Trump announces Hamas disarmament deal while Saudi Arabia launches Red Sea defense coalition

A senior military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said Friday that the United States has “no role” in the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting Washington’s military presence in the strategic waterway as tensions continue to rise.

Speaking on Iranian state broadcaster IRIB as reported by Iran International English, Mohsen Rezaei said the Strait of Hormuz is a matter for countries in the region and questioned why the U.S. is involved.

“The Strait of Hormuz has nothing to do with the U.S. government,” Rezaei said. “Why and under what pretext does the U.S. government interfere in something that concerns two regional countries and is used by the whole world?”

Rezaei added that Iran remains suspicious of U.S. activity in the waterway, saying Tehran still considers itself to be in a state of conflict with Washington.

The remarks come as U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) continues enforcing its naval blockade of Iran, saying it has redirected 30 commercial vessels, boarded two and disabled two others while allowing humanitarian aid shipments to transit the region.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran is confronting a different kind of U.S. president under President Donald Trump, arguing Tehran can no longer rely on negotiations without consequences.

In an interview airing this weekend on “My View with Lara Trump,” Rubio said the Iranian regime has “never faced a president like President Trump.”

“I don’t think the Iranian regime has ever faced a president like President Trump, which is someone that actually takes action,” Rubio said. “They got used to, for 20 or 30 years, not just the U.S., but the broader world, allowing them to get away with things like lying, breaking deals, tricking people into agreements.”

The comments come as the White House says Iran “will continue to pay” until it returns to negotiations in what President Trump considers “a meaningful way,” following Tehran’s alleged attacks on commercial shipping and U.S. forces after signing a memorandum of understanding with the United States.

During Fox News’ “Special Report,” panelists said the administration appears increasingly skeptical that Iran will negotiate in good faith as the president weighs further military action.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell praised the Department of War's public affairs teams Friday, saying their coverage of Operation Epic Fury showcased the scale and effectiveness of U.S. combat operations against Iran.

Speaking in remarks shared by the Pentagon, Parnell said the department’s communications efforts helped document “the power and joint force integration of combat operations.”

“In Epic Fury, you are capturing the power and joint force integration of combat operations, showing the world our forces are just unmatched in their lethality,” Parnell said.

Parnell also argued the military’s communications personnel play an operational role during conflicts.

“We proved that we are not support staff. We are operational assets. We proved the information domain is a battleground, and you all are the operators who dominate,” he said.

The remarks were shared by Parnell on X with the message: “Thanks to Secretary Hegseth’s leadership—the era of putting public affairs on the back burner is over.”

President Donald Trump said Friday that Americans should be prepared for the fighting with Iran to continue, predicting Tehran would eventually "peter out" as U.S. strikes steadily weaken its ability to retaliate.

Asked whether the back-and-forth attacks could continue until Iran was no longer capable of striking back, Trump said, "Yeah, sure, I think so. I’d be foolish to say no. You know, you always have to keep your guard up."

"They’ll get weaker. They’ll get a little stronger, maybe. But they’ll get weaker, and then they peter out," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, Maryland.

The remarks amounted to an acknowledgment that the five-month conflict could drag on, despite Trump’s claims that the U.S. has decimated Iran’s military and his optimism just days ago that renewed negotiations could produce a deal.

"I think we just want to win," Trump said. "We’re doing very well. We’re trying to be nice — as nice as you can be in a situation like that — but they’re being decimated."

"They have no navy. They have no air force. They have no anti-aircraft," he added. "It doesn’t mean they don’t have any capability. They have some, but very little."

The latest fighting also complicates the administration’s earlier declarations that it had eliminated Iran’s ability to project military power.

The White House said in April that U.S. forces had achieved the objectives of Operation Epic Fury, including destroying Iran’s Navy and its ballistic missile and drone capabilities. Iran has nevertheless continued launching missiles and drones at U.S. bases and threatening commercial shipping.

Trump also said he was "losing faith" in the prospect of reaching a deal with Iran, accusing Tehran of lying about its negotiations with the U.S.

"They do lie, and they do misrepresent," Trump said. "All they do is make me angry."

The renewed fighting has left no clear end to the conflict as the U.S. approaches the November midterm elections, placing greater political pressure on Trump to explain how and when the war will end.

This is an excerpt of an article from Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., argued Friday that the United States should walk away from negotiations with Iran, saying Tehran is waiting for U.S. leverage to erode before making any deal.

