Iran-US war latest: Trump’s military destroys five Iranian tankers in retaliation for strikes on Navy warship

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked several cities in Saudi Arabia, wounding 73 people and knocking operations at energy facilities offline, the Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday in a further sign of the conflict spreading as diplomacy stalls. The coalition vowed a firm response to attacks on the southern cities of Abha, Khamis, Mushait, Jazan and Najran, as the country’s energy ministry said a number of facilities had been hit, causing fires and temporarily halting some operations. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sarea said that the Yemeni group would soon announce a broad military operation “deep” into Saudi Arabia. The Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen and much of the north, have been launching attacks towards Saudi Arabia since they declared a naval blockade against Riyadh in July, with strikes targeting its vessels in the Red Sea. Iran meanwhile threatened the US with “economic warfare” on Tuesday and said that it had fired an advanced missile at US warships. Tehran has vowed to announce a new restricted zone in the Gulf in the coming days in an effort to further squeeze shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, driving up oil prices and piling pressure on US president Donald Trump to end the war.Iran war will continue for another six months, former US defence secretary says Six months after US-Israeli strikes against Iran, the war has reached a stalemate after a preliminary ceasefire plan unravelled. Little progress has been made in diplomatic efforts to get the peace process back on track, after negotiations broke down in June. Mr Panetta, who was defence secretary under President Barack Obama and has also served as director of the CIA, said in an interview that Donald Trump’s war in Iran risks becoming another “forever war in the Middle East”. He told The Guardian: “It’s no mystery that the United States and Iran are caught in a terrible stalemate, in which there really are very few options available to bring this war to an end.” Read our full story below. Daniel Keane8 September 2026 21:00Pictured: Smoke rises from an Saudi Aramco distribution centre after attack Satellite images taken earlier show the impact of a Houthi attack on a Saudi Aramco distribution centre. Daniel Keane8 September 2026 20:00Deadly airstrike on Iran wedding was likely US bomb missing its target, says report The US defence ministry is investigating the strong possibility that an deadly airstrike on a wedding in Iran was the result of a US bomb missing a nearby target, according to a report. Iranian authorities say the strike on the wedding last Tuesday killed at least four and wounded at least 68, as part of a wave of attacks as Washington and Tehran exchanged the heaviest strikes since July. A person familiar with the operation has now told The Washington Post that the Pentagon is investigating the strike. Investigators are also looking at the possibility that the explosion occurred after an air defence missile fell out of the sky, but the source said this explanation was highly unlikely. Read our full story below. Daniel Keane8 September 2026 19:00Trump claims oil prices ‘will drop precipitously’ President Donald Trump has claimed that oil prices “will drop precipitously” once US forces succeed in Iran. The US president is under growing pressure over rising energy prices and inflation at home ahead of midterm elections this November. Brent crude hit a $99 high on Tuesday following Houthi attacks on energy facilities in Saudi Arabia. “Oil prices will drop precipitously, like everything else is dropping (but more!), when we WIN the war with Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Three Dollars a gallon, but ultimately, below Two Dollars a gallon. It will all happen quickly, and Iran will never have a Nuclear Weapon.” Daniel Keane8 September 2026 18:00Iran threatens to take pre-emptive strike with upgraded ballistic missiles Iran has issued a fresh threat to the US over its newly upgraded ballistic missile, with officials warning that the nation "will take action against any threat, even before it is carried out." The report by Iran’s state news agency on Monday highlighted comments broadcast on state television the previous day by the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei. He praised the country's expanded arsenal and claimed a new missile had been "tested" against a US warship. However, it was unconfirmed whether the test involved the solid-fueled Qassem Basir featured in the new report. Read our full story below. Daniel Keane8 September 2026 17:00UK publishes legislation for tougher sanctions on Iran over nuclear programme Britain on Tuesday published legislation to introduce tougher sanctions on Iran, expanding trade restrictions and ⁠powers to target ships as part of what it described as a wider effort to curb Tehran's nuclear programme and other hostile activities. The government said the measures would restrict Iran's access to the British financial system, broaden trade bans to include more goods, technology and ⁠services, and prohibit Iranian aircraft from landing in ​Britain ⁠unless exemptions apply. The measures form part of plans the government announced last year following the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran under a so-called ⁠snapback mechanism. Stephen Doughty, a Foreign Office minister, said in ‌a written statement that the legislation "doubles down on our action ‌to constrain Iran's nuclear ambitions" and would help ensure Iran was never able to acquire a nuclear weapon. Daniel Keane8 September 2026 16:00South Korea sends team to assess situation in Strait of Hormuz South Korea has sent an inspection team to assess the ⁠security situation in the Strait of Hormuz but no decision has been taken on sending troops, the defence ministry said on Tuesday. The announcement ⁠follows a decision by ​U.S. ⁠President Donald Trump in August to scale back US-South Korea joint military exercises, ⁠in part because South Korea had declined ​to ⁠help Washington in the ‌US-Iran war. The South Korean team departed for the United Arab Emirates over the weekend ‌and is expected to return ‌as early as this week, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the defence ministry. Daniel Keane8 September 2026 15:00West Bank 'on the brink of explosion' from 'unchecked expansion' of settlers, says French foreign minister Announcing the latest sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot says the occupied territories are “on the brink of explosion”. “This deleterious situation gravely undermines the dignity of the Palestinian people. It jeopardizes Israel's security, to which France remains steadfastly committed. It undermines the two-state solution, the only alternative to a permanent state of war,” he says in a post on social media. “France cannot, through its trade, support a situation that threatens the security of Israelis and Palestinians alike, as well as peace and stability in the region. Europe must uphold the same imperative.” James Reynolds8 September 2026 14:15Dozen countries to back, consider curbs on trade in goods from Israeli settlements in West Bank The foreign ministers of 12 countries said on Tuesday they would back or consider restrictions on trade in goods with Israeli settlements in the West Bank that are illegal under international law. "The Government of Israel's actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-State solution," the statement said. "Today, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures," it added. James Reynolds8 September 2026 13:51The latest: Iran-backed Houthis attack four Saudi cities in expansion of Middle East war as oil reaches $99 Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthis attacked four cities in the south of US ally Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people and setting oil installations ablaze in what appeared to be a major expansion of the six-month-old Middle East war. The Houthis, who control most of Yemen's populated areas including the capital, said they had launched a broad operation deep into Saudi territory. They used drones and missiles to strike a Saudi airbase in the southern city of Khamis Mushait, and targets belonging to Saudi Arabia's state oil company in nearby Abha, Najran on the Yemeni border and Jazan, a major Red Sea port city that houses a large refinery and power plant. Saudi authorities described blazes at the sites and said women and children were among the 73 people hurt. The reports of such large numbers of wounded suggested the attacks were among the biggest carried out against Saudi Arabia since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in February. Houthi-controlled media reported later on Tuesday that Saudi warplanes had carried out four airstrikes in Yemen's Jubah district east of the capital Sanaa. After a month of calm in August, fighting in the Gulf has resumed, with Iran and the US exchanging fire, sending global oil prices back up to levels unseen since July. Brent crude prices were up more than 2% on Tuesday, above $99 a barrel.