By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) - Recent waves of U.S. strikes on Iran aimed at forcing open the Strait of Hormuz are also targeting Iranian military capabilities the U.S. would want to destroy before executing more complex operations against Iran, three U.S. officials said.

The officials, who were granted anonymity to discuss military matters, said the strikes effectively strengthen additional military options for President Donald Trump, who has kept the world guessing about his next steps after notifying Congress last weekend of a formal resumption of conflict with Iran.

Now in its fifth month, the Iran war continues to rage after the unraveling of a memorandum of understanding that was meant to stop the fighting and pave the way for a peace agreement.

Despite heavy blows to Iran's military since the start of the U.S. and Israeli campaign on February 28, Tehran retains significant drone and missile capability and has attacked passing tankers as well as its Gulf neighbors.

The U.S. military has said its latest bombings have targeted Iranian air defense systems, coastal radar, missile and drone sites as well as small boats and other maritime assets.

One of the U.S. officials said the strikes could be seen as "shaping operations" that are degrading Iranian defenses in case the U.S. military was ordered to carry out more intensive operations in the future.

"This is helping set the stage, if needed," the official said.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

MILITARY OPTIONS

Reuters in March reported on U.S. military planning to create options to deploy U.S. troops to Iran's shoreline to better secure the Strait. At the time, officials said the Trump administration had also discussed sending ground forces to Iran's Kharg Island, the hub for 90% of Iran's oil exports. Such an operation would be risky, since Iran could shower the island with missiles and drones from the mainland.

Trump said on Tuesday he had ordered his military to avoid striking Iran's oil facilities during previous strikes against Kharg island. But he has left open the option of taking the island.

"If we degrade them far enough and deep enough back, I would do that," he told Fox News.

Trump has also threatened to attack a site linked to Iran's nuclear program known as Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified facility buried deep underground near one of Tehran's main nuclear sites.

Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marine officer at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Trump's willingness to publicly discuss military options like seizing Kharg island was a double-edged sword.

It could aid diplomacy by putting the Iranians on edge. But it's "bad for the military, because we're saying where we might be going," he said.

TACTICAL WINS, STRATEGIC STALEMATE

Critics of Trump's war with Iran, including within the U.S. Congress, say that while it achieved tactical victories that destroyed big swathes of Iran's conventional military and defense industrial base, it failed strategically to win concessions from Tehran.

It also prompted Iran to exert unprecedented leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for a fifth of the world's crude output. Even if its conventional navy was largely destroyed, it could still attack commercial vessels using capabilities like drones and rockets.

That has led to a debate within the Trump administration about the best way forward, U.S. officials say. A fourth official said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been an advocate of escalating the military operation against Iran.

Imran Bayoumi, a former Pentagon official now with the Atlantic Council, said Trump's sweeping comments in recent days on Iran appeared to be aimed at pressuring Iran in negotiations and keeping Tehran unsure about his military's next steps.

"I would separate the noise from the actions," Bayoumi said. "I would expect the discussions between him and his national security team are looking a bit different than what he's posting online."

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Don Durfee and Deepa Babington)

The United States on Tuesday expanded its sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector, taking further aim at the network of petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the Treasury Department said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department had also frozen $130 million held in digital wallets linked to Iran's central bank, hitting a sector that has seen increased activity since the start of the war.

The move came after US forces carried out a fourth straight day of strikes against Iran and reimposed a naval blockade, with Iran in turn hitting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organization.

Iran started blocking the strait -- a key waterway for energy transit -- after US-Israel attacks in February. Washington imposed an initial blockade on Tehran's ports from mid-April to mid-June.

"This action is part of Treasury's ongoing efforts to ramp up economic pressure on the Iranian regime after it resumed destabilizing attacks in the Strait of Hormuz," the Treasury Department said in a notice Tuesday.

It charged that the Shamkhani network remains a key force behind Iran's oil exports, and has expanded into global commodities trading.

The latest move took aim at more than 50 individuals, entities and vessels that it said enabled Iranian authorities to reap profit.

The Treasury Department added that it has now imposed sanctions on over 200 individuals, entities and vessels operating under Shamkhani's patronage.

