Injured victims lie in hospital beds following an attack at a wedding near Sirik, a coastal area on the Strait of Hormuz, Sept. 2, 2026, in this screengrab taken from a handout video. West Asia News Agency via Reuters

What to know about the Iran war today:
o Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he was "extremely skeptical" that the U.S. hit a wedding party while carrying out strikes on Iran that Tehran claims killed at least 18 people throughout the country. Asked if the war would be over by November's midterm elections, Vance said, "I wouldn't call it a war."

o A U.S. official confirmed to CBS News that no military facilities in the Middle East where Americans are based were impacted after Iran claimed it targeted U.S. forces in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for the strikes.

o President Trump warned Wednesday that the U.S. was prepared to launch more strikes on Iran "anytime we want," a day after what he called a "very heavy attack" on the Islamic Republic's military.

1:31 AM
South Korea weighing "contributions" to Strait of Hormuz security, president's office says
South Korea said Friday it was weighing "contributions" to U.S. security efforts in the Strait of Hormuz provided its own military readiness wouldn't be compromised, but noted no decision had been made.

President Trump has repeatedly pressured Seoul to provide help for the U.S. war effort in the Middle East, saying it had rejected his request for assistance in securing the strait.

"Contributions to the Strait of Hormuz could be managed within limits that do not compromise military readiness," a South Korean presidential official told reporters.

"The references made during today's briefing regarding military contributions —such as combat participation, non-combat roles, and search operations — were merely general descriptions of various options. Please be advised that nothing has been decided yet concerning actual contributions," the president's office said in a separate statement.

The comments came a day after local broadcaster JTBC reported that South Korea's government was "leaning toward" dispatching troops to help with Hormuz secuirty and reviewing details ahead of seeking parliamentary approval.

Mr. Trump has struggled to get help from allies in the war that the U.S. and Israel launched on Iran six months ago.

The fighting has hit an impasse as Iran maintains a stranglehold on the strategic strait and Washington presses its counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

11:04 PM
Traffic in Strait of Hormuz remains well below pre-war levels, data shows
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains well below pre-war levels due to the risk of Iranian attack if ships do not comply with an Iranian vetting regime. The decline is in sharp contrast to the unhindered navigation before the war.

Last week there were 102 transits, compared with 126 the week before, according to shipping data company Lloyd's List Intelligence. That compares with 130 or more per day before the war.

Significant amounts of oil, however, continue to flow through the strait due to a shuttle trade in which tanker operators risk going through a southern route near the coast of Oman under the guidance of U.S. forces.

6:51 PM / September 3, 2026
Netanyahu says toppling Iran's regime is "within reach"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday voiced confidence that Iran's regime could soon fall, saying it was weaker than ever as the United States resumed attacks.

"This regime is currently teetering. It is weaker than ever. It is fighting for its survival," Netanyahu said at an event with Israeli military leaders.

"I am convinced that we can remove this threat once and for all, that is, to overthrow this regime. That is the central task that still lies ahead of us, but it is close. It is not impossible. It is within reach," he said.

Netanyahu's remarks come ahead of the Oct. 27 general elections in which some polls show him trailing as opposition leaders accuse him of failing on Iran.

"If they're not attacking us, it is not by chance. They attack everyone, but not us," Netanyahu said of Iran. "… They know our power, the strength of our arms, and our determination."

5:11 PM / September 3, 2026
Lebanon receives first detainee of 5 to be freed by Israel
Israel announced Thursday the release of five civilians captured in southern Lebanon, where it is at war with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah group, with one man already handed over to the Lebanese army.

Lebanon said its army had received a man returned by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the first since Beirut called in August talks for the release of an initial group seized since the start of a 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war.

"After their interrogation was completed, it became clear that they are civilians who are not members of any terrorist organization, have not engaged in terrorism, and there is no reason to continue holding them in Israel," the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Netanyahu's office said the decision followed "extensive efforts" by Israel and Lebanon to locate and return the bodies of leaders of Lebanon's Jewish community abducted and killed in the 1980s during the country's 15-year civil war.

