Trump threatens to leave ‘very little’ of Iran if Tehran retaliates

US President Donald Trump has threatened to launch an even more devastating attack on Iran if Tehran retaliates against the latest US military strikes near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Trump issued the warning on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, shortly after the United States launched a fresh wave of strikes against targets linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In a post on Truth Social, Trump described the operation as a “large and powerful” attack, saying it was carried out in response to what he described as Iran’s failed attempt to deploy sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

He also cited Iran’s recent missile attack on a US military base in Jordan, saying Tehran had fired eight missiles and that all eight were successfully intercepted.

Trump said the Strait of Hormuz currently had no mines, claiming they had either been removed or detonated.

The US president then issued a direct warning to Tehran, saying Iran would be hit again “at a much harder and higher level” if it retaliated against the latest American operation.

Trump went further, warning that an even bigger attack was already being prepared.

He said the larger operation was “waiting in the wings” and warned that, once carried out, “there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The threat came as the US military confirmed that it had begun striking IRGC targets in Iran, with the United States saying the operation followed recent attempted attacks by Iranian forces against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and American service members deployed in the region. (AP News)

The latest strikes represent a sharp escalation between Washington and Tehran after US forces attacked Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.

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The US said the earlier operation was aimed at preventing Iranian forces from using the launchers to deploy sea mines and threaten shipping through the waterway.

Iran responded by firing missiles towards US military positions in Jordan. Jordan said it intercepted incoming missiles, while the United States also said the Iranian attack had been successfully countered.

The renewed confrontation has significantly increased concerns over the security of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important routes for global oil shipments.

The crisis intensified further after two supertankers carrying Saudi crude were struck by unidentified projectiles while passing through the strait near Khasab, Oman, on Monday.

The vessels, the Saudi-flagged Sidr and the Liberian-flagged Senegal Prosperity, had each loaded about two million barrels of Saudi crude at the Juaymah terminal before the incidents. No casualties were reported. (Reuters)

The attacks on the tankers have raised fresh concerns about the safety of commercial vessels and the potential impact of the conflict on international energy supplies.

Oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday as markets reacted to the renewed US-Iran conflict and the growing risk of prolonged disruption to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude climbed above $94 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate also recorded a significant increase. (AP News)

The escalation is also putting pressure on diplomatic efforts to prevent the conflict from spreading further across the Middle East.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has maintained that Tehran is willing to pursue a negotiated solution, but he has called on Washington to honour commitments under an interim understanding reached earlier in the conflict.

Pezeshkian has indicated that Iran would reciprocate if the United States returned to its commitments under the agreement, while Tehran has continued to condemn the latest American strikes. (Al Jazeera)

Iran has nevertheless warned that the United States should expect consequences for the latest attacks. An IRGC spokesperson said severe punishment awaited the attackers and warned that Washington would regret the strikes. (The Independent)

The conflicting signals from Tehran — threats of retaliation alongside calls for renewed negotiations — have added uncertainty over the next stage of the confrontation.

The situation is particularly sensitive because the Strait of Hormuz remains central to the global oil market. Any sustained disruption to the waterway could affect crude supplies, shipping costs and fuel prices in countries far beyond the Middle East.

Attempts by regional powers, including Qatar and Oman, to mediate and restore stability around the waterway have so far failed to prevent the latest escalation. The attacks on commercial vessels have further complicated efforts to reopen the route safely. (Reuters)

Trump’s latest warning therefore raises the possibility of a much broader US-Iran military confrontation if Tehran launches another attack in response to the American strikes.

For now, Washington says its operations are aimed at countering threats to US forces and commercial shipping, while Tehran insists that it will defend its interests and respond to what it regards as American aggression.

The coming days could determine whether the latest exchange remains a limited confrontation around the Strait of Hormuz or develops into a wider regional conflict, with potentially significant consequences for global oil prices, international shipping and Middle East security.

Trump threatens to leave ‘very little’ of Iran if Tehran retaliates

US launches fresh strikes on Iran as Strait of Hormuz crisis escalates

The United States has launched a fresh wave of airstrikes on Iran, marking the second American military operation against Iranian targets in two days as tensions intensify around the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The latest strikes were carried out on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, with the US Central Command (CENTCOM) saying American forces targeted positions belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

CENTCOM said the operation followed what it described as recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and American service members deployed in the region. (Reuters)

The renewed US military action came two days after American forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz, in the first direct US attack on Iran in about a month.