Shamkhani is the son of security official Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Both were killed February 28, the first day of US-Israeli attacks and the start of the Middle East war.

Bessent said the department "sanctioned multiple wallets tied to the Central Bank of Iran, resulting in the freeze of over $130 million." 

"We will continue to aggressively follow the money and deny the Iranian regime access to the proceeds of its illicit revenue schemes," he said in a post on X. 

Experts say digital asset platforms have been used to circumvent sanctions placed on Iran's Revolutionary Guards and as a financial safe haven for civilians hit by soaring inflation.

Iran has largely been cut off from the global financial system due to US and European sanctions in place for years before the war. Cryptocurrency has offered a path for citizens and businesses to transact with the rest of the world. 

bys/sla/lkd/fox

Iran reported fresh US strikes Wednesday on a port city that is home to the country's only civilian nuclear plant, as Washington reimposed a naval blockade in a return to war between the foes.

Nearly a month after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding towards ending the Middle East war that began in February, the two sides resumed fighting with strikes on targets across the region.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, where the military said it had intercepted attacks against civilian targets, while Jordan's armed forces said they had downed three missiles from the Islamic republic.

US President Donald Trump warned, meanwhile, threatened to widen strikes next week to hit power plants and bridges unless Tehran returns to the negotiating table.

"Next week it gets really bad for them," he told Fox News. Despite a return to hostilities, mediated talks between the two sides have not formally ended.

At the heart of the resumption of hostilities has been the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is crucial for global oil and gas flows.

- Agreement 'dismantled' -

Iran blockaded Hormuz after the US and Israel launched their massive attack on the country on February 28, using it for leverage against its foes for months before briefly reopening it, and then again vowing it would be closed "until the US ends its aggression".

The US, in turn, has reimposed its own blockade of Iran's ports, though Trump has backed down on a planned 20 percent levy on ships using the strait.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the renewed US blockade "has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum", referring to the interim deal reached last month to halt hostilities and pursue peace talks.

Five days after the return to war, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it struck dozens of Iranian military targets near the strait and elsewhere along the country's coast to "degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews".

Iranian state media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, on the island of Qeshm and on Bandar Imam Khomeini. It later said fresh US strikes hit the southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country's only civilian nuclear plant.

In the capital Tehran, there was no sign of a return to conflict, with ordinary Iranians thronging cafes to watch the France-Spain World Cup semi-final in huge crowds, AFP journalists saw.

But in Kuwait, repeatedly targeted throughout the war, locals were anxious.

"Every day, I wake up wondering whether the situation will de-escalate or worsen," said Mustafa Mohamed, a 39-year-old Sudanese accountant in the Gulf country. "It has become difficult to feel at ease or plan anything because uncertainty grips everyone."

George Atef, a 38-year-old Egyptian civil servant in Kuwait, said: "What exhausts me most is not knowing when this situation will end -- the waiting itself has become draining."

- Trump scraps levy -

Since the war began, Iran has asserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on ships for taking routes it says are unauthorised.

"The retaliatory operations of the fighters will continue, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States ends its acts of aggression," the Guards said.

Admiral Brad Cooper, head of CENTCOM, said on Tuesday that over the past week, "Iran has intentionally targeted civilians across the region by attacking seven commercial ships resulting in nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, missing, or injured."

"US forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives," he added.

A Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early Tuesday, the crisis response company MTI Network said. 

And Kuwait said one of its naval vessels was struck during an Iranian missile and drone barrage, wounding four crew members.

Trump meanwhile said he was scrapping a planned levy on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz that he announced Monday, replacing the fee with trade deals with Gulf allies.

"I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.

Since last week, renewed US attacks have killed at least 30 people in Iran, government spokesman Fatemeh Mohajerani said.

Separately, the military announced that seven of its personnel were killed in Wednesday's strikes on the southeast.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country has not so far rejoined the war, warned Iranian leaders on Tuesday that Israel would deal a heavy blow if they launched an attack on his country.

