US and Iran Trade Attacks Again, Sen. Lindsay Graham Dies, Congress Returns
July 13, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readThe U.S. and Iran traded a new wave of strikes over the weekend, with Iran attacking another commercial ship and declaring the Strait of Hormuz closed, while U.S. Central Command said it hit dozens of Iranian targets and insisted "Iran does not control it." Meanwhile, Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who evolved from a Trump critic into one of his most powerful congressional allies, has died. Congress returns from its July Fourth recess today with Graham's death and Senator Mitch McConnell's continued absence, leaving Republicans with even thinner margins to advance their agenda.
U.S. and Iran Trade Attacks, Strait of Hormuz in Dispute
The back-and-forth strikes between the U.S. and Iran continued over the weekend. U.S. Central Command released a statement late Sunday Eastern time saying it had hit dozens of Iranian targets at multiple locations with precision, including missile and drone launchers and coastal radar sites. Iran did not respond to that claim directly but said one person was killed in the U.S. strikes — a guard at an agricultural water pumping station in central Iran. Iranian officials say that brings the total number of deaths to 17 since the recent strikes began.
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of Up First from NPR
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (00:02) **US and Iran Trade New Strikes** - A new wave of US strikes targets Iranian missile launchers and radar sites; Iran attacks a commercial ship and declares the Strait of Hormuz closed.
- 2 (03:23) **Status of Ceasefire Talks Remains Unclear** - Mediation efforts are in flux after a series of conflicting statements from key parties.
- 3 (04:24) **Oil Prices Jump on Strait of Hormuz Tensions** - The benchmark global oil price rose more than 4% as markets opened Monday amid competing claims over control of the strait.
- 4 (04:39) **Iran's New Leader Speaks via Audio Address** - Moshtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader, delivers his second audio address since the war began.
- 5 (06:00) **Senator Lindsey Graham Dies** - The South Carolina Republican, a key Trump ally and advocate for US military intervention, has died.
- 6 (08:09) **Who Will Replace Graham in the Senate?** - The state's Republican governor will appoint a temporary replacement; a special primary is set for early August.
- 7 (08:37) **Congress Returns with Thinner Republican Margins** - The death of Graham and the absence of Mitch McConnell complicate an already long to-do list.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Senator Lindsey Graham has died at the age of 71, the South Carolina Republican was a committed advocate of U.S. military intervention abroad and a close ally of President Trump.
And as Congress returns from recess, Republican are facing tighter voting margins than before with Senator Graham’s death and Senator Mitch McConnel's absence.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Tina Kraja, Anna Yukhananov, Jason Breslow, Ziad Buchh, Mohamad ElBardicy and HJ Mai.
It was produced by Paige Waterhouse and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Eowyn Fain.
Our technical director is Damian Herring.
(0:00) Iran War latest
(1:52) Iran attacks
(5:42) Graham & Senate
(8:28) Congress returns
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
More from this podcast
Up First from NPR →