Category: News

The United States and Iran exchanged fresh overnight strikes as hostilities between the two countries continued.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X that, on the 11th consecutive night of operations, it had again targeted Iranian military operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities and military logistics infrastructure.

According to CENTCOM, Iran has attacked more than 30 commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz over the past three months.

“Despite Iranian aggression, the Strait of Hormuz remains open for commercial vessel transit,” CENTCOM said, reiterating its July 21 statement that since early May its forces have helped facilitate the passage of approximately 900 commercial vessels carrying about 450 million barrels of crude oil through the strategic waterway.

Iranian state media, meanwhile, reported that air defense systems had been activated in the capital, Tehran. Explosions were also reported in several other cities, including Tabriz, Sirik, Chabahar, Konarak and Bushehr, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant.

Iran, in turn, targeted U.S. assets across the region. Kuwait’s military said early on July 22 that its air defense systems were intercepting drones launched from Iran, the BBC reported. Bahrain and Jordan also said they had intercepted drones and missiles.

Tehran has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat that the United States would soon strike Pickaxe Mountain, located about 1.5 kilometers from the Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned that such an attack would be met with a forceful response, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.

According to the Iranian statement, such an attack would be regarded as “an expansion of the war in the region,” and “all American interests, its allies and supporters” would consequently face Iranian strikes.

CNN reported, citing an Israeli source, that Iran had moved advanced centrifuges and part of its enriched uranium stockpile to a fortified underground facility at Pickaxe Mountain, a site that would be difficult for the United States and Israel to strike.

According to the report, construction of the facility began in 2020. Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency at the time that the site was intended to serve as a future assembly facility for centrifuges used in nuclear fuel production.

“We’ll be hitting that area probably pretty soon. And there’s not a thing they can do about it. Normally, I wouldn’t say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that, but we’ll be hitting that area pretty soon. And very heavily,” Trump said during a White House meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Trump also threatened to “take care of” Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia and threatened Saudi shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key gateway to the Red Sea.

U.S. President Donald Trump pledged support for Lebanon during talks at the White House with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who visited Washington seeking to advance lasting peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah group, The Associated Press reported.

Calling Lebanon a country that had been “treated very badly,” Trump said the United States would extend the respect it deserved.

“We are going to treat it properly, and we’re going to give it the respect that it deserves. We’re going to help it a lot,” Trump told Aoun, who concluded a four-day visit to Washington on July 21.

Asked about the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, Trump said, “They’re in the process of doing that,” without providing further details.

Aoun said his vision for peace aligned with Trump’s.

“President Trump’s vision coincides with my vision for peace and stability in Lebanon and the region, and we will be able to achieve it together,” he said.

Hours later, Trump announced that he would allow U.S. airlines to resume direct flights to Lebanon for the first time in more than 40 years.

“After meeting with the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, who has done a remarkable job working to transform his country, I am hereby directing my Administration to allow all U.S. airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit this beautiful land. Hopefully, other countries will do the same,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

According to a statement from the Lebanese presidency, the meeting reaffirmed the longstanding partnership between the two countries and focused on the security, political and economic priorities needed to strengthen Lebanon’s stability and prosperity.

The statement said Aoun stressed the urgent need for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, describing it as a fundamental step toward strengthening stability and enabling the Lebanese state to exercise its full sovereignty.

According to the presidency, the two leaders also discussed strengthening U.S. support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, expanding bilateral cooperation across various sectors, supporting Lebanon’s economic recovery and reconstruction, and encouraging U.S. investment in the country.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is carrying out extensive work on concluding new free trade agreements, including negotiations with India, Jordan and Pakistan, Marat Berdiyev, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with TASS.

“Extensive work is underway, with the active involvement of the EAEU, to conclude free trade agreements. The Union’s agreements with Vietnam, Serbia, Iran, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Mongolia have already entered into force or are at various stages of implementation.

The EAEU-China Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation is also in force.

Negotiations are currently underway on free trade agreements with India, Jordan and Pakistan, which will expand the goods market to 2.5 billion consumers,” Berdiyev said.

Camera traps installed in Armenia’s Khosrov Forest State Reserve have captured footage of the Caucasian leopard, one of the country’s rarest and most iconic predators, Environment Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan said in a Facebook post.

Sharing the video on his Facebook page, Matevosyan described the recording as further evidence of Armenia’s rich biodiversity.

“Camera traps in Khosrov Forest State Reserve have once again recorded one of Armenia’s most beautiful and rarest predators-the Caucasian leopard.

These remarkable images once again confirm that our country’s natural ecosystems continue to preserve their unique biodiversity, while demonstrating that ongoing conservation efforts are producing tangible results,” the minister wrote.