3:47 PM / September 3, 2026
Will the war be over by the midterms? "I wouldn't call it a war," Vance says
Asked if the war would be over by November's midterm elections, Vice President JD Vance disputed whether the conflict was still a war.

"I wouldn't call it a war," Vance said during a White House news briefing. "Right now, there is no active shooting. I recognize there have been places where this has flared up."

The vice president also said major combat operations ended after about six weeks.

"When you ask, 'When will this end?' You're asking me a question like, 'When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships?' I think the reality is I don't know the answer to that question. You would have to ask the Iranians," Vance said.

3:14 PM / September 3, 2026
Vance says no Iran negotiations until Strait of Hormuz attacks stop
Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. wouldn't negotiate with Iran while attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz continue.

"The president's been very clear: We're not talking to them, and we're not going to talk to them unless they stop shooting at commercial shipping," Vance said during a White House news briefing.

2:47 PM / September 3, 2026
Vance: "Gas, frankly, could have been much, much higher"
Vice President JD Vance wouldn't say when Americans could expect lower gas prices.

Asked when Americans could expect to pay less at the pump, Vance said the U.S. has been able to avert a global energy crisis from Iran's attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

"We've been quite successful up to this point," Vance said. "Gas, frankly, could have been much, much higher were it not for our efforts, but I'm not going to make a promise about when it's going to return to $3."

Speaking at a White House news briefing, the vice president said the U.S. was fighting Iran so it wouldn't be able to have a nuclear weapon.

As of Thursday, the average price for a gallon of regular gas across the country was $4.14, according to AAA.

Updated 4:30 PM / September 3, 2026
Vance says he's "extremely skeptical" that U.S. hit Iran wedding party
Vice President JD Vance said he was "extremely skeptical" of Iranian allegations that the U.S. hit a wedding party during American strikes earlier this week.

Iranian officials said four civilians were killed and dozens more were wounded in the attack. The U.S. military said it was looking into the allegations.

"I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what's happened in the conflict thus far, so I'm extremely skeptical of this," Vance told reporters during a White House news briefing.

The vice president reiterated what the U.S. military has been saying, which is that civilians are not targeted.

"Unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen, but in this particular case, I don't think that we have any information one way or the other," Vance said. "We're investigating it because obviously we care, we want to know."

1:10 PM / September 3, 2026
Mother of USS Abraham Lincoln sailor "so relieved" son has arrived in Thailand
Sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln are swapping military operations for beaches, bars and a few days of much-needed rest after landing in Thailand. And after a record nine months at sea, parents of the sailors are just happy they are on solid ground after the grueling deployment.

"I'm certain that his feet have touched the ground, and I'm really so relieved, so relieved," Christi McGarey, whose son Marshall Ludwig is a sailor on the ship, told CBS News. "Those ports are really important, and there's a reason why things like this don't happen, because since that particular vessel has been in commission there's never been this many consecutive days at sea."

Some 5,000 sailors, Marines and crew departed the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier after spending the last six months involved in the war with Iran.

12:57 PM / September 3, 2026
Iran-backed Houthis attack Yemen's western coast
Iran-backed Houthi military forces intensified missile and artillery attacks on areas along Yemen's western coast early Thursday, according to media affiliated with government forces and local sources.

Yemen's western coast sits on the Red Sea, another key trade route in the Middle East, like the Strait of Hormuz off the Iranian coast.

The media arm of the National Resistance, which is part of the Saudi-backed Yemeni military, said the Houthis launched 14 ballistic missiles Thursday toward rural areas around Mokha in Taiz province and south of the city of Khokha in Hodeidah province.

Local residents reported hearing explosions early Thursday in Taiz and Ibb provinces, which they believed were caused by ballistic missiles launched from Houthi-controlled areas toward Yemen's western coast.

