Donald Trump’s top White House aides are urgently pushing to prevent the Iran war from escalating, after the US ramped up the intensity of its attacks on Wednesday.
The aides want to prevent the war escalating before November's midterm elections to stem Republican electoral losses, four sources told the Reuters news agency.
Officials will consider once again ramping up military action after the vote in November, but a return to the full-scale conflict is not a given, they said.
"We are keeping the pressure on Iran," one White House official said. "But November is a priority."
It comes after Iran vowed to respond with “crushing and devastating blows” after US strikes killed five people attending a wedding party in Iran.
Iranian state media reported explosions across southern coastal areas, including Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island. Tehran also said US strikes hit civilian sites in Hormozgan province and a civilian airport in Kerman province.
One of the strikes hit a home in Kuhestak where a wedding ceremony was taking place, killing five people, including a child, and wounding at least 68 others, according to Hormozgan provincial officials.
Centcom said it concluded its latest barrage against Iranian military targets on Tuesday night.
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Key Points
- Trump's aides push to prevent Iran war from escalating - Reuters
- Moscow helping Iran produce supersonic cruise missiles - report
- US military struck two Iranian tankers for the first time, report says
- Iran says US attacked a wedding party, killing five
- Trump shares AI video of Kharg Island being 'blown to smithereens'
- Trump insists US has 'almost total control' of Hormuz
The latest: Trump has no interest in ‘worthless’ deal with Iran as both sides launch new strikes
12:36 , James ReynoldsUS president Donald Trump has insisted he “couldn’t care less” if Iran signs a “worthless” deal to end the war, as both sides launched fresh strikes in the spiralling conflict.
The conflict in the Middle East saw a dramatic re-escalation on Wednesday as Washington and Tehran traded attacks in the biggest exchange of fire in weeks, with US forces attacking Iran’s southern coast and Iran attacking American bases across the region.
“I’m not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table,” the Trump wrote on Truth Social overnight, responding to speculation after the US struck Iran for the first time since July overnight into Monday. “I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement.”
Trump has no interest in ‘worthless’ deal with Iran as both sides launch new strikes
How Iran could stop more even oil leaving the Middle East
12:29 , Alex CroftMohsen Rezaei, the former Revolutionary Guards chief and secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, has threatened to shut down oil exports.
He has warned the US that if the economic war continues, not a single drop of oil will be exported through the Strait of Hormuz or anywhere in the Persian Gulf.,
Iranian attacks and threats to shipping have already stopped most traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, largely shutting down a waterway that carried around a fifth of global energy before the conflict.
Although some oil tankers have been moving through the strait in recent weeks, volumes remain very low.
Missile, drone or speedboat attacks on tankers trying to leave the Gulf have repeatedly pushed up oil prices during the six months of the conflict.
Meanwhile, Tehran's Houthi allies have restricted Red Sea shipping with attacks and threats to blockade all Saudi Arabian shipping, which carries crude to Asia through the Bab el-Mandeb strait past the group's Yemeni stronghold.
While the attacks initially only stopped some vessels, with more than half still getting through in mid-August, the situation is difficult for shippers with Chinese shipping companies now rerouting away from Bab el-Mandeb, according to industry sources.
Further attacks, such as the one that targeted a vessel off the main Saudi Red Sea oil terminal at Yanbu last week or a drone strike near the Suez Canal in early August, could raise oil market anxiety levels and crude oil prices.
With Reuters
Pictured: Centcom shares footage of Iranian military target before strike
12:01 , Alex Croft
Trump's aides push to prevent Iran war from escalating - Reuters
11:37 , Alex CroftSenior aides to Donald Trump are pushing to prevent the Iran war from escalating, after the US ramped up the intensity of its attacks on Wednesday.
The aides want to prevent the war escalating before November's midterm elections to hinder Republican electoral losses, four sources told the Reuters news agency.
Officials will consider once again ramping up military action after the vote in November, but a return to the full-scale conflict is not a fiven, they said.
They said that for now, the administration is focused on tightening the economic pressure on Iran in an effort to extract concessions in any future negotiation that months of military action failed to secure.
"We are keeping the pressure on Iran," one White House official said. "But November is a priority."
Keeping the war mostly contained until then would help prevent the unpopular conflict from dominating the news as Trump's Republicans campaign to defend thin majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives, said the sources, three of whom are White House officials.
Exhausted and demoralised? How US sailors are really coping after six months at sea
11:01 , Alex CroftWhile President Trump and his self-styled secretary of state for “War”, Pete Hegseth, dismissed it as ‘fake news’, by all accounts, life for the 5,000 men and women on board the USS Abraham Lincoln had become a living nightmare after more than 260 days at sea without respite.
