Democracy Dies with Dictatorship
NY Times
Jul 13, 2026
Live Updates: U.S. and Iran Edge Toward War Again
President Trump said the United States was renewing its blockade of shipping to and from Iran, after the two sides exchanged escalatory rhetoric and fresh attacks.
July 13, 2026, 12:05 p.m. ET59 minutes ago
Eric SchmittJenny GrossLeo Sands and Richard Pérez-Peña
Here’s the latest
After another night of attacks, the United States and Iran appeared to be reverting to the heightened conflict that existed before their cease-fire, as they exchanged incendiary rhetoric and President Trump said he was reinstating the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran, threatening to escalate the confrontation further, vowed revenge for the killing of its supreme leader, and appeared undeterred by nearly a week of U.S. strikes.
Mr. Trump said the United States would take control of the disputed Strait of Hormuz, charging a 20 percent fee on all goods passing through it. He had lifted the blockade last month after the two countries reached a truce, which has been threatened by repeated strikes by both sides.
Mr. Trump told Fox News that the United States would charge other countries for keeping the strait safe. “We are going to guard it and we’re going to get paid for guarding it,” he said. The suggestion, which would amount to an expansion of the military conflict, echoed previous threats that had not come to pass.
The United States “will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” Mr. Trump later wrote on social media.
Hours earlier, Ali Bagheri Kani, the deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, was among the Iranian officials calling for revenge against the United States over the killing of the former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, describing it as “the right of the Iranian nation,” according to the state broadcaster. Within Iran, conservative hard-liners have become increasingly vocal in their uncompromising stance toward the United States.
The upswell in rhetoric came after Iran’s military said early Monday that it launched another barrage of strikes aimed at American military assets in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Hours earlier, U.S. forces said they had launched more strikes on Iran aimed at stymying its ability to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest exchange of strikes caps a nearly weeklong flare-up of hostilities as the United States and Iran tussle over control of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war.
Iranian attacks and threats against shipping all but halted traffic through the strait in March, causing global fuel shortages. It rebounded somewhat after the truce, but has remained far below prewar levels.
Soon after Mr. Trump said the blockade would be reinstated, the price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed back toward $80 a barrel, an increase of roughly 5 percent since Friday.
The framework deal signed by Mr. Trump and the Iranian president last month included language that Tehran said gave it control over traffic through the strait, but the United States has insisted that the passage remain open to all shipping.
Here’s what else to know:
Strait of Hormuz: Shipping dropped again over the weekend through the waterway after Iran attacked a Cypriot-flagged container ship that it accused of “violating” its conditions for transiting the waterway, setting off the latest exchange of hostilities. Just 14 ships passed through the waterway on Sunday, the fewest in a month, according to Kpler, a maritime data firm.
U.S. allies: Jordan’s air defense systems intercepted four missiles from Iran on Monday, the official Petra news agency reported, citing Jordan’s armed forces, which said there were no casualties or material damage in the attacks. Kuwait’s army said its air defenses intercepted hostile aerial targets, and Bahrain said it also fended off Iranian missile and drone attacks.
American attacks: The U.S. military’s Central Command said its latest wave of strikes had hit “dozens of targets” early Monday local time, including Iranian air-defense systems and missile and drone capabilities.
Market volatility: Oil prices rose and global stock markets fell after the Iranian and U.S. attacks over the weekend. In the United States, the average price of gasoline was $3.87, according to the AAA motor club, up 7 cents compared to a week ago. Read more ›
July 13, 2026, 11:14 a.m. ET2 hours ago
National security reporter
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which oversees the American military in the Middle East, said in a brief interview that the military was working out the details and coordination of reimposing the naval blockade, and that U.S. warships would begin enforcing it later today.
July 13, 2026, 11:02 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Leo Sands
Breaking news reporter
President Trump’s threat that the United States could charge fees on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz breaks with his own administration’s stance. Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “It’s an international waterway,” referring to the strait. “No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That’s existing international law.”
July 13, 2026, 10:40 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Energy reporter
Oil prices climbed back toward $80 a barrel after President Trump said the United States would reimpose a naval blockade on Iranian ports. The effort would further restrict the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf and tighten economic pressure on Tehran. Brent crude, the global benchmark, is up roughly 5 percent since Friday.
July 13, 2026, 10:30 a.m. ET3 hours ago
Leo Sands
Breaking news reporter
President Trump said on Monday that he was reinstating the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports, just over three weeks after ending a monthslong blockade as part of a truce with Iran.
Trump added that the United States would begin charging fees on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming the U.S. would levy a 20 percent fee “for any and all costs necessary” without elaborating on how it would work. In the post on social media, he said the reinstated blockade would prevent “Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving.”
July 13, 2026, 9:52 a.m. ET3 hours ago
Britain links Iran to a wave of antisemitic attacks.
The British government on Monday accused an arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of almost certainly directing a wave of attacks against Jews across Europe and took steps to designate the powerful security apparatus as a terrorist organization.
The decision gives the government additional national security powers to prevent terrorist attacks and foreign threats under a new law that includes criminal charges and stiffer prison sentences.
