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Saudi has told Iran not to attack it, warns of possible retaliation – Reuters
Saudi Arabia has told Tehran that while it favours a diplomatic settlement to Iran’s conflict with the United States, continued attacks on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, Reuters reported citing four sources familiar with the matter.
The message was conveyed before a speech on Saturday in which Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised to neighbouring Gulf states for Tehran’s actions — an apparent attempt to defuse regional anger over Iranian strikes that hit civilian targets.
Two days earlier, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and set out Riyadh’s position with clarity, the sources said.
Saudi Arabia is open to any form of mediation aimed at de‑escalation and a negotiated settlement, the sources quoted the minister as saying, underlining that neither Riyadh nor other Gulf states had let the U.S. use their airspace or territory to launch airstrikes on Iran.
But Prince Faisal was also quoted by the sources as saying that if Iranian attacks persisted against Saudi territory or energy infrastructure, Saudi Arabia would be forced to permit U.S. forces to use their bases there for military operations. Riyadh would retaliate if attacks on the kingdom’s critical energy facilities continued, he said.
The sources said the kingdom had remained in regular contact with Tehran through its ambassador since the U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran began on February 28 following the collapse of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment.
DRONE AND MISSILE ATTACKS ON GULF STATES
The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have all come under heavy drone and missile fire from Iran over the past week.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on the first day of the war. Tehran responded by hitting Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting U.S. military installations, and Israel has attacked Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group.
Araqchi said in an interview on Saturday that he remained in constant contact with his Saudi counterpart and other Saudi officials, adding that Riyadh had assured Tehran it was fully committed to not allowing its territory, waters or airspace to be used for attacks against Iran.
Pezeshkian said Iran’s temporary leadership council had approved suspending attacks on nearby countries – unless an attack on Iran came from those nations.
“I personally apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by Iran’s actions,” he said.
To what extent Pezeshkian’s remarks signal a change is unclear. There were further reports of strikes directed at Gulf states on Saturday.
Also, in a sign of possible divisions within Iran’s leadership, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters – the unified combatant command of the Iranian armed forces – said in a statement afterwards that U.S. and Israeli bases and interests across the region would remain targets.
The command said Iran’s armed forces respected the sovereignty and interests of neighbouring states and had not taken action against them so far. But it said U.S. and Israeli military bases and assets on land, at sea and in the air across the region would be treated as primary targets and face “powerful and heavy” strikes by Iran’s forces.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Iran had “apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbours, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore. This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack.”
Two Iranian sources confirmed that a call had taken place in which Riyadh warned Tehran to halt attacks on Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Gulf states. Iran, they said, reiterated its position that the strikes were not aimed at Gulf countries themselves but at U.S. interests and military bases hosted on their territory.
One Iranian source said that Tehran had in response demanded that U.S. bases in the region be closed and some Gulf states stop sharing intelligence with Washington that Iran believes is being used to carry out attacks against it.
Another Iranian source said some military commanders were pressing to continue the strikes, accusing the U.S. of using bases in Gulf states and these countries’ airspace to conduct operations against Iran.
Iran had in recent years mended fences with its Gulf neighbours, including former regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia. The diplomatic campaign imploded in the blitz of drones and missiles launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the past week.
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Trump says he will hold off on fresh Iran attack in hope of quick deal
The Saudi crown prince spoke to Trump, a White House official told Reuters, but did not provide details.
U.S. President Donald Trump said late on Saturday he would hold off on a fresh attack on Iran as long as a deal could be reached quickly to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reporte.
Iran and “other Middle Eastern Countries” asked for a time to complete a deal that would lead to “the Immediate, Complete and Total” reopening of the Strait and “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL.”
Israel “joins me in this commitment,” Trump wrote. Israel did not immediately make a public statement on the issue.
Iran warned the U.S. this weekend against any “adventurous action” and said it would retaliate decisively if American forces followed through on Trump’s threats of fresh attacks on Iranian targets.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi’s comments in separate phone calls on Saturday with senior Turkish, Pakistani and Saudi officials came just hours after Kuwait’s army said it destroyed hostile drones launched by Iran against several vital facilities.
Speaking to Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Araqchi said Iran would respond decisively to any “aggression” and discussed the consequences of “destabilizing actions” by the U.S., as well as prospects for heightened regional insecurity, according to Araqchi’s Telegram account.
Araqchi later told Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan that any attacks by the U.S. and Israel or participation by regional countries in such actions would be met with a “proportionate response.” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke to Trump on Saturday and “expressed concern and asked for clarity” about U.S. plans for Iran, a U.S. official told Axios.
The Saudi crown prince spoke to Trump, a White House official told Reuters, but did not provide details.
Nournews, a media outlet affiliated with Iran’s top security body, said on Saturday that U.S. attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure would prompt Iranian strikes on oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the gas fields of Qatar and Israel, saying, “all will be burned to ashes.”
At a cabinet meeting on Friday at the Camp David retreat, Trump said he believed U.S. negotiators, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, could still reach a deal with Iran, read the report.
But Trump also said he was losing faith in the Iranians, saying, “They break their word so often” — a claim Tehran has frequently leveled at Washington — and said he would be “hitting them.”
Oil prices have stayed high since U.S. and Israeli forces started the war with strikes on Iran on February 28. Trump has argued that his stated goal of keeping Iran from gaining nuclear weapons justifies higher fuel costs in the near term, but the economic pain has put political pressure on him to find a way to end the war.
Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 24% in July, and analysts polled by Reuters expect prices to rise further this year.
