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Vehicles drive past banners showing portraits of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and his father at a square in Tehran on Monday. Photo: AP
US, Israel war on Iran

Factions in Iran openly fight over war’s direction amid Khamenei’s absence

Hardliners opposing talks with the US demand President Pezeshkian’s resignation, deepening political tensions over how to end the war.

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US, Israel war on Iran

US says it has fired on ship in Gulf of Oman to enforce Iranian ports blockade

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Israel

Israel and Venezuela renew consular ties after 17 years of no diplomacy

Middle East

Lebanon becomes first Arab nation to abolish death penalty

Its parliament passes a historic law replacing capital punishment with life imprisonment despite opposition from Hezbollah.

Lebanese lawmakers attend a parliamentary session to discuss the abolition of the death penalty in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA
Lebanese lawmakers attend a parliamentary session to discuss the abolition of the death penalty in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA
Middle East

Syria sentences ex-leader Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia

Former Syrian president convicted of murder, torture and crimes against humanity after trial in Damascus following 2024 ousting.

Pakistan

Pakistan says ‘purely defensive’ Mecca accord is open to others

Egypt is likely to join the defence deal, signed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey amid rising tensions between the US and Iran.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Trump says US ‘low-keying it’ with Iran, playing down urgency over Hormuz

US president calls dealings with Tehran a ‘chess game’ as a diplomatic breakthrough fails to materialise.

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US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Photo: AP
US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Photo: AP
Crime

Alleged Irish crime boss charged in Dublin after extradition from Dubai

Daniel Kinahan remanded in custody over charges of directing an international crime group following handover by UAE authorities.

Middle East

Yemen’s Houthis attack Saudi refinery, testing new defence pact

Rebel strikes hit Jazan oil complex and kill seven in Mocha as Saudi Arabia seals security alliance with Turkey and Pakistan.

Israel-Gaza war

Israel’s Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan endorsed by Hamas

Israeli leader dismisses 15-point document for the future of war-torn Gaza in the latest break with the White House.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: dpa
US, Israel war on Iran

Iran says Oman deal is in ‘final stages’ but US must act to open Hormuz

Iran and the US are not engaged in talks and Tehran will not start them as long as Washington breaches an interim deal signed in June.

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Vehicles drive past an anti-US billboard at Enghelab Square in central Tehran, Iran on Sunday. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the agreement with Oman would not imply reopening the Strait of Hormuz without the United States accepting the Iranian proposals. Photo: EPA
Vehicles drive past an anti-US billboard at Enghelab Square in central Tehran, Iran on Sunday. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the agreement with Oman would not imply reopening the Strait of Hormuz without the United States accepting the Iranian proposals. Photo: EPA
Saudi Arabia

How Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan pact acts as ‘insurance’ over US disengagement

The Mecca deal may emerge as a third geopolitical ‘centre of gravity’ in the Middle East, with more members joining, analysts say.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Iran thinks it has Trump cornered – but what are the risks?

Dwindling US arms stockpiles, inflation woes and looming midterms mean time is on Tehran’s side. Trouble, however, is brewing at home.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Iran targeted tanker, says UAE, as Tehran says Hormuz deal with Oman close

Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait and wants to charge for passage. It is in talks with Oman over management arrangements.

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People spend time on a beach as commercial vessels are seen anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Wednesday. Photo: via AP
Middle East

UN warns Yemen at greatest risk of renewed major conflict since 2022 truce

The Houthis said on Friday they had targeted Saudi-backed forces, a day ‌after at least 30 Yemeni government troops were killed in strikes.

A sailor from the navy of Yemen’s Aden-based government stands on board a vessel patrolling a shipping lane off The Hanish Islands in the Red Sea in July. Photo: TNS
A sailor from the navy of Yemen’s Aden-based government stands on board a vessel patrolling a shipping lane off The Hanish Islands in the Red Sea in July. Photo: TNS
Israel

‘Hopeless’: Palestinian Christians leave West Bank as hardships mount

Christians leave due to the deterioration of the humanitarian and economic situation in the West Bank, clergy members say.

Middle East

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign joint defence deal

The nations are particularly concerned by the increasingly aggressive military stances of both Israel and revolutionary Shiite Iran.

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Middle East

Houthi attacks kill dozens of troops in Yemen, wound civilians in Saudi Arabia

Assaults mark one of the deadliest escalations since a truce with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government in 2022.

Armed Houthi supporters stand before a banner depicting missiles in Sanaa, Yemen. Photo: Reuters
Armed Houthi supporters stand before a banner depicting missiles in Sanaa, Yemen. Photo: Reuters
US, Israel war on Iran

Iran seeks to bar US and Israeli ships in Hormuz deal with Oman

Tehran pushes for strict transit bans and fees in draft waterway pact as Trump claims negotiations are ‘moving along good’.

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US, Israel war on Iran

How US became trapped in ‘dreadful situation’ of its own making over Iran war

With Iran holding firm to its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, Trump faces one of two choices: capitulate or risk a ‘forever war’, experts say.

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US, Israel war on Iran

Iran nears Hormuz deal with Oman, conditions reopening on US actions

Tehran agrees to joint route with neighbour across strait, taking effective control of traffic without Washington’s input.

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Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman. Photo: Reuters
Israel

Netanyahu says Israel didn’t agree to US-backed Gaza plan

The Israeli leader has received guarantees that the Israeli army would only need to leave its current positions in Gaza after Hamas disarms.

US President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in December. Photo: Reuters
US President Donald Trump points his finger towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in December. Photo: Reuters
Israel

US-Saudi nuclear doubt, Boko Haram’s AI terrorism: 7 global relations reads

From US arms promises to EU sanctions and USMCA troubles, here are highlights from the SCMP’s overseas correspondents in July 2026.

Israel-Gaza war

Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ conditions Israel’s Gaza withdrawal on Hamas disarmament

US-backed panel seeks to calm Israeli pushback over framework for war-torn enclave.

United States

Pentagon signs US$3 billion deal to ramp up Patriot, THAAD missile parts production

Agreements with Lockheed and Northrop seek to address supply shortages driven by conflicts.

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A Patriot missile battery at the Prince Sultan air base in al-Kharj, central Saudi Arabia in 2020. Photo: AP
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