The US-Iran conflict intensifies as Tehran vows retaliation, Kuwait intercepts drones, and Houthis target Saudi oil tankers amidst escalating Gulf tensions.
Doha, Qatar Jul 23, 2026 ALN: Travellers flying from the UAE on Thursday should expect some disruption as airlines continue to adjust operations amid the escalating conflict in the Gulf.
While UAE airports remain operational and the majority of flights are operating as scheduled, some services to Bahrain and Kuwait have been cancelled, while several other departures and arrivals are facing delays.
The US State Department has issued a worldwide caution alert, warning Americans of a complex security environment and the potential for unforeseen escalation amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. The advisory urged Americans in the region to be prepared for flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions, noting that some airlines have postponed resuming schedules or cancelled routes. It warned that US diplomatic facilities, including outside the Middle East, have been targeted, and that Iran and groups supportive of Iran may attack US interests, businesses, and institutions worldwide. Americans outside the region were advised to reconsider travel to and through the Middle East and to check with airlines before flying.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Thursday they stopped three oil tankers from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, as the United States and Iran vie for control over the vital waterway.
In recent weeks, Iran has hit tankers using a route hugging the Omani coast to traverse the strait, in a bid to strongarm vessels into using its own waters and pay for safe passage.
"Three oil tankers, provoked and tempted by the child-killing American army, were trying to pass through the mine-laid route south of the Strait of Hormuz, but after one of them exploded and caught fire, the other two quickly turned around and turned back," the Guards said in a statement quoted by Iranian state media.
The statement did not say when the incident happened.
"The powerful IRGC Navy emphasizes that the Strait of Hormuz is under our control... and any ship that is deceived by the US and intends to pass without coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran will suffer the same fate," the Guards added.
A vessel belonging to a Saudi company was hit while transiting the Red Sea, Saudi state media reported Thursday citing an official source, after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed it struck tankers in the waterway.
The source, quoted by state-run Saudi Press Agency, said "the vessel ENCELIA, belonging to a Saudi company, was targeted while sailing in the Red Sea, resulting in a fire at the bow of the ship" but that all crew members were safe.
US Central Command said its forces completed another round of strikes against Iran at 10:30pm ET on July 22 (6:30am Gulf time on July 23), marking the 12th consecutive night of operations. American forces hit Iranian military targets including maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets, in what CENTCOM said would further degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels.
The command said US forces have struck dozens of Iranian military sites on land this month while enforcing a naval blockade, redirecting nine commercial vessels and disabling one to prevent ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports. More than 50,000 US service members are operating across the Middle East, CENTCOM added.
A US Air Force E-3B Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft declared a general in-flight emergency Thursday while operating over Saudi Arabia, according to flight tracking data. The aircraft began squawking the international emergency transponder code 7700 shortly before 1:30 a.m. UTC (5:30 AM in Gulf Standard Time (GST) on Thursday (July 23, 2026), Flightradar24 reported. The plane had been active for hours in the region near the Arabian Gulf. No immediate details were available on the nature of the emergency, and US military officials have not publicly commented. The E-3B, a militarized Boeing 707 variant equipped with a distinctive rotating radar dome, provides critical command, control, and surveillance capabilities. It is frequently deployed in high-tempo operations in the Middle East.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would respond in kind to any attack on its infrastructure, after Washington threatened to bomb a bridge or power plant for every ship targeted in the Strait of Hormuz.
"Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye. Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response," Araghchi stated on X.
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Kuwait's military said its air defense systems intercepted hostile drones on Thursday following what it described as an Iranian attack, urging residents to remain calm and follow official safety instructions.
In a statement, the General Staff of the Kuwaiti Army said air defenses were "confronting attacks by hostile drones" and noted that any explosions heard by the public were the result of interception operations.
The military called on residents to adhere to security and safety directives issued by the country's competent authorities.
