Day 191 | US CENTCOM, Iran's IRGC exchange missile strikes over vessels

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Read more: Day 192 | Iran to announce new restricted zone outside Strait of Hormuz, says top security official

US President Donald Trump continued his reliance on provocative graphics to comment on the escalating war with Iran, sharing an image on his Truth Social platform that replaced the map of Iran with his own face.

The visual posting came amidst a rapid-fire series of social media updates highlighting Iranian economic strain alongside targeted military threat graphics

• Area will reportedly extend into parts of Persian Gulf.
• Iran threatens to blacklist ships entering designated zone.

Iran will declare a "prohibited zone" in waters surrounding the strategic Strait of Hormuz within days, threatening to place any maritime vessel entering the area on its national sanctions list.

The security measure was announced on Sunday by Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, during an interview broadcast on state television.

According to Rezaei, the restricted maritime perimeter will originate directly from the U.S. Navy’s blockade line and encompass broader sectors of the Persian Gulf.

"In the coming days, a prohibited zone will be announced outside the Strait of Hormuz," Rezaei told state media. "This zone will start from the US Navy's blockade line and include areas of the Persian Gulf. Any ship entering this new zone will be placed on the sanctions list of Iran."

The announcement follows heightened naval tensions and escalating exchanges in regional waters between Iranian maritime forces and the US military over navigation rights, commercial shipping blockades, and localized strikes.

Regional tensions soared following a new social media post by US President Donald Trump, featuring an image depicting an F-35 fighter jet flying over a burning oil facility captioned "Bye bye, Kharg".

The graphic target threat focuses on Kharg Island—Iran's primary crude oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf—amid ongoing military exchanges and heightening fears of imminent strikes against critical Iranian infrastructure.

• Al-Manar reporter Ali Shabib and his cameraman are wounded in the strikes.
• ‘Israeli’ forces detonate more than 15 underground tunnels in Nabatieh.
• ‘Israeli’ military warns residents of incoming strikes and heavy explosions.

A drone strike targeted a parking lot in Nabatieh Al-Tahta on Sunday evening, leaving three people dead, the Public Health Emergency Operations Center affiliated with Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health announced.

The fatal strike formed part of an intense operational wave across southern Lebanon, which included six distinct airstrikes targeting the broader Nabatieh area alongside two separate strikes on the coastal village of El-Mansouri.

A severe belt of fire targeted both Nabatieh and Nabatieh Al-Fawqa, causing widespread destruction across the municipalities.

During the strikes in Nabatieh, Al-Manar journalist Ali Shabib and an accompanying cameraman sustained injuries while covering field developments.

Over 15 tunnels detonated

Parallel to the aerial bombardment, ground engineering operations expanded across the Nabatieh district.

'Israeli' military forces executed simultaneous demolition blasts targeting over 15 subterranean tunnels in a single operation spanning the geographic corridor from Shaqif to the Ali Al-Tahir ridge.

Northern residents alerted

Ahead of the operational wave, the 'Israeli' military issued an alert to residents living in northern communities, informing them of impending combat activity along the border.

'Israeli' military authorities told residents in the Hula Valley, the Ramim Mountain Range, and potentially the northern Golan Heights to expect loud explosion echoes, characterizing the maneuvers as alleged proactive operational measures by forces deployed along the front.

• Aoun called the attacks a "dangerous escalation" that have reached state institutions and health facilities.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Sunday urged Washington and the international community to intervene to halt ‘Israeli’ strikes, after attacks killed at least four people despite a ceasefire agreement.

The strikes, which also damaged government premises and destroyed an out-of-service hospital, represented "a dangerous escalation... reaching Lebanese state institutions" and health facilities, Aoun said in a statement. 

Aoun called on the United States and other countries "to urgently act to stop these violations." 

The attacks

Sunday's attacks struck multiple locations across southern Lebanon, including Nabatieh, Arab Salim, Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfar Reman, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency. 

In Nabatieh al-Fawqa, one strike "totally destroyed" the out-of-service Ghandour hospital, which the health ministry called "another grave violation of international humanitarian law." In Kfar Reman, an air attack destroyed the home of the town's late former mayor. 

