Trump claims Strait of Hormuz as 'American territory' ahead of new sanctions

That concludes our live coverage for today.

Tensions between the United States and Iran remain high, with Washington preparing new sanctions and Tehran warning against further economic and military pressure. The Strait of Hormuz remains a key flashpoint, with most oil traffic through the strategic waterway severely disrupted.

Iran has condemned the planned sanctions, while President Masoud Pezeshkian has called for an end to the conflict through diplomacy. Meanwhile, Tehran has granted permission for several Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait following requests from Baghdad.

Iraqi President Nizar Amidi says Baghdad will not permit Iraqi territory to be used as a launchpad for attacks against other countries.

Speaking on the second day of the eighth Baghdad Dialogue Conference, Amidi said attacks carried out from inside Iraq against countries in the region “have no justification”.

He said only “two or three” armed factions in Iraq had yet to surrender their weapons, adding that talks were continuing on efforts to ensure all arms are placed under state control. “The constitution stipulates that weapons must be restricted to the state, and the religious authority in Najaf also calls for this,” Amidi said.

“Everyone is keen to prevent Iraq from being dragged into the ongoing war in the region,” he said, adding that the conflict’s repercussions “have been harsh on our country”.

A Palestinian man was injured after Israeli settlers reportedly attacked a village in the occupied West Bank’s South Hebron Hills, according to Palestinian media reports.

WAFA, citing local activists, reported that Saeed al-Amour was “severely assaulted” by settlers during a raid on Khirbet al-Rakiz in the Masafer Yatta area earlier on Saturday.

Palestinian Red Crescent medics transported him to a local hospital for treatment, the report said.

Elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, two Palestinians were reportedly injured after armed settlers raided Arraba, south of Jenin.

WAFA reported that the attackers opened fire near residential homes, but it was not immediately clear whether the two Palestinians were wounded by gunfire.

An explosive device detonated on a bus carrying security forces near the Syrian capital on Saturday, resulting in injuries among the passengers, state media reported.

"An explosive device targeted a bus carrying Internal Security Forces personnel on the Maarounah-al-Tal road in Damascus countryside, leaving several personnel injured," state news agency SANA reported, adding that the attack was under investigation.

Tensions between the United States and Iran remained high on Saturday, with Donald Trump claiming he views the Strait of Hormuz as “American territory” as Washington prepares to impose new sanctions on Tehran.

Iran rejected the US sanctions as a “declaration of war”, while President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was in a position of strength and argued that the conflict should now end.

Elsewhere, Israel confirmed a strike in southwestern Syria and defended its earlier attack on the Abu al-Duhur airbase, saying alleged Turkish plans there posed a security threat. Turkey and Syria rejected the claims.

The latest developments also included injuries to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, GCC condemnation of Israeli settlement expansion, and a warning from former French and British diplomats over Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians.

Lebanon’s economy is meanwhile projected to contract by 6.4 per cent in 2026, according to the World Bank, as renewed conflict weighs on tourism, consumption and infrastructure.

Hossein Taeb, head of Iran’s internal security paramilitary force, the Basij, said the global balance of power was shifting and claimed that the United States and Israel were “in one of their weakest positions”.

“Today, the map of global power is changing. It is no longer the case that the United States is the centre of the world and the Zionist regime the centre of the region,” Taeb said, according to the Tasnim news agency.

He said European countries had recognised that they had been “humiliated” by Washington, adding that Europe’s weakened position was also reflected in the Trump administration’s national security strategy.

Taeb warned Iranians against being “deceived” by what he described as an apparent return by Iran’s adversaries to negotiations.

“The Iranian nation should not be deceived by this apparent return to the negotiating table,” he said.

He accused Iran’s adversaries of failing to honour their commitments and instead reverting to “breach of promises and pressure”.

Taeb also claimed that economic difficulties in the United States and Israel were among the factors weakening what he called the “front of arrogance”.

Syria condemned an Israeli strike southwest of Damascus that wounded one person on Saturday, the second such attack in a week.

"This attack constitutes a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic and the integrity of its territory, and a blatant breach of international law, and comes in the context of repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says the military recommended last week’s strike on Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase after receiving intelligence that allegedly indicated Turkey was planning activities there that could pose a threat to Israeli security.

Katz said Israel issued a warning to the Syrian government “at the highest levels” before authorising the attack and provided the intelligence to US officials. He said the strike proceeded after Syria failed to respond to Israel’s demand.

Ankara has rejected Israel’s claims about Turkey's plans.

The Turkish Defence Ministry said no Turkish military delegation was present at the base before or during the Israeli strike. Syria has also denied plans to establish a Turkish military base or maintain a permanent Turkish troop presence at Abu al-Duhur.

Turkish officers had, however, visited the facility as part of military cooperation involving training and the exchange of expertise.

Israel carried out eight air strikes on the northwestern Syrian airbase on 18 August, targeting its runway and storage facilities. No casualties were reported.

US envoy Tom Barrack described the attack as an “unnecessary escalation”, while Washington said it was working on a deconfliction mechanism involving Turkiye, Israel and Syria.

Katz also criticised Barrack’s remarks, describing them as “full of inaccuracies” and arguing that some of his positions contradicted US President Donald Trump’s stance on the occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli military has confirmed carrying out a strike in southwestern Syria, saying it targeted a “terror operative” who was allegedly involved in preparing attacks in their final stages.

“The terrorist’s activity posed an immediate threat to our forces,” the military said.

Syrian media reported that the strike in Beit Jinn injured one person.

Two Palestinians were injured after reportedly being beaten by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

Separately, an elderly Palestinian man was injured in an attack by Israeli settlers in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi has criticised Israel’s continued expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, including its plans for the E1 project.

