# TLDR: 2026-07-29 (Day 152) Lead: IRAN FIRES ON US BASES IN JORDAN, US AND SAUDI ARABIA HIT IRAQI MILITIAS Compiled by a language model from that day's archived articles; analysis, not archive record. Page: https://iranwar.liminallayers.com/bulletins/tldr-2026-07-29/ Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); sources remain their publishers'. ## OVERVIEW The pause is officially dead. Iran launched ballistic missiles at US bases in Jordan (all intercepted), the US and Saudi Arabia hit Iranian-backed militias in Iraq killing 20 fighters and five IRGC advisers, and a drone set a US-owned LNG tanker ablaze at Egypt's Damietta port in what looks very much like retaliation for Ukraine's Caspian strike. The war has now touched Egyptian soil for the first time, oil jumped 8 percent in a single session, and Trump is promising to hit Iran hard while his military is quietly rationing interceptor missiles. ## IRAN FIRES ON US BASES IN JORDAN, US AND SAUDI ARABIA HIT IRAQI MILITIAS Iran's IRGC launched multiple ballistic missiles at US forces in Jordan, all of which were intercepted, but Trump's detail that troops had "minutes" to respond suggests the attack was designed to overwhelm defences, not just send a message. [4] [11] The US and Saudi Arabia struck militia logistics sites in eastern Iraq within hours, killing 20 PMF fighters and five Iranian advisers whose coffins arrived in Baghdad wrapped in Iranian flags. [4] [12] CENTCOM says the Iraq strikes were actually retaliation for over 30 IRGC-directed drone attacks in the preceding 72 hours, which means the ceasefire was already burning before anyone noticed. [12] Saudi Arabia publicly co-signing the Iraq operation is the genuinely new element: Riyadh just handed Iran's proxy network a legitimate grievance and a concrete target list. ## DRONE HITS US-OWNED LNG TANKER AT EGYPT'S DAMIETTA PORT A drone struck the Energos Winter at Damietta, starting a fire that spread to a second tanker, Gaslog Salem, with no casualties reported. [6] Two days before the strike, Iranian state television broadcast a map of potential revenge targets with Damietta specifically highlighted and its gas export role to Europe noted. [6] Egypt is describing it as a fire under investigation, maritime security firm Ambrey says it was a drone, and Iran has not claimed it, so the attribution is single-source and contested. If confirmed as Iranian-directed, this is the first strike on a NATO-adjacent Arab state's infrastructure at a port supplying European gas markets, which is a different category of escalation than anything the previous five months produced. ## HORMUZ DIPLOMACY DECLARED DEAD, IRAN BUILDS A RIVAL TOLL SYSTEM Iran's deputy foreign minister rejected Oman's southern Hormuz corridor proposal in definitive terms, saying Tehran will not recognise it "even for one hour" and will not permit foreign mine-clearing operations in the strait. [3] He also said Washington has been sending back-channel messages seeking to prevent escalation, directly contradicting Trump's claim of meaningful contact. [3] Separately, Iran's military headquarters threatened to bar any company or country that accepts US-seized Iranian funds as compensation for war-damaged ships from transiting Hormuz. [8] Meanwhile the Houthis, with Iranian advisers freshly arrived from Tehran, are building a toll collection authority for Bab al-Mandab that would exempt Chinese vessels entirely, creating a two-tier maritime system that Tehran controls and Oman's proposal would have diluted. [1] ## US INTERCEPTOR STOCKPILES ARE NOW A REAL CONSTRAINT ON THE WAR Fewer than 827 Patriot interceptors and 278 THAAD missiles remain in US stockpiles, per CSIS estimates described as close to internal Pentagon figures. [10] US commanders are already declining to intercept Iranian projectiles aimed at unpopulated areas to conserve the supply. [10] Trump is promising to hit Iran hard while his military is rationing the missiles that keep US bases survivable, which is not a sustainable gap. Whether his next strike targets Iranian territory directly or stays confined to proxy forces in Iraq will tell you whether the shortage is actually constraining his options. ## IRAN HANGS TWO PROTEST DISSIDENTS AS WAR CONTINUES Iran publicly executed Abolfazl Sepahi Badjani and Amirhossein Safari Hosseinabadi in Isfahan for their roles in the January protests, as onlookers chanted "Dishonorable" and security forces deployed on rooftops and fired tear gas at the crowd. [13] They are two of 12 defendants sentenced to death in the Alikhani Square case. A government conducting public executions of domestic dissidents while under external military pressure is communicating something specific: it intends to survive this war on its own terms, not moderate in response to it. Make of that what you will. ## References 1. [JPM] The Jerusalem Post — Middle East: Yemen's Houthis considering fees for ships sailing through Red Sea, sources say 2. [GDN] The Guardian — Middle East: US-Saudi strikes in Iraq push region into ‘uncharted territory’, analysts warn 3. [TTM] Tehran Times: Iran rejects southern Strait of Hormuz shipping route 4. [TOI] The Times of Israel: Trump says US to ‘beat the f*cking sh*t’ out of Iran after attack on bases in Jordan 5. [TTM] Tehran Times: Iran pursues dual diplomatic track with Ukraine and EU to prevent escalation 6. [YNT] Ynetnews: Drone hits US-owned gas tanker at Egyptian port named in Iranian threat 7. [CRD] The Cradle: Saudi - UAE détente: Reconciliation or a truce of necessity? 8. [CRD] The Cradle: Iran warns nations taking US payouts from frozen assets 'will not pass' Hormuz 9. [CRD] The Cradle: Israel declares ‘no more withdrawal’ from Lebanon, will demand ‘freedom of action’ in upcoming talks: Report 10. [CNN] CNN: US weapons stockpiles continue to dwindle with permanent end to Iran war nowhere in sight 11. [AJE] Al Jazeera: Iran attacks US bases in Middle East as Trump meets Netanyahu 12. [BBC] BBC News: Iran and US trade strikes, shattering brief lull in fighting 13. [FOX] Fox News: Iran hangs 2 protesters in public, crowd cries 'dishonorable' as security fires tear gas