TEHRAN, JUL 29: Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters, as it rebuilds its defenses amid war with the United States.

The purchase, valued at $60-70 million, is one of Tehran’s largest-known efforts to strengthen its short-range air defenses since the outbreak of its war with the Us and Israel, which exposed gaps in Iran’s ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure.

The contract covers the purchase of between 300 and 400 man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), including Chinese-made QW-12 and FN-16 missiles, the sources said.

The deal was signed with Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment, a Hong Kong-based company that the sources said was acting as an intermediary between the Iranian side and the Chinese supplier.

Iran needs to rearm after months of war

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Iran’s foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

China’s Foreign Ministry said: “The relevant reports are completely groundless. China has consistently played a role in promoting peace and ending the conflict.”

Beijing-based Zhong Qing Bao Shang Group, the parent company of Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment, did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on Tuesday.

Iran needs to rearm after months of fighting in which the US and Israel have struck facilities linked to its missile, drone and air-defense programs, and Tehran responded with barrages of ballistic missiles and drones.

The conflict has highlighted the challenge of defending fixed military and strategic sites against advanced aircraft and precision-guided weapons.

Washington abruptly suspended two weeks of bombardment on Saturday, but President Donald Trump said strikes would resume if negotiations failed to end the five-month-old conflict, which has in theory been in a state of ceasefire since April.

The delivery of hundreds of MANPADS would significantly expand Iran’s inventory of short-range air-defense weapons and underscore how military ties with China are deepening.

The sources cautioned that, although the agreement had been signed, delivery schedules, quantities and other implementation details could still change.

Under a plan agreed by the parties, deliveries will initially be by air from Urumqi in western China, then transiting through Pakistan to Iran, according to the sources, who did not clarify whether the transfers would take place by air or by road.

Pakistan’s military public relations wing ISPR said: “Speculations of Pakistan being involved in supply of Air Defense weapons to Iran from China are absolutely concocted and false.” A spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

China and Iran explore land routes for delivery, sources say

While Iran has invested heavily in the past two decades in missiles, drones and radar, military experts say portable air-defense systems are important because they can be dispersed quickly, operated by small teams and relocated frequently, making them less vulnerable than fixed air-defense batteries.

A European security source said authorities in his country were aware of several contracts under discussion involving the possible sale of QW-series MANPADS to Iran, including QW-12, QW-18 and QW-19 systems.

A second security source, in the Middle East, said Iran had been seeking to purchase QW-12 and QW-18 missiles, but they were unaware that a deal had already been concluded.

The QW-12 and FN-16 are shoulder-fired, infrared-guided surface-to-air missile systems designed to engage low-flying aircraft, helicopters and drones. Their mobility allows them to be deployed rapidly around military installations, energy infrastructure and other sensitive sites.

Defense analysts regard the QW-12 as less capable than newer QW variants, including the QW-18 and QW-19, but say the systems can still provide an effective layer of short-range protection against drones and low-flying targets.

Two Western intelligence sources and an Iranian official said Tehran had also explored the use of overland routes to move Chinese military supplies and dual-use components more discreetly and reduce the risk of disruption.

The procurement highlights Iran’s continuing reliance on a combination of domestic weapons production and foreign suppliers despite years of sanctions and restrictions on defense-related imports.

Reuters previously reported that Iran was close to securing a separate agreement with China to acquire anti-ship cruise missiles, according to people familiar with those negotiations. Reuters could not determine whether the agreement went through.

DUBAI/CAIRO: The US and Saudi Arabia launched strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq on Wednesday, saying they were responsible for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities, prompting Iran to warn that blaming it for such attacks was a “major miscalculation”.

The strikes on targets inside Iraq come as Oman proposed a new regional deal aimed at resolving the conflict over the critical Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday that its forces struck three oil tankers in the strait and forced them to stop after they ignored warnings for taking an “unsafe and illegal route”.

The IRGC Navy said in a statement that it continued to maintain full control over the strategic waterway and warned that “unlawful US military interference” and instructions to vessels in the region would not go unanswered.

Reuters could not immediately verify the Guards’ account.

The US-Saudi strikes in eastern Iraq occurred just hours after the US military said its air defences had averted a surprise Iranian attack on US troops in the region. The IRGC said on Wednesday it had fired several ballistic missiles at US military installations in Jordan.

Back-and-forth attacks in recent days have ended a brief pause in the fighting, after US President Donald Trump abruptly called off a two-week US bombing campaign and Iran appeared to follow suit.

US-Saudi hit pro-Iran targets in Iraq
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday that its air defences destroyed several drones targeting oil facilities in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. Iran-backed militias launched the attacks from Iraqi territory, Saudi Defence Ministry spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said.

Later in the day, US Central Command and Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said the two countries hit multiple sites across eastern Iraq that they said had been used by Iran to direct drone attacks. The Saudi Defence Ministry said it was not seeking escalation but would respond to any “aggression”.

Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces said a number of its official headquarters in different parts of Iraq were attacked on Wednesday by what it described as US and Saudi forces. The PMF said preliminary reports indicated several people were killed and others wounded, with damage to a number of its buildings and facilities.

