already begun, according to the official, while a military coordination group involving Lebanon and Israel is expected to continue working in the coming weeks to support their rollout.

US President Donald Trump is sending mixed signals over how Washington intends to handle the ongoing confrontation with Iran, alternating between threats of further military action and calls for patience as Tehran faces mounting economic pressure.

From the White House, the approach has appeared increasingly difficult to predict. Trump has at times warned of severe consequences for Iran, while on other occasions suggesting that Washington can simply wait and allow economic pressures to weaken the Iranian government.

Trump’s advisers have reportedly encouraged a more restrained approach, arguing that further escalation could deepen the conflict without necessarily delivering a clear advantage for the United States. They believe Iran’s economic difficulties could eventually put additional pressure on its leadership and widen divisions between moderates and hardliners in Tehran.

The strategy, however, remains contested. Critics argue that relying on economic hardship to force Iran into concessions could take time and may not produce the political changes Washington expects. They also warn that renewed military escalation could further complicate efforts to find a way out of the conflict.

Trump, meanwhile, has publicly maintained that he is comfortable with the current situation. He has repeatedly claimed that the US has prevented Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and has shown little public concern about the political consequences of the prolonged confrontation ahead of the November elections.

The uncertainty has also fuelled debate within the Republican Party over the political cost of the conflict. Critics of the administration argue that voters could punish Republicans if Washington fails to secure a clear resolution or exit strategy.

For now, Trump appears to be keeping both options open — maintaining pressure on Tehran while avoiding an immediate move towards a wider war.

Trump said the US Navy has “mine-swept the entire Strait of Hormuz”, claiming that the strategic waterway has been cleared of naval mines.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has criticised the US over its continued use of economic sanctions against Tehran, accusing Washington of becoming “addicted” to the policy.

Baghaei was responding to comments by the US Treasury Secretary, who described the sanctions as an effort to “suffocate” Iran economically.

He argued that Washington’s reliance on sanctions had gone beyond a policy choice and had become a habitual approach to dealing with Iran.

Baghaei said Iran had shown over decades that it could withstand US sanctions and warned that continued pressure could ultimately hurt Washington’s own position.

He said US politicians risked reducing their chances of finding a face-saving way out of the ongoing crisis by continuing to rely on what he described as an ineffective and outdated strategy.

A US State Department official has told Al Jazeera that Hezbollah is “attempting to sabotage the process” of talks between Lebanon and Israel, while both countries face internal political pressures.

The official warned that “taking shortcuts leads to the same failed outcomes we have witnessed for decades,” but said Washington remains “optimistic about the current trajectory”.

US President Donald Trump has said the Strait of Hormuz is effectively open, while claiming that the US Navy has complete control over the strategic waterway amid ongoing tensions with Iran.

Asked when the Strait of Hormuz would reopen, Trump said: “It’s open NOW!”

Trump claimed that the US Navy has the authority to decide which vessels can enter or leave the waterway, describing the American naval blockade as a “steel wall”.

“The only one that has control of the Strait is the US Navy,” Trump said. “Our blockade is a STEEL WALL. We let people in who we want to let in.”

According to Trump, ships are currently moving through the Strait, although vessels are being prevented from entering Iranian waters.

“They’re coming in and going out. It’s ACTUALLY open now. We do not let them go into Iran,” he said.

Trump also accused Iran of occasionally deploying mines in the strategic waterway, but said the US remained firmly in control.

“Iran, on occasion, will drop a mine. We control the Strait 100%,” Trump said.

He acknowledged that Iran could still cause disruption but dismissed the threat, saying: “Can they make trouble? Yeah. But they’re BROKE!”

The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, is one of the world’s most important energy corridors. Any prolonged disruption to shipping through the waterway could affect global oil supplies and energy prices.

Trump’s remarks come as tensions between Washington and Tehran remain high, with the status of commercial shipping through the Strait continuing to be closely watched by energy markets and governments across the region.

An unnamed US official told Axios on Sunday that around 8 million barrels of oil are being transported out of the Gulf each night through the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz, with the shipments coordinated with the US military.

The claim has not been independently verified. Available shipping data suggests a significantly lower volume. Maritime tracking firm Kpler recorded nearly 16.9 million barrels moving west to east through the Strait of Hormuz between August 1 and August 7, underscoring the uncertainty surrounding the reported daily flow.

Israeli parliamentarian Ofer Cassif has accused the government of supporting escalating attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, describing the violence as part of what he called a state-backed ethnic cleansing strategy.

Cassif, a member of the left-wing Hadash-Ta’al party, made the remarks while speaking to Al Jazeera near the West Bank town of Taybeh.

“The settlers are the proxies of the government and the occupation forces,” Cassif said, accusing Israeli authorities of financing and encouraging the attacks.

He described the violence as “state terrorism” and said he had recently visited Umm al-Khair and Taybeh, where he alleged settlers had set fire to homes.

According to Cassif, residents in the affected areas were placed in serious danger during the attacks, which he said took place alongside the presence of Israeli occupation forces.

Cassif Links Violence To Israeli Elections

Cassif alleged that the escalating violence was also connected to Israel’s domestic political situation, claiming the government was seeking to increase tensions in the West Bank ahead of elections.

“They want to ignite a huge fire in the West Bank,” he said, alleging that the government could use a major escalation as justification for a broader military campaign against Palestinians.

Cassif further claimed that the violence was unrelated to Israeli security and instead reflected a wider political strategy targeting Palestinian communities in the occupied territory.

Accusations Against Smotrich

The Israeli MP also linked the developments to a plan he attributed to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, referring to proposals introduced by Smotrich in 2017.

