President Donald Trump said the United States will target Iran’s heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain site “pretty soon” as he meets with Lebanese president Michel Aoun. Meanwhile, U.S. forces carried out a 10th consecutive night of strikes on Iran while Tehran continues to target Gulf countries.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington remains willing to engage and negotiate with Iran, but questioned Tehran's commitment to meaningful talks.
Speaking in Manila on Wednesday during meetings with Southeast Asian counterparts, Rubio said the United States was prepared to pursue diplomacy if Iran demonstrated genuine intent to reach an agreement.
"If they're serious, we're serious. If they're not, then we will do what's necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our allies," Rubio said.
The U.S. military said that as of 21 July, its forces had redirected eight commercial vessels and disabled one vessel as part of efforts to fully enforce the blockade.
No further details were immediately provided on the vessels involved, their destinations, or the circumstances surrounding the disabled ship. The announcement comes amid ongoing military operations and heightened tensions across the region.
Senior Saudi and United Arab Emirates officials have publicly reaffirmed the close relationship between the two Gulf allies, sharing coordinated messages emphasising their shared history, common destiny and "wise leadership."
In matching posts on X, Saudi Media Minister Salman Al-Dosary and UAE National Media Authority Chairman Abdulla bin Mohammed Alhamed said media outlets should reflect the strong ties between the two countries and avoid content that could undermine them.
The messages come after months of public tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi over issues including Yemen, oil policy and regional security. The renewed display of unity also follows calls from Gulf states for greater cooperation in response to Iranian attacks and threats to regional shipping routes.
Kuwait's military said its air defence systems are currently intercepting Iranian drones targeting the country.
The Kuwaiti army said defensive operations were ongoing but did not immediately provide details on the number of drones involved or whether any damage had been reported.
Iran's top joint military command has warned that it will target the interests of the United States and its allies if Washington strikes Iranian nuclear facilities, according to reports carried by Iranian state media.
The warning comes amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington and follows recent threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to expand military operations against Iran, including potential strikes on nuclear-linked sites.
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers on Tuesday that the war in Iran has cost the United States $37.5 billion so far, an increase of nearly $8 billion from the last public estimate.
Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hegseth said the figure includes current operations and projected costs through 30 September. He also warned that military training programmes could face cutbacks without additional funding.
The update comes as fighting between the United States and Iran continues following the collapse of a ceasefire earlier this month. According to the Pentagon, 17 U.S. service members have been killed in the conflict and around 430 troops have been injured since hostilities began in late February.
President Donald Trump has recently signalled the possibility of expanding military operations, including strikes on additional Iranian infrastructure. On Tuesday, he said the U.S. would target Iran's underground Pickaxe Mountain facility "pretty soon."
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House went “very well” as the two leaders discussed support for Lebanon, the Lebanese army’s role in southern areas and efforts to address tensions involving Hezbollah and Israel.
Renewed U.S.-Iran conflict and rising energy security concerns dominated ASEAN meetings in Manila on Tuesday, with foreign ministers warning that new hostilities threaten diplomatic efforts and global stability.
The bloc is also addressing regional challenges, including Myanmar’s civil war and growing South China Sea tensions between China and the Philippines.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticised Beijing’s maritime actions, reaffirming Washington’s support for freedom of navigation and its commitments to allies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his French counterpart that the actions of two French diplomats in Tehran were “unacceptable” and described them as “unconventional and unprofessional,” according to an Iranian Telegram account.
The United States and Jordan on Tuesday announced a new trade agreement aimed at reducing barriers for U.S. exporters.
The deal will remove non-tariff obstacles and expand access for American goods, including agricultural products and motor vehicles, according to the White House.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would target Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain area “pretty soon”, a heavily fortified site linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme near the damaged Natanz enrichment facility.
The underground complex is believed to contain deeply buried tunnels that experts say could be difficult to reach with conventional bunker-busting weapons.
U.S. President Donald Trump issued a fresh warning to Iran, saying the country “hasn’t seen anything yet” as tensions continue to rise between Washington and Tehran.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would be willing to speak with Hezbollah if Lebanese President Joseph Aoun wanted him to, as Washington pushes for greater stability in Lebanon.
