Pakistan is looking for a way to talk, sources say, after China started pushing for it.
BY Mahnoor | 25-07-2026
US President Donald Trump said Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the US next week.
The two leaders are expected to meet Tuesday as the US-Israeli war on Iran completes five months.
On Friday, American missiles hit targets across Iran, and President Donald Trump promised a “major military punishment” for Iran and its Houthi allies in Yemen, but he again left the door open for a diplomatic deal with Iran.
Two weeks after the temporary ceasefire aimed at ending the war fell apart, Iranian military forces fired back at US bases in nearby Arab countries and warned they could hit non-military buildings used by US personnel there.
Trump said in recent days he may attack more Iranian energy plants and bridges, send soldiers to take over its main oil place called Kharg Island, and bomb a deep underground nuclear site called Pickaxe Mountain.
On Friday, he said he had not yet decided on new big attacks.
‘We are talking to them,’ Trump told reporters at the White House. ‘I think they are being serious. I think … they are being much more serious than before, but that doesn’t mean we will reach an agreement.’
When asked about the plan to leave the Iran war, Trump said, “One way is to keep fighting like we are, and we can even fight harder, destroying everything they have. Another smarter way is to make a deal.”
But he added, “We are ready and prepared. We are ready to start.”
The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway at the entrance to the Gulf. For almost five months, a war there has killed thousands, boosted global inflation, and raised fears of an economic downturn.
The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, have declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia. This has forced Saudi Arabia to shift millions of barrels of oil daily to the Red Sea via pipeline to get around Iran’s near-total blockade of Hormuz.
After the Houthis said they hit two Saudi oil ships in the Red Sea on Thursday, Trump said he would blame Iran for any more attacks by the fighters.
A Saudi ship got small damage to its body from an attack in the Red Sea on Friday, state news agency SPA said.
The Saudi-led group fighting in Yemen said it hit Houthi army places, saying these were used to threaten cargo ships.
Reuters could not quickly check the news.
Iran warns US troops
The US military attacked Iran with bombs from planes late Thursday and early Friday, making it 13 nights in a row of attacks.
Iran’s health ministry said that 59 people have been killed and 666 hurt since fights with US forces started again in late June.
Iranian news said the head of Iran’s top joint military command said Iran would kill a US soldier for every Iranian killed.
The war has killed 18 US soldiers. The Pentagon said 100 soldiers have been hurt since July 7. Officials told Reuters that more than 500 US soldiers have been hurt so far.
Pakistan is looking for a way to talk, sources say
On Friday, Brent oil futures dropped by more than 4 to just over 96. The day before, an attack on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea’s Bab el-Mandeb strait raised oil prices by 7% to 100 a barrel, the first time since May.
Sources say Pakistan is looking into restarting talks between the US and Iran to stop the war, after China started the effort.
Three Pakistani sources said exploratory talks happened this week when Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Islamabad, his second visit in 10 days.
Ships that carry oil are changing their paths, and the cost to insure them is going up
The Houthi attacks made several other tankers turn back and go north through the Suez Canal. That is a much longer way to Asia because they have to sail around Africa.
Still, half of the 18 ships leaving Bab el-Mandeb on Thursday carried crude oil, including two large Chinese tankers. But the number of tankers crossing through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to just one, the lowest since May 7.
US tells its people in the Middle East to be careful
The Iranian army said it hit US military storage areas in northern Kuwait and US troop positions near Kuwait City.
Kuwait said its air defenses were blocking targets from Iran.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they heavily damaged a US observation tower in Bahrain.
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