The Lebanese health ministry said the latest deaths bring the cumulative toll since the start of the 'Israeli' offensive to 4,362 killed and 12,378 wounded nationwide.

The mounting death toll and damage to civilian and government infrastructure have raised fresh questions about the durability of the ceasefire framework, as Lebanese officials continue to press international mediators for stronger enforcement of the truce's terms.

Read more: 'Israeli artillery' targets south Lebanon

The US military has dismissed claims made by Iranian state-run media alleging that its forces struck an unmanned American vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, characterizing the assertion as entirely false.

Tehran’s state media reported that Iranian forces targeted an unmanned US vessel after it allegedly attempted to enter a restricted area of the strategic waterway.

However, Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for US Central Command (CENTCOM), rejected the claim, telling the Associated Press that the report was a "total lie."

The reported incident represents the latest exchange in renewed hostilties between the two nations following roughly a month of quiet.

The dispute came a day after the US military stated its forces struck three Iranian oil tankers in retaliation for a missile attack directed at Navy warships.

Meanwhile, CENTCOM announced on Sunday that US forces have redirected 92 commercial vessels, disabled three, and boarded two others to ensure strict compliance with the ongoing maritime blockade against Iran.

"This is a crime in every sense of the word," says the mayor of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, after an ‘Israeli’ strike hit a historic building and damaged government offices.

‘Israel's’ army says it was striking south Lebanon after Hezbollah fighters launched two drones towards ‘Israeli’ soldiers operating in ‘Israel's’ self-declared "security zone" in the south.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its Aerospace Force recently targeted and destroyed a US military surveillance balloon over Erbil in northern Iraq.

According to the report carried by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency., the balloon was part of a broader US surveillance system in the region.

The report said the balloon was approximately 35 meters long and capable of carrying up to 500 kilograms of equipment.

It reportedly remained airborne for up to a month and could operate around the clock.

The system could also be equipped with electronic surveillance, communications relay and electronic warfare equipment, according to the report. Its primary role in the Erbil area was believed to be aerial reconnaissance and surveillance.

Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf threatened on Sunday to launch swifter and more forceful responses to US attacks, after Tehran targeted American warships in retaliation for US attacks on tankers.

"The Americans must have understood that the era of proportionate responses has come to an end," said Ghalibaf in a speech carried by state media, adding that "any aggression against Iran's interests and security will receive a faster, more intense and more painful response".

Two luxury apartments in Kensington, London, believed to be linked to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and located just meters from the ‘Israeli’ embassy, have been put up for sale, according to a report by The Sunday Times.

The properties, on the sixth and seventh floors of a modern block at 3a Palace Green, sit on the same exclusive street as the ‘Israeli’ embassy and overlook its rear, less than 50 yards (about 45 meters) away.

They are also close to Kensington Palace, the official London residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Each apartment includes separate staff quarters and a private roof terrace.

The flats were acquired in 2014 and 2016 for £16.75 million and £19 million respectively (a combined roughly £35.75 million) through Iranian businessman and banker Ali Ansari, long described by investigators as a key intermediary and family associate of the Khamenei network.

Western intelligence assessments and reporting by outlets including Bloomberg and British newspapers have tied the properties—and a wider London portfolio estimated at around £200 million, including mansions on “Billionaires’ Row” in Hampstead—to Mojtaba Khamenei.

Ansari has denied the links through his lawyer.

The decision to sell follows UK sanctions imposed on Ansari in late 2025 for allegedly financing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and supporting hostile Iranian government activities.

His assets were frozen and he was banned from the UK.

More recently, the US Treasury also sanctioned him as a “key financier” for Mojtaba Khamenei, stating that many holdings in his name ultimately benefited the Iranian leader, his family, regime elites, and the IRGC.

After Ansari reportedly defaulted on mortgage payments, British authorities moved to place the properties on the market.

One of the apartments, bought for £19 million in 2016, is now being offered for £12 million.

The second, purchased for £16.75 million in 2014, has no public asking price listed.

Earlier valuations had placed the pair closer to £50 million.

The proximity of the apartments to the heavily protected ‘Israeli’ embassy previously sparked security concerns.

