Iran strikes US bases in the UAE and Kuwait. Netanyahu: ‘The fall of the Iranian regime is within reach’

The Israeli army has announced that it has taken “operational control of the area” of the Ali Taher hills in southern Lebanon. “Soldiers have gained operational control of the area, both above and below ground, and have cleared the area of terrorists. Some terrorists have been killed, whilst others have fled,” reads a statement issued by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). “The operation to neutralise the underground infrastructure that has been cleared of terrorists is still ongoing. Once the operation is complete, the IDF will adjust its defensive posture based on an assessment of the situation”.

Dozens of people gathered at the funeral of one of the victims of the US air strike that hit a wedding in Kuhestak, near the Strait of Hormuz, on 1 September. The Iranian authorities have stated that at least four people, including a child, were killed and a further 68 injured in the attack.

“On the Middle East, we agree that developments in the region have implications for Europe’s peace, stability and energy security. They also influence migration flows and have a direct impact on our energy security. For this reason, we must continue to maintain a presence in the region. I am grateful to Greece for the active role it plays in this regard, particularly in strengthening relations with our Gulf partners. To further strengthen these relations, the European Union will hold a summit with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council on 24 October.” This was stated by the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in Athens during a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis as part of his ‘Tour of the Capitals’. “Greece,” added Costa, “occupies a strategic position, overlooking the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and has a broader perspective than we sometimes manage to have from Brussels. That is why it was so important for me to hear your point of view. We must protect our borders, including our maritime borders, and ensure that Europe has the necessary capabilities to respond effectively.”

Israel’s far-right Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has put forward a plan to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip abroad. With just under two months to go before the Israeli elections, the leader of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party stated that the plan envisages the departure of 250,000 Palestinians from Gaza in the first year, followed by the remaining approximately two million inhabitants over the next six years. “It is realistic,” said Ben Gvir, claiming that some countries would be “ready” to take in Gaza’s inhabitants, though he did not name them. “We must encourage the emigration of Gaza’s inhabitants,” he said, adding that he believed the plan did not involve forcing Palestinians to leave their land. The forced displacement of civilians in the occupied territories is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. For Palestinians, any attempt to force them to leave their land would bring to mind the ‘Nakba’ – the mass displacement that took place during the creation of Israel in 1948. The inflammatory remarks by Ben Gvir, a leading figure in the right-wing coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, regularly draw international condemnation. Ben Gvir has stated that his right-wing populist party, Jewish Power, will call for “a ministry responsible for emigration” during the formation of the next government, adding that his plan is “the result of a year and a half’s work and is concrete”. In a 20-page document entitled “National Work Plan for Voluntary Emigration from the Gaza Strip”, which AFP has seen, Ben Gvir also claims that his plan offers a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that Israel is ready with plans to relocate Palestinians from Gaza should the United States give its approval. Katz has been advocating such a measure for several months, presenting it as a voluntary emigration of the population of Gaza. The far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has even proposed extending the measure to Palestinians in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

The downfall of the Iranian regime is “within reach”. This was stated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video released by his office, showing a meeting with representatives of the security services. The Israeli Prime Minister maintains that “the Iranian regime is fighting for its very survival”. Israel, he adds, “has the capacity to eliminate this threat once and for all. That is to say, to bring down this regime. This is the main mission that remains for us, but it is within reach; it is not impossible; it is within our grasp”.

An internal US Air Force email, revealed by CBS News, shows that the Pentagon has ordered its senior leadership to stop using the name ‘Operation Epic Fury’ for the conflict with Iran. Instead, the military will have to adopt the more generic term “overseas operations in the CENTCOM area”. When questioned by the broadcaster, the Ministry of Defence replied that the mission had officially ended on 5 May, confirming what Secretary of State Marco Rubio had stated at the time to mark the transition to “Project Freedom”, which focuses on maritime security. However, the directive only arrived in August, three months after the declared end of the mission. This delay contrasts sharply with the reality on the ground: following the collapse of the summer truce, clashes continued and, in July, President Trump notified Congress of the formal resumption of military action. This opaque handling has also led to confusion regarding the casualty figures. In July, the deaths of four soldiers in Jordan and Iraq were initially recorded under “Operation Epic Fury”, only to be hastily reclassified as part of an “overseas operation”.

