US threatens massive attack, financial punishment against Iran

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Friday the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was a "vital force for genuine multilateralism" at a time when "aggressive unilateralism" was undermining international law.

"We are in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, to participate in the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States," Baghaei wrote on X.

"Iran attaches great importance to the SCO and similar multilateral arrangement, which represent a vital force for genuine multilateralism in an era when aggressive unilateralism, breach of inter-state agreements and unlawful use of force are badly undermining the foundational principles of the rule of law and the UN Charter-based legal order," he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Iran would regard the source of any attack on the country as a "legitimate target" for defensive measures by its armed forces.

Speaking at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's council of foreign ministers, Araghchi also said any party participating in, cooperating with or assisting attacks against Iran would incur international responsibility.

He said Iran reserved its right under international law to take all necessary measures in self-defence.

US missile and drone attacks targeted Iran's provinces of Isfahan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Markazi and Hormozgan early on Friday, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.

Iran's army said on Friday it targeted US military bases in Bahrain and Jordan with drones in the latest phase of its "Saegheh" operation.

The army's public relations office said drones struck fuel storage facilities, equipment warehouses and accommodation for US forces at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.

It said drones also targeted aircraft shelters, aircraft maintenance hangars and accommodation for US forces at Azraq Air Base in Jordan.

Bahrain's interior ministry said sirens sounded on Friday and urged citizens and residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.

Two people were injured in a US drone strike on the outskirts of the western Iranian city of Khorramabad, the deputy governor of Lorestan province for political and security affairs said on Friday.

The official did not provide further details about the condition of the injured or the target of the strike.

Four people were killed and five others wounded in a US missile strike on sites near Ahvaz during the 13th night of attacks, IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News reported Thursday, citing Khuzestan provincial authorities.

Iran’s foreign minister warned Thursday in a post on X that once governments normalize confiscating state assets, “no one’s assets are safe,” adding that the resulting chaos would not be “pretty or peaceful.”

His comments came shortly after US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that Iranian money held and controlled by the United States would be used to pay for damage to ships, cargo and related assets.

The minister called seizing another country’s assets to cover unrelated future claims an “incendiary precedent.”

The surge in oil prices appears to be hardening Tehran's resolve against renewed negotiations with Washington, giving ammunition to those who argue that a prolonged conflict puts more pressure on the United States than on Iran.

The shift comes as Brent crude climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time in two months after Iran-aligned Houthi attacks expanded maritime tensions from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, raising fears of broader disruption to Middle Eastern energy exports.

Iranian officials increasingly portrayed the price rally as evidence that insecurity around the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab had strengthened Tehran's negotiating position.

"The equation of this war is clear: either everyone or no one," Parliament Speaker and Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X.

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Just one oil tanker crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, the lowest daily total since May 7, according to Kpler ship-tracking data, as US strikes on Iran entered a 13th consecutive night and oil prices climbed back to $100 a barrel.

Kpler data showed that only one tanker exited the strait on July 23, down from three the previous day, while no tankers entered the waterway.

The sole crossing was the New Giant, a very large crude carrier carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basrah crude, which is due to arrive at China's Rizhao port in mid-August.

The sharp decline underscores the continued disruption to one of the world's busiest oil shipping routes despite ongoing US military operations aimed at restoring navigation.

Traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, meanwhile, increased. Kpler recorded 32 commodity tanker crossings on Thursday, up from 26 a day earlier.

Fourteen tankers entered the Red Sea and 18 exited into the Gulf of Aden, including nine crude carriers—two of them Chinese supertankers bound for China.