Day 147 of the WarFriday, July 24, 2026
Day 147 — Strikes Reach the Caspian and Kharg, One Tanker Crosses Hormuz, and the WSJ Says Kuwait and Bahrain Hit Iran
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Zibakenar, Kharg Island and YazdBahrain and KuwaitStrait of HormuzTehran and Bojnurd
From the Caspian to Kharg — the Thirteenth Night Widens the Map
Iran- CENTCOM says its 13th straight night, completed at 9 p.m. ET on July 23, hit command centers, drone stores, communications networks, coastal surveillance and maritime capabilities; blasts were reported in Ahvaz, Khorramabad, Khondab and Bandar Abbas, where officials confirmed two injured, per Iran International.source
- For the first time in this round, U.S. missiles struck an IRGC Navy headquarters on the Caspian coast, at Zibakenar in Gilan; the provincial deputy governor says equipment was damaged and no casualties were reported, per RadioFarda.source
- Babak Taghvaee reports a U.S. strike on Kharg Island's civilian airport destroyed four AW109E helicopters used for offshore medical evacuation, search and rescue and oil-worker transport, saying that if confirmed it could amount to a war crime.source
- LiveIranNews says U.S. forces hit an IRGC Aerospace Force missile base near Taft in Yazd, with residents reporting a massive explosion and shaking buildings, while officials reported attacks in Khondab in Markazi and Na'in in Isfahan.source
EU Sanctions Judges Behind Death Sentences as Protesters Face Lashes and New Charges
Iran- The EU sanctioned five Revolutionary Court judges who issued death sentences, long prison terms and floggings, plus hacker Nima Salehi, founder of the Ashiyaneh cyber group; Kaja Kallas said the bloc will hold those behind Tehran's intensifying crackdown accountable, per Iran International.source
- Farhad Baghchoghi, detained during the January protests, was sentenced by a Bojnurd criminal court to three years in prison and 74 lashes for joining gatherings and 'confronting officers,' Iran International reports, citing Kolbar News.source
- Political prisoner Hossein (Shahan) Alizadeh Azar, a 38-year-old surveying engineer re-arrested on July 4 in Islamshahr and held in Evin, faces charges including 'insulting the Leader' and 'insulting the Prophet' over remarks about Adam and Eve, Iran International reports.source
- NurNews, close to the Supreme National Security Council, says the meeting struck when Ali Khamenei and Ali Shamkhani were killed was a Defense Council subcommittee whose agenda included supplying new equipment for 'protest management,' Iran International reports.source
The Gulf Hits Back — Kuwaiti and Bahraini Jets Over Iran
Gulf & Naval- The Wall Street Journal reports Bahrain and Kuwait secretly sent fighter jets earlier this month to strike drone and missile depots and other military sites inside Iran, their first direct retaliation, with the UAE providing targeting intelligence and air defense cover, per Iran International.source
- IRGC footage shows missile launches toward Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Erbil in what state media calls the 27th wave of Operation Nasr 2, and the IRGC claims it destroyed the remaining building of Amazon's data center in Bahrain; U.S. and Bahraini officials have not commented.source
- The IRGC told residents of countries hosting U.S. forces to stay at least 500 meters from 'covert U.S. military residences' in cities and urged them to report troop locations via its Telegram channel, Iran International reports.source
- Britain said its armed forces are ready to defend the country after the IRGC called RAF Fairford a legitimate target for hosting U.S. bombers, RadioFarda reports.source
One Tanker a Day and Six Thousand Seafarers Stranded
Gulf & Naval- Reuters, citing Kpler, says only one oil tanker crossed Hormuz on July 23 and none entered, the lowest since May 7, as crude climbed back to $100 a barrel; an oil expert tells Iran International the strait is in 'unofficial closure.'source
- India's embassy in Tehran says the Mozambique-flagged LPG tanker Disha, with 28 Indian crew, was hit by a missile of unknown origin in Iranian territorial waters near Hormuz; all crew are safe, per RadioFarda.source
- The UN human rights chief called the plight of some 6,000 seafarers stranded on hundreds of ships in Hormuz a 'critical and dire humanitarian and human rights crisis' and urged warring states to help evacuate them, RadioFarda reports.source
- Axios reports the U.S. and Britain plan a high-level summit in London next week on an international coalition to protect Hormuz shipping, while the AP counts at least seven Gulf pipeline projects under way or planned to bypass the strait, per Iran International.source
Trump Weighs Escalation as Tehran Rejects a Temporary Deal
- The New York Times reports Trump met senior advisers and Cabinet members on Friday to decide whether to escalate strikes on Iran, at what it calls a potential turning point after the collapse of the ceasefire and the memorandum, per Iran International.source
- U.S. intelligence assesses Mojtaba Khamenei is far more interested in a nuclear weapon than his father, the NYT reports, adding that some centrifuges were moved to the underground Kolang mountain complex and the highly enriched uranium stockpile remains intact.source
- Iranian officials told the NYT that Iraq's prime minister carried a Trump proposal but that Tehran has no interest in a 'temporary agreement' leaving Hormuz's final status open; an Omani delegation arrived to set up mechanisms for managing ship passage, and Araghchi vowed not to yield to 'force, pressure or threats.'source
- Trump said Saudi Arabia must join the Abraham Accords to get a civil nuclear deal with no enrichment, adding: 'You don't have the Iran problem anymore... the problem disappears day by day,' Open Source Intel reports.source