July 18 — Thai Prime Minister Anutin arrived in Chengdu to continue a July 16–20 state visit to China, his first since taking office. On July 17 he attended the World Artificial Intelligence Conference and a high-level meeting on global AI governance in Shanghai.

On the 18th the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it struck multiple US military targets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan in response to a US strike on the 17th. The IRGC said drones and missiles hit a fuel resupply pier for the US fleet at Ahmadi Port in Kuwait, struck an aircraft staging area at Sheikh Isa and a data centre in Bahrain, and destroyed a signal communications centre in Kuwait. In a separate statement the IRGC said missile and drone strikes on Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti (Azraq) air base destroyed at least two fighter aircraft and three other aircraft and severely damaged several more.

An Iranian source said a Thai-flagged vessel was struck in the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring warnings and attempting to transit without permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy; it was intercepted and hit by IRGC naval forces.