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Day 154 of the WarFriday, July 31, 2026

Day 154 — Tehran Declares Hormuz Closed as CENTCOM Insists It Is Open; CBS Says a U.S.-Israeli Energy Campaign Looms

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Strait of Hormuz

Inside Iran — a New Death-Row Alarm and Pulpit Calls to Reject a Ceasefire

  • Ali Azad, detained during the January protests in Amlash, is at imminent risk of execution, LiveIranNews warns, urging people to amplify his name so the sentence is not carried out in silence.source
  • Mashhad Friday prayer leader Ahmad Alam-ol-Hoda called negotiation and ceasefire 'a deception' and said 'the killing of dozens of Americans' creates a difficult atmosphere for the war's leaders, Iran International reports.source

An Energy-Target Campaign Looms as Interceptor Stocks Run Low

  • CBS News reports the U.S. and Israel are planning one of the most intense bombing campaigns yet against targets linked to Iran's energy infrastructure, possibly over the weekend, with talk of wrapping up before markets reopen Monday, per Iran International.source
  • Tasnim quoted a senior security official saying Tehran has an 'extensive program' to answer the 'potential madness of America' that includes Israel's critical infrastructure and U.S. energy infrastructure in the region.source
  • CSIS estimates U.S. Patriot interceptor stocks have fallen from about 2,300 before the war to fewer than 827, and THAAD interceptors from 452 to fewer than 278, as planners weigh whether limited retaliatory strikes are sustainable, per Iran International.source
  • Trump said the U.S. will deliver 'very severe blows' until Iran says 'we can't take it anymore,' conceding Tehran still has some missiles and that 'most countries would have backed down by this point, but they haven't,' per RadioFarda and LiveIranNews.source

Tehran Declares Hormuz Shut — CENTCOM Says It Stays Open

Gulf & Naval
  • The IRGC Navy claims it struck and stopped two 'violating' oil tankers and turned back four others early Friday, alleging they were moving under U.S. air escort on an undeclared route; it released images of a tanker burning in the dark, per RadioFarda.source
  • The regime's Persian Gulf Strait Authority announced that, due to continued U.S. military actions, transit through the Strait of Hormuz is not possible until further notice and the issuing of transit permits is suspended, per LiveIranNews.source
  • CENTCOM called the closure claim false, saying the Strait remains open and Iran does not control it; as of July 31 it has redirected 30 commercial vessels under the blockade while letting nearly 30 ships through for humanitarian aid.source
  • Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said the U.S. siege 'tightens the lock on the Strait of Hormuz and closes other straits and chokepoints,' warning the global economy, energy markets, and American voters will pay the price, per Iran International.source

Missiles From Yazd, Drones on Kuwait, Coffins at Mehran

  • Babak Taghvaee reports the IRGC Aerospace Force launched several precision-guided ballistic missiles from its Al-Ghadir underground base in Yazd toward air bases hosting U.S. forces in Bahrain or the UAE, citing eyewitnesses between 10:32 and 10:42 local time.source
  • Iran's army said it hit fighter hangars, satellite communications, and U.S. equipment warehouses at Kuwait's Ahmad al-Jaber base with suicide drones in response to the Qeshm strike; Kuwait's Defense Ministry said the drones were intercepted, with shrapnel damage but no casualties, per RadioFarda.source
  • Sentinel-2 images reportedly show new damage at Kuwait's Ali Al Salem air base, including burn marks on a storage hangar used by U.S. forces consistent with a direct hit; U.S. and Kuwaiti officials have not commented, per LiveIranNews.source
  • Iranian media showed the coffins of five IRGC members killed in the U.S.-Saudi strikes in Iraq arriving via the Mehran border crossing — after Iran's consul in Karbala had denied anyone was killed, Iran International reports.source

An IRGC Spy Case in Cyprus and Pressure on Hamas

  • London's Metropolitan Police charged Rachad Soltan-Af, 44, with 'hostile reconnaissance' of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus for the IRGC between May and June 2025 — the first extraterritorial case under the National Security Act; he was arrested in Cyprus on July 18 pending extradition, per Iran International.source
  • Axios reports IRGC officials met a Hamas delegation in Iran and urged it not to rush into signing an agreement and to buy time; a senior U.S. official says Hamas decided to ignore the advice, per Iran International.source
  • Politico reports many U.S. allies are reluctant to join the war directly, with France and Britain conditioning any force deployment to secure Hormuz on an end to hostilities, per Iran International.source

Sources