Speaking from Dimona, a southern town widely believed to house Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal, he told them: "Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us."

bur/ser/dcp

BERLIN, July 15 (Reuters) - G7 foreign ministers and the European Union's foreign policy chief on Wednesday urged Sudan's Rapid Support Forces and allied armed groups to stop all actions that could lead to further atrocities or endanger civilians in El-Obeid.

They also called on all parties, including the Sudanese army, to cease hostilities, allow aid access and engage in good-faith talks.

In a joint statement, they backed United Nations' efforts to de-escalate the crisis, called on the UN Security Council to expand the Darfur arms embargo to all of Sudan, urged external actors to halt military and financial support to the warring sides, and vowed to promote accountability for violations while supporting Sudan's unity and democratic aspirations.

(Reporting by Kirsti KnolleEditing by Tomasz Janowski)

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, July 15 (Reuters) - Whoever wins the election in Israel later this year must rein in defence-led state spending that has grown in recent years and invest more in education, infrastructure and other growth engines, Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron said on Wednesday.

Israel is slated to hold a general election on October 27. Polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's current ruling coalition losing.

Speaking at a Calcalist newspaper conference, Yaron said fiscal policy was the main challenge, especially since the defence budget has swelled to as much as 8% of gross domestic product — double that of before the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 that triggered the Gaza war.

"We face a clear challenge for any government that enters office. First of all our debt must not continue to increase. Currently, we are on a path of rising debt," he said, noting the debt-to-GDP ratio had risen to 70% from around 60% in 2023.

"The second is the defence budget ... and third is investing in growth engines like education and infrastructure."

Yaron also said Israel needs to better integrate population groups like ultra-Orthodox Jews into the labour market.

With defence spending expected to stay high given Israel's many regional threats, he advocated raising taxes to help keep debt under control. "Realistically, we will likely have a higher budget than before October 7," Yaron said.

On the heels of easing inflation pressures caused by the Gaza and Iran wars, the Bank of Israel last week reduced its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.5%, its second straight cut.

Yaron said that as long as Israel does not return to war and inflation remains stable, short-term interest rates would likely continue to fall. But monetary policy needed to remain cautious due to price pressures in areas such as wages and housing rents.

The central bank has said it expects the key rate to reach 3% by next June.

Yaron also said that while the economy has been resilient, negative global sentiment towards Israel acted like a tax on trade. That could have longer term effects that should be part of the decision-making process.

(Reporting by Steven ScheerEditing by Jon Boyle)

ISTANBUL, July 15 (Reuters) - Turkey's ousted main opposition CHP leader said on Wednesday that preparations are under way for the possible establishment of a new political party, but any formal step would wait until after ongoing legal proceedings.

In May, a Turkish court annulled the Republican People's Party's (CHP) 2023 congress that elected Ozgur Ozel as chairman, citing irregularities. It reinstated as chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the CHP's former leader who lost to President Tayyip Erdogan in the 2023 presidential election.

Ozel said the legal proceedings on an appeal to the ruling that ousted his leadership and a request to hold an extraordinary party congress could be completed within a couple of weeks, and if they are blocked, a new party could then be set up.

"A formal step could be taken towards the end of July or the beginning of August," Ozel said in an interview with Sozcu TV, when asked about the timing of the establishment of the new party.

The court's decision, described by critics as politically motivated amid an unprecedented legal crackdown on the CHP, rattled financial markets and fuelled concerns about democracy and the rule of law in Turkey. The government denies such assertions, saying the judiciary is independent.

The opposition's crisis could boost Erdogan's prospects of extending his more than two-decade rule of NATO-member Turkey in an election scheduled to be held by 2028, but which analysts say could come earlier if the government seeks to take advantage of the CHP strife.

(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

By Enas Alashray, Elwely Elwelly, Tala Ramadan and Katharine Jackson

CAIRO/DUBAI/WASHINGTON, , July 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. air base in Jordan was targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles on Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said, while calling on Jordanians to dismantle American bases in the kingdom.

"You know very well that not only do we not have any enmity with your country, but we also love you, the noble people, who understand the pain and oppression of the Palestinian people more than any other nation," the IRGC said in a statement carried by Fars News.

Jordan's armed forces said on Tuesday they intercepted and shot down four missiles that entered Jordanian airspace from Iranian territory, according to state news agency.