Trump made the comments during talks with Aoun, amid efforts to strengthen the Lebanese state’s authority and address Hezbollah’s armed presence in the country.
Iran has warned Bulgaria against allowing the United States to use its territory for military operations against Tehran, after Sofia announced plans to host up to eight U.S. tanker aircraft at a military base.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said any move that helped facilitate U.S. strikes would make Bulgaria “an accomplice of aggressors and lawbreakers”, according to Iranian state media.
The aircraft are expected to be stationed at Bulgaria’s Bezmer air base, with the plan requiring parliamentary approval. The tanker planes are primarily used to refuel military aircraft in the air.
The warning comes as tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain high following a breakdown in a temporary ceasefire deal, with both sides intensifying strikes and raising fears of a wider conflict.
Trump has warned Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement that Washington would respond if it carries out a threatened blockade of commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
U.S. President said the United States would “just have to take care of business” if the group follows through on the threat, raising concerns over further disruption to a key global trade route.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Lebanon had been "badly treated" for decades and pledged U.S. support during talks with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday.
"We're going to have it properly treated, and treated with the respect that it deserves," Trump said.
Two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to China and India turned back in the Red Sea on Tuesday and headed towards the Suez Canal, according to LSEG shipping data, after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militia warned of a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia.
The move has raised fresh concerns over disruption to global energy supplies and trade routes, as the Houthis threaten to expand the impact of the wider U.S.-Iran conflict beyond the Gulf region.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says China's purchases of Iranian oil have fallen significantly, telling Fox Business that imports have seen a "substantial decrease" amid continued U.S. pressure on Tehran's energy exports.
France is considering reducing staffing at its embassy in Tehran after two diplomats were allegedly detained and interrogated by Iranian security forces, London-based news website Iran International reports.
According to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to Iran International, at least one of the diplomats was physically assaulted during the incident.
Several Kuwaiti power plants and water desalination plants were targeted by Iran on Monday, Kuwait's Electricity Ministry has said. The attacks caused fires and repairs are ongoing, the Ministry added.
The Commander of Iran's Navy, Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, has said Tehran is pursuing so-called "American and Israeli agression" against Iranian soldiers through a mix of legal and international channels.
Irani made the remarks at a ceremony in Qom, north-central Iran, IRNA, Iran's state news agency reported.
Yemen's Houthis have threatened to attack any ships going to and from Saudi ports, in an email sent to companies.
Vessels may be "subject to targeting in any location," the message from the group said.
The email also warned shipping companies to avoid loading or discharging at Saudi ports.
Two Iranian men have been sentenced to death by a court in Iran for providing medical help to injued protesters during nationwide protests in January, according to Norway-based NGO, Iran Human Rights.
The two men, Mojtaba Dehbandi, 23, and Kianush Hamzezadeh-Kazerouni, 27, both natives of Shiraz, central Iran, were sentenced by the Shiraz Revolutionary Court.
An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Mojtaba worked as a curtain seller alongside his brother, while Kianoush was a grocer. The two men had brought several injured protesters into a shop to provide them with medical treatment.
"They were identified via surveillance cameras inside the premises, and eight days later, they were arrested at their homes while the four injured protesters who were still inside the shop were also arrested.”
At least 23 protesters have been executed in relation to the January 2026 protests since 19 March, the NGO added.
Lebanese soldiers have begun patrols in the town of Zatar al-Gharbiyeh in southen Lebanon, after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, a senior Lebanese security official has said.
The deployment is in line with a U.S.-brokered plan for southern Lebanon, which foresees phased withdrawals of Israeli troops from the area and their replacement by Lebanese soldiers, who will then confiscate weapons from members of Hezbollah.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington later today.
Multiple U.S. troops were killed in an Iranian strike on a compound in Jordan housing U.S. military personnel, Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has said, the IRGC affiliated news outlet, Fars News Agency reports.
No further details were provided and the U.S. has yet to issue a statement.
