Massive tit-for-tat strikes between Iran and US after month-long lull

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday visited Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, where he vowed not to pull back troops despite a recent push by mediators to advance a US-backed ceasefire plan calling for their withdrawal.

It was the first time Netanyahu has visited the war-shattered territory since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in October 2025.

"We control the area. We are not retreating. We are staying on this line," Netanyahu said near the so-called Yellow Line, which demarcates the areas under Hamas and Israeli military control.

"We control 60 percent of the Strip, and we are not stopping, because we are eliminating the terrorists who threaten us, day in and day out."

The Gulf Cooperation Council condemned in the "strongest terms" Iranian attacks this morning on countries including Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan.

The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jassem Al-Budaiwi, stressed that these Iranian attacks "represent a blatant violation of the sovereignty of countries and a direct threat to their security and stability."

He stressed that the GCC countries stand by the three countries in all the actions and measures they take to preserve their sovereignty and protect their security, stability, and the safety of their people and those residing on their lands.

Top aides to US President Donald Trump are pushing to keep the Iran war from spiraling out of control before November's midterm elections to staunch Republican electoral losses, four people familiar with the discussions said, a strategy already under strain as the US and Iran exchanged back-and-forth attacks overnight.

White House officials will consider ramping up military action after the 3 November vote, said the sources, who requested anonymity to describe internal thinking, though any return to full-scale conflict is far from a given.

For now, the sources said, the administration wants to rely on applying more 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.

Only 31% of Americans approve of the war, while some 63% disapprove, according to a late August Reuters/Ipsos poll, and voters are particularly unhappy about high gas prices.

A tactical pause could also give the US military some breathing room to replenish its heavily depleted munitions stockpiles, the sources said.

But pulling off the play-it-cool strategy looks more difficult by the day. 

Iranian media reports that the death toll for the US’s attacks on southern Iran rose to 19 people.

At least four people were killed in a wedding party in Kouhestak, seven people were killed in the Khouzestan province, four IRGC members were killed in Kermanshah, three Basij members were killed on Lavan Island, and one person was killed in the Jahrom/Fars province, according to the reports. 

US CENTCOM has denied targeting civilians after Iran said one of the US strikes hit a wedding in Sirik and killed at least four people, including two children,  and wounded more than 50, according to Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday visited troops in the Gaza Strip, where he vowed not to withdraw forces from their positions despite an alleged US-declared ceasefire. Israel has also been attacking Gaza since the October ceasefire, killing over 1,400 Palestinians.

"We control the area. We are not retreating. We are staying on this line," Netanyahu said near the Israeli self-declared "Yellow Line" which fragments the besieged coastal enclave. 

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said airlines, the maritime industry and digital assets could be possible targets as the Trump administration continues its planned efforts to squeeze Iran's economy.

Bessent, asked about Russian support for Iran in an interview on Fox News following a G20 gathering in North Carolina this week, also warned "everyone" against backing Tehran.

"My message to everyone is stay away. We all want this conflict to end, and the fastest way for the conflict to end is for no one to provide any support to this regime," he told "Fox & Friends" one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin threw his support behind Iran.

"We are having very fulsome talks with anyone supporting the regime," he added.

On Tuesday, Bessent said the administration could also target airline leasing companies and that more Iran bank sanctions could come this week.

An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one person on Wednesday, Lebanese official media said,.

"One person was killed and another wounded in a strike launched by an enemy drone" in the city of Nabatieh, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said, also reporting other Israeli strikes on the area.

Israel's army claimed the Iran-backed Hezbollah group overnight "launched two explosive drones" towards Israeli soldiers in Ali al-Taher Ridge area, reporting no troop casualties.

In response, the Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the Nabatieh area.

Despite an alleged ceasefire in June, Israel has continued its attacks on south Lebanon, particularly in the Nabatieh area where the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge is located.

Hezbollah has not claimed any attacks on Israeli targets for weeks.

Last week, Israeli airstrikes killed a woman.

On August 15, Israeli strikes killed 11 people including several children. 

Lebanon's health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed at least 8,920 people since hostilities erupted in October 2023.

Iran's security chief on Wednesday warned the United States would face a "new strategy" from Tehran in the US-Israeli war after the heaviest exchange of attacks between the foes in weeks.

"You will soon see that Iran's new strategy on the battlefield, in diplomacy and in confronting the economic blockade will shatter your foundations," Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei posted on X.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as an Iranian attack on a Saudi tanker while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the attack "resulted in fatalities among the tanker’s crew".

Every diamond has a story. Yours likely began with a child knee-deep in Congolese mud, digging for stones that armed groups tax and smuggle. It passed through Dubai’s gleaming towers, where one billion carats of diamonds were exchanged last year – none mined in the UAE. It was cut in Surat, India, where exploited workers, prone to suicide, earn less than $5 a day polishing nine out of ten of the world’s gems; writes Zeenat Adam.

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Pakistan said Wednesday it remains engaged with the United States and Iran, with support from regional countries, in efforts to bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told a weekly news briefing in Islamabad that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as part of those efforts.

Andrabi said Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also met his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, on the sidelines of the summit.

Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, traveled to Iran last week as part of Islamabad’s diplomatic efforts to help end the conflict and revive efforts to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Andrabi said.

“Regional de-escalation, breaking the military stalemate and exploring a negotiated settlement to restore regional peace and stability were discussed” during Munir’s visit to Tehran, he said.