“Iran is waiting to see at least three more cards before they fold or deal,” Massie wrote on X, listing the potential depletion of U.S. strategic petroleum reserves, regional missile defenses and the Republican congressional majority.

“We should leave the table before any of those cards are played,” he added.

Asked how the U.S. should address security in the Strait of Hormuz if it disengages, Massie replied: “Leave. Let ships flagged by other countries carry freight through there until relations can be improved.”

In another response on X, Massie acknowledged Republicans currently hold a congressional majority but added, “We’ve yet to have a conservative majority or an America First majority.”

The White House on Friday responded to questions about reports of a potential expansion of U.S. military operations against Iran, saying President Donald Trump remains committed to a diplomatic resolution but will continue responding to Iranian attacks.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The United States signed an MOU with Iran and they broke it, shot at commercial ships, and killed American soldiers. President Trump is not going to stand by and allow this terrorist behavior to occur. Iran will continue to pay until they come to the table in, what President Trump deems, a meaningful way.”

The statement came in response to Fox News Digital’s inquiry concerning a CBS News report that the U.S. and Israel are preparing potential strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure.

The Pentagon is confronting a growing reality after months of fighting Iran: America's stockpile of missile defense interceptors.

It is shrinking so much, military planners are weighing whether they can continue the current cycle of limited retaliatory strikes.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, using open-source budget numbers provided to Congress, estimates U.S. Patriot interceptor inventories have fallen from roughly 2,300 pre-war to fewer than 827. 

THAAD interceptor inventories have also dropped from 452 to fewer than 278.

CSIS warns rebuilding those stockpiles could take three years or more, raising concerns about protecting U.S. forces and bases worldwide if another major conflict erupts, for instance in the Pacific.

"If you look at what we've expended for the Patriots, for example, over half the global inventory has now been consumed in the Middle East. Similar to the THAAD interceptors as well," said Kelly Grieco, a missile expert at the Stimson Center.

"These are things that we have to intercept ballistic missiles. Almost half of THAAD interceptors have been used. So that's global inventory. So that really leaves us with very little excess to be able to use in other theaters, whether it's defending US forces in Europe or the Indo-Pacific. So this becomes quite a constraint, I would say, on the United States capabilities, not just today, but in the years to come."

The Pentagon’s $67 billion request for fiscal year 2026 emergency funding includes $18.2 billion to replace the U.S.’s most advanced Patriot missile, Navy Tomahawks and the Army’s high-altitude interceptor known as THAAD, according to Bloomberg. 

Half of the munitions requested in the Pentagon's 2027 budget are low-cost munitions worth $600,000 or less. 

By 2031, 70 percent of the munitions purchased by the Pentagon are expected to be in this lower-cost range, according to Jerry McGinn, who tracks the defense industrial base at CSIS.

"The munitions we use today are incredibly effective: the Tomahawk, the Patriot, the theater missile defense interceptors, or THAAD, that you've seen in the press are incredibly effective. They were built solely for performance, and they were designed a long time ago," McGinn said.

"They weren't built or designed to be produced at scale. So they take two to three years from this contract award to actually come off the assembly line because these are very intricate systems. They're essentially handmade in a lot of ways. So it's hard to scale production on these efforts."

This is a excerpt of an article from Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and Liz Friden.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) shared a new photo Friday from aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy as the warship continues supporting the U.S. naval blockade of Iran.

CENTCOM said that as of July 31, U.S. forces have redirected 30 commercial vessels, disabled two and boarded two to enforce the blockade. The military also said it has allowed nearly 30 ships carrying humanitarian aid to transit through the blockade.

The update comes as U.S. forces continue maritime operations in regional waters amid the ongoing conflict with Iran. CENTCOM said the USS Michael Murphy is operating with an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter as part of the mission.

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. John Teichert argued Friday that the U.S. should shift its strategy in Iran away from repeated strikes on military targets and instead focus on assets he said are more critical to the regime’s survival.

Speaking on “America Reports,” Teichert said additional strikes on the same types of military targets are unlikely to change Tehran’s strategic calculus.

“I don’t think more strikes on the same types of targets are going to change the strategic calculus of the regime,” Teichert said. “I think the president and his advisers need to take a step back and use fewer weapons against more significant targets, like regime targets or economic targets.”

Teichert also expressed skepticism that diplomacy alone would succeed, arguing Iran has repeatedly acted in bad faith and calling instead for targeting assets “the regime values most,” including Kharg Island, which he described as central to Iran’s oil revenue.