The nuclear-powered warship left San Diego in November and has, until recently, been stationed in the Middle East to support the U.S. war against Iran. While the Lincoln left the Middle East on August 22 on its way home, with a planned Thailand stop, she has spent a record amount of time at sea without a port visit. Stories abound about poor food, bad hygiene, blocked toilets, intermittent showers, plummeting morale and shredded mental health. Reports in the Military Times and the Stars and Stripes claimed that sailors even tried to jump overboard as the deployment kept going.
Chris Terrill reports:
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Exhausted and demoralised? How US sailors are really coping after six months at sea
Oil tankers hit sea mines while transiting Strait of Hormuz, says Tehran
10:29 , Alex CroftTwo oil tankers hit sea mines and were disabled while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday.
In a statement shared by state media, the guards said the tankers had been forced to disembark their crews and were placed in the hands of US operatives to pass through what it called an "illegal route" in the strategic waterway.
It came despite earlier warnings from the Guards' navy about the dangers of crossing the mined passage, the statement added.
Two killed in security incident in Strait of Hormuz, says Saudi shipping company
09:59 , Alex CroftTwo Filipino seafarers have been killed in a security incident in the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia's national shipping company, Bahri, said on Wednesday.
The incident involved the company’s vessel "SIDR" while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz on August 31, it said.
Bahri did not provide further details - we’ll bring you more on this incident as we get it.
Watch: US airstrike hits home where wedding celebration was taking place, Iran says
09:32 , Alex CroftPakistan confident US and Iran will 'return to the table'
09:08 , Alex CroftPakistan is working with the US and Iran to end their conflict and believes they will soon “return to the table for dialogue”.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi made the comments at a regular media briefing on Wednesday.
The visit last month of Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces Asim Munir to Tehran created "considerable momentum" on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, he said.
Moscow helping Iran produce supersonic cruise missiles - report
08:43 , Alex CroftIran is secretly developing advanced supersonic cruise missiles with the help of Russia, according to a report.
The C430L programme, which has spanned several years since 2023, has seen Moscow’s top missile specialists helping produce the weapons that would significantly strengthen Tehran’s military, with the prospect of total peace with the US currently looking bleak.
It was reported by the Financial Times, which dubbed the programme as one of the most “significant known transfers of strategic military technology from Moscow to Tehran”.
Moscow is assisting Tehran in developing a ramjet propulsion system, which would enable cruise missiles to fly much faster than the speed of sound, according to military patents and leaked Russian correspondence, the FT reported.
Iranian missile expert Fabian Hinz, an analyst at Conflict Armament Research, told the outlet: “This is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades.
“A programme like this would require political clearance from the very top in Russia.”
Trump insists US has 'almost total control' of Hormuz - recap
08:32 , Alex CroftDonald Trump has insisted that the US has “almost total control” of the Strait of Hormuz.
“I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing”, the US president said of Iran on Truth Social earlier Wednesday morning. “They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?”
Maritime traffic in the vital oil waterway has remained muted during the war, with just five ships passing through in the last 24 hours, according to the Hormuz Strait Monitor.
Kuwait races to contain fire at a residential complex in capital after drone strike
07:54 , Shweta SharmaFirefighters in Kuwait rushed to contain a blaze at a residential complex in the capital after it was struck by an Iranian drone.
Public Fire Force spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammed Al-Gharib said on Wednesday, that the fire had been doused and blamed “a hostile drone” from Iran for the attack.
المتحدث الرسمي باسم قوة الإطفاء العام العميد محمد الغريب: السيطرة على حريق اندلع في مجمع سكني بإحدى مناطق العاصمة بعد استهدافه بطائرة مسيرة معادية من قبل العدوان الإيراني الآثم
— كونا KUNA (@kuna_ar) September 2, 2026
- أكد عدم تسجيل أي إصابات بشرية https://t.co/ojOo1UYe57#كونا #الكويت pic.twitter.com/l2CXYUTvwX
Peru severs diplomatic ties with Iran over war
07:19 , Shweta SharmaPeru has severed diplomatic ties with Iran after accusing it of escalating conflict in the Middle East and restricting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The government of the Republic of Peru has decided to sever diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Peruvian foreign ministry said.
Lima raised concerns over what it called Tehran’s repression of peaceful protests, restrictions on press freedom, discrimination against women and girls, and persecution of political opponents.
