The China Mail - Latest developments in the US-Iran war

Here are the latest developments:

- Iran attacks Jordan -

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Monday they attacked two US military air bases with ballistic missiles in Washington-allied Jordan, causing "heavy damage", state media reported.

Jordan's army said it had intercepted eight missiles, without stating their origin.

- US strikes Iran -

The United States said Sunday it had carried out air strikes on Iranian rocket launchers on an small island in the Strait of Hormuz, its first attacks on Iran since late July.

"Earlier today, US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz," US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins said in a message to AFP.

- Iran president to meet Putin, Xi -

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian was due to take part in a summit starting Monday of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional bloc that seeks to be a counterinfluence to the West.

Russia's Vladimir Putin is expected to hold separate bilateral talks with Pezeshkian and China's Xi Jinping, among other leaders, Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov said.

- US to pressure Iran at G20 -

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will step up efforts to isolate Iran economically as he hosts G20 counterparts this week, a US official said Thursday, in a gathering clouded by war and trade tensions.

Bessent has laid out plans to isolate Iran economically, widening secondary sanctions threats and warning of dire consequences for countries that fail to join the campaign.

- Iran supreme leader calls for unity -

Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Sunday called on Muslim countries in the region to unite against the United States and Israel, in a written message issued six months on from the start of the Middle East war.

Khamenei, who took power after his father Ali Khamenei was killed at the start of the war, has yet to be seen in public since his appointment, and authorities have not released any video or audio of him.

- UAE inspects Egyptian bank's branches -

The central bank of the United Arab Emirates said Saturday it would inspect a major state-owned Egyptian bank's branches, after Washington said it would cut off the institution's operations in the Gulf state from the US financial system as it tries to choke Iran off economically.

"For Banque Misr branches in the UAE, the Central Bank has decided to conduct a special and urgent examination that includes a forensic/in-depth lookback covering the period referred to in the statement issued by the US authorities," it said in a statement.

X.So--ThChM