Democracy Dies with Dictatorship
NY Times
Jul 30, 2026
Iran War Live Updates: Middle East Faces Expanded War as Iran and U.S. Reignite Attacks
Egypt said it had come under attack from an unidentified drone. Earlier, Saudi Arabia acknowledged direct involvement in the war for the first time.
by Leo Sands and Yan Zhuang
Here’s the latest.
The Middle East teetered on the brink of an expanded war on Thursday, after Iran and the United States reignited their hostilities and conflicts on other fronts threatened to draw in more countries.
For the first time since the conflict began in February, the authorities in Egypt said Thursday that the country had come under attack, stating that an explosion at one of its ports the previous day had been caused by an unidentified drone.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia also acknowledged direct involvement in the war for the first time, after conducting joint strikes with U.S. forces on Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on Wednesday.
As the scope of the fighting widened, U.S. Central Command said Thursday morning that it had completed another “heavy wave” of strikes on Iranian targets, including military command centers and missile and drone facilities.
The Jordanian military later said it had shot down five missiles launched from Iran. Iran has not publicly claimed responsibility for that attack.
Central Command said its latest strikes were a response to Iran’s launching ballistic missiles at American forces in the Middle East on Wednesday, when the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had targeted U.S. military sites in Jordan.
The fighting this week ended a dayslong pause in direct attacks between the United States and Iran and ensnared an expanding list of U.S. allies. Since the U.S.-Iranian cease-fire collapsed earlier this month, there have been repeated attacks on several countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, but Wednesday’s drone attack on the port of Damietta was the first reported to have hit Egypt.
The attack ignited a fire on two ships, including a U.S.-owned gas storage tanker, and threatened to draw Egypt into the conflict. On Thursday, the authorities there said they were conducting a full investigation and vowed to take “necessary measures to protect Egypt’s interests and national security.”
At a news conference at the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Trump implied that Iran was responsible for the attack in Egypt, without offering details, and said, “We’re going to be hitting them very hard.” Iran has not claimed responsibility for that attack.
Even as the fighting between the United States and Iran expanded beyond the jostle to control the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for the world’s energy supplies, ships attempting to pass through it were still facing significant risks.
The Revolutionary Guards said early Thursday that a fire had broken out on a tanker attempting to transit the strait using an unauthorized passage. Its statement, carried in Iranian state media, did not specify whether the fire had been caused by an attack.
Here’s what else we’re covering:
Iraqi militias: Iran-aligned militias in Iraq were under growing pressure to disarm, but the U.S.-Saudi strikes may embolden them to get more deeply involved in the war. Read more ›
Widening war: The war is threatening to grow bigger at the very moment the United States wants to move past it. Read more ›
July 30, 2026, 7:54 a.m. ET27 minutes ago
Leo Sands
Breaking news reporter
The cost of insuring shipments through the Red Sea was expected to climb higher on Thursday, after a group of maritime underwriters expanded the area it designated as high risk to a swathe of the sea roughly south of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
In an updated advisory on Wednesday, the Joint War Committee, which consists of underwriters at Lloyds of London and other organizations, cited the escalating threat of attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen as it widened northward the area through which ships would be required to pay costlier premiums.
July 30, 2026, 5:52 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Leo Sands
Breaking news reporter
As hostilities reignited across the region, Pakistan, which has mediated between the United States and Iran, signaled that diplomatic efforts to contain them were continuing. Tahir Andrabi, a spokesman for the foreign ministry of Pakistan, said at a news briefing on Thursday that “negotiations between the parties are ongoing to normalize the situation.”
July 30, 2026, 4:19 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Abu Baker and Leo Sands
The Egyptian authorities said on Thursday that a preliminary investigation suggested a drone caused the fires on two ships in the Egyptian port of Damietta the previous day. No country has taken responsibility for the attack, but President Trump previously implied that Iran was responsible without offering details.
July 30, 2026, 4:13 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Kuwaiti military said in a statement on social media that an Iranian strike targeting a building belonging to a Chinese company killed one worker and severely damaged the building in the north of the country. It did not release the name of the Chinese company.
July 30, 2026, 1:48 a.m. ET7 hours ago
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Thursday that two tankers that had tried to use what it called an unsafe route through the Straight of Hormuz turned back after a fire broke out on one of the ships. The statement from the Guards, published by Iranian state media, did not mention the cause of the fire or whether it was the result of an attack.
July 30, 2026, 1:11 a.m. ET7 hours ago
Jordan’s military said its air defenses had shot down five missiles launched from Iran early on Thursday morning. The statement, published by the official Jordanian news agency, said there were no casualties.