Iran-US war latest: US military to be 'busy tonight' after Trump threats

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Iran-US war latest: Hegseth vows military will be ‘busy tonight’ to ‘hit Iran hard’ after Trump threats

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments come after Trump threatened to attack Iran unless a peace deal was finalized

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that the military will be “busy tonight” after Donald Trump threatened a fresh attack on Iran.

Speaking outside of U.S. Central Command headquarters Wednesday, Hegseth said the military will be “busy tonight, because President Trump said we’ll be hitting Iran hard.”

Earlier, Trumpsaid that the U.S. is going to attack Iran “very hard” unless a peace deal is finalized.

“We'll see what happens, but we hit them hard yesterday, and we're going to hit them again hard today”, Trump told reporters at the White House.

After urging de-escalation between Israel and Iran earlier in the week, Trump vowed to press on “attacking [Iran] very hard,” citing the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. hit Iran earlier on Wednesday in response to the incident, prompting Iran to fire at American bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

Trump said this afternoon that the U.S. still wants to make a deal to end the conflict, claiming that the terms have already been negotiated and the deal only needs to be signed.

Trump meets with national security team, weighs military actions: report

President Donald Trump met with his national security team Wednesday to weigh possible military actions against Iran, Axios reported, citing unnamed sources.

Trump is considering a big, yet short, operation to pressure Iran to change its position in negotiations to end the conflict, according to the sources.

Administration officials who were reportedly part of the talks included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined the meeting from US Central Command headquarters in Florida, according to Axios.

Rachel Dobkin10 June 2026 22:37

Pete Hegseth says US military will be ‘busy tonight’

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned that the military will be “busy tonight” after President Donald Trump threatened fresh strikes against Iran.

American forces will be “busy tonight, because President Trump said we’ll be hitting Iran hard”, Hegseth said outside of US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, Wednesday.

Rachel Dobkin10 June 2026 22:34

I spent six years in Iranian jail – the UK is failing Craig and Lindsay Foreman exactly the same way it failed me

For a hostage and their family, it is much easier emotionally when you finally know what is actually going on. It gives light in the desperation. You just need to find the tunnel out.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman, the couple jailed after being arrested on a motorbike tour in Iran last January, believe they have the rationale for their own arrest. Tehran wants Richard Jan, an Iranian national and convicted stalker who has been in prison here in the UK for 20 years, returned. On the weekend, hope of finding that tunnel came from David Lammy, who observed that “arrangements can be made”. His honesty was refreshing.

That is why it was so deflating that the Foreign Office called the reporting of the link between the cases by this paper and Sky News “grossly irresponsible and deeply regrettable” and urged other media to drop the story. They claimed that the story “risks hindering all the other efforts currently being made by this government”.

There’s a lot of crying wolf in hostage cases.

Britain is holding an ageing Iranian stalker whose deportation could help spare Lindsay and Craig Foreman from a 10-year jail sentence – so what is stopping us from bringing them home, ask Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe.

You can read their article here.

Alex Croft10 June 2026 22:00

Watch: Iran launches attacks at sites in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan following US airstrikes

James Reynolds10 June 2026 21:30

Majority of traders don't believe US and Iran will reach peace deal for months

A majority of traders don't believe the US and Iran will reach a permanent peace deal for several months.

Traders currently put the odds of the two countries reaching a deal by October 31 at 57 percent, according to the prediction market Polymarket.

Rachel Dobkin10 June 2026 21:00

Trump declares ‘I love the inflation’ as costs increase amid Iran war

US President Donald Trump said he loves inflation Wednesday in response to a question about the latest federal report showing inflation climbed past 4 percent for the first time in three years.

“I love it; the numbers were great,” Trump said. “You know what I really love? I love the inflation.”

The bizarre moment punctuated the administration’s minimization of the country’s affordability crisis, a crisis that is getting worse, according to Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index.

The index revealed the inflation rate rose 4.2 percent year-on-year in May, driven by the Iran war’s impact on energy costs. Soaring prices have hammered working Americans recently, including at the gas pump, grocery store and in other consumer goods.

Read on...

Inflation rises as energy prices soar due to Trump’s Iran war

Gas prices have shot up more than 50 percent since the war started February 28

J.R. Duren10 June 2026 20:30

Netanyahu makes plea to people of Lebanon: 'Israel is not at war with you'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a plea to the people of Lebanon, insisting that his country “is not at war with you”.

“We're at war with Hezbollah, that has taken your country hostage, that does Iran's bidding, that uses your territory to launch terrorist attacks against Israel”, Netanyahu said in a video message Wednesday.

“You also know we yearn for peace with you, with Lebanon, a peace where our two peoples can invest together, build together, thrive together. The only impediment, the only obstacle to this beautiful vision is Hezbollah,” the prime minister added.

Netanyahu urged the people of Lebanon to “Seize your future, join Israel, build safety and prosperity for all of our children”.

Rachel Dobkin10 June 2026 20:00

Trump claims US helped 100 million barrels of oil pass Strait of Hormuz

Donald Trump has claimed the US helped 100 million barrels of oil pass through the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iran’s effective closure of the vital waterway.

“Last month, I directed our Great U.S. Military to execute a secret mission to support Oil Tankers and other Commercial Ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Today, I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Strait, and into the Open Market”, the US president wrote on Truth Social Wednesday.

Trump added that more than 200 commercial ships have also safely transited the strait.

“This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of America CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran. Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It’s over for Iran!” the president added.

Rachel Dobkin10 June 2026 19:29

UN nuclear watchdog demands Iran share information about enriched uranium stockpile: reports

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has demanded that Iran share complete information about its enriched uranium stockpile, according to reports.

Iran must also allow the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors to access the country’s nuclear sites as part of the resolution that the watchdog’s board reportedly passed in Vienna Wednesday.

The IAEA resolution said the agency needed to verify that there was no “diversion of nuclear material” that could be used to make a bomb, according to reports.

Rachel Dobkin10 June 2026 19:00

Trump claims US has destroyed 'millions of barrels of oil'

Donald Trump has claimed that the US has destroyed “millions of barrels of oil”.

"Did you know we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil? Nobody knows it. You know who doesn't know about it? Iran — until right now. We took out, the other night, 22 ships”, the US president told reporters Wednesday.

The Independent could not verify Trump’s claims.

US Central Command said Wednesday that it has disabled 8 ships that refused to comply with its blockade of Iranian ports since April 13.

Rachel Dobkin10 June 2026 18:45