The US military said IRGC personnel had been preparing to launch rockets and lay sea mines in the waterway. Washington described the operation as a limited action aimed at protecting shipping and US personnel rather than the beginning of a broader offensive. (AP News)

Iran responded to the earlier strikes by launching missiles towards US military positions in Jordan. Jordanian authorities said eight missiles that entered the country’s airspace were intercepted.

The latest exchange has significantly increased the risk of a wider US-Iran conflict, with the Strait of Hormuz emerging as the central flashpoint.

The waterway is one of the world’s most important energy corridors, and disruption to shipping through the strait has already created significant concerns for global oil supplies and international trade.

The situation worsened on Monday when two supertankers carrying Saudi crude oil were struck by unidentified projectiles while passing through the Strait of Hormuz near Khasab, Oman.

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The vessels, identified as the Saudi-flagged Sidr and Liberian-flagged Senegal Prosperity, had each loaded about two million barrels of Saudi crude at the Juaymah terminal before the incidents. No casualties were reported among the crews. (Reuters)

The attacks on the tankers have raised fresh concerns over the safety of commercial shipping through the waterway and the possibility that the conflict could disrupt international energy supplies even further.

Shipping activity through the strait has already fallen sharply, with vessel movements significantly below normal levels as operators assess the security risks associated with the renewed fighting.

The impact has also been felt in international oil markets. Oil prices climbed above $90 a barrel as traders reacted to the renewed US-Iran military confrontation and the possibility of prolonged disruption around the Strait of Hormuz. (The Wall Street Journal)

The renewed fighting has also placed greater pressure on regional governments trying to prevent the crisis from escalating.

Qatar and Oman have been involved in diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing tensions and restoring safer commercial navigation through the waterway, but the latest strikes and tanker attacks have complicated those efforts. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump has defended the latest American military action and warned Iran against retaliating.

Trump said the strikes were justified, citing what he described as Iran’s attempt to deploy sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz and its missile attack on a US military base in Jordan.

He warned that Washington would respond with an even stronger military action if Tehran retaliated against the latest strikes. (Al-Monitor)

Iran, however, has rejected the US position and warned that Washington would face consequences for the renewed attacks.

Iranian officials have continued to insist that Tehran remains open to a diplomatic solution, but President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would respond positively if the United States returned to its commitments under an interim agreement reached in June.

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Pezeshkian’s comments came as regional efforts to restore a ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz faced fresh complications following the latest military exchanges. (Al Jazeera)

The Iranian leadership has also warned that continued American pressure could have consequences for the flow of oil from the Gulf, increasing fears among energy-importing countries about possible supply shortages.

The United States, meanwhile, is combining military pressure with additional economic measures against Tehran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has indicated that Washington could announce further sanctions targeting Iranian financial institutions this week. (Al-Monitor)

The latest escalation has effectively ended hopes that the weekend exchange of fire would remain a limited confrontation.

Instead, the conflict is increasingly centred on the Strait of Hormuz, where military operations, attacks on commercial vessels, threats from both governments and diplomatic efforts are unfolding simultaneously.

Any prolonged disruption to the waterway could have consequences well beyond the Middle East. Higher oil prices, increased shipping and insurance costs and disruptions to global energy supplies could place additional pressure on economies already dealing with inflation.

For Nigeria and other oil-producing countries, developments around the Strait of Hormuz are also being closely monitored because sustained disruption to global crude supplies could influence international oil prices and government revenues.

The immediate concern, however, is whether Iran will retaliate against the latest US strikes and whether Washington will respond with further attacks.

The coming days could therefore determine whether the latest confrontation remains concentrated around the Strait of Hormuz or develops into a much wider regional conflict.

With commercial shipping already under pressure and diplomatic efforts struggling to keep pace with the military escalation, international attention is now focused on Washington and Tehran and whether either side will take steps to prevent another cycle of retaliation.

US launches fresh strikes on Iran as Strait of Hormuz crisis escalates

US Teen Indicted for Aiding and Abetting Deadly San Diego Mosque Shooting

A 17-year-old North Carolina girl who recorded a livestream of the deadly May 2026 attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego and disseminated the attackers’ white supremacist manifesto has been charged with three counts of murder by aiding and abetting.

