US Iran war | Sept 2 highlights: 'Going to sever Iran's ties to outside world' - US' fresh warning amid renewed tensions

According to The Wall Street Journal, US stocks closed lower as renewed hostilities between the US and Iran near the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices and long-term Treasury yields higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.70%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.33% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.12%. The latest market moves have also raised fresh concerns about inflation as investors assess the economic impact of the ongoing Iran war.

US President Donald Trump has suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as “Trump Strait”, while claiming that the strategic waterway is under US control, as per Al Jazeera.

Trump made the comments as fighting with Iran continued and attacks on vessels in the area were reported. Iran maintains that the strait is closed and under its control, while the US says it remains open for shipping. The remarks come amid growing tensions and rising oil prices.

Senior Trump aides are seeking to prevent the Iran war from escalating before November’s congressional elections, as per Reuters.

Four people familiar with the discussions said White House officials could consider increasing military action after the elections, although a return to full-scale war is considered unlikely.

In the meantime, the Trump administration plans to maintain economic pressure on Iran, Reuters reported.

According to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, Iran’s UN representative Amir Saeid Iravani criticised UNICEF over what Tehran described as the agency’s failure to condemn US and Israeli attacks that have killed Iranian children.

Iravani raised the issue during a UNICEF board meeting in New York, leading to an exchange with the US representative. UNICEF has previously raised concerns over child casualties in Iran and urged all sides to follow international humanitarian law.

According to Al Jazeera, Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged Middle Eastern countries to reject external interference and strengthen regional dialogue on peace and security.

Xi made the remarks during his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, his first visit to Egypt in a decade. The two leaders also discussed the US-Israel war on Iran and called for diplomatic efforts toward a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict.

According to Reuters, the UAE has condemned what it called a “hostile Iranian attack” on the Saudi-owned tanker Sidr in the Strait of Hormuz, which killed two Filipino sailors. The vessel was reportedly struck by projectiles while sailing near Oman’s Musandam Peninsula on Monday.

The UAE expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and said attacks on commercial shipping, or using the Strait of Hormuz for economic pressure, pose a direct threat to regional stability.

Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) has added 11 more vessels to its blacklist, taking the total number of banned ships to 56. Tehran says the vessels were listed for alleged violations of rules imposed on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The latest list includes the Panama-flagged oil tanker Kiku, Liberia-flagged LNG tanker Mubaraz and Minoan Pioneer. The PGSA said banned vessels could face fines, seizure or confiscation if they do not report to authorities.

According to WAFA, two 19-year-old Palestinians were killed during an attack by Israeli forces and settlers in the village of al-Mughayyir, north of Ramallah. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society identified the victims as Omar Mohammad Na’ssan and Khalil Abu Aliya.

WAFA reported that one teenager was shot in the neck and the other in the back, citing medical sources. The incident took place amid continued violence and clashes in the occupied West Bank.

According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), American forces have redirected 86 commercial vessels as part of the naval blockade against Iran, up from 84 reported the previous day.

CENTCOM said in a post on X that US forces have also disabled three vessels and boarded two others to ensure compliance with the blockade. The Strait of Hormuz remains a key focus as Washington continues efforts to control shipping through the strategic waterway.

According to Reuters, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned countries against helping Iran create ways to raise funds while facing American sanctions. Rubio said Washington could impose sanctions on countries that assist Tehran in bypassing the US measures.

He also said the Strait of Hormuz will remain open and that the US will keep targeting threats to its forces and global shipping. His comments came after fresh clashes between US and Iranian forces in the Gulf.

As per Reuters, US President Donald Trump has played down the prospect of a prolonged conflict with Iran, saying he does not expect the renewed fighting to continue for “too long.”

Trump also claimed that the US now has strong control over the Strait of Hormuz, where clashes have taken place. He said American forces are helping move vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil through the key waterway, while also intercepting Iranian drones when attacks occur.

Iran war LIVE updates: Qatar's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it “condemns the Islamic Republic of Iran's targeting of the Saudi tanker (SIDR) while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz, and the resulting fatalities among the tanker's crew, considering this a blatant violation of the rules of international law and freedom of maritime navigation, as well as a flagrant breach of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2817.”