U.S. forces completed their latest wave of strikes on Iran that the U.S. Central Command began earlier in the day at the direction of President Donald Trump.

The five hours of U.S. strikes were the third consecutive night of attacks against Iran as Trump reinstated a blockade of Iranian shipping and proposed charging a 20% fee to guard the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian media reported strikes on a number of the cities and said four people had been wounded and rescue operations were underway.

Trump earlier told the "Hugh Hewitt Show" on Monday that Iran would be hit "very hard tonight, and we're going to hit them hard tomorrow. And there's not a damn thing they can do about it."

The latest hostilities come after Iran said at the weekend it was closing the Strait of Hormuz, casting further doubt on an interim deal to halt the war and driving oil prices higher.

"The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE," Trump had said earlier on Monday on Truth Social.

"The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT', but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped."

Iran's top joint military command said the U.S. had no role in determining the future of the waterway.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that Tehran was the guardian of the strait and would remain so "forever", adding in response to Trump: "20% is of course too much. We will be fair."

Before the conflict began in February, around a fifth of the world's oil and gas traffic passed through Hormuz daily, delivering more than 15 million barrels of fuel to global markets worth at least $1.2 billion. If the U.S. were to impose a 20% fee, it could generate around $240 million a day.

The U.N. shipping agency pushed back against Trump's proposal, saying it opposes any fees for straits used in international navigation and stressing that there is no legal basis for introducing mandatory tolls on strait transits.

Oil prices rose nearly 3% on Tuesday to their highest in four weeks, as the U.S. reimposed its naval blockade of Iran and the attacks in the Strait of Hormuz heightened uncertainty about energy flows.

UAE SAYS IRANIAN MISSILES HIT TWO SHIPS IN HORMUZ

The UAE Ministry of Defense said on Monday that Iranian cruise missiles strucktwo Emirati oil tankers while transiting the southern lane of the strait in Omani territorial waters.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said a tanker had been hit by an unknown projectile while travelling 40 nautical miles northeast of Oman's Qalhat.

Reuters could not immediately verify whether the UKMTO report referred to the same incident as the one reported by the UAE Ministry of Defense.

The IRGCsaid two "offending" supertankers had been hit and disabled in the strait after ignoring repeated warnings and turning off navigation systems, Iranian media reported.

The IRGC's statement did not name the vessels or say whether they were the same tankers cited by the UAE ministry. But it accused the U.S. of "inciting vessels to use an illegal route" and warned that cooperation with the "aggressor enemy" would result in damage, delays in reopening the waterway and a global energy crisis.

The U.S. Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center saida blockade of Iran would take effect at 2000 GMT on Tuesday and apply to all vessel traffic regardless of flag, covering the entire Iranian coastline including ports and oil terminals.

It said the measure would not impede neutral transit passage through the strait to or from non-Iranian destinations, and that humanitarian shipments would be permitted subject to inspection.

The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon during the war have killed thousands and displaced millions.

(Additional reporting by Menna Alaa El Din, Jonathan Saul, Enas Alashray, Ahmed Elimam, Eman Abouhassira and Andrew Mills and Kanishka Singh; Writing by Ros Russell, Hugh Lawson, Matt Spetalnick and David Morgan and Michael Perry; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Timothy Heritage, Sanjeev Miglani, Lincoln Feast and Thomas Derpinghaus)

(Changes spelling of tanker in bullet and paragraph 2 to Al Bahyah to conform to ADNOC L&S spelling)

By Enas Alashray

DUBAI, July 14 (Reuters) - One Indian crew member was killed and eight others were wounded when two Emirati oil tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles in the Strait of Hormuz, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday, in the latest escalation in the strategic waterway.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's shipping arm ADNOC L&S later confirmed the very large crude carriers (VLCCs) Mombasa B and Al Bahyah were struck while transiting Hormuz and had sustained "significant damage".

UAE state oil giant ADNOC has been among the most active participants in a U.S. military-led operation to move Gulf crude out to international buyers through ship-to-ship (STS) transfers beyond the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported last month. U.S. Central Command, which has not acknowledged the STS transfers, said on July 12 it had facilitated the transit of more than 800 vessels and over 400 million barrels of crude through the strait over the previous two months.