The retired brigadier general also praised the continued U.S. blockade, saying it cuts off billions of dollars in monthly revenue that could otherwise help Iran rebuild its military.

A Reuters investigation published Friday alleges a sprawling Iranian gambling and cryptocurrency network processed at least $4 billion to help Tehran evade international sanctions.

According to Reuters, the operation centered on Shelbit, an unlicensed Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange that investigators say handled billions of dollars in crypto transactions since May 2024. Reuters reported that blockchain analysts linked the exchange to a Farsi-language gambling network of more than 2,000 websites, Iran’s central bank, sanctioned entities and wallets associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Reuters reported that Shelbit allegedly sent hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency through major global exchanges, including Binance, while also interacting with Iran’s sanctioned Nobitex exchange and cryptocurrency tied to Iranian bitcoin mining operations.

The report also said Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority is investigating Shelbit’s alleged role in helping Iran launder money and evade sanctions. Reuters said it could not independently determine whether the IRGC directly controlled the gambling network or Shelbit, or where much of the cryptocurrency ultimately ended up.

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that an airstrike this week killed a senior commander in the Mujahideen Brigades, a Hamas-allied terrorist group, who the military says participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, kidnapping of Israeli hostages Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or.

According to the IDF, Ahmed Hussein Mohammed Kafina, the commander of the Mujahideen Brigades’ central Gaza sector, was killed in a strike Tuesday in southern Gaza. The military said Kafina helped plan the Oct. 7 attack and took part in the abduction of Argamani and Or from the Nova music festival, while also directing the kidnapping of Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

In a separate announcement, the IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said a Thursday strike in Gaza City killed Hamas deputy cell commander Abd al-Rahim Abd al-Hay Youssef Kardi, whom Israeli officials say participated in the Oct. 7 attack and later held hostages Romi Gonen and the body of slain Israeli soldier Noa Marciano in Gaza.

The announcements came hours after President Donald Trump said Hamas had agreed to a phased disarmament framework as part of a U.S.-backed proposal for Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said the proposal does not yet meet Israel’s security requirements, according to The Times of Israel.

The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced Friday it is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information that disrupts the financial mechanisms supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) drone production network.

The reward targets Iran-based Kimia Part Sivan Company (KIPAS), which U.S. officials describe as the drone-production arm of the IRGC-Qods Force. According to the State Department, KIPAS has conducted unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight tests, supplied technical support for IRGC drones transferred to Iraq, and procured drone components from companies outside Iran.

The announcement also identifies six KIPAS officials whom the Treasury Department sanctioned in April 2024 for allegedly acting on behalf of the IRGC-Qods Force: Hasan Arambunezhad, Abolfazl Ramazanzadeh Moshkani, Mehdi Ghaffari Naghneh, Reza Nahar Dani, Abbas Sartaji and Hadi Jamshidi Zavaraki.

The State Department said proceeds from Iran’s weapons and drone sales, including sales to Russia, help fund the IRGC and its regional proxy groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

The Pentagon is seeking $18.2 billion in emergency funding to replenish advanced missile interceptors and other munitions expended during the war with Iran, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The request is part of a broader $67 billion emergency supplemental package sent to congressional defense committees, Bloomberg reported.

According to the report, the proposal includes approximately $5.75 billion for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors, $5.57 billion for Patriot Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors, $1.9 billion for SM-6 missiles and additional funding for Tomahawk cruise missiles and other precision-guided weapons.

The funding request comes as the U.S. military continues strikes against Iranian targets and intercepts Iranian drones and missiles targeting American forces and regional allies. Bloomberg reported the U.S. fired 13,629 munitions at Iranian targets between the start of the conflict on Feb. 28 and the April ceasefire.

President Donald Trump, during his Camp David Cabinet meeting Friday, detailed the destruction of Iran's military as a result of America's ongoing bombing campaign.

"Well, we're going big. We've already gone big. Look, I mean, what's big? They had 159 ships, that was their entire Navy, 159. Their entire Navy is lying at the bottom of the sea, I'd say that's going big," Trump said.

"They had 200 airplanes, they're all gone, every one of them. They don't have one airplane. They had anti-aircraft weaponry, very good but it didn't work. It's all gone. Their radar is all gone. Their leaders are all gone. Everything's all gone. But they'll fight onward," he said.