Earlier, the IRGC said it had launched an attack on a U.S. military site in Jordan.
Jordan’s state news agency reported that the country’s forces neutralised five Iranian drones. The incident comes amid rising regional tensions and increased military activity across the Middle East.
Iran’s Army said it carried out an attack targeting lodging facilities used by U.S. military personnel at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, state media reported.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday as markets balanced reports of possible U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks against renewed attacks and rising regional tensions. Brent crude dropped 1.1% to $88.26 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 0.9% to $82.50.
A senior Iranian official said Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire aimed at reviving a deal to end the conflict. However, fresh U.S. strikes on Iran, attacks by Iranian forces on regional U.S. assets, and a reported incident involving a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz continued to fuel concerns over energy supplies.
Markets are also watching threats by Yemen’s Houthis to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which could further disrupt global oil trade.
Iran’s Fars news agency, citing a military source, reported that any decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz will be based on security considerations.
Iran has called on the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General to criticise the U.S. attack on a nuclear power point under construction in Khuzestan province in the southwest of the country.
The U.S. hit the partly built Darkhovin Nuclear Power Plant on the eighth consecutive night of the most recent U.S. strikes against the country this week.
Amir Saeed Iravani, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations, said the Secretary-General of the UN should "unequivocally condemn the armed attack by the United States of America against the safeguarded Darkhuyn Nuclear Power Plant.”
Oil prices have dropped amid reports that mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, as part of a broader attempt to revive the Memorandum of Understanding signed in June, which was aimed at bringing about peace between the two countries.
You can read more about the maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia announced by Yemen's Houthis yesterday, and why it could have impact on households across the world, below.
Live shipping traffic from the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea's southern gateway, this morning appears to show vessels passing through the waterway normally.
On Monday, Yemen's Houthis announced a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia, which would block Saudi vessels from using the sea passage.
A spokesman from the Iran-backed group said the measure was in retaliation for a Saudi blockde of ports and airports in Houthi-controlled north-western Yemen.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has said it has targeted infastructure belonging to the U.S. firm Amazon in Bahrain, according to a statement cited by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency.
The IRGC also said it had launched an attack on a U.S. military site in Jordan.
U.S. projectiles hit a civilian site outside the city of Abdanan in southwestern Iran, Iran's state news agency IRNA has reported, citing the city's governor. No casualties were reported.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said it had carried out strikes on military bases in Kuwait, destroying fuel tanks and air defences at Al-Salem Air Base, as well as a radar system at Ahmed Al-Jabar Air Base.
U.S. military equipment, including a radar and air defence system in Muharraq, Bahrain's second-largest city were also targeted, the IRGC said, as well as air defences in the Bahraini city of Riffa.
Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command said it had completed its 10th successive night of strikes against Iran, saying it hit Iranian military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and air defence systems.
Elsewhere, the IRGC said that two oil tankers caught fire following explosions while attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
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An agreement between Iran and the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is expected "soon," a U.S. official has said. The deal would result in the resumption of commercial shipping through the sea passage and the lifting of an American naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Flights arriving at Catania airport in eastern Sicily were suspended after volcanic ash from a new eruption of Mount Etna drifted into the airspace around the airport, disrupting operations at one of Italy’s busiest aviation hubs.
A deal on a new route for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is "very close," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, while warning that the reopening of the waterway depends on the U.S. meeting other conditions, including paying compensation to Iran.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 9th of August, covering the latest developments.
Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the U.S. must meet other conditions.
Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the U.S. must meet other conditions.
A deal on a new route for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is "very close," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said, while warning that the reopening of the waterway depends on the U.S. meeting other conditions, including paying compensation to Iran.
An agreement between Iran and the U.S. to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is expected "soon," a U.S. official has said. The deal would result in the resumption of commercial shipping through the sea passage and the lifting of an American naval blockade on Iranian ports.
U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are progressing and suggested an agreement with Iran could be reached “soon”.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, two key maritime chokepoints in the region, decreased significantly from the previous day, according to shipping data.
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