“Within the framework of its firm commitment to defending democracy, a fundamental principle of its foreign policy, Peru has observed with growing concern the deterioration of democracy in Iran, as documented by various United Nations mechanisms,” it said.
📄El Perú rompe relaciones diplomáticas con la República Islámica de Irán
— Cancillería Perú🇵🇪 (@CancilleriaPeru) September 1, 2026
👉🏻https://t.co/swBZItTpDi pic.twitter.com/5UMYLHjLhp
Pictures show wedding party where five people were killed
06:50 , Shweta SharmaFive people were killed and 50 wounded at a wedding near Sirik, a coastal area on the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Red Crescent reported.
The Mehr news agency said a 4-year-old child was among those killed, while the IRNA news agency, citing a provincial official, put the number of wounded at 68.
According to reports, a shrapnel from the US strike struck a home where a wedding celebration was taking place.
Car hits pro-government gathering in Iran, killing four
06:38 , Shweta SharmaA car struck a gathering of supporters of Iran's government and armed forces in the northeastern city of Mashhad overnight, killing four people and injuring more than 10, several Iranian media reported on Wednesday.
A car travelling at high speed first collided with another vehicle, lost control and then veered into the crowd after hitting safety barriers and traffic signs, Noor News reported, citing Mohsen Mousa-Abadi, head of Razavi Khorasan Province's traffic police.
Initial checks showed the driver, who was arrested, was not in a normal state, Mousa-Abadi said, without giving details on his condition.
There was no immediate indication of a political motive, and authorities described the incident as a traffic accident.
The evening gathering was one of a series of recurring events attended by supporters of the Islamic Republic and its armed forces since the war with the United States began in late February, according to Mehr news agency.
Iran says it is striking US assets across Gulf region
06:26 , Shweta SharmaIran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched attacks against US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Erbil in Iraq, as Tehran retaliated for fresh US strikes on Iran.
It was after Bahrain’s defence force said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks targeting the kingdom.
Bahrain says it intercepted Iranian aerial attacks
06:17 , Shweta SharmaBahrain’s defence force said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks targeting the kingdom.
It came as Tehran was retaliating against US strikes across the region.
Oil prices rise for second day after US-Iran strikes
06:13 , Shweta SharmaBrent crude futures rose 1.3 per cent to $95.91 a barrel on Wednesday, marking further gains for a second day after fresh US strikes on Iran pushed oil prices higher.
The latest exchange of strikes has raised concerns over further disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices rose to a five-week high on Tuesday after the strikes began.
"The threat of further disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz has brought about renewed anxiety over inflation, driving a selloff in stocks across most major markets and a rout in global bond markets," Westpac analysts wrote.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond hit an intraday high of 4.8122 per cent, its highest level in almost three years, while the yield on the 5-year Japanese government bond rose to 2.295 per cent, its highest level on record.
The chaos inside Hegseth’s defense department as Trump ‘concerned’ by scale of purge
05:58 , Joe SommerladArmy Secretary Dan Driscoll has become the latest high-ranking US military official to leave the Pentagon amid reports of tensions with Secretary Pete Hegseth.
No official reason has been offered for Driscoll’s departure following 18 months in the role but it comes after CNN and Reuters said he had been butting heads with Hegseth for several months.
According to sources cited by The Atlantic, Driscoll recently “brought up concerns with the administration surrounding Army transformation and readiness and Hegseth’s blocking those efforts specifically by firing the generals who were responsible”. His mission was seemingly unsuccessful.
Nevertheless, US President Donald Trump was said to be “surprised and concerned” about the number of the cuts to the department and the seniority of those who have left, The Atlantic reports.
Read on...
The chaos inside Hegseth’s defense department as Trump ‘concerned’ by scale of purge
18 commodity vessels transit through Bab el-Mandeb Strait
05:30 , Shweta SharmaAt least 18 commodity vessels transited through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, another major maritime chokepoint in the Middle East, with seven vessels entering and 11 exiting.
This compares with an average of around 24 ships going through Bab el-Mandeb over the past 10 days.
Among the vessels travelling through the strait were two Aframax tankers and one Suezmax tanker.
The United States said it had launched a series of air strikes against Iran on Tuesday, prompting Iranian retaliation, in the most serious escalation of the conflict between the two countries in weeks.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement the US attacks would "tighten the lock" on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that carried about one-fifth of global oil consumption before the conflict.
ICYMI: Trump shares AI video of Kharg Island being 'blown to smithereens'
05:04 , Rachel DobkinUS military struck two Iranian tankers for the first time, report says
04:49 , Shweta SharmaThe US military struck two Iranian government tankers during Tuesday’s attacks on Iran, Axios reported.