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates the State of Qatar's categorical rejection of using the Strait of Hormuz as a means of exerting pressure. In this context, the Ministry calls for the Strait to be reopened unconditionally, stressing that freedom of navigation through this vital waterway is an established principle that is non-negotiable. It notes that the continued closure of the Strait puts the vital interests of the countries of the region and the global economy at risk,” it added.

Iran war LIVE updates: IRGC Deputy Commander Mostafa Izadi said the force was “fully prepared against the enemy”, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Izadi said the IRGC would use its missile and drone capabilities to “respond firmly to any enemy movement”.

Iran war LIVE updates: The UAE on Wednesday denounced a series of Iranian missile and drone strikes on Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq’s Kurdistan region, warning that the attacks undermine regional stability and ‘blatant violation’ of the sovereignty of the countries involved.

In a statement, the UAE foreign ministry said the attacks posed a threat to the security of the region and reaffirmed Abu Dhabi’s support for Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, along with Iraq and the Kurdistan regional government.

Iran war LIVE updates: The secretary of state said the US will continue pressuring Iran until it drops any nuclear weapons ambitions and ends support for terrorism in the Middle East and beyond.

“The core and central issue is in the end that Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

“They want money for two things, to sponsor terrorism and to obtain a nuclear weapon,” he told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade in an interview aired on Wednesday. They spoke on Tuesday shortly after Trump announced that the U.S. had resumed military operations against Iran in and around the Strait of Hormuz, but before Iran retaliated by attacking American interests in the region.

Rubio said “they keep shooting at things” in the strait, and so the U.S. “will continue to target those things that pose a threat to our forces and to international shipping.”

(AP)

Iran war LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as "Trump Strait," despite the fact that the crucial waterway remains contested amid the war with Iran.

"Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be 'hotter' than ever before!" Trump said on his Truth Social network.

(AFP)

Iran war LIVE updates: Pakistan on Wednesday said that it was "hopeful" for peace in West Asia despite recent escalation between the US and Iran, underlining the need for "dialogue and diplomacy" for stability in the region.

The remark made by Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi comes days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on Monday and discussed the evolving regional situation.

"The prime minister had reiterated Pakistan's commitment to peace through restraint, dialogue and diplomacy, while stressing that the Islamabad MoU offered the most viable pathway to lasting peace and stability in the region," Andrabi said.

"Despite recent escalations, we remain hopeful, and we will continue to strive for dialogue and diplomacy," Andrabi said at a weekly press briefing.

(PTI)

Iran war LIVE updates: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Basem Naim, a senior member of Hamas’ political bureau, in Tehran on Wednesday, Iran’s state media reported.

Iran war LIVE updates: Iranian authorities have detained 11 foreign nationals for allegedly attempting to smuggle fuel out of the country, state television reported Wednesday.

The arrests were made in southern Iran as the country grapples with fuel shortages and struggles to import enough supplies to meet domestic demand amid a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.

"Border guards arrested 11 foreign suspects," state TV reported without specifying nationalities of those arrested.

Iran war LIVE updates: Iran border guards seize vessel with 382,000 litres of smuggled fuel in the northern Gulf, detain 11 foreign suspects, reported Iranian state media.

Iran war LIVE updates: US overnight strikes on Iran were a pre-emptive operation aimed at thwarting an Iranian plan to target undersea cables in the Strait of Hormuz, Al Arabiya reported citing US source.

Iran war LIVE updates: Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaee said in a post on X, “With all this flailing about, you will not only fail to climb out of the infernal depths you have created for yourselves, but you will soon see that Iran's new strategy on the battlefield, in diplomacy, and in countering the economic siege will shatter your very foundations.”

Iran war LIVE updates: US Central Command denied targeting civilians after Iranian media reported that at least four people were killed in a US strike on a wedding in Sirik, southern Iran.

"The U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the Revolutionary Guards," Reuters quoted CENTCOM as saying.

Iran war LIVE updates: United States Secretary of the Treasury said in an interview with Fox news that they were going to cut Iran's ties with the outside world as tensions between the two contries have escalated.

“We are going to sever every tie that [Iran] has to the outside world... This is all hands on deck,” he said.