US President Donald Trump has stated that, under the previous administration, Washington supplied Ukraine with more ammunition than the United States used in the conflict with Iran. “You should know that the Biden administration has given Ukraine far more ammunition, at no cost to them, than we used in Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth, adding: “Hundreds of billions of dollars have been given away for free to Ukraine and NATO – money that Europe would have paid if only it had been asked. But we will be asking for that money back, albeit with some delay!”

The US President has also branded as “traitors” those who claim that the United States is running out of ammunition in the conflict against Iran, reporting on Truth that there are “virtually unlimited quantities of medium- and high-quality ammunition” and of initiatives to “produce it at unprecedented levels” and to “build up stockpiles”. “The people and the media who keep insisting that we have no ammunition (and are 100 per cent wrong!) are, in fact, traitors. They do this because they’d rather see the US LOSE a war that we’re easily WINNING, rather than see me WIN,” he wrote in an initial post. Then, in a second post, he stated that the United States has “virtually unlimited quantities of medium- and high-quality ammunition, far more than we could ever use” in the war against Iran “or in any other war (which is highly unlikely!)”. “Furthermore,” he added, “we are producing ammunition at levels never seen before. We are building up stocks and preparing for any eventuality. We are keeping it for ourselves, for the United States, rather than selling it to others, but sales to our allies will resume soon.”

Il post di Donald Trump su Truth

The United States is “producing ammunition at an unprecedented rate. We are building up stocks and preparing for any eventuality”. Donald Trump made this statement on his social media platform Truth, weighing in on the heated debate over the shortage of American ammunition and weapons following the war in Iran. At present, the President explained, the United States is “allocating” ammunition “for its own use rather than selling it to others, although sales to allies will resume soon”. Trump went on to point out that “the Biden administration has supplied Ukraine with far more ammunition at no cost than we have used in Iran”.

Il presidente Donald Trump interviene durante un evento con i legislatori repubblicani nel Giardino delle Rose della Casa Bianca, mercoledì 2 settembre 2026, a Washington. (Foto AP/Alex Brandon)

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed the release of five Lebanese prisoners, stating in a press release that Israel had agreed to release them in exchange for assistance provided by Beirut in locating and returning the remains of prominent members of the Lebanese Jewish community who died in the 1980s. The Lebanese media have already reported that one Lebanese national has already been handed over to the Lebanese army via the Red Cross.

“In recent months, both Lebanon and Israel have launched various initiatives to locate (the remains of Jews), including operations on the ground. In light of this significant effort, it has been decided to release five Lebanese civilians detained in areas of southern Lebanon under the control of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF)”, reads the statement reported by The Times of Israel.

Iran has informed the United States that it is prepared to respond with a large-scale attack in the event of an Israeli offensive against the Ali Taher heights in southern Lebanon, a site where Iranian military personnel are reportedly present alongside Hezbollah fighters. This was reported to Reuters by three officials with knowledge of the message.

A foreign official with first-hand knowledge of the message stated that it was delivered in mid-August and that Israel postponed the assault following pressure from the US.

US President Donald Trump has expressed support for a route through Syria as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. “This is brilliant,” he wrote on Truth, commenting on a Washington Post article entitled “Syria, aiming to become a hub in the Middle East, offers alternative solutions to bypass the Strait of Hormuz”.

According to the WP, around 5,000 lorries laden with oil from the Persian Gulf are travelling day and night across the Syrian desert towards the Mediterranean.

According to US President Donald Trump, 18 Americans have been killed in the conflict with Iran. Trump thus corrected Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who had stated that there had been no American casualties. “Secretary Lutnick was thinking of Venezuela when he said that no one had been killed. Eighteen people have been killed in Iran!”, Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Iranian news agency Tasnim reported today that six members of the Iranian Navy were killed in the US attacks on Tuesday, as part of this week’s renewed clashes. “During the criminal attacks carried out by the US terrorist army two nights ago, on 1 September, in the south of the country, six members of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Navy were martyred,” the statement read, without specifying the exact location of the killings.

