The 14-point cope with Iran signed by President Donald Trump in mid-June was speculated to be a diplomatic offramp, one the architects of the settlement stated would wind down the war and open new pathways to prosperity for the Middle East.
But six weeks after the settlement was inked and three weeks after Trump declared it formally useless, the battle has not solely been revived — it has reached new fronts and reignited simmering feuds.
Efforts by a number of mediating nations to restart negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have repeatedly hit a wall, dimming prospects of the key belligerents putting even a extra restricted ceasefire settlement.
Smoke rises from a fuel tanker after a drone strike, maritime safety agency Ambrey stated, at Damietta port, Egypt, July 29, 2026, on this screengrab obtained from a social media video.
Social Media/SOCIAL MEDIA by way of Reuters
War stretches west
On Wednesday, flames engulfed an American-owned fuel storage tanker and one other vessel in Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta.
Although Iran’s overseas minister has denied any duty and no nation or group has taken credit score for it, Egypt stated the fireplace was the results of a drone strike and U.S. officers have assessed that Iranian-linked actors had been seemingly behind it.
Trump stated on Wednesday he was briefed on the matter and described the incident as “a little more of the same.”
However, the assault marks the primary time Egypt has been hit throughout the course of the battle, including one other identify to the record of greater than a dozen nations which have come below Iranian hearth this 12 months.
According to the Egyptian authorities, the nation’s overseas minister spoke by cellphone with Trump’s particular envoy Steve Witkoff after the drone assault and each officers “stressed the importance of preventing further escalation and avoiding a broader regional conflict.”
But the war is already more and more ensnaring one other energy participant within the area: Saudi Arabia.
A satellite tv for pc picture reveals path of smoke rising from an oil facility, in Jizan, Jazan province, Saudi Arabia, July 26, 2026.
European Union/copernicus Sentin by way of Reuters
U.S. officers say Tehran fomented the collapse of a yearslong casual truce between Riyadh and the Iranian-backed Houthis by trying to fly Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel and weapons into the Yemen’s capital earlier this month, prompting the Saudi-backed Yemeni authorities to fireside on the airport to stop the aircraft from touchdown.
But that aircraft diverted and the Houthis appeared emboldened, declaring they’d impose a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia — threatening one other important transport lane within the Middle East.
Riyadh had been reluctant to formally be a part of the fray however signaled it could meet threats from the Houthis and different Iranian proxies with pressure.
On Wednesday, the kingdom acknowledged taking a direct function within the battle for the primary time, asserting its armed forces had carried out joint strikes with U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on targets in Iraq that perpetrated assaults on Saudi power websites.
Sailors from the navy of Yemen’s Aden-based internationally acknowledged authorities stand at machine gun positions aboard a vessel patrolling a transport lane off Hanish Island within the Red Sea on July 27, 2026.
Khaled Ziad/AFP by way of Getty Images
Riyadh additionally introduced on Thursday that it convened representatives of 43 nations to debate plans for a maritime protection coalition to safeguard transport within the Red Sea, and that 14 of these nations in the end backed a joint assertion launching the coalition.
An more and more international battle
Exactly a month to the day after the deal that was speculated to cement that truce between the usand Iran was signed by Trump, a missile and drone assault launched by Tehran claimed the lives of three American service members — the primary troops killed by direct Iranian hearth for the reason that first days of the war.
Although Jordan is roughly 1,000 miles from Iran, Tehran has hit at U.S. pursuits within the nation practically a dozen occasions throughout the previous month, extending the vary of its retaliatory strikes far past the Gulf.
Following just a few days of calm earlier this week that U.S. officers hoped would make house for diplomacy, Iran additionally launched what CENTCOM described as an “attempted surprise attack” on American forces within the Middle East. The Iranian regime later recognized Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base because the meant goal.
This display screen seize taken from video footage launched on July 16, 2026, by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Sepah News web site reveals a missile being launched from an undisclosed location in the direction of U.S. targets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.
SEPAHNEWS.COM/AFP by way of Getty Images
That assault adopted Iran’s rejection of a proposal for managing the Strait of Hormuz and was seemingly meant to sign “the regime’s willingness to incur the risk of full-scale conflict with the United States,” in keeping with an evaluation from the Institute for the Study of War.
Tehran’s give attention to U.S. targets in Jordan has additionally intensified questions on intelligence sharing and different types of assist Tehran could also be receiving from two different U.S. rivals: Russia and China.
Trump administration officers have repeatedly stated that Moscow and Beijing haven’t meaningfully contributed to Iran’s war effort. But on Saturday, Ukraine struck an Iranian business cargo ship within the Caspian Sea that Kyiv stated was transporting arms between Iran and Russia. The assault prompted threats of Iranian retaliation and concern that the wars in Ukraine and Iran might ultimately converge.