A 17-year-old girl from North Carolina has been charged with three counts of murder after prosecutors alleged she helped record and publicise a deadly attack on a mosque in San Diego that left three people dead. The teenager, identified in court records as Sarah Lindsey Santiago, was arrested last week and indicted by a grand jury on Monday, just before she was due to begin the new school year. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill announced the charges at a news conference in Winston-Salem, explaining that under North Carolina law, a person who aids and abets a crime can be held criminally responsible in the same way as the person who carried it out. “The individual here, locally, was the person who was recording the livestream,” O’Neill said. “She disseminated that information and she published their manifesto.”

The teenager now faces three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy under North Carolina law. Prosecutors allege that Santiago agreed prior to the attack that she would record the livestream, distribute it, and release a document written by the attackers. According to the indictment, she carried out those tasks and also purchased a patch bearing a white supremacist symbol and sent it to one of the gunmen to wear during the attack. O’Neill explained that investigators were concerned about the teenager’s potential actions after the attack and decided to arrest her before she could return to school. “The thought of her going back to school or with the weekend approaching, holy days approaching, we didn’t know what she was capable of,” he said, referring to the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

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The shooting took place at the Islamic Center of San Diego on May 18, 2026, at approximately 11:40 a.m. local time. Two teenage gunmen, identified as Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, stormed the mosque armed with guns and wearing cameras mounted on GoPro-style helmets to record their attack. Prosecutors said the attackers had two aims that day: “Number one, to kill as many people as possible on that day. Secondly, they wanted this carnage and destruction recorded … livestreamed.” According to investigators, Clark and Vazquez entered the mosque and were confronted by security guard Amin Abdullah, who exchanged gunfire with them and initiated a lockdown that helped protect approximately 140 children who were inside the mosque’s school. Abdullah, who had worked as a security guard at the mosque for about a decade, was shot dead after forcing the attackers back outside. The gunmen re-entered the building and searched through rooms that had been emptied during the lockdown. They later exited again, and worshippers Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad confronted them in the parking lot. Both men were fatally shot. The suspects then fled in a vehicle and were later found dead, having apparently taken their own lives.

The three men killed were mourned as pillars of the Muslim community and credited with saving countless lives. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl described Abdullah’s actions as “heroic” and said they “undoubtedly saved lives” . “All three of our victims did not die in vain,” Wahl said. “Without distracting the attention, without delaying the actions of these two individuals, without question, there would have been many more fatalities.” Abdullah was a security guard for the mosque for about a decade and was known to friends as Brian Climax. His daughter, Hawaa Abdullah, paid a tearful tribute to her father as a man who doted on his family and was dedicated to his job. “He stood against any form of hate,” she said. Kaziha was a 78-year-old mosque elder known as Abu Ezz, and Awad was a 57-year-old Uber driver whose wife worked as a school teacher in the building. Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center called them “our brothers in the community. We call them our martyrs and our heroes.”

Authorities said the teenagers had an arsenal of about 30 guns and a crossbow, which investigators believe were taken from Clark’s parents. Clark’s mother had reportedly called police about two hours before the shooting to report that her son, whom she described as suicidal, had run away from home taking three of her guns and her vehicle. Prosecutors also alleged that Clark and Vazquez had planned further attacks “at a local Jewish temple and finally at a predominantly African American high school” in San Diego. O’Neill credited the victims at the mosque with having saved countless lives by disrupting these plans.

The attackers left behind writings containing racist and antisemitic views, references to white supremacist ideologies, and hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims, Black people, the LGBTQ+ community, and women. They cited the shooter who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019 as one of their models for violence. Investigators said the shooters used cameras attached to their helmets to record the attack and livestream it. The FBI has conducted more than 100 interviews, executed 30 search warrants, and reviewed over 4 million messages in connection with the investigation. FBI Columbia Acting Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis said: “When someone has credible knowledge that a crime is being planned or committed, particularly any act of violence, the law requires them to come forward and report it. Failure to do so is not only irresponsible, but it can also be a crime.”

US Teen Indicted for Aiding and Abetting Deadly San Diego Mosque Shooting