A US official said the strikes were carried out under a new “tanker for tanker” policy approved by president Donald Trump in response to Iranian attacks on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the report, the tankers were anchored off Iran’s coast, north of the US naval blockade line.
The missiles hit the engine rooms of the vessels.US officials said around 100 targets were struck on Tuesday, including defence sites, radar systems and anti-ship cruise missile launchers.
It was the first time the US military had targeted Iranian tankers in retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Shipping traffic via Strait of Hormuz stays below 10-day average, data shows
04:21 , Shweta SharmaFour commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, down from 10 a day earlier and below the 10-day average of around 13, preliminary shipping data showed on Wednesday.
The four vessels that transited were one very large crude carrier, one Panamax tanker, one Kamsarmax carrier and one intermediate tanker, initial data from shiptracker Kpler showed at 0200 GMT.
Of the four vessels, one was entering the strait and three were leaving.
The figures could change as some ships typically switch off transponders during the voyage.
Seven killed in missile strikes on Iran’s Khuzestan
04:09 , Shweta SharmaSeven people have been killed in US missile strikes on three locations in Iran’s Khuzestan province, the province’s deputy governor for security affairs said, according to the IRNA news agency.
Eight others were wounded in the strikes, IRNA reported.
Bad news for Trump as more Americans admit they regret voting for him
04:02 , Bruce GoldingBuyer's remorse is rising among Americans who voted for US President Donald Trump in 2024 — vividly illustrating the “clear, consistent signs” that his political base is crumbling, according to survey results released Monday.
About one in six Trump voters told pollsters from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst that they wouldn't vote for him again, as the president's overall approval rating fell to a dismal 32 percent.
“There are no takebacks in electoral politics, but around 15 percent of Trump voters now tell us they might or would vote differently or not vote at all if they had it to do over again”, the poll's co-director, Alexander Theodoridis, said in a prepared statement.
“This is hardly a mass exodus from the Trump tent, but is enough that it certainly could’ve been decisive against Trump in what was a relatively close 2024 election”, Theodoridis added. “More notably, though, there are now clear, consistent signs of an erosion trend“.
Read on...
Bad news for Trump as more Americans admit they regret voting for him
Iran says US attacked a wedding party, killing four
04:01 , Shweta SharmaThe Iranian Red Crescent said four people, including a young child, have been killed in a US attack after shrapnel struck a home where a wedding celebration was taking place in Sirik in southern Iran.
The US had resumed strikes against Iran following "recent attempted attacks" by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, Centcom said.
Iran retaliated by launching attacks at US military bases in Iraq and Jordan, according to local state media and the Jordanian Armed Forces. Attacks were also reported in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, said the “brutal” attack hit a residence in the city of Kuhestak early on Wednesday.
Reza Shahidiyan, governor of Sirik county, later told state broadcaster IRIB that 63 others were wounded, including 50 women and children. All the injured were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Minab and were in “stable condition”, he said.
Trump insists US has 'almost total control' of Hormuz
02:51 , Rachel DobkinDonald Trump has insisted that the US has “almost total control” of the Strait of Hormuz.
“I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing”, the US president said of Iran on Truth Social earlier Wednesday morning. “They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?”
Maritime traffic in the vital oil waterway has remained muted during the war, with just five ships passing through in the last 24 hours, according to the Hormuz Strait Monitor.
Watch: Trump weighs in on Pete Hegseth 2028 run reports
02:03 , Rachel DobkinAnalysis: Experts warn that Trump’s AI fakery in Iran will destroy public trust: ‘Breaking our shared reality’
01:01 , Andrew FeinbergThe footage is convincing. Shot as though from the open door of a military helicopter, it shows oil storage tanks and refinery infrastructure erupting in sequence, smoke stacking into a night sky — the camera juddering the way real gun-camera video shakes.
The caption read "Kharg Island being blown to smithereens." It was signed, as the president signs his official posts, "President DJT."
There was just one problem — it was completely fake, an AI-generated fantasy put forward as part of the running show of slop that characterizes US President Donald Trump’s output on the social media site he owns.
Yet the fact remained that Trump had posted the image at a time when the US was conducting airstrikes in Iran, the first in weeks. He has teased strikes on that Iranian petroleum export facility on multiple times despite warnings that it could touch off a spiraling escalation that would cripple global oil markets and the world economy.
The imagery was so realistic — if not a bit too clean-looking — the Pentagon was forced to almost immediately explain that the president’s post was not a depiction of reality, as other images posted by Trump and his cabinet secretaries of actual air strikes have been.
