Iran’s National Security Council warned that a continuing US naval blockade of ports in southern Iran could cause severe disruption to global energy supplies. In a statement reported on August 1, Tehran said it could fully close the strategically important Strait of Hormuz and restrict other sea routes if Washington maintains the blockade.

The council said control over the Strait of Hormuz would be tightened if Iranian ports remain blocked. It also raised the prospect of closing or restricting other major maritime routes, without naming any specific passages. Analysts cited in the report suggested the warning may point to the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden, areas associated with the Iran-aligned Houthis.

Tehran said the continued US naval action would seriously disrupt global energy markets. The statement also indirectly highlighted a potential rise in US domestic gasoline prices and possible political effects in the United States. The warning came amid speculation about possible renewed US and Israeli attacks targeting Iran’s national energy and military infrastructure.

The United States has reached a severe strategic “impasse” over its policy and military action against Iran, according to Kenneth Katzman, a former analyst for the US Congress and senior fellow at The Soufan Center. The assessment was reported in an article published on August 1, 2026.

Katzman said Washington is confronting a complex situation in which it has only two options. He described the current circumstances as a point at which US policy and military measures regarding Iran have produced difficult strategic choices.

According to his analysis, the United States must either greatly intensify its military campaign against Iran or acknowledge that US forces can no longer prevent Iran from establishing control over the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. The source provided no further details on possible actions, reactions from US or Iranian officials, or a timeline for decisions.

Iran says it has a comprehensive plan to respond to possible infrastructure attacks by the United States and Israel, according to a report cited by Amardesh Online from Al Jazeera. The report was published on August 1, 2026, amid media reports in the United States about a potential attack on Iranian infrastructure.

A senior Iranian official, cited by Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, described the reports in US media as “madness.” The official warned that Tehran was fully prepared to respond to any kind of attack.

The official also claimed Iran's retaliation plan includes key infrastructure of the “Zionist regime” and US energy infrastructure in the region. There was no immediate comment from either the United States or Israel regarding a possible attack or Iran's stated retaliatory measures.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the United States must pay for what he described as recent US aggression on Qeshm Island in southern Iran. The remarks were reported on July 31, 2026, citing Iranian state media, which said Ghalibaf made the statement on his virtual page.

Ghalibaf wrote that the United States was making its hands “more bloody” through new acts of aggression every day. He described an attack on a residential house on Qeshm Island as a terrorist attack and said it was a continuation of crimes in Minab and Lamerd.

The speaker also said that, in response to what they were receiving as “slaps” on the battlefield, they were committing crimes and shedding the blood of innocent people. He reiterated that the United States would have to pay a price for these actions. The report named Press TV as its source.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and that any vessel movement through the waterway is possible only with its coordination and permission. Iranian state media reported the statement, which was posted by the IRGC Navy on social media. The report was published on July 31, 2026.

The IRGC Navy rejected what it described as false claims by US Central Command that normal shipping continued through the strait. It said CENTCOM had claimed shipping companies could cross without problems under US security escorts, but maintained that the waterway was in fact closed and that all passage required coordination with the IRGC Navy.

The Persian Gulf Waterways Management Authority also said vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was currently not possible because of what it called continued aggressive activities by US forces in the region. It said pending applications would be reviewed sequentially once conditions became normal and stable, with movement permissions then issued according to a set schedule.

Iran’s National Iranian Oil Company said oil production, development and exports continued normally despite wartime conditions, according to its chief executive Hamid Bord. In a report published on July 31, 2026, Iranian state media said an offshore oil platform was successfully installed during the conflict, while oil exports continued without disruption.

Bord said gas production at platforms in the South Pars gas field remained uninterrupted. Major maintenance work was also completed on the platforms, and debris was safely removed from damaged refineries. He said many NIOC activities were not disclosed during the sensitive wartime period, describing this as a deliberate and planned decision aimed at protecting national interests.

Drawing on experience from rebuilding the Phase 14 refinery damaged in a 12-day war, Pars Oil and Gas Company is rapidly advancing reconstruction work at other refineries damaged in the recent conflict, Bord said. He described the continued operation of oil and gas production, operational areas, offshore platforms and energy facilities as evidence of Iran’s oil industry’s crisis-response capacity. Bord also credited industry workers’ dedication and sacrifice with maintaining production, development and sustainable energy supplies.

US President Donald Trump is reviewing a military proposal for 10 to 14 days of intensive airstrikes against Iran after four US troops were killed, according to a Wall Street Journal report published July 31. The plan was presented by Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, and calls for the use of overwhelming force to disable Tehran’s missile and drone capabilities.

A senior US official said Trump is inclined to escalate the conflict but is still considering the scope of the response. Cooper argues that Washington must increase the intensity of airstrikes to significantly neutralize Iran’s threat and break the current deadlock. He said destroying Tehran’s offensive military infrastructure could reduce the need for US forces to rely only on defensive weapons.

Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine has taken a cautious position, warning the White House that stocks of air-defense interceptors and defensive missiles are declining. He said a major operation is possible, but ammunition shortages could expose US forces and regional allies to substantial risk. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell denied reports of internal discord, saying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Cooper and Caine are united on carrying out the mission.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it shot down a hostile drone over the strategic southwestern port city of Bandar Imam Khomeini early Thursday. The incident was reported in a statement cited by Tasnim News Agency, according to Al Jazeera.