European natural gas benchmark futures have reached their highest since January 2023 after the US launched strikes once again against Iran on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.

As Russia and Ukraine intensify strikes in the Black Sea, disruptions to grain exports are raising new concerns about food security in the Middle East, writes Christopher Solomon.

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Israel's defence minister on Wednesday said his country was prepared to respond "with great force" if attacked by Iran, after Iranian forces targeted US military positions across the region.

Israel Katz said Israeli forces were prepared for a possible attack from Iran over the Jewish high holiday season, which begins in mid-September.

"For now, they are striking throughout the region except us," he told a conference hosted by Israeli news site Ynet and newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. "But there is a possibility that they will attack us. We are prepared for that defensively."

If Iran attacks, Israel would "respond with great force, independently of anyone else", Katz said, adding that "our planes are ready to take off".

Wall Street futures dipped on Wednesday as bond yields and oil prices marched higher following US-Iran clashes, offering little incentive to buy equities during what has typically been a weak month for returns.

The latest strikes have pushed geopolitical tensions front and center, ending the uneasy calm of the past few weeks and reviving inflation concerns.

"If hostilities are going to increase, they are likely to increase within the next couple of weeks. The Iranians have their maximum leverage now before the midterm elections," said Ryan Isherwood, founder and CEO of Significance Capital.

Any flare-up could complicate the interest-rate outlook further. Over the past week, traders have sharply increased bets on a September rate hike, after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said taming price pressures is the central bank's chief focus.

"It's been a ping-pong match on rate expectations, but we still think a hike right before the election is unlikely," Isherwood said.

Renewed tensions could push oil prices higher and add to inflationary pressures by raising costs for consumers and businesses.

Such a situation would typically demand rate increases, but the Fed could be in a bind if higher costs also start slowing economic growth, Isherwood added.

Two Filipino sailors were killed in an attack on an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, Saudi Arabia's national shipping company Bahri said on Wednesday.

"Bahri confirms that its vessel SIDR was involved in a security incident while transiting the Strait of Hormuz" on the evening of August 31, the carrier said on X, confirming "the loss of its two Filipino seafarers as a result" of the attack.

Two 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 statement 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, despite earlier warnings from the Guards' navy about the dangers of crossing the mined passage.

Three Basij paramilitary fighters were killed in US strikes on Iran’s Lavan Island, according to the Iranian Mehr News Agency.

The Basij is a volunteer unit that falls under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with an estimated membership of 450,000.

Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf calls the United States "Satan" of its strikes hit a wedding ceremony in the country’s south.

"Minab school: children massacred. Lamerd sports hall: kids slaughtered. Kuhestak wedding: children killed with families. If a power acts like Satan, picks targets like Satan, and kills like Satan, it’s Satan. Shields a junior Satan that does the same? It’s THE Great Satan," says Ghalibaf in a post on X.

The Iranian Red Crescent reported four people were killed, including a child, and over 50 were wounded after a US strike hit a home that was hosting a wedding in south Iran.

A fire broke out in a residential complex in Kuwait's capital, Kuwait City, following an attack by an Iranian drone.

The spokesperson for Kuwaut's fire and rescue services noted that the fire has been brought under control and there are no casualties.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards also announced that they struck US bases with missiles and drones in Erbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported.

The Guards said they "carried out a coordinated missile and drone attack on US bases in Erbil" that destroyed a maintenance centre, warehouses and the "guidance system of a US surveillance aerostat", according to a statement carried by state-run IRNA news agency.

Iraqi Kurdish counterterrorism forces said on Wednesday that "the coalition forces downed ten explosive-laden drones in the airspace of Erbil province between 01:13 and 03:31 am" local time, without causing casualties.

Government bonds sold off sharply on Wednesday, driving borrowing costs to multi-decade highs as the US and Iran trade blows, raising energy prices and inflation fears, according to Reuters.

It was the second day of the market challenges, which began after a US strike on Larak Island triggered the latest round of escalation.

The conflict drove up energy prices, fueling investor concerns about inflation and mounting government debt. Consequently, the 10-year government bond hit a near three-year high in the US, a 30-year high in Japan, and a 15-year high in Australia, while prices for German and French 10-year bonds fell to multi-year or record lows.

The Iranian army announced in a new statement that dozens of its suicide drones targeted radar systems and locations of US forces at the Al Dhafra and Al Minhad bases in the UAE.
The statement also noted that the Iranian army renewed its targeting of radar installations and US forces’ gathering centers at the Sheikh Issa base in Bahrain, with intense attacks using “Arch” suicide drones, as well as Ali al-Saleem base in Kuwait. 

The US attacks across southern Iran, Tuesday night and Wednesday, have so far left 11 dead and 71 wounded, according to Iranian data.

Local authorities in Hormozgan Province reported that targeting a wedding party in a house in the port of Kohestak in the Sirik district of the province led to the killing of at least 5 people, including a child, and 63 wounded people were taken to the hospital. The governor of the city of Sirik, Reza Shahedin, told Iranian television that 50 people wounded in the wedding party were children and women.

In addition, the Iran's Fars agency quoted the Deputy President of Khuzestan Province for Security Affairs, Valiollah Hayani, as saying that American attacks last night on three points in the province claimed the lives of 7 people and injured eight others.