The UAE defence ministry said the tankerswere targeted in the southern lane of the strait while in Omani territorial waters. The dead crew member was aboard the Mombasa, it said.

Of the eight wounded, four were seriously injured. Six of the wounded were Indian nationals and two were Ukrainian nationals, the ministry said.

The attacks caused material damage to both tankers after fires broke out on board. The ministry said the fires had been brought under control.

It condemned what it called a "blatant attack" and said the UAE retained "its full right to respond to this escalation".

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that two "offending" supertankers had been hit and disabled in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring repeated warnings, turning off navigation systems and attempting to pass through what the Guards described as a mined route.

The IRGC's statement did not name the vessels or say whether it was referring to the same tankers cited by the UAE Ministry of Defence.

In the statement, the Guards accused the U.S. of "inciting vessels to use an illegal route" and said cooperation with the "aggressor enemy" would only result in damage, delays in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and a global energy crisis.

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said on Tuesday that a tanker had been hit by an unknown projectile while travelling 40 nautical miles northeast of Oman's Qalhat.

UKMTO said the tanker's master reported that the projectile struck the starboard-side engine room and that all crew were safe.

Reuters could not immediately verify whether the UKMTO report referred to the same incident as the one reported by the UAE's Ministry of Defence.

The latest incidents in the waterway comeafter weeks of heightened tensions since the war broke out on February 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran.

The U.S. military carried out a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran on Monday as President Donald Trump reinstated a blockade of Iranian shipping and proposed charging a 20% fee to guard the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's top joint military command said the U.S. had no role in determining the future of the waterway and would not be allowed to intervene.

The conflict has destabilised the Gulf and spread across the region, with Iran attacking U.S. bases in multiple countries. It has also thrown into question an interim U.S.-Iranian agreement signed last month to reopen the strait and halt hostilities.

Before the conflict began in February, around a fifth of the world's oil and gas traffic passed through Hormuz daily, delivering more than 15 million barrels of fuel to global markets worth at least $1.2 billion.

(Reporting by Enas Alashray, Menna Alaa El Din and Yousef Saba; Editing by Nia Williams and Lincoln Feast.)

The United States launched on Tuesday a fresh wave of strikes on Iran and President Donald Trump vowed to reimpose a naval blockade, prompting Tehran to respond with attacks on countries in the region.

Trump said a deal with the Islamic republic was still possible even as fighting surged to a scale unseen since an April ceasefire, with Iran striking two ships in the strategic waterway and killing one crew member, according to the United Arab Emirates.

UK maritime security agency UKMTO on Tuesday reported yet another tanker struck by a missile while transiting Hormuz near Oman's coast.

The US military earlier said its five-hour mission hit targets across Iran including coastal Bushehr and Bandar Abbas to "degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping".

Renewed US attacks since last week have killed at least 28 people in Iran, according to an AFP tally based on Iranian media and official announcements.

After the strikes, Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced they had in turn fired missiles and drones on Bahrain, targeting a residential building for US forces and other facilities.

Bahrain subsequently said it had intercepted "several treacherous aerial attacks launched by Iran" and accused Tehran of targeting civilians, after explosions and sirens were heard in Manama.

Trump's declaration on the Hormuz blockade and the scale of the renewed fighting have called into question efforts to bring a permanent end to the war.

Iran started blocking the strait after US-Israel attacks in February, which prompted Washington's blockade on Tehran's ports -- but restrictions eased after the sides agreed a preliminary deal in June.

- 'Act of war' -

Trump said Monday that the United States was "taking over" the strait and would slap a levy of 20 percent on all cargo shipped through it, in an announcement that drew mockery from Iran and accusations of "piracy".

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran's ports on the waterway would be blockaded from 2000 GMT on Tuesday.

Oil prices shot up more than nine percent Monday over fears of renewed conflict and rose again Tuesday, piling on more than one percent.

Tehran launched attacks on other US allies in the region, including Jordan, which said it had shot down four missiles from Iran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said their strikes targeted US forces at an air base and urged Jordanians to issue a "serious demand for the removal of the occupying American bases from the region".