President Donald Trump told reporters during a Friday Cabinet meeting at Camp David that Israel is "very happy" about the deal he brokered with terrorist group Hamas to disarm itself in Gaza.

"We do have an understanding with Israel, Israel is very happy about it, Israel helped us. They’ve been very good, they’ve been very good about it. Most people said that would be a deal that would be undoable," Trump told reporters.

"Now, will it go through its ups and downs? It’s a very complex situation over there. The people are very complex and difficult. In many cases wonderful in many cases not so wonderful. But that will be a great breakthrough. Nobody’s ever thought that would be possible to disarm Hamas. That shows you how much success we’re having with Iran because if you go four months ago five months ago a deal like that would be impossible. So it’s a big step for the Middle East people are really impressed by it and they’re surprised by it," he said.

On Thursday, Trump announced the agreement, stipulating that Hamas had agreed to an eventual disarmament as part of a peace framework that would also see the Israeli military withdraw from Gaza.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday during the Trump Cabinet meeting at Camp David that sanctioned and seized funds from Iran will be given back to the Iranian people and to American victims of Iranian-backed terror attacks.

"It has been a pleasure... to be a part of, as we've gone from Operation Epic Fury to Economic Fury, to constrict, on your orders, to constrict the Iranian regime's financial tentacles all around the world. We started, on your orders, we started in March 2025," Bessent started.

"In December of 2025 the largest bank in Iran collapsed, the central bank had to print money, caused inflation, now they've got 180% inflation, they aren't able to pay their troops and on your orders we are searching for their assess all around the world, and that money will go to the Iranian people, Americans who have been harmed by the Iranians, whether the USS Cole or the barracks of Lebanon, or it will go back to when the Iranians attacked the ships coming out," Bessent said.

The Beirut bombing Bessent was likely referring to was the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 U.S. service members. While the attack was claimed by a group called the "Islamic Jihad," U.S. officials now believe it was carried out by the Iranian-backed terrorists Hezbollah.

The USS Cole was an American ship stationed in the Persian Gulf in 2000 when suicide bombers detonated explosives near the waterline, killing 40 U.S. service members and injuring 40 more. The FBI determined that al Qaeda was responsible for the attack.

During Friday's Cabinet meeting at Camp David, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that U.S. strikes on Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen have prevented the group from being a factor in the Iran war.

Hegseth touted President Donald Trump's resolve, lauding "the courage to bomb the Houthis and say we will maintain freedom of navigation. You wonder why they're not involved in this conflict, the Houthis, even though they're a proxy to Iran? Because they've felt the weight of American power."

The U.S., throughout 2024 and 2025, conducted a bombing campaign against the Houthis that eventually stopped the group from attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea.

On Thursday, U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, which has been fighting against the Houthis in neighboring Yemen since 2015, convened a group of 43 countries to discuss Red Sea security after the Houthis indicated they would start attacking ships again.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Iranian regime has never had to deal with a president like President Donald Trump during an exclusive interview with Fox News' Lara Trump.

"I don't think the Iranian regime has ever faced a president like President Trump, which is someone that actually takes action," Rubio said during a sit down interview on "My View with Lara Trump" which will air Saturday night.

"They got used to, for 20 or 30 years, not just the U.S., but the broader world, allowing them to get away with things like lying, breaking deals, tricking people into agreements and so forth," Rubio said.

President Donald Trump placed blame on Minnesota's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and other state leaders after a recent report claimed investigators believe cyberattacks on the state's water infrastructure were possibly carried out by Iranian hackers.

"Today I just want to mention that, we heard in Minnesota there was a cyberattack, and they blame it on Iran. I don't think so. I think I blame it on Minnesota because they're grossly incompetent," Trump said at the start of his televised Cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday.

"There was a cyberattack of 30 water plants, and I would blame it on Minnesota and the governor, the corrupt governor of Minnesota. They like to say, oh, is Iran? Iran should be so lucky. Iran's got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota," Trump said.

A New York Times report Thursday cited unnamed U.S. officials claiming that a cyberattack on Minnesota water systems was "probably the work of Iranian hackers."

President Donald Trump boarded Marine One at the White House on Friday morning and departed for a Cabinet meeting at Camp David.

Joining the president onboard Marine One were his Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

The off-site Cabinet meeting takes place amid a backdrop of shifting sands in the Middle East and a potential escalation in the Iran war as the Islamic Republic targeted U.S. gas tankers in an Egyptian port.