Read on...
Trump’s AI fakery in Iran war may prove the ultimate betrayal of Americans’ trust
Latest wave of US strikes against Iran targeted 'mine laying capabilities': CENTCOM
Wednesday 2 September 2026 00:22 , Rachel DobkinThe latest wave of US strikes against Iran has concluded with American forces targeting “mine laying capabilities” and other military assets, according to US Central Command.
“US forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine laying capabilities, and communications sites”, CENTCOM wrote on X.
CENTCOM warned that “more than 50,000 US service members are currently operating across the Middle East and remain vigilant, lethal, and prepared to continue executing operations directed by the Commander in Chief”.
Trump nominates new Navy secretary in latest Pentagon shake up
Wednesday 2 September 2026 00:17 , Rachel DobkinDonald Trump has nominated Hung Cao to be the new secretary of the US Navy.
“We need Patriots like Hung leading our Navy and Marine Corps, and I can think of no one better than him to make sure our Great Navy and Marine Corps remain the FIERCEST and BEST Force the World has ever seen”, the US president wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.
Cao has been serving as the acting Navy secretary after John Phelan was ousted in April. Phelan reportedly clashed with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on a couple of issues.
Cao will still need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Also this week, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned following reported tension with Hegseth.
Read more...
Army Secretary resigns after reportedly clashing with Hegseth
Watch: Trump says he is reviewing US position on Falkland Islands
Tuesday 1 September 2026 23:52 , Rachel DobkinUS military denies claim of fresh attack on base in Jordan
Tuesday 1 September 2026 22:44 , Rachel DobkinUS Central Command has denied a claim by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of a fresh attack on a base in Jordan.
The IRGC said it launched a ballistic missile attack at the US base, Al Jazeera and the West Asia News Agency reported.
But a U.S. official later told The Independent that the reporting was false.
Bessent says US likely to announce Iran bank sanctions this week
Tuesday 1 September 2026 22:00 , Daniel KeaneTreasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday the US is likely to announce sanctions on a bank this week as part of its economic campaign against Iran.
"We are probably going to announce a bank sanction this week, and we will announce one the week after. We are speaking to our allies here, who have all come forward, and we have had a great show of support," Bessent said.
Bessent told Reuters on Sunday the Treasury was likely to unveil weekly new secondary sanctions aimed at increasing economic pressure on Iran, with an initial focus on banks.
He said the next step may be cutting off an institution entirely from the dollar-based financial system.
Alarm sirens activated in Jordan, state TV says
Tuesday 1 September 2026 21:31 , Harriette BoucherAlarm sirens have been activated in Jordan's Mafraq and Aqaba governorates, state TV has reported.
It comes as Iran launched attacks against US interests and bases in the region in retaliation to its strikes on Iran.
Four killed in US strike on wedding ceremony
Tuesday 1 September 2026 21:05 , Harriette BoucherAt least four people have been killed in a US strike on a home hosting a wedding ceremony in southern Iran.
Another 35 people have been injured in the attack, Iranian state TV reported.
Ahmad Nafisi, Hormozgan Province’s deputy governor, told Iranian state television that the attack hit a “residential area” in the coastal city of Bandar Kuhestak, near Sirik.
Iran ‘being held together by duct tape and spit’
Tuesday 1 September 2026 20:57 , Harriette BoucherIranian airport and fishmeal factory targeted in US attacks
Tuesday 1 September 2026 20:44 , Harriette BoucherJiroft Airport in southeastern Iran has been attacked by the US, according to state TV.
A projectile reportedly struck an area outside the airport’s runway and caused no casualties or damage to infrastructure.
Iranian state television also reported that strikes hit a fishmeal factory on Qeshm Island and several civilian sites in Hormozgan province.
It said a fishing pier and a ports and maritime organisation tower in Sirik were among the locations struck.
Explosions have been reported in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Jask, and Sirik, near the city of Ahvaz, and Asaluyeh.
Announcing the renewed strikes on Iran, the US Central Command said its military was targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets.
Iran may target 'Americans throughout the world', says US
Tuesday 1 September 2026 20:40 , Harriette BoucherAmericans “throughout the world” have been warned that they could be targeted by Iran following the US’s fresh wave of strikes.
The US embassy in Iran issued a statement on Tuesday, saying Americans in the Middle East need to “exercise heightened vigilance”.
“Due to tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation.
“Americans currently in the Middle East should exercise heightened vigilance and be aware of potential flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions.
“US diplomatic facilities, including outside the Middle East, have been targeted. Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world, including US businesses and other institutions.”