Iran insists it only targets US interests in the Gulf, but its military command spokesman said any collaboration by Gulf countries with the United States would be considered "an act of war."

Trump formally notified Congress last week that the United States had resumed military conflict against Iran, the White House confirmed to AFP, giving the Pentagon an additional 60 days to operate in the region without congressional approval.

In addition to the moves in Hormuz, the US president also threatened to destroy Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried nuclear site near Natanz where Western intelligence suspects Iran is building an undeclared enrichment facility.

"Tell the Iranians to be ready. Let them know we're coming (and) there's not a damn thing they can do about it," he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Trump declared on Truth Social that the United States would be "known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT'" and levy a 20 percent fee on all cargo shipped through the waterway.

While Iran's ports would again be blockaded,  Trump said "all other countries will have fair and open use of the strait".

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded mockingly on X that Trump was "absolutely right" that whoever guarantees safe passage should be compensated, but that Tehran would charge less, noting that "20% is of course too much".

- 'In crisis' -

Iran's parliament has meanwhile begun work on a bill on "the management of the Strait of Hormuz", the head of the security committee said on Tuesday.

Washington has vehemently opposed Tehran's desire to charge tolls in the strait, which international law generally forbids.

Despite all signs to the contrary, Trump said Monday that a deal with Tehran to end the war was still possible.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said earlier Monday that the June memorandum of understanding that formed the basis for the negotiations was "in crisis".

Baqaei said Iran would ignore its obligations under the deal if the Washington did the same, but added that Tehran was continuing talks with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman to prevent further escalation.

Bader Al-Saif, an associate fellow at Chatham House, said the escalating attacks would merely delay a permanent agreement.

"Both sides want to end the impasse on their own terms, and they are increasingly finding it difficult to do so," he said.

burs-ris/jsa

By Maya Gebeily and Alvise Armellini

BEIRUT/ROME, July 14 (Reuters) - Lebanon and Israel resumed talks on Tuesday in the Italian capital, with Beirut hoping for progress towards securing an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon under a U.S.-brokered deal,although expectations for swift progress were low.

U.S.-led diplomacy has emerged since Hezbollah and Israel returned to war on March 2 amid the wider regional conflict, moving forward despite strong objections from the Iran-backed group, which believes only Iranian pressure on Washington can secure an end to the war and Israeli withdrawal.

Iran demanded an end to the war in Lebanon as part of its interim deal with Washington signed last month, but the agreement has been shakenover the last week by renewedU.S.-Iranian hostilities in the Gulf.

Israel's ​military is occupying what it describesas a "buffer zone" about 10 km (6 miles) into Lebanon along the entire length of the Israeli border. Israeli officials say the zone ‌is ⁠necessary to protect northern Israeli communities from attacks launched by Hezbollah.

A meeting in Washington on June 26 produced an agreement that called for an end to the Lebanon conflict, the disarmament of militant groups - an apparent reference to Hezbollah - as well as the deployment of Lebanese troops to the south and the progressive withdrawal of Israeli forces.

But deadly Israeli strikes have continued and Hezbollah has rejected the agreement as well as efforts to disarm it. Israel, meanwhile, has said its troops would remain in southern Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remained armed.

Lebanese and Israeli officials will meet at the U.S. embassy in Rome on Tuesday and Wednesday to set out how to implement the framework deal, Lebanese officials told Reuters. One of the officials said moving the talks to Rome would make it easier for both countries' delegations to consult their governments for guidance as they negotiated.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday that Italy had offered to host the talks to continue work towards a genuine ceasefire in Lebanon.

"We are also very pleased that Rome can serve as the venue for these meetings. In this way, our capital becomes a capital of peace," Tajani said ahead of a European Union meeting in Brussels on Monday.

PILOT ZONES ON THE TABLE

In comments published by his office on Monday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he hoped the Rome meeting would yield "tangible and practical steps on the ground" to implement the agreement and that it would see Israel begin its troop pull-out so that the Lebanese army could deploy to the south.