12:28 PM / September 3, 2026
Hegseth favors Sean Parnell for Army secretary, sources say
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told people close to him that Sean Parnell would be his top choice for secretary of the Army, several senior officials told CBS News.

Parnell is currently chief Pentagon spokesperson and a former Army officer.

Updated 12:32 PM / September 3, 2026
Iran's latest attacks didn't impact military facilities used by U.S., official confirms
A U.S. official confirmed to CBS News on Thursday that Iran's attacks overnight didn't impact any military facilities in the Middle East where U.S. forces are based, including in Kuwait, which was targeted by Iranian forces.

9:35 AM / September 3, 2026
Iran says 3 military pilots, 3 other troops among those killed in latest U.S. strikes
At least six Iranian military service members were killed in the U.S. airstrikes carried out Tuesday night, Iran's semi-official Tasnim News agency said Thursday, including three it identified as pilots.

It was not clear if the six were among the 18 people Iran's health ministry said had been killed in the U.S. attacks on Tuesday in a statement issued Wednesday night.

Iranian authorities had said previously that those U.S. strikes killed at least four civilians attending a wedding in the Hormozgan Province, as well as four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard's Aerospace Force, two members of the country's navy and one member of the Basij paramilitary unit.

8:58 AM / September 3, 2026
Trump, correcting Lutnick on U.S. war casualties, says 18 "killed in Iran"
President Trump appeared Thursday to contradict the U.S. military's classification of American casualties during the Iran war in a brief social media post aimed at correcting remarks by Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.

Speaking Wednesday on CNBC, Lutnick lauded Mr. Trump's approach to the war and said "there haven't been American deaths. It's really just an economic choke-out, which the administration is now executing more broadly, and I think it'll be very effective."

In his post Thursday, Mr. Trump said Lutnick "had Venezuela on his mind when he said nobody was killed. 18 people were killed in Iran!"

In July, the Pentagon website where the number of U.S. dead and wounded in military conflicts is reported listed four service members killed in Jordan and Iraq in July under "Overseas Operations Casualties" — separate from 14 other service members who have been killed during the war with Iran.

The other 14 appear in the database as casualties of Operation Epic Fury, the Defense Department's previous name for the conflict. The four service members killed in Jordan and Iraq in July had previously also appeared on that list, but their names were removed, lowering the official Pentagon number on those killed in the war with Iran to 14 from 18.

All 18 of the U.S. forces killed during the Iran war have died outside of Iran during operations against the Islamic Republic. No U.S. forces are known to have been killed in Iranian territory.

8:08 AM / September 3, 2026
Oil prices jump again as Iran continues launching attacks on U.S. Gulf allies
Oil prices jumped again Thursday as Iran claimed new strikes targeting U.S. forces across the Middle East, but bond yields eased and stock markets traded steadier after recent volatility.

Crude futures had dropped briefly, after President Trump suggested U.S. attacks against Iran would likely be short-lived, but with Iran's retaliation continuing, and likely to draw further American strikes, oil prices continued the general upward trend on Thursday that has been seen for a week, since hostilities resumed.

Iran said it had attacked military bases used by U.S. forces in Kuwait and the UAE on Thursday, despite Mr. Trump threatening further strikes in a fresh flare-up six months into the war.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading Thursday morning at over $97 a barrel, its highest price point since July 23.

U.S. crude was also selling at its highest price in more than a month at over $92 a barrel early Thursday.

Before the U.S. and Israel jointly launched the war with Iran on Feb. 28, Brent had hovered for months around the $65 a barrel mark. The rise in global fuel prices has pushed consumer gas prices in the U.S. up, with the average cost of a gallon of regular gas across the country hitting $4.12 on Wednesday, nearly a dollar more than one year ago, according to AAA.

7:42 AM / September 3, 2026
Iranian politician says "dark months await" U.S. economy, warns of shift to "asymmetric" tactics
Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref warned Thursday that "dark months await" the U.S. economy. He urged Americans to stockpile fuel, claiming Iran had decided to shift to "asymmetric" and "multilayered" tactics to retaliate for "new crimes of the United States against the Iranian people."

