Trump says he is personally involved in talks with Iran to reopen Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump said a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has not yet been finalized, but he is personally involved in negotiations that are going “very well.”
Saudi Arabia bracing for possible coordinated attack from Iranian allies in Iraq, Yemen: report
Saudi Arabia is expecting imminent attacks from Iraqi militias in the north and Yemen’s Houthis in the south under the direction of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a report said.
A senior Saudi official told Reuters that intelligence reports from Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and other countries indicated that energy infrastructure, ports and airports are among the potential targets.
The official added that Saudi Arabia has observed drones and missiles being moved in preparation, suggesting a coordinated operation from both directions could be looming.
Saudi Arabia is ready to respond to “any aggression,” the official also told Reuters.
Senate advances Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act
It’s taken well over a year of stops, starts, promises and derailments, but the Senate has at last advanced a bone-crushing package of sanctions against Russia, capping off one of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s biggest fights.
The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act sailed through the Senate on another colossal bipartisan vote and is now headed to the House. It has the backing of President Donald Trump, too.
It comes after personal lobbying from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, who, hours after Graham’s memorial service in Washington, D.C., pleaded with lawmakers to put a check on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Today, President Zelenskyy is watching from Ukraine, and Putin is watching from Moscow," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said on the Senate floor. "I would like to think that Lindsey Graham is watching, too."
The bill focuses on kneecapping Putin’s war machine by targeting Moscow’s top financial driver: oil and gas sales.
It also extends sanction authority against Iran that hampers funding to the country’s weapons and energy sectors as the administration and negotiators abroad seek to find a long-lasting peace agreement for the war in the Middle East.
North Korea expert warns US can't take eye off Kim Jong Un following missile test during Iran war
A North Korea expert told Fox News Digital that the United States "can never take their eye off" Kim Jong Un and the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang test-fired a missile this week amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.
The launch of the short-range ballistic missile — which Japan said landed in the waters off North Korea’s east coast — unfolded Thursday ahead of joint military exercises to be conducted by the U.S. and South Korea later this month.
"There's this unsettled conflict on the Korean Peninsula. And Kim Jong Un, a very unpredictable leader that seeks attention, that is something the United States can never take their eye off," retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital on Friday.
"So we have all these challenges in the Middle East, these challenges with Russia and Ukraine, these challenges with China pressuring and trying to coerce Taiwan. You can never forget that the North Korean challenge to South Korea is sitting right there, and there are no constraints on Kim Jong Un," Montgomery added. "There's no version of an empowered elite or a population or a military that could unseat him. So we should always keep our eye on him, pay attention to him, and make sure we're constantly deterring any provocative behavior."
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said following North Korea’s launch on Thursday that, "We are aware of the missile launch and are consulting closely with our allies and partners."
"Based on current assessments, this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies," it added. "The United States remains committed to the defense of the U.S. homeland and our allies in the region."
Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this post.
Pakistan hopes pact with Saudi Arabia, Turkey will be ‘shield of peace for generations to come’
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Friday that he hopes a defense agreement signed today between his country, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will “remain a shield of peace for generations to come.”
“Three brotherly nations, united by faith, friendship and a shared resolve for peace and security,” Sharif wrote on X.
The deal states that “any armed attack against any one of the three States shall be regarded as an attack against them all,” according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
It was signed in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sharif.
Sharif has acted as a key mediator in U.S.-Iran talks to end the war.
US war against Iran has left oil energy prices ‘a little bit inflated,’ Hassett says
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, when asked Friday if the U.S. war against Iran is having a negative impact on the economy, said “Oil energy prices are a little bit inflated, but we can say that way less than people expected.”
“But we're mindful of the fact that gasoline prices are high and we're making many steps to help reduce the stress of that for people,” he added.
As of Friday, the national average price for a gallon of gas is $4.04, down from $4.06 yesterday and $4.11 a week ago, according to AAA.
Trump to participate in mining roundtable at State Department as Iran talks continue
President Donald Trump is expected to visit the State Department Friday afternoon for a meeting with American mining industry leaders as talks remain ongoing with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said Thursday that he was personally involved in the talks, adding that, "I think we're doing very well."
"I'm involved in the negotiation. I think we're doing fine. It could be. It could be soon," the president said regarding a potential deal to reopen the key Middle Eastern waterway.
US stealth fighter jet refuels over Middle East in photo released by CENTCOM
U.S. Central Command released a photo Friday showing an aircrew aboard a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling an F-35A stealth fighter jet "in the skies over the Middle East."
The U.S. military launched Operation Epic Fury against the Iranian regime on Feb. 28.