Moving forward with the plans “represents a blatant challenge to international legitimacy” and infringes on the rights of the Palestinian people, Albudaiwi said in a statement.

“These practices by the Israeli occupation forces undermine the prospects of achieving peace and threaten international and regional efforts aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state,” he said.

Albudaiwi urged the international community to take steps to stop settlement expansion and measures intended to alter the geographical and demographic character of the occupied Palestinian territory.

He reaffirmed the GCC’s backing for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Syria said an Israeli strike near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights wounded one person on Saturday, days after Israel's army chief said the military would not allow threats to "establish themselves" on the border.

Syrian state television said one person was wounded "in the Israeli occupation drone targeting of a vehicle" in the village of Beit Jinn, located southwest of Damascus.

The Israeli military said it was "checking" the reports.

Since the December 2024 overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and has sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that for decades had separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan.

It has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory and has vowed to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarised area.

This week, Israel's army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir told troops in southern Syria that "we are monitoring the changes on the Syrian front. We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves on our borders."

The repair of Iran's South Pars Phase 14 gas refinery, hit during an Israeli attack in June last year, is 70% complete, the Pars Oil and Gas Company's chief executive said, according to Iran's oil ministry news agency SHANA.

The refinery would be fully restored by the end of the year, CEO Touraj Dehqani said, and the damaged section will be fully integrated into the production cycle, he added.

Dozens of former senior French and UK diplomats on Saturday urged their governments to work together to uphold international law in the Palestinian territories, accusing Israel of seeking to "destroy" any prospect of a viable Palestinian state.

The 102 signatories of the letter published in Le Monde included former British ambassadors to the UN Jeremy Greenstock and Emyr Jones Parry as well the former directors for the Middle East at the French foreign ministry Yves Aubin de la Messuziere and Denis Bauchard.

They said the involvement of France and the UK was essential given the historic roles of the two powers in the Middle East and the fact that both permanent members of the UN Security Council, in 2025 recognised a Palestinian state.

"Our two nations believe that those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity must be held to account. Only then can our governments rebut the accusation of double standards. That is why they must act together to uphold international law in Palestine," said the letter.

It accused Israel of seeking "to destroy any prospect of an independent Palestinian state, showing contempt for the law, the rulings of the International Court of Justice and countless UN Security Council resolutions."

Iranian state media reported Friday that President Masoud Pezeshkian said the war with the US should end since the world has already accepted that Iran has won.

“The entire world approved our victory and the US is hated,” he said according to IRNA news agency.

The remarks came as the Trump administration is touting a crushing financial campaign against Iran, promising an “economic D-Day” against the country.

President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would be imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation on Iran, aiming to force its leadership to cave to demands to end its nuclear program and fully reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz to oil and natural gas tankers.

Lebanon’s economy is expected to contract by 6.4 percent this year as renewed conflict derails a brief post-crisis recovery and pushes the country into a sharp downturn, according to the World Bank.

The global lender’s Summer 2026 Lebanon Economic Monitor, titled A Conflict-Torn Economy, said the country began the year on a stronger footing after recording 4.2 percent real GDP growth in 2025, its strongest performance since the 2019 financial collapse.

“The rebound was sharply interrupted by the March 2026 escalation in conflict, which further damaged housing and infrastructure, displaced communities, disrupted supply chains and weighed heavily on tourism and domestic demand,” the report said on Friday.

“Real GDP is projected to contract by 6.4 percent in 2026, reflecting the collapse in tourism, weaker consumption, disrupted supply chains, heightened insecurity, and prolonged displacement,” it added.

An Iranian military official called on Qatar on Saturday to transfer detained Iranian pilots to a hospital on land, saying they were being held on water and were in "poor physical condition", Tasnim news agency reported.

Mohammad Baqerzadeh, commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, said the location where the pilots were being held was unsuitable and requested that the International Committee of the Red Cross send an air ambulance to Qatar to expedite the return of injured and sick detainees to Iran. 

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, has criticised the Iranian government’s move to raise fuel prices, describing it as an “unforgivable mistake” and a “profound betrayal”.

In a post on X, Pahlavi said the proposed price increases highlighted what he called the “incompetence and structural chaos” within Iran’s energy sector.

He accused officials of mismanaging the country’s resources while Iranians continue to face severe economic difficulties.

“Fuel prices cannot be compared to those in other countries when Iranians’ incomes are in rials and below the poverty line,” he said.

His comments come as global fuel prices continue to rise amid disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday it was time to end the months-long Middle East war with the United States because Tehran appeared to be in a stronger position than Washington.

Talks between the longtime foes remain on hold, and the war started by the US and Israel in February has been locked in a stalemate.

Tehran is keeping the key Strait of Hormuz partially shut and Washington is persisting with a naval counter-blockade of Iran.

"It is better that we bring the war to an end now as we are in a position of power and dignity," Pezeshkian said in a meeting with doctors.

"The whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasises that America has attacked our schools, hospitals and infrastructure in violation of all regulations and is hated around the world."

Pezeshkian also defended a memorandum of understanding agreed with the US in June aimed at ending the war, insisting it did not signal a defeat for Tehran.

"They cannot find even a single clause in this agreement that indicates capitulation. All the commitments concern the other side," he said.

Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.

IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s visit to Iraq.

ensions between the United States and Iran are escalating as Donald Trump says he views the Strait of Hormuz as “American territory”, while Tehran rejects Washington’s claims and condemns new US sanctions as a “declaration of war”.

The latest developments come as the strategic waterway remains at the centre of the conflict.

Washington is also preparing further economic measures against Iran and its trading partners, including China, while diplomatic efforts to revive negotiations remain uncertain.

Follow our live coverage for the latest developments.