Iran rejects US claim to Hormuz as ship attacks mount 600 drones head for Moscow as Russia strikes Kyiv and Kryvyi Rih Death toll passes 50 after magnitude 7.7 quake off Flores Israeli strikes kill 11 in south Lebanon, deadliest since June truce Colombia asks Trump to suspend tariffs as quake toll climbs Rhine hits record low at Kaub as Hungary sinks barges to cool reactor US readies unprecedented economic measures against Iran US boat strikes pass 200 dead as Ecuadorean fishermen describe attacks Bond traders struggle to price $70bn of credit backstops behind AI buildout Alibaba says its open AI models passed three billion downloads Death toll rises to 68 after Lake Kariba ferry sinking Taliban mark five years in power as UN warns of rights crisis EU aircraft join fight against Belgium's record wildfire US presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupied Mokha port halts operations as Houthi missiles hit Marib Seoul proposes talks to end the Korean war as North rejects drills China-led perovskite solar plant outperforms silicon in three-month field test OpenAI revenue run rate passes $40bn as revenue chief departs Hamas leader in Cairo as Kushner trip nears WHO says Congo's Ebola outbreak is outpacing the response Turkish parliament passes amnesty law for PKK members Morocco detains scores near Ceuta as feared mass crossing fails to materialise China publishes ecology reports to bolster South China Sea claims Myanmar says more than 300,000 Rohingya verified for repatriation Petrobras detects signs of oil off the mouth of the Amazon China condemns Japanese politicians' moves at Yasukuni Shrine US inflation cools as wages again lag behind prices Modi offers free exam coaching after youth protests in India Oil from grounded Russian tanker reaches Oman's coast Panama Canal cuts draught again as Mexico pitches rival corridor Ukraine's idle ports cost $1.75bn as farm exports fall Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji dies At least 20 killed in communal clashes in central Nigeria Iran accuses Qatar of holding three of its pilots Xi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter China Venezuela frees 131 more political prisoners More Syrians in Germany lose refugee protection Audit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defences India drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firms Hichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumes Paris prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hack Report details leverage behind Situational Awareness losses Argentina has lost 30,633 companies under Milei At least five dead in Indiana flooding Iran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltration Canadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signatures India raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility early Opaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and Malta Britain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stall Third drone debris find in a day on Turkish coasts Forecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El Niño Secondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk orders Etna alert lowered as Catania airport reopens Funeral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riots Iran rejects US claim to Hormuz as ship attacks mount 600 drones head for Moscow as Russia strikes Kyiv and Kryvyi Rih Death toll passes 50 after magnitude 7.7 quake off Flores Israeli strikes kill 11 in south Lebanon, deadliest since June truce Colombia asks Trump to suspend tariffs as quake toll climbs Rhine hits record low at Kaub as Hungary sinks barges to cool reactor US readies unprecedented economic measures against Iran US boat strikes pass 200 dead as Ecuadorean fishermen describe attacks Bond traders struggle to price $70bn of credit backstops behind AI buildout Alibaba says its open AI models passed three billion downloads Death toll rises to 68 after Lake Kariba ferry sinking Taliban mark five years in power as UN warns of rights crisis EU aircraft join fight against Belgium's record wildfire US presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupied Mokha port halts operations as Houthi missiles hit Marib Seoul proposes talks to end the Korean war as North rejects drills China-led perovskite solar plant outperforms silicon in three-month field test OpenAI revenue run rate passes $40bn as revenue chief departs Hamas leader in Cairo as Kushner trip nears WHO says Congo's Ebola outbreak is outpacing the response Turkish parliament passes amnesty law for PKK members Morocco detains scores near Ceuta as feared mass crossing fails to materialise China publishes ecology reports to bolster South China Sea claims Myanmar says more than 300,000 Rohingya verified for repatriation Petrobras detects signs of oil off the mouth of the Amazon China condemns Japanese politicians' moves at Yasukuni Shrine US inflation cools as wages again lag behind prices Modi offers free exam coaching after youth protests in India Oil from grounded Russian tanker reaches Oman's coast Panama Canal cuts draught again as Mexico pitches rival corridor Ukraine's idle ports cost $1.75bn as farm exports fall Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji dies At least 20 killed in communal clashes in central Nigeria Iran accuses Qatar of holding three of its pilots Xi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter China Venezuela frees 131 more political prisoners More Syrians in Germany lose refugee protection Audit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defences India drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firms Hichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumes Paris prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hack Report details leverage behind Situational Awareness losses Argentina has lost 30,633 companies under Milei At least five dead in Indiana flooding Iran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltration Canadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signatures India raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility early Opaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and Malta Britain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stall Third drone debris find in a day on Turkish coasts Forecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El Niño Secondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk orders Etna alert lowered as Catania airport reopens Funeral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riots

Symbolic image: Trump calls off Iran strike wave, citing outlines of a deal

Symbolic image

Trump calls off Iran strike wave, citing outlines of a deal

14 sources

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had cancelled a planned major attack on Iran, saying Tehran and other Middle Eastern states had agreed the "outlines of a deal". He named two conditions: the complete opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran's nuclear threat.

What happened

CBS News reported on Friday, 31 July, that the US and Israel were preparing strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure, possible over the weekend.
At Camp David the same day Trump said "We'll be hitting them very hard"; CBS and Axios reported no final execution order had been issued.
The war entered its 155th day on Saturday, 1 August, according to The American Conservative.
UKMTO reported an explosion near a tanker off Oman on Saturday morning; Kuwait's army said it intercepted Iranian drones.
Brent crude closed Friday just under $88 a barrel; AAA put the US average gasoline price at $4.10 a gallon.

The view from outside

FAZ reports that Iran's and Saudi Arabia's foreign ministers spoke as the strike plan circulated, a channel largely absent from US coverage; Bloomberg, citing Axios, reports Saudi concern about the plan itself.

What could happen next

No text of the agreement has been published; Trump made the halt conditional on reaching a deal quickly.
Whether Israel was ever committed is disputed: an Israeli official told CBS it knew of no decision to restart operations.
The strait's reopening remains unverified; the New York Times reported it closed as of Saturday.
In Congress, lawmakers from both parties press for withdrawal, including a bill to defund the campaign, Tehran Times reports.

How the camps see it

United States: Trump says the military is ready but he cancelled the attack to allow a rapid deal; the White House accuses Tehran of breaking last month's memorandum.
Iran: Tehran warns it will respond decisively to any new aggression and threatens to close Hormuz and other trade chokepoints more tightly if the war continues.

Also involved

IsraelSaudi Arabia