13 July 2026
Iran War
In a written statement, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei purportedly pledged vengeance for the death of his father. Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public or recorded since the attack, which killed his father and severely injured him.
The Iranian army stated that drone attacks on US bases in the region would continue. The United States targeted Iranian military air-defence systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats along the Strait of Hormuz.
Former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is under house arrest by the IRGC after meeting with Mossad chief David Barnea on the sidelines of an academic conference in Hungary. The plan was to install Ahmadinejad as Iran’s leader after the strike that killed the Supreme Leader. Ahmadinejad was seen at the funeral for Ali Khamenei, but Ahmadinejad is believed to be under IRGC custody.
Türkiye
As Türkiye mulls whether to sell its S-400 air defence system to the UAE or Qatar, Russia proposed that Türkiye could sell it back to Russia. Türkiye is getting rid of the S-400 air defence systems that it acquired from Russia to curry favour with the United States. Türkiye needs US jet engines for its fifth-generation KAAN fighter jet program, and President Trump is considering allowing Türkiye back into the F-35 programme.
Türkiye’s prosecutors ordered the arrest of nearly 1,000 suspects linked to the 2016 coup attempt. Türkiye blames US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally-turned-foe who has since died, for the coup attempt, where Erdogan imposed a two-year state of emergency afterwards.
Russia
Russia’s FSB claims that it foiled Ukrainian attacks on military bases deep within the country. The FSB claims that Ukrainian secret services tried to strike the Shagol and Ukrainka air bases, located in Chelyabinsk and Amur regions, after Ukraine used balloons and drones to deliver containers full of drones into the western Bryansk region.
Poland
Poland is offering Ukraine a MiG-29 modernization plan conditional on external funding – either from Ukraine or its partners. Poland and Ukraine are also embroiled in a spat over the MiGs-for-Drones agreement. Poland refused to transfer more MiG-29s as Ukraine has not delivered on its side of the deal. This modernization deal is part of the broader discussion of the MiG-for-Drones agreement.
Afghanistan
Dissident Taliban commander Juma Khan Fateh pledged loyalty to the Taliban regime. Taliban authorities were attempting to seize control of the gold-mining operations in Badakhshan from local commanders and administration. The Taliban sought to disarm those loyal to Fateh and removed him from his administrative post in the region.
Sudan
A Sudanese court sentenced the RSF paramilitary leader, Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, and fifteen others to death in absentia over charges of killing a regional governor and war crimes in Darfur. UN experts determined that between 10,000 and 15,000 people, mostly from the Massalit ethnic group, were killed in El-Geneina during the violence. The conflict is now in its fourth year and has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 11 million people.
Social Media Wires
Senator Lindsay Graham’s address in Ukraine before his death a day later
Ukrainian ground drone conducts amphibious assault
Featured Photo: “A-10 Thunderbolt firing flare” – Tech. Sgt. Tiffany Emery, CENTCOM, 2026
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