Oil prices rose over $3 a barrel on Wednesday after US and Saudi Arabia strikes over concerns the conflict may escalate.

Speaking to state TV in Iran, an Iranian defence official strongly denied any connection between projectiles fired from other countries toward Saudi targets.

The unnamed military official, quoted by state broadcaster IRIB, said attributing attacks on US interests in the region to Iran was a “major miscalculation”.

US Central Command also said on Tuesday that Iran had launched multiple ballistic missiles “in an attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East,” and that the missiles were successfully intercepted.

In a statement, the Revolutionary Guards said: “As long as threats against the Islamic Republic of Iran continue and illegal and malicious actions by US forces against our interests are under way, the resistance will also continue.”

In an effort to resolve the conflict over the Strait of Hormuz, Oman has presented Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the waterway that would include collecting voluntary fees from ships, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat told Reuters on Tuesday.

Under the Omani proposal, Iran would not exercise sole control and fees would be voluntary, the Gulf source and the Western diplomat briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The system would be analogous to one in place on Asia’s Strait of Malacca, where Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore ask ships to pay voluntary contributions to fund navigation, environmental protection and search-and-rescue operations.

Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers met via video call on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments in the conflict, a statement from the Qatari Foreign Ministry said.

A US official on Tuesday again rejected the idea of tolls or fees for ships transiting the strait, reiterating that it is an international waterway that should be free of Iranian control or restrictions. The official told Reuters that the deal under discussion would not include any tolls or fees.

Iran effectively shut the strait after the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. A deal last month between the US and Iran partially reopened the strait, with future talks planned to resolve larger issues including Iran’s nuclear program. But the agreement collapsed in early July after Iran fired on vessels using a shipping channel it does not recognise.

WASHINGTON, JUL 28: US President Donald Trump voiced irritation with Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of their White House meeting on Tuesday, complaining that details of the Israeli prime minister’s planned talking points on Iran had surfaced publicly, in a fresh sign of strain between the two leaders.

Asked about reports that Netanyahu wanted to talk to him about Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified facility buried deep underground near one of Iran’s main nuclear sites, Trump said, using Netanyahu’s nickname: “I don’t need Bibi to tell me that. Bibi’s telling me that because he wants me to stay involved.”

“Why don’t you just tell it to me? Why do you have to announce it to the world?” Trump said in an interview with “Fox & Friends.”

The New York Post reported on Monday that Netanyahu was expected to provide intelligence to Trump that Iran is building up its nuclear facilities at Pickaxe Mountain and is lying about wanting a peace deal, citing a source in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump’s remarks.

The US president was meeting Netanyahu after first having brief closed-door talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Relations with Zelenskyy have warmed as Ukraine has blunted Russian advances, while Netanyahu faces growing White House frustration over the lack of progress toward a broader settlement in the Iran conflict and criticism from some of Trump’s supporters who oppose deeper US involvement in the Middle East.

The two men are in Washington to attend a memorial service for Senator Lindsey Graham, a hawkish Republican who was an advocate for both Israel and Ukraine in Washington, especially in getting their views heard by Trump.

Arriving in Washington earlier, Zelenskyy said anti-ballistic defense and strategic cooperation with the US were the “number-one priority” for meetings with Trump and his team.

“Peace needs to be brought closer,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

Both the Ukraine war and the widening Middle East conflict are at critical junctures. After the collapse of a ceasefire in the Iran war, Trump says he has paused US airstrikes to give diplomacy another chance. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has been buoyed by Ukraine’s recent successes.

Netanyahu seeks Trump’s support for reelection
Netanyahu has run hot and cold with Trump, who at times has had to rein in the Israeli leader from attacking targets in Lebanon to try to weaken Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

An acrimonious phone call in June in which the president called the prime minister “f**king crazy,” first leaked to the media and later publicly confirmed by Trump himself, laid bare the strains between the two leaders.

Sources familiar with the matter said Netanyahu aims to get Trump’s support for his reelection campaign ahead of an October 27 vote.

A meeting with Trump that showcases what has traditionally been a close relationship between the two leaders could help Netanyahu at home where he is struggling in the opinion polls.

They are also expected to discuss the Abraham Accords, the series of agreements Trump brokered to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Trump wants to add Saudi Arabia to the accords but Riyadh has so far rejected joining the accords without a path toward Palestinian statehood.

WASHINGTON, JUL 28: The US military on Tuesday announced an agreement with the UAE to establish the first bilateral AI task force.

The task force will focus on integrating AI applications for intelligence support, protecting critical infrastructure, and monitoring the regional security environment, according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).

“This will be a historic milestone as we work with one of our most capable regional partners to rapidly deliver evolving AI advancements to our warfighters,” CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper said.

The US-UAE task force, named Task Force Talon Synapse, is expected to launch in the coming weeks.

Based in Abu Dhabi, the team will be made up of around 20 Americans and Emiratis with expertise in AI, data, and cybersecurity.

“Together, we and our Emirati partners share a strong commitment to adopting AI applications that will foster innovation at speed and scale,” Cooper said.

The task force builds on talks that started last year between Cooper and UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed. There was a follow-up last month during a CENTCOM visit to the region, where they met with Emirati defense officials and industry leaders.