A Lebanese national detained in Israel has been released and handed over to the Lebanese army via the International Committee of the Red Cross. This is the first handover of a prisoner since the start of the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, which broke out six months ago. The man has been identified as Malek Ghazi. According to a Lebanese security official, he is a civilian, although the circumstances of his capture have not been clarified. The Lebanese authorities are also expecting the release of another detainee.

The release comes at a time when talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials appear to have reached an impasse. In June, the two sides signed a framework agreement providing for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied areas in southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah, but little progress has been made so far. A new round of talks is expected to take place in Rome by the end of the month.

The volume of oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz has almost returned to the levels seen before the start of the conflict with Iran: US President Donald Trump made this statement today on Truth.

Trump posted an image showing that around 18 million barrels of oil are currently passing through the strait each day, compared with the 20 million recorded before the conflict began. “Oil volumes through the Strait of Hormuz are BACK!”, reads the caption beneath the image.

Thirteen soldiers from the government forces have been killed in clashes with the Houthis, according to a military source. This morning, the Yemeni news agency Saba reported violent clashes on the al-Barah front, west of the city of Taiz.

The Yemeni army has shot down three Houthi drones in the Jabal Habashi district, in the province of Taiz. This was reported by the Yemeni news agency Saba. The agency also reported that the army is engaged in fierce clashes with Houthi fighters on the Al-Barah front, west of the city of Taiz.

Three Iranian army pilots were killed in US strikes carried out on Tuesday night, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.

Iran is reported to have received over $1 billion in oil revenues over the past 11 days. This is according to the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars. These additional funds, the Iranian news agency writes, “would increase the central bank’s capacity to meet the country’s foreign currency needs”. Fars, as quoted by Al Jazeera, also reported that Iran’s oil sales in the first five months of the current financial year have generated revenue equivalent to over 80 per cent of the oil revenues forecast in the Iranian budget for 2026–2027, which runs from 21 March 2026 to 20 March 2027

“The current situation in the Middle East, and in particular in the Persian Gulf region, can only be resolved through negotiations.” This statement was made by the Russian Foreign Ministry following a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko and the Israeli Ambassador to Moscow, Oded Joseph. According to the Russian news agency TASS, the Russian side emphasised “the importance of establishing lasting and sustainable peace and security in the region. It also stressed that there is no alternative to resolving the crisis other than through negotiations”.

The US Navy has escorted 40 merchant ships carrying 18 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Two US officials with knowledge of the matter told CNN this on condition of anonymity, emphasising that this is a record figure in wartime. Before the war began on 28 February, around 20 million barrels a day passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The officials explained that the United States had deployed air, naval and space assets not only to undermine Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels in the Strait, but also to repel drone attacks whilst escorting the oil-carrying ships. During the escort operation, described as ‘dangerous’ by officials, US forces also neutralised anti-ship cruise missiles, a source said.

The Pentagon has removed decades’ worth of classified documents from a secret computer system commonly used by US defence officials and troops, after the Washington Post published an article detailing the concerns of senior military officers regarding a war with Iran. This is according to the US newspaper. Documents relating to the ‘Secretary of Defence Orders Book’ (SDOB) were removed from an internal web portal on the ‘Secret Internet Protocol Router Network’ (SIPRNet), according to three people with knowledge of the matter. It was not immediately clear whether the documents remain accessible to US personnel, nor how the restriction of access might complicate military planning. Removing the SDOB or transferring it to systems with higher security classifications “will drastically reduce the number of people with direct access to it”, which could hamper urgent planning, said a former defence official. Commanders and their staff rely on access to the SDOB to make decisions and issue notifications within tight timeframes, the former official said. The deployment of aircraft and weapons from one command to another, for example, requires urgent logistical work to redirect equipment and resources. Restricting access to relevant information, the former official said, will make this process slower and more difficult. This change, the former official added, does not make it impossible for such personnel to access strategic and operational documents, but it is now “certainly more difficult”.

“We are seeing signs that the severe economic pressure Iran is under, coupled with the fear of an uprising and the collapse of the regime, could drive them to take desperate measures. An Iranian attack on Israel would free us from all constraints; we would strike all infrastructure, including energy facilities, and send Iran back to the Stone Age and into darkness.” This was stated by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz in an address to Ministry staff.

