Donald Trump and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine (Getty/File)
EA-Byline Times VideoCast: US-Iran — “Uncontained War” Spreads Across Middle East
UPDATES: US War on Iran, Day 153 — The Trump Camp Retreats
UPDATE 0640 GMT:
The Israeli military has carried out large detonations across its zone of occupation in southern Lebanon overnight.
The Israelis set off the explosions near towns and villages such as al-Mansouri, Majdal Zoun, and Haddatha. They opened fire with heavy machineguns and deployed mechanised patrols along the roadsides from Saf al-Hawa to Bint Jbeil.
UPDATE 0542 GMT:
Yemen’s Iran-linked Houthis claim they forced eight Saudi oil tankers to change course amid their blockade on Saudi Arabian ports on the Red Sea.
UPDATE 0534 GMT:
The US is facing a shortage of missile defence interceptors, with pre-conflict stockpiles of Patriots falling from about 2,300 to under 827.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies found inventories of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiles dropped from 452 down to fewer than 278.
CSIS assessed that replenishing the stocks might require at least three years, even though the Pentagon has allocated $18.2 billion within its $67 billion emergency funding proposal for Fiscal Year 2026 for Patriots, THAADs, and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, has privately warning about the shortages. This reportedly was one of the reasons why the Trump Administration has held off wider attacks inside Iran.
UPDATE 0524 GMT:
A tanker has been struck and is no longer under command after it was struck by an unknown projectile about 11 nautical miles northeast of Lima, Oman, reports the UK Maritime Trade Operations center.
UPDATE, AUG 1:
American officials are threatening a joint attack by the US and Israel on Iranian energy infrastructure.
They told the US outlet CBS News that the plan was discussed at Friday’s meeting of the Trump Cabinet in the Camp David retreat in Maryland.
The officials said the bombing could begin this weekend and last several days.