In a likely reference to the U.S. airstrike that Iranian officials say killed at least four civilians at a wedding celebration on Tuesday night in Hormozgan Province, Aref said in a social media post that U.S. actions had "changed our security calculations and defense doctrine."

"From now on, our response will be 'asymmetric,' 'multilayered' and 'depriving the aggressor of security.' Americans should think about stockpiling gasoline and fuel; dark months await the U.S. economy," he said, without offering any further detail.

The U.S. military said Wednesday that it was looking into the reports of the alleged strike hitting the wedding party. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins stressed repeatedly that the "U.S. military never targets civilians," which he accused Iran's military forces of doing.

6:48 AM / September 3, 2026
Iran's health ministry says at least 18 killed, 108 injured in U.S. strikes
Iran's Ministry of Health said late Wednesday that the previous night of U.S. strikes had killed at least 18 people and left 108 wounded.

The statement from Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi, relayed by Iran's IRIB state television network, did not provide a breakdown of civilian and military casualties, but Iranian authorities had said over the course of Wednesday that four civilians were killed in a U.S. strike that hit a wedding celebration in the southern province of Hormozgan.

On Thursday, the head of a local hospital said most of the 70 people admitted with injuries after the strike had been discharged, but 11 remained under treatment, including five who remained in intensive care. The hospital chief said on Iranian state TV that most of the wounded were women and children.

Separately, Iranian officials said four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard's Aerospace Force, two members of the country's navy and one member of the Basij paramilitary unit were killed in strikes Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

5:42 AM / September 3, 2026
Iran's army claims new attacks targeting bases used by U.S. forces in Kuwait and UAE
Iran's army claimed Thursday to have launched new attacks targeting military bases used by U.S. forces in both Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Kuwaiti authorities said Iran had targeted the country with unspecified weapons early Thursday morning, without saying whether they were intercepted or caused any damage or casualties.

Iran's army, in a statement, claimed it hit U.S. satellite installations, warehouses and fighter jet hangars at the Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait "with missiles and attack drones," calling the purported attacks "retaliation for the pure blood of innocent people and brave members of the armed forces" killed in American strikes this week.

It claimed the strikes "caused damage to the communications systems and fighter aircraft hangars," but offered no evidence.

Iran's army said radar systems and "locations where [American] forces were stationed" at the UAE's Al Minhad Air Base were also attacked with missiles and drones, though the statement did not claim to have inflicted any specific damage with the strikes.

There was no immediate word from the U.S. military on any Iranian weapons impacting American facilities in the Mideast on Thursday.

4:00 AM / September 3, 2026
Kuwait condemns continued Iranian attacks in "strongest" terms
Kuwait's foreign ministry expressed its condemnation and denunciation, in the "strongest" terms, of the repeated Iranian attacks against the country, the latest of which occurred at dawn Thursday, describing them as a flagrant violation of its sovereignty, a direct threat to its security, stability, and the safety of its citizens and residents, and a serious breach of international law, the United Nations Charter, and U.N. Security Council Resolution 2817.

In a social media post, the Ministry reiterated that the continuation of these blatant attacks reflects a hostile approach and constitutes a dangerous escalation that threatens regional security and stability while systematically undermining diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalation and reducing tensions.

The Ministry stressed that Kuwait reserves its full right to take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty, preserve its security, and defend its territory and vital facilities against any aggression or threat, based on its inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and the rules of international law.

2:48 AM / September 3, 2026
Saudi Red Sea oil shipments at standstill, Houthi source claims
A military source from the Houthi rebels in Yemen told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that Houthi rebel forces continue to monitor the movement of Saudi vessels in the southern Red Sea around the clock.

The source asserted that the transit of all Saudi commercial ships and oil tankers has been halted.

Source

Posted by Temmy
Fri, September 04, 2026 7:46am