On the 3rd (local time) the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee voted to approve the government’s request to extend the emergency mobilization order by two months to Sept. 30. The decision authorizes the Israel Defense Forces to call up as many as 240,000 reservists. Since the renewed Israel–Palestine conflict began in 2023, similar extensions have been approved every few months.

BOJ account data indicate Japan spent about 5.33 trillion yen (~$34 billion) in last Friday’s FX intervention to support the yen, stepping up after a coordinated move with the US on Thursday. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama confirmed the intervention on Monday. Authorities continued to buy yen, underscoring resolve to counter yen shorts. The US Treasury joined support last week, the closest exchange-rate policy coordination in 15 years; BOJ account analysis does not reflect the size of US intervention, and US participation may have reduced the funds Japan needed to achieve the same exchange-rate effect.

On Aug. 2 Iran’s foreign minister Araghchi told a cabinet meeting negotiations with Oman on arrangements to manage safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz are progressing smoothly, have entered a final stage and are nearing completion. On July 26 Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Baghaei said talks with Oman on common principles and operational mechanisms for Strait of Hormuz maritime security were productive and had made some progress. Araghchi spoke by phone on July 27 with the foreign ministers of Oman and Saudi Arabia to discuss the Strait and stressed the need to strengthen cooperation.