As it happened: Tehran’s brutal response to Trump’s power plant threat

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Our live coverage of this ongoing conflict will be back tomorrow morning, or will resume this afternoon as events dictate.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed the massive military spending bill blueprint passed by representatives today wasn’t “directly” about the Iran war.

“It’s about making sure that our soldiers, our airmen, our marines, everybody who’s out defending our country, have what they need to do that,” he said.

He said it was “disgusting” the Democrats had largely voted against what had been a bipartisan spending bill for the past 65 years.

“Why? Because they have a problem with the president and they think they’re going to get political advantage over this,” he said.

“They’re planning to shut the government down and hurt Americans. I think it’s detestable and I think they got to answer for that.”

The US level of military spending far outstrips the rest of the world and trillion-dollar budgets are not unprecedented.

However, the increase in this proposal, along with the massive amounts of munitions expended in the fight with Iran, and its attachment to the controversial SAVE votes act, has clearly brought bipartisan support into question.

At least seven vessels have changed course to avoid through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after the Houthi-imposed blockade against Saudi Arabia was declared on July 20.

“Six commercial vessels altered their course away from Saudi ports on July 22, according to ship-tracking data cited by Reuters,” the Institute for the Study of Warfare said.

“Another oil tanker that was bound for Yanbu — Saudi Arabia’s main oil export terminal on the Red Sea — turned away from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait while in the Gulf of Aden on July 22.”

Ships with links to the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia have been especially warned against using the waterway.

But traffic continues, with 30 commercial vessels transiting the strait since yesterday.

The Institute said it was a “notable decrease” from the 64 vessels the day before.

“Houthi officials have emphasized that the Houthis will maintain their blockade on Saudi ports until Saudi Arabia lifts its blockade on Yemeni ports and airports,” the Institute said.

Iran’s health ministry says at least 53 people have been killed in US attacks since July 6, with hundreds more hurt.

Iranian media outlet Tasnim reported nearly 600 people had been wounded in the escalation of hostilities in recent weeks, citing the ministry’s figures.

The US has said it attacks only military targets, despite President Trump’s repeated threats to escalate to bombing critical infrastructure like power plants.

Iran has accused the US of attacking civilian targets including water storage facilities.

The parents of one of the soldiers killed in Jordan on the weekend travelled with Donald Trump on Air Force One at his invitation, the president revealed at an event today.

Trump went from the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to one of his trademark rallies in Georgia.

Before he set off, he said, he discovered the parents of First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, Shari and Stephen, were also travelling to the state.

“I said, ‘So if you want, I’ll give you a ride on Air Force One’,” Trump told the crowd.

The Feehans attended the event as well, with pictures showing them embracing tearfully as Trump praised their son.

“(Feehan) would have been a general very quickly,” Trump said.

“He’s looking down right here. He’s so proud right now.”

And he said again that attending dignified transfers was the most difficult task he had encountered in office.

“Standing there watching this sight, which is very tough to watch, to be honest with you, very tough. I think it’s the toughest thing I do,” he said.

The US House has passed a blueprint for a massive $1.65 trillion defence bill that also includes Trump’s SAVE act.

The bill includes funding for the Iran war, additional money for the Pentagon, and the president’s pet voting rights project.

The bill is not yet law or even drafted legislation, but it’s a step closer to giving the administration a couple of major goals.

It passed by the next to narrowest of margins at 216 to 214, largely along party lines.

But it is likely to meet stiff resistance in the Senate, where the SAVE laws do not have the votes to pass, while the huge spending is also under scrutiny.

The SAVE act, according to Trump, is necessary to safeguard elections against widespread voter fraud.

In repeated investigations, no such false voting has been uncovered in US elections.

Critics say the intensified voter ID restrictions will have the practical effect of putting additional hurdles in place for legitimate voters.

The Iran war is reaching into American pockets, according to new data, which shows grocery sales shrinking as people buy less.

“We’ve got climate change that’s affecting our growing conditions, we’ve got the tariffs, we’ve got the war in Iran that’s affecting fertiliser and diesel fuel,” food industry analyst Phil Lempert told CNN.

Grocery giants like Kroger and Walmart are beginning to put more specials on the shelf to try and entice shoppers back.

The problem isn’t just that food costs have risen, though - it’s that everything is more expensive.

While it’s a long-term trend, it’s been accelerated recently by the war and by a sharp drop-off in federal household benefits due to the Trump administration’s aid cuts.

“It’s trying to figure out where can you make those substitutions to absorb the price increases in other places,” Virginia Tech economics professor Jadrian Wooten told CNN.

The Houthi rebels in Yemen claim to have struck two Saudi oil tankers attempting to pass through the Red Sea, as the impact of this second blockade continues to unfurl.

A Houthi spokesperson said the ships were attacked with “multiple” missiles and drones, according to a statement seen by CNN.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations monitors said it had recorded an incident of a tanker being hit by an unknown projectile, but no casualties were reported.

CENTCOM is launching another wave of strikes at Iranian “military targets”.

“The mission will continue to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” CENTCOM said in a post.

The length of bombardment varies each day.

It’s not been publicly stated whether there’s a forecast end to the daily attacks based on timeline, but the US and the Trump administration could be presumed to want to give the impression that America’s ability to sustain the pressure is perennial.