United States Central Command

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) says the Pentagon blocked him from visiting Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar during a Congressional trip to the Middle East, calling it part of a "coordinated, deliberate campaign" by the Department of Defense to hide the true costs of the Iran War. Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had never previously been denied access to a military facility despite more than a dozen trips to the region. The Pentagon countered that Murphy's office was told in advance that he would not receive support to access the base, citing travel restrictions on the region ordered by the secretary of war in March 2026.

Murphy, the first Senate Democrat to visit the region since the war began in late February, met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Qatar's emir during the trip. He said he plans to draft legislation requiring the Pentagon to grant Congress access to overseas bases, warning the dispute reflects a broader clash between the administration and Congress over oversight of the war's consequences.

U.S. Central Command said American forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island that were preparing to fire naval mines into the Strait of Hormuz, the first acknowledged U.S. strike on Iranian targets since a broader campaign on July 29. Officials described the action as limited and possibly preemptive, based on intelligence that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps was readying a mining operation shortly after U.S. forces had cleared mines Iran previously planted in the strait.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards retaliated with missile attacks on U.S. forces in Jordan; U.S. and Jordanian officials say most missiles were intercepted with no significant damage or American casualties. Iranian state media claimed casualties from the initial strike, unconfirmed independently. President Trump posted an AI-generated video depicting destruction of Iran's Kharg Island while reaffirming commitment to blocking Iranian nuclear weapons. The escalation comes amid tightening U.S. sanctions and Iranian acknowledgment of severe economic strain, raising stakes for markets tracking Middle East conflict escalation and oil shipping security.