The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launched multiple ballistic missiles at American military forces in the Middle East on Tuesday morning, what U.S. Central Command described as an “attempted surprise attack.” All were intercepted. No American casualties were reported.
Within hours, U.S. and Saudi Arabian fighter aircraft struck what CENTCOM called “terrorist logistics and weapons sites” across eastern Iraq. The joint operation targeted IRGC-directed militia networks that CENTCOM said had launched more than 30 drone attacks on U.S. bases and Saudi oil infrastructure over the previous 72 hours. Saudi Arabia confirmed its participation, describing the strikes as an exercise of its right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. CENTCOM’s public release is here. The Washington Post reported on Saudi Arabia’s role.
It was the first confirmed joint military action between U.S. and Saudi forces against Iranian-linked targets inside Iraq. The conflict that began in February with the U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran has now reached eastern Iraq.
In 1991, Saudi Arabia joined U.S.-led forces for the air campaign that preceded the ground war to drive Iraq from Kuwait. Saudi pilots flew alongside American pilots. The alliance held through the decades that followed, through the 2003 invasion, through the growth of Iranian influence in Iraqi politics and territory. What it hadn’t done until now, by the public record, is strike together against Iranian proxy forces on Iraqi soil.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the White House on Monday for his eighth sit-down with President Trump since January, pressed the case for expanded strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. A senior Israeli official described the discussion as “excellent and comprehensive,” centered on ensuring that Iran “never has nuclear weapons.” The White House called the meeting “productive and positive.” The Times of Israel reported from Monday’s meeting. Tensions between the two leaders haven’t been absent in recent weeks. Monday’s accounts from both sides suggest they set them aside.
Wildfire evacuations in Spain and France passed 330,000 on Tuesday as Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska declared a national state of emergency. French authorities have moved more than 198,000 people from the Gironde and surrounding departments in the country’s southwest. Near Madrid, more than 63,000 residents have been displaced. CNN’s coverage from July 28 has the current fire-line positions.
France’s heat wave is expected to peak on Wednesday. Spain’s is forecast to last through Sunday. Meteorologists have documented several fires generating pyrocumulonimbus formations, storm clouds produced by the fire’s own heat and smoke, which can create lightning and wind shifts that spread flames faster than crews on the ground can reposition. Firefighting teams are entering their second week of operations. No rain is forecast in the hardest-hit areas. NPR’s photo coverage from July 28 shows the extent of the fire zones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Monday’s White House meeting with President Trump as “good.” The two discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor missile production, an issue Zelenskyy has pressed since the NATO summit in Ankara earlier this month. “We also spoke about diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said after the meeting. “It’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.” The Kyiv Independent reported from Washington. On Tuesday morning, Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery and a logistics complex in Russia’s Ryazan region. Ukraine’s General Staff reported 226 combat engagements on Monday, with the heaviest fighting near Pokrovsk.
The World Health Organization warned Monday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is outpacing the response. Confirmed cases have reached 3,262, with at least 1,437 deaths as of July 26. By case count, it is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in recorded history. It hasn’t slowed.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, a distinction that matters for treatment. The antiviral drugs certified since 2020 were developed for the Zaire strain. Bundibugyo is a different species, and the absence of a certified treatment protocol for this strain has created gaps in the response that a more familiar outbreak wouldn’t present. Doctors Without Borders details its field response here. The UN News report from Monday has the WHO’s assessment.
The Congo outbreak has largely disappeared from American front pages since the Iran conflict escalated in July. The death toll has more than doubled since the middle of the month.
Our colleague Carol Gifford looks this week in the Health section at varicose veins, a condition she writes is considerably more treatable than most people assume. Her piece is here.
Uganda’s Ministry of Health declared the country officially Ebola-free on Monday, closing a 74-day outbreak that began in May when confirmed cases crossed from the DRC. Uganda recorded 20 cases and two deaths. No new infection had been detected since June 16. The 42-day surveillance window passed without further transmission. The Ministry of Health’s announcement is here.
Uganda has been through this before. It declared Ebola-free after the 2022 outbreak, and after the 2019 outbreak, and after outbreaks in 2012 and 2007. Each time, the public health system did what it was built to do. Twenty cases. Two deaths. The outbreak entered Uganda from the largest Ebola emergency in recorded history and went no further. That’s what containment looks like when it works.