A ceasefire between both sides fell apart in early July as the U.S. military resumed strikes against Iran. CENTCOM carried out 13 consecutive days of strikes on Iranian military targets, aimed at diminishing “the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
CENTCOM has since halted attacks against Iran as the U.S. and Tehran are working on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Nuclear experts urge Trump not to let Iran steer talks away from regime's atomic threat
As negotiations continue over the Strait of Hormuz experts are urging the Trump administration to keep their eye on the ball when it comes to the Iranian nuclear program.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to news of reported comments from IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi, warning that Israel would continue preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, with or without a diplomatic agreement.
The remarks in question by Vahidi, which were first seemed to be reported in 2025 in an interview with an Iranian-regime-linked outlet, went viral on Wednesday, but after further investigation they seem to have come from an interview when he was interior minister and an adviser to the IRGC.
He reportedly told ILNA that the country's official line was that building a bomb was not on the table but "iran’s hand is open…Iran can take actions if has not taken until now," in an account published by Khabar online, and shared with Fox News Digital.
In reaction to the remarks that were amplified by Israel’s Ch. 14 on X, Netanyahu said during his speech that, "Today, we heard the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Vahidi, explicitly declare Iran’s intention to continue developing nuclear weapons — ‘continue,’ as he put it," Netanyahu said at a ceremony marking the reinterment of Shimon and Rivka Herzl, the grandparents of the founder of modern day Zionism, Theodor Herzl."
"Well, as prime minister of Israel, I too, am determined to continue — to continue preventing Iran from possessing nuclear weapons," he said.
Trump says Iran wants a deal and ‘don’t want to be hit’
President Donald Trump said in an interview that the Iranians want to make a deal and “don’t want to be hit” as negotiations are ongoing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“They want to make a deal. Look, it’s obvious. They don’t want to be hit. Ok? They want to make a deal. So we will see,” Trump said in an interview released by Punchbowl News on Friday.
The remarks come after Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House that he personally has gotten involved in talks with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
"I think we're doing very well," he said. "I'm involved in the negotiation. I think we're doing fine. It could be. It could be soon."
Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller contributed to this post.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan sign defense agreement following Iranian attacks on Middle East
The countries of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a defense agreement on Friday stipulating that “any armed attack against any one of the three States shall be regarded as an attack against them all,” according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
It added that the deal is “intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression.
The agreement comes as Iran has attacked Saudi Arabia during Operation Epic Fury. Saudi Arabia, in late July, also joined U.S. strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
The defense pact was signed in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Sharif has acted as a key mediator in U.S.-Iran talks to end the war.
Expert says Iran's long-term goals extend beyond Hormuz negotiations
As the United States and Iran continue negotiating over reopening the Strait of Hormuz, one Middle East expert warned that Tehran's long-term strategic objectives remain unchanged.
Nazee Moinian, an adjunct fellow at the Middle East Institute, said on Fox News that Iran's revolutionary government continues to view diminishing American influence as a core ideological goal, regardless of short-term diplomatic developments.
"Iran is a revolutionary state," Moinian said. "It's committed to deflect, diminish, and eventually destroy American power and influence in the region and around the world."
Moinian said Iran's leaders take what she described as a long-term view of their conflict with the United States, arguing they see the struggle as ideological rather than transactional.
"They are looking at this as a battle between good and evil, between victimizer and the victimized, between the corrupt and the uncorrupt," she said.
Her comments came as Iranian and U.S. officials have both suggested negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz are nearing a potential agreement, even as military tensions and proxy attacks continue across the region.
Trump says Hormuz deal has not been reached but suggests agreement could come soon
President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has not yet been finalized, though he indicated negotiations with Iran are continuing and an agreement could come in the near future.
Asked by a reporter during an Oval Office event whether a deal had been reached, Trump stopped short of declaring a breakthrough.
"Well, I don't want to say it has been," Trump said. "It's sort of open right now."
Trump said the U.S. Navy continues to enforce the blockade around Iran, arguing that military control of the waterway has helped stabilize the situation. At the same time, he cautioned that shipping risks remain because Iran could still deploy naval mines or carry out attacks that would discourage commercial traffic.
"They can always shoot something," Trump said. "They always have something or drop a mine. And if you have one mine sitting out there, you sort of mess things up because people don't want to take their billion-dollar boats and accidentally get hit by a mine."
Despite those concerns, Trump expressed confidence that negotiations are progressing.
"I think we're doing very well," he said. "I'm involved in the negotiation. I think we're doing fine. It could be. It could be soon."
Hours later, as he left a White House event honoring Team USA athletes, Trump offered a similarly optimistic assessment when asked whether there had been any developments.
"Moving along good," he told reporters before departing.
Yesterday's Fox News Digital live blog offers additional coverage of the conflict with Iran.
Live Coverage begins here