Iran-US war latest: Trump warns he’s ‘prepared’ to launch fresh attack as US embassies issue security alert
Fighting between the US and Iran has seen the biggest exchange of fire since July.
President Donald Trump has said that the US is prepared to launch another attack on Iran at “any time”.
"We took out all of the new equipment that they tried to build along the Strait of Hormuz - some defensive, some offensive," he told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
“It was a very heavy attack last night, and we're prepared to do another one any time we want." He added that a renewed campaign would not last “too long”.
It came as Iranians and others in the region feared a return of the conflict in earnest after the biggest exchange of fire between Tehran and Washington since July.
US attacks hit the southern coast of Iran while Tehran hit back at US assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq.
Iran accused Washington of hitting a wedding party, killing four people and wounding dozens, while its health minister later said 18 people in total had been killed and 108 injured in the latest wave of US strikes.
The US military said the targets of its attacks were air defences, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites on Tuesday.
Sam Kiley: Trump just doesn’t understand he is now in a forever war with Iran - and Russia
Alex Croft3 September 2026 07:37
US embassies issue security alerts after reported Iranians strikes
Multiple US embassies in the Middle East issued a security alert to American citizens in the region on Wednesday.
The security environment "remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation", the embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, said.
The US embassy in Riyadh advised Americans to prepare for possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and travel disruptions.
A similar alert was issued by the US mission in the UAE.
The warnings came after Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran “at a much harder and higher level" and leave “very little left" of the country if it retaliated. Iran launched retaliatory attacks overnight.
Shweta Sharma3 September 2026 07:16
Trump says US is 'prepared' for another wave of strikes on Iran
President Donald Trump said the US hit Iran “very hard" on Tuesday night, claiming the strikes were in response to an Iranian attack on US forces in Jordan.
“They gave a little love tap, but we hit them very hard last night,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
He said the US had “taken out all of the new equipment" Iran had built along the Strait of Hormuz.
“It was a very heavy attack last night,” Trump added. “And we're prepared to do another one anytime we want."
Shweta Sharma3 September 2026 07:06
Six commodity vessels transit the Strait of Hormuz
Six commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, down from 11 a day earlier and well below the 10-day average of about 13, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing preliminary data from Kpler.
The vessels included two very large gas carriers, two long-range tankers, one Supramax tanker and one Panamax tanker.
The figure is likely to be revised as some vessels typically switch off their transponders while passing through the strait.
Shweta Sharma3 September 2026 06:47
Trump doesn’t understand the forever war he’s created with Iran – and Russia
In an age of rogue lawlessness dominating international affairs since Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office and then staggered about the globe like a toddler with a chainsaw, it is inevitable that other outlaw nations, Russia and Iran, would see opportunity in the mayhem.
The 47th US president is too infantile and misled by a messianic government in Israel to comprehend that the citizens of Iran will not rise against their oppressors in Tehran under the Stars and Stripes and that Moscow will never be America’s friend.
But Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei (along with his Guardian Council), the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin are locking America into another forever war.
Trump doesn’t understand the forever war he’s created with Iran – and Russia
Trump remains mesmerized by Putin even as the Kremlin helps Iran kill Americans and weaken US influence around the globe, explains world affairs editor Sam Kiley
Shweta Sharma3 September 2026 06:30
Oil edges down as investors weigh uncertainty
Oil prices edged lower on Thursday as investors weighed the uncertainty of renewed military strikes between the US and Iran that risk disrupting supplies from the Middle East.
Brent crude futures fell 43 cents, or 0.45 per cent, to $95.2 a barrel at 0029 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 24 cents, or 0.26 per cent, at $90.77.
Brent and WTI swung between gains of as much as $2 a barrel and losses of $1 a barrel during the previous trading session. The session highs for both benchmarks were the highest since 24 July.
Shweta Sharma3 September 2026 06:24
Russia is secretly helping Iran to develop supersonic cruise missiles, says report
Russia has been helping Iran to develop supersonic cruise missiles in secret for years, including through the US-Iran war, according to a report.
Moscow has enlisted some of its most experienced specialists to help Iran to develop a new class of missile capable of threatening US aircraft carriers and warships stationed in the Middle East, according to an investigation by the Financial Times.
The programme’s central objective was to help Iran to develop a special ‘ramjet’ propulsion system that would allow its cruise missiles to fly at several times the speed of sound, the report said.
Fabian Hinz, an expert on Iranian missiles, framed the programme as a major transfer of sensitive technology from Moscow that Tehran had been after for decades and would require authorisation “from the very top”.
Shweta Sharma3 September 2026 06:00
Trump under pressure to avoid Iran escalation ahead of midterms
Donald Trump is under pressure to avoid further escalation after the US launched its largest wave of strikes on Iran in weeks, as the military faces mounting strain and the November midterm elections approach.
Trump on Wednesday dismissed concerns that the war could hurt Republican candidates, saying he believed his party supported his efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
But the president’s approval rating has fallen to a record-low 33 per cent, while two-thirds of Americans disapprove of his handling of the war. Oil prices also climbed above $90 a barrel on Wednesday.
“I don’t think it will be very much longer,” Trump said when asked how many more Iranian targets the US could strike, as the conflict passed the six-month mark.
The comments came as Reuters reported that the White House was seeking to avoid a major escalation against Iran until after the 3 November election.
The latest fighting erupted after a month of relative calm. US forces carried out about 100 strikes against Iranian targets on Tuesday, saying they were retaliation for maritime threats near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state media reported that a US strike hit a home in southern Iran during a wedding celebration, killing two women and two children and injuring 60 others.
Shweta Sharma3 September 2026 05:57
Pictures and video show aftermath of alleged US strike on Iranian wedding
Videos from southern Iran show the aftermath of what Iranian officials say was a deadly US strike on a wedding gathering at a home.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society released video showing debris strewn on the ground next to a building with a large hole in the roof, accompanied by still images showing people, some in Red Crescent vests, at a damaged building and a utility tower lying on the ground.
Other footage carried by Iranian state media showed wounded children lying in hospital beds.
The bride’s father, Ali Mallahi, described the incident as “very saddening”, saying: “I really don’t know what to say. Thank God the casualties were not higher.”
One injured man said he was travelling to the wedding when he heard fighter jets overhead. He said an explosion struck as they arrived, sending debris into his head and face and causing him to lose consciousness.
“Lots of children and women were horribly injured. All the people were ordinary people,” he said in footage carried by local media.
A US Central Command spokesperson said the military was investigating the allegations and reiterated that the US does not target civilians.
Shweta Sharma3 September 2026 05:30
Trump floats renaming Strait of Hormuz as ‘Trump Strait’
President Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz should be renamed after him, claiming the key waterway is now under US control.
“Now that we have it under USA control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???" Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The waterway has become a flashpoint in the renewed conflict between the US and Iran. The latest escalation began after US forces struck what an American military spokesperson said were Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces preparing to lay more sea mines in the strait.
Trump last month also vowed to declare the Strait of Hormuz US territory.
Shweta Sharma3 September 2026 05:06