One of the Lebanese officials said the country's delegation to Tuesday's talks would seek the gradual and sequential withdrawal of Israeli troops "one zone after another," referring to the "pilot zone" project under which Hezbollah would disarm, Israeli forces would withdraw and Lebanese troops would deploy area by area in southern Lebanon.

The June 26 agreement said two zones had been identified as a starting point. A U.S. official said last week that the U.S. military's Central Command (Centcom) was coordinating with both Lebanon and Israel to launch the pilot zones. A U.S. military delegation was in Lebanon at the weekend to discuss the plan in detail with Lebanon's army, sources told Reuters.

Israel's military has forced the local Lebanese population from their homes and carried out controlled explosions of entire villages. It says it is destroying infrastructure, including underground tunnels, used by Hezbollah.

More than 4,000 Lebanese have been killed and more than a million displaced by Israel's campaign in Lebanon since March, according to Lebanon's health ministry. The toll does not say how many combatants may be among the dead and Hezbollah has not disclosed figures on its war dead. Reuters reported on May 3 that several thousand Hezbollah fighters had been killed.

At least 32 Israeli soldiers ​and four Israeli civilians have ​been killed by Hezbollah, most ⁠of them in southern Lebanon since the latest fighting erupted.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Alvise Armellini in Rome and Emily Rose in Jerusalem; Editing by Ros Russell)

Israeli prison guards shot jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti in the leg with a rubber bullet last week, his family said Monday, an incident denied by Israeli prison authorities.

A senior Fatah official arrested by Israel in 2002 and sometimes called the "Mandela of Palestine" by his supporters, Barghouti, 67, is serving five life sentences for murder and his role in attacks against Israelis during the second intifada.

"One of the prison guards fired a rubber bullet at Marwan's leg, causing him to bleed and inflicting a painful injury," his wife, Fadwa Barghouti, wrote on Facebook.

"It was a yet another episode in the ongoing assaults against him."

His son, Arab Barghouti, said the incident happened "some time last week" at Ganot prison in Israel's Negev desert.

He said the family learned about the incident from his father's lawyer and that Barghouti had not received medical treatment for the injury.

In a letter to the prison service, Barghouti's lawyer, prominent Israeli civil rights attorney Avigdor Feldman, said his client had "complained that he had been shot in the leg" when the two spoke during his last visit.

AFP reviewed a copy of the letter.

Israel Prison Service dismissed the allegation.

"The allegation described is false and entirely without factual basis," it said.

"The Israel Prison Service operates in accordance with the law and under constant judicial oversight."

In October 2025, Arab Barghouti said Israeli prison guards had severely beaten his father during a prison transfer the previous month, leaving him with four broken ribs and head injuries.

In August, a video shared on social media showed Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, threatening a physically weak Barghouti inside a jail.

On Sunday, the Arab League called for an international commission of inquiry into what it said were "repeated assaults" on Barghouti.

Barghouti was one of the leaders of the second intifada, the Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s, and is widely seen as a possible successor to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Despite being in prison, Barghouti won re-election to Fatah's Central Committee this year, receiving the highest number of votes.

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By Nate Raymond

BOSTON, July 13 (Reuters) - An Iranian-born engineer was convicted on Monday of U.S. charges that he conspired to illegally export technology with potential application in military drones to a company in Iran whose customers included the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Mahdi Sadeghi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen and resident of Natick, Massachusetts who had worked at Analog Devices prior to his December 2024 arrest, was found guilty by a federal jury in Boston on three counts, including conspiracy to export technology to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.

The jury found Sadeghi not guilty on two other counts alleging violations ofthe International Emergency Economic Powers Act. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani scheduled his sentencing for October 13.

Sadeghi's lawyers declined to comment. They had argued at trial that he was innocent and had no reason to risk his career and the life he had built in the United States by breaking the law.

Prosecutors charged Sadeghi alongside an Iranian businessman they say ran a company that made a navigation system used in Iran's military drones, including one that struck a U.S. outpost in Jordan in January 2024. The attack by Iran-backed militants killed three U.S. service members and wounded over 40 others.

The businessman, ​Mohammad Abedini, was arrested in Italy at the request of the U.S. government but was released in January 2025 after Iran detained ​an Italian journalist, who was also freed later, in an incident that drew international attention.