Counter-terrorism specialist Roger Macmillan, a former security director at the Iranian opposition channel Iran International, said: “Iran owns the view into the back of the Israeli Embassy from less than 50 metres away. Two apartments, direct line of sight, held through Mojtaba Khamenei. That’s not a property portfolio – it’s a permanent surveillance platform.

“This is a serious security breach.”

Britain’s intelligence services have long been aware of the properties.

The sales form part of the ongoing fallout from investigations into the Khamenei family’s alleged overseas real-estate holdings, much of it acquired through shell companies and intermediaries and funded in part by oil revenues that bypassed sanctions.

Many of the linked London properties have stood empty or fallen into disrepair under asset freezes.

Iran is allegedly preparing a broad, coordinated multi-front assault on ‘Israel’ involving its own forces alongside Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and Iraqi militias, according to ‘Israeli’ intelligence assessments cited by The Jerusalem Post.

The strategy aims to launch simultaneous attacks from several directions, correcting the uncoordinated nature of the October 7, 2023, Hamas operation.

‘Israeli’ assessments indicate Tehran is working to combine these elements into a single campaign from the outset.

On October 7, Hamas struck without the other fronts opening in full parallel coordination.

Internal Hamas documents seized in Gaza after the attack showed that then-leader Yahya Sinwar sought to “connect and prepare the external fronts,” including Lebanon, Syria, and Sinai, and to establish communications mechanisms in advance.

However, published US and ‘Israeli’ assessments later found that Iran and Hezbollah had not been fully informed of the details or precise timing.

Hezbollah opened fire in the north afterward but did not mount a large-scale attack that same morning.

Sinwar had believed the initial success would draw the others in.

Tehran is now reportedly seeking to close that gap, making multi-front pressure an integral part of the planning rather than a hoped-for secondary development.

Signs of renewed coordination have already appeared.

A report last month noted that the ‘Israeli’ military identified Hamas and Hezbollah increasing joint activity with Iranian assistance to pressure ‘Israel’ from both north and south.

Recent reports further allege that senior Quds Force officials held talks with commanders from Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iraqi militias about expanding the confrontation.

Two senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers claimed that, during an earlier period of relative calm, Quds Force officials conducted conference calls with commanders from those three fronts and that Iranian advisers worked with them on the ground.

The leadership change in Hamas also factors into the picture.

Khalil al-Hayya, elected overall leader in July, maintains strong ties with Iran and strengthens the faction within Hamas committed to close strategic relations with Tehran.
Iranian efforts to accelerate missile and drone production and restore damaged capabilities accompany the coordination drive.

Joint training, tighter operational and personal links, and greater alignment on political and military decisions have also been recorded.

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on Sunday killed four people in the south, while ‘Israel’ said it carried out raids after Hezbollah launched drones at its soldiers.

The ministry reported two people killed in south Lebanon's Nabatieh al-Fawqa and two women killed in Arab Salim nearby.

Twenty people were also wounded in several locations, including women and three children.

The ‘Israeli’ military said on Sunday it was carrying out strikes in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah allegedly launched drones at its soldiers, and urged residents of the town of Arab Salim to evacuate.

“Terrorists from the Hezbollah terrorist organization launched two drones towards IDF soldiers operating in the Security Zone in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement, adding that there were no reports of ‘Israeli’ soldiers wounded.

“This constitutes a blatant violation by the Hezbollah terrorist organization. In response, the IDF is now striking in southern Lebanon.”

In another message, the ‘Israeli’ military warned residents of Arab Salim to leave ahead of imminent attacks.

“You are situated near a facility belonging to the terrorist organization Hezbollah, against which the IDF will be operating,” it wrote in Arabic on Telegram.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in March after Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked ‘Israel’, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.

Violence has lessened since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader conflict in June and a framework agreement between ‘Israel’ and Lebanon later that month.

‘Israeli’ forces are operating inside a self-declared “security zone” around 10 kilometers (six miles) deep inside Lebanon along the border.

Authorities in Lebanon said on Saturday that ‘Israeli’ strikes killed four people in the country’s south and east.

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Read more: Day 190 | US military says destroyed it 3 Iranian oil tankers