Updated July 29, 2026 — 10:48am,first published July 29, 2026 — 3:17amWashington: The US military said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards attempted a ballistic missile strike on its forces in the Middle East, ending a short ceasefire and placing pressure on President Donald Trump to respond.The “surprise attack” came as Iran’s government rejected Oman’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by sharing access between them, and hours after Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has a large arsenal of medium-range missiles.US Central Command (Centcom) said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched multiple ballistic missiles about 7.45am Wednesday (AEST), all of which were intercepted. It would not confirm reports that the missiles were aimed at Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, which the IRGC has previously attacked, killing American troops.Meanwhile, the US military said it conducted precision strikes in eastern Iraq with its partner Saudi Arabia, targeting “Iran-aligned terrorists” who attacked US forces and Saudi energy infrastructure using aerial drones over the past three days.“The IRGC and its terrorist proxies must cease these attacks to avoid further US military response,” Centcom said.The renewed fighting came as Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state ​TV that Iran rejected Oman’s proposal to reopen the strait by equally dividing transit between the two countries. Iran would support a temporary arrangement by which it retains control of the traffic in one direction and partial control of the other, he said.President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other dignitaries at the funeral of Lindsey Graham on Tuesday.AP Photo/Jacquelyn MartinAaron David Miller, a former Middle East analyst and negotiator with the US State Department, said Iran was likely hurting from the US naval blockade and unhappy with the Omani proposal.“Iran continues to demonstrate it won’t just respond but will take the initiative,” he said on X. “Tehran really does believe it’s winning and can handle what the US is willing to throw at them.”Earlier on Tuesday (US time), Trump hosted Netanyahu at the White House after publicly rebuking the Israeli leader over plans for escalating the war. Netanyahu was in Washington primarily for the funeral of Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a close friend of Israel.Before their meeting, Trump expressed frustration over reports that Netanyahu intended to present Israeli intelligence that Iran was fortifying Pickaxe Mountain – an underground nuclear site near its Natanz uranium enrichment facility.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the funeral for Republican senator Lindsey Graham.AP Photo/Alex Brandon“I don’t need Bibi to tell me that,” Trump told Fox News, using an affectionate term for the Israeli PM. “Bibi’s telling me that because he wants me to stay involved … We have the greatest cameras in the world focused on [Pickaxe Mountain], we know exactly what’s going on.”The New York Post reported on Tuesday (US time) that Netanyahu would use the visit to present evidence of ongoing Iranian nuclear activity and demonstrate that Tehran was not negotiating in good faith, citing a source in Jerusalem.Netanyahu did not publicly declare what he intended to tell Trump, but the US president appeared to interpret the reporting as a statement from Netanyahu.“I heard Bibi announce that,” he told Fox News. “I said, ‘Why don’t you just tell it to me, why do you have to announce it to the world?’ I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe, it’s not a big problem.”The meeting was closed to the media but the Israeli government distributed photos of the two leaders.Credit: Maayan Toaf / Israel Government Press OfficeTrump repeated his threat to destroy the facility if a deal with the Iranians was not forthcoming. He also spoke about “competing factions” within the Republican Party, some of whom wanted him to escalate strikes and others who preferred a diplomatic solution.It was not clear whether Netanyahu presented Trump with intelligence about Pickaxe Mountain or any other Iranian site. The media was not allowed inside for any portion of the meeting, which lasted just over an hour.Photographs from the meeting by the Israeli government showed Trump beaming, and there is no suggestion of a blow-up between the two leaders. But the president’s willingness to publicly push back on Netanyahu was indicative of a relationship that is more strained than before the war.Trump’s observation that Netanyahu “wants me to stay involved” – or seeks to prolong the war – is also a candid admission of the prevailing dynamic between the two leaders.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.@ZelenskyyUaUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also travelled to Washington for Graham’s funeral and met Trump without cameras at the White House.Zelenksy said it was a good meeting that included discussion about US plans to allow Ukraine to licence production of Patriot missile interceptors, “and several other ideas that could help” in the war against Russia.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said both meetings were “positive and productive”.Netanyahu and his wife Sara also attended a private memorial dinner on Monday night at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington with Graham’s family and friends, and several high-ranking Trump administration officials.Graham’s flag-draped casket is carried down the steps of the US Capitol.AP Photo/Mariam ZuhaibUS news site Axios reported the dinner was hosted by Lebanese banker and film producer Antoun Sehnaoui and Trump’s former deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus.Other attendees included Meta president Dina Powell McCormick, Trump aide Stephen Miller and his wife Katie, and a slew of Republican and Democratic senators – among them Darline Graham, who has taken her late brother’s Senate seat.Dozens of high-ranking dignitaries attended Tuesday’s funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, including cabinet secretaries, top White House aides and members of Congress. They remembered a man whom Trump praised as “a giant of the Senate”.News Corp and Fox chairman Lachlan Murdoch attended, as did former vice president Mike Pence and Fox News host Sean Hannity, who, like Trump, delivered a eulogy.Benjamin Netanyahu with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the funeral for Lindsey Graham.AP Photo/Jacquelyn MartinPresident Donald Trump delivering a eulogy for Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly this month.Alex Brandon/AP Pool via APAmong the tributes, speakers offered contrasting messages about Graham - a strong foreign policy hawk who urged Trump to attack Iran. “He was extremely hawkish,” the president told mourners. “He never saw a war that he didn’t like.”Earlier, Trump told Fox News: “Lindsey liked war. I said, ‘You’re a nice guy, how come you like war so much?’ He was a guy that liked war.”But Hannity said the common portrayal of Graham as a warmonger was wrong. “The truth is the opposite,” he told the cathedral audience.“Lindsey desperately wanted – and talked to the president about – lasting peace in the Middle East. He wanted every country in the region on that path to peace. That was Lindsey’s dream.“[But] Lindsey had moral clarity. He knew – as President Trump knows, as Israel knows, as I know – there can be no path to peace until evil is defeated.”From our partners