The risk of Iranian attacks has deterred most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, an important conduit for global energy supplies, since the start of the conflict, sending shockwaves through the world economy.
A government facility in northern Kuwait and civilian property belonging to a company on Bubiyan Island were hit on Saturday, with falling shrapnel causing material damage but no casualties, the Kuwaiti army said.
Adding to the energy industry’s concerns, Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen recently began threatening the Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the other end of the Red Sea from the Suez Canal, another export route for Saudi crude.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Saturday it had received reports of two maritime incidents off Oman, including one in which a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile that damaged the engine room. In the other incident, the master of a tanker reported seeing a large splash and an explosion close to the vessel, though no damage was reported.
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Trump says deal reached to disarm Hamas, Israeli support for plan remains uncertain
U.S. President Donald Trump said talks in Cairo between mediators and Hamas leaders on Thursday have led to a phased disarmament agreement in Gaza, but a Hamas official described the deal as a draft and U.S. officials said Israel was skeptical the militant Palestinian group would surrender its weapons.
What is Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’?
“Today, the Board of Peace reached a HISTORIC agreement for the COMPLETE DISARMAMENT of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza,” Trump said in a social media post, adding that the disarmament would come in phases. “This is a monumental step toward lasting PEACE and SECURITY.”
The agreement was a critical step towards Gaza being governed by a new Palestinian government that will work closely with the so-called Board of Peace, Trump said. “At the same time, Israel will have the security it deserves, with Gaza no longer used as a base for terror attacks,” he added, Reuers reported.
A Hamas source told Reuters the “draft agreement” stipulates that heavy weapons would only be stored and kept under the control of a Palestinian administration, and the weapons cannot be transferred to Israel.
“We will not take any action regarding disarmament prior to Israel’s withdrawal from the Strip,” Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas negotiating team, told Al Jazeera.
A U.S. official on Thursday told reporters that Israel is “very skeptical that Hamas will disarm.”
“We’re very confident they will adhere to it,” the U.S. official added. “If they don’t, obviously President Trump would be very, very disappointed.”
There were also questions about how long the process would take. A Board of Peace official gave an estimate of 200 to 320 days, but a U.S. official played down that timeline.
An Israeli official, who declined to be identified, said before Trump’s announcement Israel had rejected a proposal.
“Israel demands the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and the complete demilitarization of the Strip as a precondition for any process,” the official said earlier on Thursday.
“The 15-point document in question does not provide a satisfactory response to these demands and Israel conveyed its objections.”
Earlier, Israeli strikes killed at least six Palestinians in Gaza, including two children, medics said.
A ROADMAP TOWARDS HAMAS DISARMAMENT?
Hamas leaders held talks with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey on the second phase of Trump’s Gaza plan, as presented to them by his Board of Peace.
Trump set up the board to oversee a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza and rebuild the devastated territory. He appointed members of the board with himself as chair and said last year that the board will supervise Gaza’s temporary governance.
“Ahead of us is a Gaza rebuilt, governed by Palestinians and at peace with Israel an a political horizon to a meaningful resolution the Israeli Palestinian conflict,” Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace envoy for Gaza, said in a statement after the president’s post.
Officials involved in the talks shared few details about plans to rebuild Gaza.
The plan also calls for a surge in humanitarian aid, governance by a civilian Palestinian administration, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the deployment of an international force to help maintain security.
HANDOVER OF WEAPONS COULD BE STICKING POINT
The reality on the ground in Gaza, so far, remains far from the goals of the agreement.
Hamas wants Israel to commit to ending attacks on Gaza and withdraw its forces.
It is not yet clear what will happen regarding light or personal weapons or whether the new Hamas stance will be accepted by Israel or the Board of Peace.
The plan includes the elimination of tunnels, arms stockpiles and weapons production facilities, a diplomat involved in the talks said, adding that by the end of the process there would be no remaining militant infrastructure in Gaza.
“This isn’t really a trust deal,” a U.S. official said on Thursday, calling the agreement a “conditions-based deal.”
The Israeli military has continued to expand its military occupation of Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Israel intends to expand the area under its control to 70% of the enclave.
It remains unclear how many forces would be available to deploy with the planned International Stabilization Force, and whether Israeli troops would withdraw from the enclave.
ATTACKS CONTINUE
Health officials said separate Israeli strikes had killed at least two children, a woman and three men in Gaza on Thursday. The Israeli military said it struck Hamas militants in the enclave.
The ceasefire in Gaza has been repeatedly violated, with more than 1,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, being killed by Israeli attacks and four Israeli soldiers being killed by militants since the truce began in October, according to Gaza health officials and Israeli authorities, respectively.
Hamas does not usually disclose its losses.
Regional
Seven police officers killed in fresh militant assault on Pakistan checkpoint
Pakistan has repeatedly accused militants of operating from Afghan territory, an allegation the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has consistently denied.
At least 15 people, including seven police officers and eight suspected militants, were killed in a late-night attack on a security checkpoint in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local authorities.
The attack took place on Wednesday evening in Hangu district, Geo News reported, citing District Police Officer Tariq Habib. Authorities said an additional 22 police personnel were wounded in the assault, prompting security forces to launch a clearance operation in the area.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
The latest violence comes just days after another deadly assault on a security checkpoint in Tank district, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where unidentified militants rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the facility.
According to Pakistan’s military, the attack on Friday killed 15 people, including soldiers, police officers, and other government personnel, while security forces said they killed 12 militants during the ensuing operation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has witnessed a sharp rise in militant violence in recent years. Pakistani authorities have repeatedly blamed the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for many of the attacks.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused militants of operating from Afghan territory, an allegation the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has consistently denied.
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