Middle East: No fresh US strikes on Iran for a second day
Skip next section Another silent night as US reports no attacks against Iran 07/26/2026 July 26, 2026 Another silent night as US reports no attacks
Skip next section Another silent night as US reports no attacks against Iran 07/26/2026 July 26, 2026 Another silent night as US reports no attacks against Iran No US strikes were reported on Iran on Saturday and Sunday after the US military mounted a 13-night volley of escalating bombardments. There were also no reports of attacks by Iran on its Gulf neighbors. The silence is resuscitating hopes of the two sides returning to the negotiation table with the war between them reaching the five-month mark on July 28.
The US military did not announce any new strikes on Sunday but said that a "naval blockade against Iran remains in full effect." It is not immediately known why the US is holding fire against Iran. US President Donald Trump, on Thursday told US news-outlet Axios that he was mulling "a massive attack" on Iran which he described as being "bigger than ever before". But he also says that talks with Iran are pressing ahead. "We're talking to them right now. I think they're getting more and more serious," Trump told journalists on Friday, adding that Tehran faces a choice between a deal and strikes at a "much higher level".
The US President "has always been clear that his preference is diplomacy, but he has shown Iran what will happen if they fail to come to the table in a serious way," Reuters quoted, a senior official in Trump's administration. Stockpile pressure? The lull in attacks also comes as US media reports concerns over depleting munitions in the expanding conflict. CNN cited a US official as saying that Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine both raised concerns about the US defense stockpile with Trump during a White House meeting on Friday.
The official told CNN that Washington’s operations against Tehran were "on a hold. While the US and Iran are holding back, retaliatory strikes between Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia have opened a new front in the Middle East war.
The BriefWire