Sadeghi, 43, proceeded to trial alone on charges against him, none of which concerned the attack in Jordan. The judge overseeing the case barred prosecutors from introducing evidence about the Jordan incident at his trial to avoid "unfair prejudice."

Instead, the case focused on what prosecutors said were Sadeghi's efforts to illegally procure and export technology, particularly sensors, from Analog Devices to Abedini's Iran-based company, San'at Danesh Rahpooyan Aflak Co, or SDRA, which made the navigation system.

Prosecutors said that at Sadeghi's recommendation, Analog Devices began working with a Swiss-based company that Abedini founded in 2019 and shipped it electronic parts, unaware it would funnel the Massachusetts-based global semiconductor company's technology to Iran.

Defense lawyers argued that all the business dealings were legitimate and transparent, and that Abedini's Swiss company was a genuine firm focused on motion tracking technology rather than the "fake front" prosecutors portrayed.

Sadeghi's trial had been delayed for several months out of concern about picking an impartial jury after the war in Iran began. Defense attorney Daniel Marx in his opening statement on June 23 had pressed jurors "to judge Mr. Sadeghi based on the evidence in this courtroom, not what is going on in the rest of the world."

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - The U.N.'s shipping agency said on Monday that it opposes fees on ships passing through maritime waterways but would await more details after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would reinstate a naval blockade on Iran and charge 20% on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said in a Truth Social post the process would begin immediately, but did not elaborate.

"We are aware of the post and awaiting more details," a spokesperson with the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization said.

"We have always been consistent on our stance on fees – IMO stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation. There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait."

Shipping industry officials expressed concern at the latest development, adding that such a move in their assessment would violate international law.

"How is this going to make it safer to sail through and what guarantees will this give?" one official, who declined to be identified, said of Trump's post.

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Susan Fenton)

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - Democratic senators led by Kirsten Gillibrand called on Monday for President Donald Trump's administration to disclose within the next week the findings from a U.S. military investigation into a Feb. 28 strike at a girls' school in Iran.

Reuters first reported on March 5 that an initial, internal U.S. military investigation showed U.S. forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike in Minab on the opening day of the war with Iran.

The group of more than two dozen U.S. senators, including the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed, requested in a letter the U.S. military finalize its investigation, brief Congress and present a plan to ensure such a mistake does not happen again.

"There is no justification for withholding an unclassified accounting of what happened, what went wrong, and what the Department is doing to prevent recurrence," their letter said.

Asked for comment, a Pentagon official told Reuters: "The investigation is ongoing. We do not have any updates to announce at this time."

The strike killed more than 175 children and teachers, Iranian officials say. The lawmakers' letter notes that would make it the U.S. military's largest civilian casualty incident since 1991, whenit mistakenly bombed a shelter in Iraq, killing more than 400 civilians.

Archived copies of the Iranian school's official website show the school is adjacent ‌to a ⁠compound operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military force that reports to Iran's supreme leader.

Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, has reported that U.S. officials responsible for creating targeting packages appeared to have used out-of-date intelligence.

U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of ​Central Command, which is directing the war effort, testified in May that the investigation was "complex" given ‌that the school was located on an active Iranian cruise missile base.

Trump, however, has cast doubt on whether the U.S. military will ever know what happened given the amount of military activity at the start of the war.

"Somebody said it was our missile, maybe ​it wasn't our missile but I have seen nothing to lead me to believe ‌it ⁠was." Trump remarked on June 24, adding: "I don't think it was us."

Iranian officials have pointed to the strike on the school as a U.S. war crime. The U.S. has said it never intentionally targets civilians.

In the letter, the lawmakers ask Cooper and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit an unclassified version of the findings to Congress and the U.S. public. They also ask for aprevention and remediation plan "that identifies the specific corrective actions the Department will take to ensure this does not happen again."

"The United States military has a legal and moral obligation to take all feasible precautions to prevent civilian harm," the letter said.

"When a U.S. strike kills civilians, the Department owes Congress, the American people, and the victims’ families a clear accounting of what happened and a credible plan to prevent future failures."

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)