Regional Powers Push U.S., Iran to Pause Strikes and Resume Negotiations
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at new mediation efforts in the U.S.-Iran war, plans for ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina to return home, and one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires to date.
New Negotiations
Regional mediators pushed U.S. and Iranian officials on Friday to return to the negotiating table after days of escalating strikes threatened to push both countries back into all-out war. But while Washington appears willing to restart talks, the White House insists that the two nations’ cease-fire is dead in the water.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at new mediation efforts in the U.S.-Iran war, plans for ousted Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina to return home, and one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires to date.
New Negotiations
Regional mediators pushed U.S. and Iranian officials on Friday to return to the negotiating table after days of escalating strikes threatened to push both countries back into all-out war. But while Washington appears willing to restart talks, the White House insists that the two nations’ cease-fire is dead in the water.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump has previously called negotiations with Tehran a “waste of time,” accusing Iranian leaders of being liars and “violent, vicious people.”
Tehran has yet to publicly respond to the United States’ claims.
A Qatari delegation, in coordination with Washington, reportedly flew to Iran on Friday to push the regime to de-escalate its attacks on U.S. military sites and commercial ships in the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, Iranian forces launched strikes on three oil and gas tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting U.S. retaliation. In the ensuing days, both sides have exchanged fire, with Tehran targeting U.S. facilities in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Qatar and Washington striking “air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline,” according to U.S. Central Command.
Meanwhile, officials from Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have conducted multiple phone calls with U.S. and Iranian representatives in recent days to urge both sides to pause their operations.
“There are extensive diplomatic efforts to first agree with both sides on de-escalation and then set a date for another round of negotiations between the technical teams,” one regional source told Axios on Friday.
Although fighting appeared to subside on Friday, there were scattered reports of overnight explosions in Iran on Thursday. However, Centcom denied launching any new assaults.
At the heart of the conflict remains the Strait of Hormuz, where renewed fighting has once again upended commercial operations. Since active conflict resumed on Tuesday, no large vessel has attempted to cross the strait via the U.S.-designated route, which circumvents Iranian waters by hugging Oman’s coast. And only five ships have traversed the thoroughfare in the past few days, compared with the 45 transits recorded on Monday.
Such actions are likely to worsen already consequential supply chain disruptions. The International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that the global economy was set to slow dramatically in 2026, with growth expected to fall to 3 percent from last year’s 3.5 percent. At the same time, global inflation rates will jump to 4.7 percent in 2026 from 4.1 percent the year prior.
Today’s Most Read
What We’re Following
Returning home. Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina plans to return to Dhaka in December after spending nearly two years in self-imposed exile in India, she told Reuters this week. Alongside senior Awami League party colleagues, Hasina plans to present herself before Bangladesh’s courts to challenge efforts to shutter her party.
“They may arrest me on my return. They may even kill me,” Hasina said in the nearly hourlong interview late on Thursday into Friday. “Still, I have to go. … My party leaders and workers are being subjected to tremendous repression. If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil.” A Dhaka court found Hasina guilty of crimes against humanity in 2025 and sentenced her to death in absentia for orchestrating a brutal crackdown of anti-government protesters the year before.
Since Hasina fled Bangladesh, Dhaka has tried to force New Delhi to extradite her. India’s continued refusal has soured bilateral relations between the two nations and further inflamed tensions in the region. By announcing her return to Bangladesh, Hasina’s risky gambit could revitalize diplomatic ties.
Still, it is unlikely that Hasina’s actions will improve her own standing. “After such brutal murders and genocide, the mass murderer Sheikh Hasina has no remorse to this day,” Bangladeshi Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said on July 4 at an event commemorating the second anniversary of the uprising.
Deadly blaze. A massive wildfire tore through southern Spain on Friday, prompting local authorities to deploy more than 500 firefighters and civil protection workers. “This is the first time we’ve faced a fire as devastating as this one,” Francisco Miguel Reyes, the mayor of the Spanish town of Los Gallardos, said on Friday. “It looks like a bomb went off.” Already, at least 12 people have died, and 23 others remain missing, making it one of the country’s deadliest blazes in history.
Igniting late Thursday in a semiarid area near the Sierra de Los Filabres mountains, the wildfire quickly spiraled out of control, as many individuals ignored evacuation or shelter-in-place orders. Many of the victims were foreign nationals. This summer, Spain (along with much of Western Europe) has suffered record-setting high temperatures. Coupled with strong winds and little rain, small wildfires across the country have transformed into deadly blazes.
Spain is not the only country being hit hard by wildfire season. Large fires have also scorched swaths of southern France, disrupting the Tour de France cycling race and burning around 12,000 acres of land. More than 10,000 people in the eastern Pyrenees region have been forced to evacuate so far.
Long-range strikes. Ukrainian drone strikes damaged a Russian oil refinery, several fuel depots, and a southern port on Friday, dealing another significant blow to Moscow’s energy infrastructure. Local authorities reported no injuries; however, fires were recorded including at the Ilsky refinery, which has the capacity to process roughly 138,000 barrels of oil a day.
Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Moscow’s oil industry in recent weeks, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to acknowledge that repeated assaults have triggered fuel shortages across the country. Ukrainian forces have prioritized long-range attacks to hit areas that Russia had previously considered unreachable, including refineries as far as Siberia.
To further bolster Ukraine’s military capabilities, the United States on Wednesday announced that it would grant Ukraine a long-coveted license to manufacture Patriot air defense missiles domestically. “This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough,” Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the time. Still, producing Patriots is an expensive and complex enterprise, and it will take a long time before Kyiv is able to reap the benefits of its new production capabilities.
What in the World?
Why did Ghana postpone a planned visit by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday?
A. For siding with FIFA’s decision to suspend a U.S. red card
B. For failing to stop mass anti-immigrant protests in South Africa
C. Due to recent South African drone incursions into Ghanaian territory
D. Because of mass anti-immigrant protests in Ghana
Odds and Ends
Fox may have the English-language broadcasting rights for this year’s FIFA World Cup, but Spanish-language channel Telemundo appears to be the top choice for most fútbol aficionados. It’s unclear why Americans are gravitating toward the Spanish-only broadcast. Maybe it’s because Fox goes to commercial during hydration breaks, whereas Telemundo stays with the game’s feed. Or maybe it’s because Fox One’s streaming service is double the price of Peacock, where Telemundo is played. (FP’s World Brief writer likes to think it’s because Spanish-language commentators reach a level of seemingly unmatched enthusiasm.)
No matter the reason, Fox has taken notice.
And the Answer Is…
B. For failing to stop mass anti-immigrant protests in South Africa
The protests have led to thousands of immigrants fleeing South Africa, as well as several deaths as a result of xenophobic attacks, FP’s Nosmot Gbadamosi reports in Africa Brief.
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