Iran war news Highlights: US strikes Iranian rocket launchers near Hormuz, breaking month-long lull

After US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz in the first reported US military action against Iran in about a month, Iran quickly vowed retaliation, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirming that several of its fighters and other people were killed or wounded in the attack.

The IRGC described the US strike as a “fatal mistake by the Trump regime during the economic war” and warned that Washington would face consequences.

“The enemy will pay the consequences militarily and economically,” IRGC spokesperson Gen. Hossein Mohebi said in a statement carried by Iranian media.

US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers near Hormuz in the first reported US military action against Iran in about a month, breaking a period of relative calm in a conflict that has lasted more than six months.

Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces had been observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military had completed clearing sea mines from international shipping routes in the strait just a week earlier.

US forces struck Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz in the first reported US military action against Iran in about a month, breaking a period of relative calm in a conflict that has lasted more than six months.

A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while sailing inbound through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported the incident on Sunday.

The incident occurred 12 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman.

No casualties were reported following the incident.

UKMTO said there was no environmental impact reported.

The identity of the projectile and the circumstances behind the incident remain unclear.

In Gaza, an Israeli airstrike in western Deir al-Balah killed at least two Palestinians, including a three-year-old boy, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The Israeli military identified the other person killed as Hassam Osama Hussein Nasir and described him as a Hamas operative. The military said he had posed an “immediate threat” but did not provide further evidence.

Another Palestinian was wounded in the strike, according to hospital authorities.

The deaths come amid a fragile ceasefire that has attempted to halt more than two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Gaza's Health Ministry said Israeli fire has killed at least 1,318 Palestinians since the truce began.

Iran’s new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has called for greater cooperation and unity among Muslim nations.

In a letter to religious leaders attending a conference in Tehran, Khamenei urged Islamic countries to stand together and strengthen cooperation.

He described the United States and Israel as enemies of all Islamic nations.

Khamenei warned Muslim rulers to identify their “real enemy,” understand its plans and confront it.

“Know your real enemy, understand its plans and confront it,” Khamenei wrote, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil will push for ending economically damaging conflicts during G20 talks in the US.

He said tariff disputes and wars in Iran and Ukraine are hurting global economic development.

Klingbeil called these conflicts “poison for economic development worldwide.”

He said reducing “massive global uncertainties” is a shared responsibility among G20 nations.

The G20 meeting begins Monday in Asheville, North Carolina, and is hosted by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Israeli authorities have charged two teenagers, aged 14 and 16, with spying for Iran after they were allegedly recruited through Telegram, police said on Sunday.

The teenagers were reportedly contacted in June by a person claiming links to Iran. Police said they carried out paid assignments including painting graffiti, transferring intelligence and trying to recruit other Israelis. One allegedly posed as an Israeli soldier to secure more tasks.

Years of US economic pressure and sanctions have failed to achieve Washington’s goals against Iran, Iranian lawmaker Jafar Ghaderi said on Sunday.

Ghaderi, deputy chairman of parliament’s economic committee, said the White House had pursued sanctions and economic pressure against Iran for years without achieving its intended objectives.

United Airlines plans to resume flights between Tel Aviv and San Francisco on March 27, 2027, with three weekly services, after suspending the route at the start of the Iran war.

The airline also plans to restart flights from New York/Newark to Tel Aviv on September 9, 2026, followed by services from Chicago and Washington DC in late October.

Iran could seize ships and other assets belonging to Arab countries, Bulgaria and Cyprus over their alleged support for US attacks, Iranian lawmaker Abolfazl Abutorabi said on Sunday.

Speaking to Didban Iran, Abutorabi argued that countries allowing the US to use their territory for attacks could be treated as aggressors under Article 2 of the UN Charter.

He said Iran could confiscate ships and other assets belonging to those countries if they enter the Persian Gulf, specifically warning Bulgaria and Cyprus.

An Islamic Revolutionary Court has sentenced 10 protesters to death and six others to prison terms of up to 25 years over demonstrations in Isfahan, central Iran, according to activist-run Telegram channel Khabaraneha.

The 16 people were arrested during protests in December 2025 and January 2026. The case has become known as the “Isfahan Shohada Square” case, after the location linked to the demonstrations.

A study revealed that India was among the Top 20 countries incurring the highest gross extra costs for fuel amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis. India reportedly suffered a gross additional cost of USD 22 billion in the six months following the strikes on Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei urged Muslim rulers on Sunday to identify what he called their true enemy and confront its plans, particularly in West Asia and the Persian Gulf.

“My emphatic and repeated recommendation to the rulers of Islamic countries, particularly those in West Asia and along the Persian Gulf, is to identify your true enemy, understand its plan and confront it,” Khamenei wrote in a message marking “Islamic Unity Week.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei urged Muslim rulers on Sunday to identify what he called their true enemy and confront its plans, particularly in West Asia and the Persian Gulf.

“My emphatic and repeated recommendation to the rulers of Islamic countries, particularly those in West Asia and along the Persian Gulf, is to identify your true enemy, understand its plan and confront it,” Khamenei wrote in a message marking “Islamic Unity Week.”

He said Islam had reached a decisive moment after enduring turbulent periods.

“Today, the prospect of the ultimate triumph of truth over falsehood and Islam over unbelief is far closer to becoming a reality than at any time in the past,” read the message.

Fossil fuel importers paid an estimated $330 billion more for seaborne oil, fuel and LNG between March and August than pre-war futures markets had projected, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Crude accounted for $164.1 billion of the gross additional cost, followed by diesel and gasoil at $73.8 billion and LNG at $38 billion.

The EU faced the largest gross increase at $78 billion, followed by China at $35 billion and India at $22 billion. CREA described the US-Iran war as causing the largest sustained oil price shock since the 1990 Persian Gulf War.

Iranian leaders are acknowledging the economic toll of war with the U.S., with the supreme leader urging the government to address the hardship and the president saying foreign trade has shrunk by a third due to the American sanctions and blockade.

Yet Tehran signalled no retreat on Saturday, vowing to withstand U.S. pressure, pursue diplomacy and maintain what it said was control over the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway giving Iran leverage through its ability to disrupt global energy markets.

The government said in a statement on state media that addressing economic pressures caused by sanctions and war was a central focus, including curbing inflation, managing markets, creating jobs, directing investment towards domestic production and gradually reducing dependence on the dollar. (Reuters)

Six months into a conflict that President Donald Trump predicted would last “four to five weeks,” Republican strategists worry there’s no way to keep the Iran war from hurting the party’s prospects in November’s midterm elections.

According to Bloomberg, the continuing hostilities have demoralised GOP voters, who sent Trump to the White House in order to tame inflation and keep the US out of overseas conflicts.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s security adviser Qassim al-Araji said on Saturday that Iraq wants to serve as a bridge between Iran and the United States to help the two sides reach an agreement that protects the interests of the wider region.

“We have a good relationship with Iran and the United States, and we seek to be a bridge,” al-Araji told Al Jazeera.