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.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, said it will maintain military resistance as long as US threats continue. The force stated its position on Thursday while claiming attacks on several US military targets in Jordan. The IRGC said it had carried out what it described as successful operations against a US air base and a command center located in Jordan.

The IRGC urged US officials to refrain from using threatening language against Tehran. Its naval branch also said it attacked three oil tankers after they allegedly tried to move toward the strategic Strait of Hormuz using unauthorized routes. Separately, at least four IRGC members were reported killed in joint air strikes by the United States and Saudi Arabia, adding to the continuing regional crisis.

Tensions over the Strait of Hormuz have intensified as Iran formally rejected Oman’s proposal on international shipping routes through the waterway. Tehran is considering tolls for vessels using the chokepoint and insists that mine-clearance work must be carried out only through Iran. It also rejected a proposal for Oman to manage mine clearance and warned European countries that independently conducting such operations could make their military or civilian vessels legitimate targets.

US Central Command said Thursday that it carried out simultaneous “devastating strikes” inside Iran in response to an attempted Iranian missile attack on US military forces. The statement, reported on July 30, 2026, said more than 12 important targets of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, were successfully damaged.

According to CENTCOM, the affected sites included IRGC military command centers, missile and drone manufacturing factories, coastal surveillance and defense systems, and facilities linked to maritime military capabilities. The command did not provide further details in the source about the locations of the targets or the scale of damage.

The US military said the strikes were intended to reduce threats posed by Iran and groups it supports against US forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries. CENTCOM also said that more than 50,000 US service members deployed across the Middle East were at the highest level of alert and were fully prepared to respond to any situation.

The United States Treasury Department has imposed new sanctions on eight Iranian oil tankers and 10 affiliated entities, seeking to intensify pressure on Iran’s energy sector. Information on the latest measures was published on the Office of Foreign Assets Control website, according to a report published on July 29, 2026.

The US administration said the action is part of its “maximum pressure” policy aimed at cutting revenue flows from Iran’s oil trade and its covert fleet. Washington alleges that Tehran has used proceeds from oil sales to produce weapons and finance regional allies or proxy groups.

The announcement comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, where reciprocal military strikes between the United States and Iran are continuing, the report said. Conflict has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting international shipping routes and severely affecting oil and energy supplies to global markets.