Cassif described the current situation as part of what he called an “ethnic cleansing” project and argued that the violence would be difficult to stop because, in his view, elements of the Israeli government wanted it to continue.

His comments come amid growing international concern over settler violence in the occupied West Bank, where attacks on Palestinian communities have increased in recent years.

Cassif’s allegations represent his political assessment of the situation and were not independently established in the report.

US President Donald Trump has said Iran should be held responsible for the “damages and death” caused across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza.

Trump’s remarks came as tensions between Washington and Tehran remained high following the latest escalation in the region and growing disagreements over compensation and the terms of any future settlement.

The US president was responding to Iran’s demand for compensation for damage caused during the months-long military conflict. Trump has rejected Tehran’s position and said Washington should instead seek compensation from Iran for casualties and destruction linked to conflicts involving the country and its regional allies.

In earlier remarks, Trump said Iran had raised the issue of compensation despite it not being part of previous negotiations between the two sides. He subsequently argued that Tehran should also be held accountable for deaths and injuries resulting from conflicts in which Iran has played a role.

Trump has now expanded that argument, saying Iran should bear responsibility for the suffering caused to people in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza.

The comments add another complication to efforts to reach a broader understanding between the United States and Iran. Tehran has continued to demand compensation for damage caused during the conflict, along with other concessions, while Washington has insisted that Iran make significant changes to its military and regional policies.

The dispute over compensation comes as both sides remain divided over the future of the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions and Iran’s nuclear programme. Any agreement would also have to address wider regional security concerns and the role of Iran-backed armed groups.

Trump has maintained that Iran must meet US demands before Washington considers a lasting settlement. Tehran, meanwhile, has insisted that any agreement must include guarantees against further US military action and relief from sanctions.

The latest exchange underscores how far apart the two sides remain, even as diplomatic efforts continue and regional powers push for an arrangement that could reduce the risk of another escalation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate phone conversations with his German and Pakistani counterparts as diplomatic efforts continued amid regional tensions.

Araghchi spoke with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul about regional and international developments, according to a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry.

The conversation came after Germany appeared to support US President Donald Trump’s 15-point Gaza peace plan. A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the proposal could potentially create conditions for Hamas to disarm. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally rejected the plan on Sunday.

Araghchi also held a separate phone call with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. The two discussed the latest developments in negotiations between Iran and Oman, as well as the new defence pact involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.

The diplomatic contacts come as regional governments seek to navigate multiple overlapping crises, including negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz and continuing efforts to reach agreements on Gaza and wider Middle East security.

US President Donald Trump has said Washington will demand compensation from Iran, after Tehran sought payment for damage it says was caused by US and Israeli military action during the months-long conflict.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Iran had raised the issue of compensation despite, in his account, not mentioning it during earlier negotiations.

Trump said he was now making a reciprocal demand, arguing that Iran should compensate the US for Americans killed or seriously wounded in attacks and conflicts involving Iranian forces and proxies.

He specifically cited the families of those killed in the USS Cole bombing and other US combat deaths.

Trump also said Iran should pay compensation to the families of protesters killed in Iran over the past five decades, as well as those he said had been killed during the past five months.

The US president said he had instructed American representatives to include the compensation demand in further negotiations with Tehran.

The remarks add another complication to efforts to reach an agreement between Washington and Tehran, with compensation emerging as a major point of contention alongside sanctions, military deployments and the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials have repeatedly demanded compensation for damage caused during the conflict and have linked the reopening of the strategically important waterway to broader US concessions.

Trump’s latest comments indicate that Washington is unwilling to accept Tehran’s compensation demand without seeking its own financial claims in return.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian tells state TV that his recent meeting with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei lasted seven hours.

“I discussed with him all of the country’s issues, including people’s livelihoods, the state of the market, employment, housing, sanctions, how we stand firm, the people’s support, unity and cohesion,” he says, according to a translation by Iran International.

The meeting is also said to have focused on the repercussions of the war.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Washington was “low-keying” its approach to Iran and only “semi-negotiating” with the Islamic Republic, as it suffers in dire economic straits.

The remarks, made in a brief phone interview with Barak Ravid of Channel 12 and Axios, signaled Trump was forgoing a military strike on Iran and instead preparing to let the mounting economic pressure take its toll.

Trump’s comments came after Iran on Saturday laid out drastic new conditions for lifting the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about one-fifth of the world’s commercial oil shipments until the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28.

Kuwait has congratulated Pakistan on the signing of its trilateral defence agreement with Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, as regional diplomatic engagement intensifies following the landmark pact.

According to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah spoke by phone with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, in a late-night call focused on the recently signed Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the Kuwaiti minister “felicitated” Dar on the agreement during the conversation. The two ministers also exchanged views on the wider regional situation, including developments in occupied East Jerusalem.

The officials also discussed Pakistan-Kuwait bilateral relations and matters of mutual interest, including follow-up to Jarrah’s recent visit to Pakistan and ways to expand cooperation and investment across key sectors.

The Mecca agreement was signed on Friday in the Saudi holy city by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Israeli forces have opened fire and shelled areas in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), as tensions continue to rise along the Israel-Lebanon border.

NNA reported that Israeli forces used machineguns against the southern Lebanese town of Wadi al-Salouqi on Thursday morning. The agency did not immediately report any casualties or injuries from the gunfire.

Israeli forces also reportedly fired shells towards the town of al-Mansouri overnight, adding to concerns over renewed military activity in the area.

The reported attacks come a day after the Israeli military issued a forced displacement order for al-Mansouri, marking the first such directive in several weeks. Residents have previously faced restrictions on returning to parts of southern Lebanon affected by Israeli military operations.