The IRGC’s local unit said the unmanned aerial vehicle was intercepted and destroyed in the city’s airspace immediately after it was detected. The statement did not identify the drone’s operator, origin, or intended purpose.

Debris from the destroyed drone fell onto a residential house in the Bandar Imam Khomeini area, but no casualties were reported. Tasnim said an IRGC bomb-disposal team arrived at the site shortly after the incident, neutralized all hazardous materials in the wreckage, and moved them to a safe location.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said three of its members were killed in a US missile strike on July 30. The information was carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, citing an IRGC statement, according to Al Jazeera. The statement said the deaths resulted from a US attack.

The IRGC’s Ansar al-Mahdi branch in Zanjan province identified the three men as Mahmoud Mollajabari, Mohammadreza Cheraghi and Jamal Amiri. The corps said they died while defending Iran’s borders and its people. No further details about the location or circumstances of the reported missile strike were provided in the source.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard condemned the attack, calling it a brutal assault by what it described as the United States’ criminal terrorist regime. The IRGC also expressed condolences to Iran’s supreme leader, the families of those killed and the Iranian people. There was no immediate response from the United States regarding the reported attack.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said renewed US airstrikes on Iran appear driven by retaliation rather than a clear strategy. In an interview with Al Jazeera cited in a report published on July 30, he said the strikes do not appear to be bringing Tehran back to the negotiating table. Parsi described restarting the war in Iran as a major mistake.

Parsi questioned what Trump ultimately seeks to achieve through the airstrikes, saying no purpose beyond retaliation is currently apparent. He said Trump’s military options are extremely weak and expressed surprise that the conflict was renewed without developing better alternatives. After 13 consecutive days of bombing, Parsi said, it has become apparent that there was no strong strategy behind the campaign.

According to Parsi, Iran’s own retaliatory response or escalation is a calculated strategy aimed at protecting itself. He said Iranians have concluded, whether rightly or wrongly, that Trump will not be serious about diplomacy until he fully recognizes that he has no military option. Parsi said the path to peace is therefore not proceeding directly through negotiations, but through removing the idea of a military option from Trump’s thinking.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, warned countries helping the United States that they would face severe consequences if they did not change their conduct. The warning was reported on July 30, 2026, in an IRGC statement that said countries assisting what it called an aggressor would face a harsh response.

The IRGC also announced that it would further strengthen Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz. It said the strait was Iranian territory and that sailors of the IRGC Navy had full control there. The statement said no outsider arriving from thousands of kilometres away would be allowed to intervene in the area.

According to the statement, the strategic waterway would not remain open as long as US authorities continued what the IRGC described as exaggeration, threats and interference with maritime traffic in the region. The report did not identify specific countries covered by the warning, provide a timetable for action, or detail the form of any response. Middle East Eye was cited as the source.

Tehran has blamed US and Israeli military actions for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and disruption to international shipping, while saying talks with Omani representatives are continuing in Tehran. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the discussions began last week and remained under way, with a further meeting held on Thursday.

Speaking to the Iranian Labour News Agency, Baghaei said US measures and the insecurity he said Washington had imposed on the waterway were responsible for the strait’s current closure. He said international vessel traffic had been seriously damaged and disrupted as a result of US actions.

Baghaei also attributed the situation to what Iran describes as US and Israeli military aggression and continuing attacks beginning on March 28. He cited attacks on Iranian vessels, what he called illegal blockades of ports and transit routes, and continuing air strikes on Iran. The Foreign Ministry said engagement with Omani officials in Tehran was still ongoing.

A US strike on a residential building on Iran’s Qeshm Island killed three people, including a couple and their two-year-old child, according to Fars news agency citing Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences. The report was published on July 30, 2026.

Two other children, aged seven and nine, were injured in the attack and are receiving hospital treatment. Officials also said electricity supplies on the island were disrupted after the strike.

Semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that US warplanes carried out multiple missile strikes on Qeshm, Kish Island, and the outskirts of Kazerun city in Fars province. Explosions were reported on Kish Island, though airport, ferry and port operations there remained normal. The article cited Al Jazeera as its source.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that the United States will not allow Iran to hold global trade hostage. He issued the warning in a post on X on July 30, 2026, after Washington imposed new sanctions on Tehran.

Bessent said the United States would not permit Iran to use the international shipping system to finance terrorism, aggression and repression by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. His statement framed the sanctions as part of Washington’s opposition to Iran’s alleged use of maritime commerce for IRGC-related funding.

Earlier, the US Treasury Department said it had sanctioned two entities closely linked to an IRGC-backed extortion network. According to Washington, the network forced commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to purchase maritime “insurance.” The US alleged that money collected through the arrangement was used to fund various IRGC activities.

The United States struck a residential building on Iran’s Qeshm Island, where at least three people were feared trapped beneath rubble, according to the report published on July 30. Two injured people were admitted to hospital, while rescue operations were under way. Officials also said electricity supplies on the island were disrupted after the attack.

Semi-official Tasnim news agency said US warplanes launched multiple missile strikes at dawn on Qeshm and Kish islands and near the city of Kazerun in Fars province. Explosions were reported on Kish Island, but airport, ferry and port operations there remained normal, the report said.

Iranian officials said the latest attacks resembled the United States’ previous 13-day military campaign. Those strikes were mainly focused on southern Iran, particularly coastal areas around the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The report did not provide further details on the people feared trapped or the progress of rescue efforts.