The statement came amid heightened tensions in the Gulf as the conflict involving Iran continues to escalate. Kuwaiti authorities did not immediately provide details on the number of drones intercepted, whether any damage had been reported, or if there were casualties. Iran has not immediately commented on the allegation.
Yemen's Houthi rebels said they carried out missile and drone strikes Wednesday on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea after declaring a maritime embargo on the kingdom amid the US war with Iran, AFP reported.
The Houthis said in a statement posted on Telegram that they "carried out a qualitative military operation targeting two Saudi oil tankers that violated the blockade", naming the vessels as the Encelia and the Layla.
US Central Command forces began a new round of strikes against Iranian military targets overnight on Thursday (July 23), the military said, as part of an ongoing campaign to degrade Iranâs ability to threaten commercial shipping in regional waters.
Iran state media reported early Thursday (Tehran time) that the cities of Ramshir and Ahvaz, in the country's southwest, were under "missile attack by the US terrorist enemy," while authorities in Bushehr province, along Iran's Gulf coast, reported an attack there by a US missile.
In a post on X, CentCom stated that strikes commenced at 5:30 pm ET on Wednesday July 22 (1.30am Gulf Standard Time on July 23, 2026), and âwill continue to further degrade Iranâs ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters.â
The announcement comes amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran, with repeated American strikes, now on its 12th consecutive days/nights since fighting resumed.
CentCom has conducted multiple rounds of operations targeting Iranian command centres, air defenses, missile and drone sites, coastal facilities, and communications networks.
President Donald Trump has approved a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, clearing the way for US companies to help develop the kingdom's civilian nuclear energy program in a move that is expected to trigger debate over nuclear proliferation and security in the Middle East. The US Department of Energy announced Wednesday that the two countries had signed a so-called "123 Agreement," a legal framework required under the U.S. Atomic Energy Act for civilian nuclear cooperation. The accord now heads to Congress for a mandatory review before it can take effect.
According to US officials familiar with the agreement, the 30-year deal would allow American companies to supply nuclear technology, equipment, and expertise for Saudi Arabia's planned civilian reactor program.
The US military has dismissed Iran's claim that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) controls access to the Strait of Hormuz, calling the assertion "false."
In a statement posted on X, CENTCOM said Iran does not control the strategic waterway and that commercial vessels continue to transit the strait despite what it described as IRGC threats and attacks.
"The international waterway remains open for transit," CENTCOM said, adding that US forces have assisted more than 900 commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz since early May.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy claimed it controlled entry to and exit from the vital shipping lane, through which about one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil passes.
US President Donald Trump delivered a speech at a high school in Georgia and addressed the escalation in the confrontation with Iran. "We don't need the Strait of Hormuz," he claimed, "but we're doing this because we have to, because we cannot allow Iran to have nuclear weapons."
According to him, "That's how we're also winning in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and ensuring that never, but never, will they have the power to do to us what they did to so many. They killed more than 52,000 protesters."
Iranâs Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi warned that any attack on Iran, including strikes against its infrastructure, would trigger a âpowerful and decisiveâ response.
In a post on X, Araghchi said: â Our defense doctrine is clear: eye for an eye. Any aggression against Iran, including our infrastructure, will compel a powerful and decisive response.â
Araghchi also warned that âthose who contribute to such aggression, whatever the kind of support, will also be considered as legitimate targets.â
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Day 143: US tightens Iran blockade, redirects 9 commercial ships
Day 142: Air defences roar over Tehran on 11th night of strikes
Day 141: Iran president says country in 'full-scale war' with US
Day 140: US strikes Iran, Gulf states face missile threats as war risks spread
Day 139: Two US troops killed, one missing in Jordan
Day 138: Gulf faces fresh attacks as Trump signals diplomacy
Day 137: Dubai rebuts false explosion reports
Day 137: Iran says it is no longer bound by parts of US ceasefire deal
Day 136: 2 UAE tankers hit, US to resume Iran blockade
Day 135: US military launches another round of Iran strikes
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