The move is part of Britain’s continued push to forcefully call out the Iranian threat to Britain. The Guards Corps has traditionally targeted critics of the Iranian regime but took a more ominous and violent turn after the start of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
“We will never let Britain be a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.
While Britain participated in defensive strikes since the war began, this apparently did not stop Iran from retaliating against Jews in Britain, America’s closest ally.
An Iranian proxy called the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right, or Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya, targeted Jewish communities, journalists and Israeli interests in Britain and across Europe during a two-month stretch from March to May. It claimed responsibility for seven attacks in Britain.
The attacks — including one on ambulances belonging to a Jewish volunteer emergency service in London and explosions at Jewish schools and outside synagogues in Belgium and the Netherlands — triggered fear in Jewish communities, which were already on edge because of rising antisemitism. Britain said that Iran relies on criminal gangs to do the “regime’s bidding overseas,” providing a clue about how Tehran recruits people to mount the attacks.
The government also designated the Iranian proxy and a group under the control of Russian military intelligence using the new law. Britain has previously sanctioned the I.R.G.C.
If approved by Parliament, the government says they will be the first designations made under the 2026 National Security Act.
The decision to label the organizations as terrorist groups comes after federal prosecutors in New York in May charged a commander of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia that is a proxy for the Guards Corps, with leading the attacks in Europe and being part of a retaliation campaign by Iran. Kataib Hezbollah has helped Tehran project power across the region.
The complaint accused the militia commander, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, of planning at least 20 attacks against U.S. and Israeli interests in Europe and Canada since late February. Mr. al-Saadi was detained in Turkey and handed over to U.S. authorities. He has since pleaded not guilty.
He was also charged with plotting to attack Jewish sites in the United States, including a synagogue in New York City. And he claimed on a secretly recorded call that he was behind two attacks in Canada that targeted the U.S. consulate in Toronto and a synagogue, according to the complaint.
Britain implicated the Guards Corps’ Quds Force in the European attacks. The Quds Force is an elite unit known for overseeing Iran’s proxies across the Middle East. In 2020, the United States killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the head of the Quds Force.
In the case of Russia, the British government banned a network of volunteer operatives and proxies overseen by Russia’s military intelligence service known as the G.R.U.
The government noted that the network — identified as the Volunteer Corps — includes some remnants of the former Wagner Group, a mercenary organization that has fought in Ukraine, Syria and Africa.
July 13, 2026, 9:44 a.m. ET3 hours ago
Lara Jakes has covered Mideast conflict and diplomacy for more than 15 years.
Iran’s hard-liners step up threats against the U.S. and Israel.
Chants of “death to America” from Iranian hard-liners have been heard for decades, but in recent days, officials and clerics close to the government have escalated the rhetoric with threats against President Trump to avenge the killing of their country’s supreme leader.
The calls may reflect Iranians venting pent up anger after the weeklong funeral ceremonies for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which were followed by a weekend of escalating U.S. strikes on the country, one expert said. Some mourners at the funeral events held red banners, a Muslim Shiite symbol of vengeance, declaring, “We Will Kill Trump.”
The threats grew louder after a rare statement over the weekend from the leader’s son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei.
“We pledge that we will avenge your pure blood and the blood of all those martyred in these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers,” he said. “This revenge is the demand of our nation, and it must certainly be carried out.”
A minority of hard-liners in Iran’s leadership has sought in recent days to thwart diplomacy to broker a lasting peace deal with the United States. As internal tensions in government unfurled last week, Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps targeted several commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway vital to transporting energy supplies.
That set off new retaliatory airstrikes by the United States as the escalating attacks imperiled a cease-fire reached almost a month ago.
Mr. Khamenei was killed in the opening strikes of U.S.-Israel war on Iran in late February and his son was injured in the attack.
“No one should be surprised, given where we are at, that there will be elements within the Iranian regime that do want the assassination of Trump as the ultimate revenge,” said Ellie Geranmayeh, an Iran expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Is that the majority? I don’t think so. Is that is that a state policy? I’ve seen no evidence of that.”
She said allowing the hard-liners to “let off some steam” in this way may ease pressure from them to derail the diplomatic efforts to reach a lasting U.S.-Iran peace deal.
Mojtaba Khamenei did not appear in public at any of the funeral events fueling questions not only about his health, but about whether he is really running Iran at this pivotal moment. His call after the funeral was over to avenge his father’s death appears to have given a green light for others to follow with similar threats.
“We must take action against those who ordered, carried out, and assisted in the attempt on our beloved leader’s life, as well as those who targeted our fellow citizens,” Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Monday, according to Iranian state-controlled media.
A senior cleric close to Iran’s government, Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, issued a “call for revenge” against Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
Mr. Trump declared the unstable cease-fire with Iran “over,” last Wednesday at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, after Iran attacked commercial container ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States responded with heavy airstrikes on Iran through the weekend.
Mr. Trump last week said he was Iran’s “number one target.” But Iranian officials have stopped short of specifically calling for Mr. Trump’s death.
“The enemy’s propaganda gestures will not deter us from pursuing justice against them,” said Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, according to Iranian state media reports on Monday. “We will not hesitate to defend ourselves. However, when and how we respond is a matter that will be determined by the armed forces.