The meeting also follows Trump's Thursday announcement that Hamas has agreed to disarm themselves in Gaza as part of a Trump-brokered peace deal that would involve

Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said Friday that passage through the Strait of Hormuz "is not possible" and is the waterway is therefore altogether closed for commercial traffic.

The U.S., meanwhile, continues to enforce its naval blockade of Iranian ports in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

According to the maritime tracking service Ship Finder, only 19 vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, a significant fall from the July 3 peak of 63 vessels transiting through the waterway.

President Donald Trump said the conflict with Iran is "going well," detailing how U.S. forces are "hitting them hard" and predicting Iran will "eventually" have "no choice but to go home."

“It’s going well. All you can do is keep winning, then eventually something will happen. But we’re hitting them hard, knocking them out for a loop, and we just keep winning. Eventually they’ll have no choice but to go home,” Trump told Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich on Friday.

His remarks followed U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirming a series of U.S. strikes on Iran on Thursday.

Oil prices rose more than 1% Friday as tensions remain high in the Strait Hormuz and security concerns emerge around the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

Brent crude oil futures rose by $1.01, or 1.13% to $90.04 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 1.41% to $84.77 a barrel, according to Reuters.

This comes as Iranian state media is reporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps prevented two tanks from transiting the Strait of Hormuz and four others changed their course as a result.

Kpler ship-tracking data showed two large crude carriers transporting oil loaded from the Gulf did leave the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, though traffic did remain sparse, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia on Thursday convened representatives from 43 countries and the European Union to discuss securing shipping in the Red Sea as the Gulf nation prepares for a possible offensive against Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists. The Houthis have threatened shipping in the Red Sea and the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Egypt's Suez Canal, another major energy corridor in the region, faces heightened security concerns after an Iranian drone strike hit two U.S. gas tankers in Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta.

Reuters contributed to this post.

President Donald Trump will convene a meeting of his Cabinet at the presidential retreat site of Camp David on Friday amid continuing missile exchanges between the U.S. and Iran.

The Maryland-based retreat center has historically been a site for presidents to escape the confines of the capital and has also served as a host site for foreign leaders.

The retreat was famously the location where President Jimmy Carter brokered the 1978 Camp David Accords, a peace framework between Israel and Egypt. The framework was signed by former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says America's efforts to blockade Iran militarily and economically with Operation Epic Fury and Operation Economic Fury are "never going to stop" while speaking to FOX Business' Edward Lawrence on Thursday.

"Well, we have the blockade up. And as you would have seen over the past week, we have announced a series of measures, and we're never going to stop," Bessent said."

"We're never going to stop. And, you know, we are going to secure the money for the Iranian people, for the claimants in the U.S., for people who have been harmed, you know, for people whose families were on the USS Cole who were hit by, the bombing and the barracks in Beirut. And the president also wants to use it, when they bomb ships in the Gulf trying to traverse the Strait [of Hormuz]. So, there are a lot of Iranian funds out there, and we're going to track them down," he continued.

Bessent paraphrased a line from Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises.”

"We've had maximum pressure on since March 2025. The President gave me and Treasury the order then and we began them. And it's kind of that overused Ernest Hemingway statement. How did you go bankrupt? Slowly, then quickly. So the Iranians have gone bankrupt slowly, then quickly... we had the sanctions on from March to December and in December, the largest bank in Iran collapsed," Bessent said

Kuwait's Defense Ministry announced Thursday that Kuwait destroyed multiple Iranian drones over Kuwait airspace, adding that the Iranian attack damaged "vital and military" facilities.

The attacks caused material damage from the fall of shrapnel, but no human casualites were reported, Kuwait's Army wrote in a post on X.

The post also added that the army was "taking all necessary measures to protect the sovereignty of the homeland, preserve its security and stability, in coordination with the competent authorities, in a manner that preserves the safety of citizens and residents.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that Iran squandered an opportunity to reach a deal with the United States and argued it is time for the U.S. and Israeli militaries to "finish the job" against Tehran.

“The Iranians opened the door to an MOU that could’ve achieved our objectives,” Pence said in a post shared on X before setting the objectives out.

Verified dismantling of the nuclear weapons program

Verified dismantling of the ballistic missile program

Ending support for terrorist proxies

Restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz

“They had a shot. They blew it,” he added before stating that it was time to “let the Armed Forces of the United States and Israel finish the job.” he added.