Iran-US war latest: Strait of Hormuz shipping halts while Israel reveals alleged Iranian plot to kill Trump

Israel reportedly recently shared intelligence with the U.S. about potential plans by Iran to kill President Donald Trump.

The news about the alleged plot, reported by The Wall Street Journal and CNN, comes at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with both sides trading strikes in recent days.

When asked by The Independent about the alleged intelligence tip, the White House pointed to President Trump’s comments yesterday claiming that he was under threat from Iran.

“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me,” Trump said. “I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people. And we have to root out that cancer. That cancer. You know what you do? You’ve got to cut out cancer early. And that’s the way I feel.”

US president Donald Trump has said he viewed Iran’s airstrike on commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz as acts of terrorism, ThePress Nigeria reported.

A US official told the broadcaster that the 60-day ceasefire signed last month between the US and Iran was performance-based, and that Iran’s actions in the tanker strikes amounted to “failed performance at an unacceptable level”.

The official said technical talks between the two sides were continuing, despite Trump saying that, as far as he was concerned, the ceasefire was over.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz came to a near standstill after the US carried out a second day of strikes on Iran, raising fresh doubts about the fragile truce between the two sides.

Just two ‌tankers had so far sailed through the strait in the early hours of yesterday, while the US-supported Omani corridor was empty of observable traffic.

They included the crude supertanker Berg 1, which had loaded at Iran’s Kharg Island and is subject to US sanctions, according to analysis from Kpler.

The Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker Well Sail, also transited the strait, Kpler analysis showed. ​Its previous loading destination was near Sharjah in the UAE, according to LSEG ship tracking data.

Shipping industry sources ​said vessels were increasingly switching off their public AIS tracking transponders, making it harder to see all ⁠of the ships crossing.

“Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has essentially stopped, which tells you more about risk perception right ​now than any statement from Washington or Tehran,” Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, wrote in a report.

The renewed hostilities, which have driven up oil and fuel prices in recent days, have raised doubts about whether traffic through the vital energy corridor will return to normal.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has said his country was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran and vowed to strike Tehran with “even greater force”.

“The army is ready and on alert for a resumption of fighting, to regain air superiority and strike again… in Iran, to eliminate threats, including a third time if necessary,” Katz said yesterday at a military ceremony.

“If we have to go back, we will go back, with even greater force,” he added.

The office of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, has condemned Iran’s attacks on Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.

His office expressed solidarity with Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, adding that Palestine supported any measures the countries took to maintain their sovereignty.

Oil prices fell in early trading this morning but remained on track for weekly gains as the US and Iran continued trading ​strikes.

Concerns that accelerating inflation could soften oil demand weighed on the market ‌and pressured prices.

Brent futures fell 6 cents, or 0.08 per cent, to $76.24 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 4 cents, or 0.06 per cent, to $72.04.For the week, Brent was set ​for a 6 per cent gain and WTI was headed for a 5 per cent increase.

An exhausted and disenfranchised Nato has given up on brainstorming a solution to Donald Trump’s quagmire in Iran.

Just weeks ago, the UK and France promised to contribute drones, fighter jets and a warship as part of a joint mission to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron reiterated their willingness to deploy these forces last Friday, but momentum behind the initiative has evidently stalled as it was not mentioned once at the Nato summit in Ankara.

Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been laid to rest.

Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes at the start of the war. Khamenei’s son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeded him.

Iran held a dayslong funeral for the late supreme leader, which included processions in Iraq.

“In the early hours of Friday, July 10, 2026, the pure body of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei (may Allah sanctify his pure soul), was laid to rest in the luminous shrine of Imam Reza (pbuh)”, a post on Khamenei’s X account read.

US reporter Brendan Rascius writes:

Shortly before Trump departed for a NATO summit in Turkey, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined him in the West Wing. They informed him that Iran had fired on three ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz within a span of a few hours.

Outraged, Trump asked his top advisers whether Tehran was negotiating in good faith toward a final deal to end the war, sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. “In the end, after discussing it with his senior aides, the president decided they weren’t,” the outlet reported.

The response was swift. Trump ordered a barrage of strikes against Iran over the next two days, reinstated sanctions on Iranian oil sales and threatened to reimpose a U.S. blockade in the strait. On Wednesday, any ambiguity surrounding the ceasefire was dispensed with when the president said: “To me, I think it’s over.” Dealing with the Iranians, in his telling, was “a waste of time.”

Trump’s actions and statements this week have marked a sharp break from last month, when he signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, which he hailed as a significant breakthrough in the pursuit of peace. The agreement brought an end to the conflict that started on February 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Trump has long said the war was to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.