The anger of Iranian hard-liners toward Mr. Trump has built over years. He reimposed harsh economic sanctions on Iran in 2019, which was followed in 2020 by the American assassination of a top Iranian military commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani.
The U.S.-Israel war that began on Feb. 28 has further strangled Iran’s economy.
The public backlash also extended to some Iranians celebrating over the weekend the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who was a staunch supporter of Israel.
“Fortunately, in such matters it must be said that the Angel of Death is just,” Mr. Baghaei said Monday, when asked about Mr. Graham, according to Iranian state-controlled media.
July 13, 2026, 9:31 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Sanam Mahoozi
As tensions between Iran and the United States over the Strait of Hormuz escalate, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the spokesman for Iran’s military central command, warned regional leaders that “any cooperation with the U.S. or logistical support for its invading military will be regarded as an act of war against Iran’s sovereignty and national security,” in a statement published by Iran’s state broadcaster. “Should the conflict expand, the flames of war will engulf all countries in the region.”
July 13, 2026, 9:23 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Business and economics reporter
Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz plunges after the latest round of strikes.
Note: Data may not include all activity because some vessels have turned off tracking capabilities during the war.
Source: Kpler.
Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has plummeted after Iran’s attack on a Cypriot-flagged container ship over the weekend set off an exchange of strikes with the United States, culminating in President Trump saying that he would reimpose the U.S. blockade on Iran.
Just 14 ships passed through the waterway on Sunday in both directions, the fewest in a month, according to figures from Kpler, a maritime data firm.
Mr. Trump said in a social media post on Monday that he would reinstate the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports, which would prevent “Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving” the strait.
He added that the United States would provide security for other ships in the waterway but would charge a fee at the “rate of 20% on all cargo shipped” for “any and all costs necessary.”
Before the start of the war in late February, an average of more than 130 vessels transited the strait daily. In mid-June, when the United States and Iran signed a preliminary agreement to reopen the strait, traffic spiked. In the seven days starting June 20, nearly 400 ships moved through the strait, the most in a one-week period since the war began.
But hopes for a recovery in shipping quickly faded with Iran’s renewed attacks on ships. U.S. forces launched a round of strikes on military targets in Iran that spilled into Monday. The operation, which used fighter jets, naval vessels, aerial drones and, for the first time, sea drones, aimed to degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial ships.
As of Monday morning, Iranian ships were moving oil through the Persian Gulf, when other ships were not, said Ami Daniel, the chief executive of Windward, a maritime data company. The imposition of a U.S. blockade, yet again, would completely change the outlook for Iran.
“It’s a giant change,” Mr. Daniel said, referring to Mr. Trump’s comments that the United States would charge a fee for providing security for ships.
“The U.S. actually is kind of stepping into the void, if you will, because I don’t think we have seen other countries step in to ensure the safety and security of the trade.”
The threat to ships has risen sharply over the past week, as Iran has increased its attacks on commercial ships. An Indian crew member was still missing on Monday after the Cyprus-flagged container ship, the GFS Galaxy, was hit over the weekend, according to Reuters, which cited Cyprus’s Deputy Ministry of Shipping.
Jakob Larsen, the chief safety and security officer at BIMCO, the world’s largest shipping association, said the memorandum of understanding between United States and Iran was problematic because it diminished the importance of international conventions regulating shipping, which allow for free passage of ships through international waterways. The agreement also did not address fundamental disagreements between the two countries, he said.
“At the same time, Iran retains the capability to target shipping with drones and missiles throughout the strait and surrounding waters, and recent events suggest it is prepared to exercise that capability,” Mr. Larsen said.
Ship traffic through the strait, Mr. Larsen said, would likely remain low “for as long as the Iranian threat remains intact.”
“It is difficult to say how long it will take to reduce the Iranian threat to an acceptable level,” he added, “as it depends on several factors such as the U.S. capability and effort to physically destroy the threat, and the impact of renewed economic sanctions on Iran.”
July 13, 2026, 8:47 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Leo Sands
Breaking news reporter
President Trump suggested that the United States would continue to strike Iran in response to its targeting of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. “Every time they send a drone, we hit them very hard,” he said in a phone interview on Monday with Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”
Trump also claimed that the United States would seek to take control of the waterway and charge other “wealthy” nations for safeguarding passage through it. “We are going to guard it and we’re going to get paid for guarding it,” he said.
Trump has raised the possibility that the United States could charge tolls in the strait as the self-declared winner of the war. On Monday, he did not elaborate on how the U.S. would seek to take control of the strait.
July 13, 2026, 8:08 a.m. ET5 hours ago
Reporting from London
The British government on Monday said it would ban support for Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as well as another group it blamed for attacks on Jewish sites in Britain.
Angela Eagle, security minister, said in a statement that the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, also known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyah, had publicly claimed seven attacks in Britain, including one on four ambulances run by a Jewish organization, in London in March.
“Sitting behind IMCR were members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, who almost certainly directed IMCR attacks across Europe,” she added. The Quds Force is an elite unit within the Revolutionary Guards, tasked with overseeing the country’s foreign operations.