The United States carried out a fifth consecutive night of precision strikes against Iran, launching two waves of attacks that, for the first time in the current escalation, hit sites in the Tehran region. CENTCOM said the operation targeted command centers, air defense systems, missile and drone infrastructure, and coastal surveillance facilities, including missile storage and coastal defense systems on Greater Tunb Island, with the stated aim of reducing Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported explosions and strikes across numerous locations, including Bandar Abbas, Tehran, Khorramabad, Khondab, Qeshm Island, Semnan Airport, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Bushehr, Chabahar, and many other southern and inland sites, along with damage to an industrial facility. American forces also disabled a Curaçao-flagged oil tanker with Hellfire missiles after it attempted to reach Kharg Island in defiance of the naval blockade on Iranian ports. Iran's army reported at least seven active-duty and conscript personnel killed, while Iranian health officials said at least 35 people were killed and 300 wounded over the preceding week of strikes; these figures have not been independently verified by Western outlets. In retaliation, the IRGC launched missile and drone attacks on US military targets in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, injuring Kuwaiti military personnel, while Qatar and the UAE intercepted incoming projectiles. Iran also warned that further regional infrastructure could be targeted. The IRGC declared the Strait of Hormuz closed "until the end of America's evils" and threatened to shut off additional oil and gas export routes serving US and allied interests. The renewed fighting followed the collapse of a recent ceasefire, which Iran said the US had disregarded from the outset, and further undermined an earlier memorandum meant to revive nuclear negotiations. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran had no current plans for talks and would not honor any agreement if the US "breaches its obligations," while President Donald Trump said Iran was nonetheless seeking negotiations, warned that further strikes, including on nuclear facilities, remained possible, and called Iran's release of an American detainee a positive gesture despite the ongoing conflict.

At around 10:57 am local time, two explosive devices went off near the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus, where French President Emmanuel Macron was staying during his state visit. The hotel is located near the Ministry of Tourism and the Damascus National Museum on a busy street in the capital, though the blasts took place on a peripheral road not far from the hotel. According to Syrian officials, one of the devices was placed in a garbage bin and the other in a parked car. At least eighteen people were wounded in the blasts, including four police officers. A van and a motorcycle caught fire, but otherwise the damage was relatively low. It remains unclear whether the devices were specifically targeting Macron's convoy as he made his way to the presidential palace to meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, though the apparent aim was to create unrest by undermining the visit and casting doubt on Syria's security situation at a sensitive moment for the country's transitional government. Roads were sealed off and security measures were put in place following the explosions. No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which was likely carried out by an Islamic State (IS) cell.

An IED explosion at a crowded café near the Palace of Justice in central Damascus killed at least five people and injured 16 others. Though no group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, security officials blamed Islamic State sleeper cells for the bombing. Damascus has experienced only a small number of attacks since the fall of the Assad government in December 2024, when President Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow after rebel forces led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the capital, bringing an end to more than 14 years of civil war and the Assad family's 54-year rule. On 19 May 2026, a car bomb outside the Ministry of Defense in Damascus killed one Syrian soldier and injured at least 18 other people.

Lahore police rescued two foreign women within hours of receiving a kidnapping report from the father of one of the victims. In a rapid operation supported by the city's Safe City surveillance network, Lahore police arrested four suspects, including Muhammad Raza Dar, the grandson of Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar. According to police, the victims, citizens of the Netherlands and Venezuela, were lured to Pakistan through a cryptocurrency investment scheme that began in Singapore in October 2025. Police say the women invested about US$60,000, which later grew to approximately US$500,000 before Raza Dar allegedly invited them to Lahore under the guise of a business trip and arranged their visas. The case emerged after the Dutch woman's father contacted Pakistan's emergency helpline from the Netherlands, reporting that his daughter had been kidnapped. Police said the rescue operation was launched on the directives of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Officers tracked down the suspects and rescued both women within two hours. A First Information Report (FIR) filed at Defense C Police Station alleges that the suspects demanded US$1.5 million in ransom for the women's release. The accused are also facing allegations of rape, sexual assault, and extortion. A Lahore court has granted the four arrested suspects five days of police custody. A fifth suspect, identified only as "Boss" in the First Information Report (FIR), remains at large, with Pakistani media reporting that his identity could have major political implications. (92newshd.tv, 2 July 2026 & wionews.com, 5 July 2026)

Three improvised incendiary devices, made from gas canisters, exploded within about seventeen minutes before 5:00 am local time at the residences of officials of the governing New Democracy party in the Toumba, Pylaia and Charilaou districts of Thessaloniki. The most severe blast occurred at the intersection of Kimonos Voga and Gravias Street, setting two cars and two motorcycles ablaze, with one of the damaged vehicles belonging to New Democracy candidate Afroditi Nestora. Five people were taken to Thessaloniki's Ippokrateio Hospital, including Nestora and her mother, both being treated for burns, while her father and two other residents suffered smoke inhalation. Hours later, the 72-year-old mother of candidate Afroditi Nestora died of multi-organ failure after suffering burns covering 80 percent of her body. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the assault a cowardly, terrorist and murderous attack and traveled to Thessaloniki to support his party colleagues, meet the injured officials, and receive a briefing, stating there would be zero tolerance for any new form of terrorism and that such times had been left behind. Police said that attackers on a motorcycle had planted the devices, made from small butane canisters, and that they were gathering video footage to identify the perpetrators. Opposition parties also condemned the attacks. Greece experienced decades of political violence, mainly from armed far-left groups, and far-right attacks linked to the Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn also emerged during the 2009 to 2018 financial crisis.