Iran claims to have targeted US bases in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, despite threats of further attacks from US President Donald Trump. “This morning, the military struck satellite communication systems, equipment depots and fighter jet hangars at Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait and Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates,” reads the statement quoted by state television.

Iran has warned the United States that it will respond forcefully to an Israeli offensive on the strategic hill of Ali al-Taher in southern Lebanon, where Iranian troops are holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters. This is reported by Haaretz, citing informed officials who spoke to Reuters. Tehran’s warning, issued last month, underscores Iran’s continued direct involvement in ground fighting in southern Lebanon and its readiness to respond to Israeli attacks in the region, as the conflict enters its seventh month. According to Lebanese security sources, Hezbollah is believed to have built an underground command centre and weapons depots on the Ali al-Taher ridge, which offers a commanding view of south-eastern Lebanon and has become one of the most contested areas in the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Hezbollah has publicly stated that it controls the hill and intends to counter any Israeli advance. Its officials have referred to a “facility” on the site but have refused to provide details. The Israeli army has occupied large swathes of territory south of Ali al-Taher and, in public statements, has identified the ridge as one of its “key operational objectives”.

Last Tuesday, the US armed forces escorted 40 merchant ships carrying 18 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, setting a wartime record: this was revealed by CNN, citing two US officials with knowledge of the operations. The United States “deployed a range of air, naval and space assets not only to continue to undermine Iran’s ability to attack merchant ships in the Strait, but also to simultaneously repel waves of drone attacks whilst conducting the risky escort operations for the ships carrying millions of barrels of oil”, the officials said. CNN has identified the specific commercial vessels entering and leaving the Strait on Tuesday: these are ships flying the flags of various foreign countries, ranging from Saudi Arabia to France.

The President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, received a phone call from US President Donald Trump. The two leaders discussed the latest developments in the Middle East, according to the UAE’s state news agency WAM, without providing details on the ongoing hostilities between the United States and Iran. The talks also focused on “ways to further strengthen relations” between the two countries, in support of their “mutual interests”, WAM reported. In the first six weeks of the war, Iran has targeted the Emirates more than any other Gulf country with retaliatory strikes, firing over 530 ballistic missiles, dozens of cruise missiles and around 2,200 drones at what it described as “US assets”, Al Jazeera reports.

At least 18 people were killed and 142 injured in the US attacks in Iran between 30 August and 2 September. This was reported by the Ministry of Health in Tehran, which stated that 61 of the injured were women and 44 were under the age of 18. The statement noted that the dead included two women and a child. “Behind every number there is a human being and a family,” said Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for the ministry. The ongoing clashes follow the collapse of the Memorandum of Understanding of 18 June, which aimed to end the war between the United States and Israel against Iran and to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The clashes resumed in July after disagreements emerged over the implementation of the agreement.

US President Donald Trump is holding private talks with his closest advisers on whether to declare an end to the war with Iran. This was reported by US officials to the Wall Street Journal’s correspondent, Alex Ward. The sources indicated that Mr Trump has expressed support for the idea of declaring an end to the war and that he believes economic pressure will force the regime to dismantle its nuclear programme, otherwise it will collapse.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with the United Arab Emirates’ National Security Adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed al Nahyan; during the meeting, the parties discussed the next steps regarding Iran, according to the Axios news website, citing several sources. The meeting took place last weekend in Sardinia.

On the very day of the meeting, the United States excluded the UAE branches of the Egyptian bank Banque Misr from the US financial system due to their links with Iran; at the same time, the UAE Central Bank announced an urgent review of the Egyptian bank’s transactions linked to Iran, the newspaper reported.

Iran attacked US military targets in Kuwait overnight, despite the threat of further air strikes issued by US President Donald Trump. The Kuwaiti army reported on X that it was facing “hostile missile and drone attacks following Iran’s despicable aggression”. “In response to the crimes committed by America against the Iranian people, missile and drone attacks are currently underway against US bases in Kuwait,” Iranian state television confirmed shortly afterwards on the same social media platform.

Overnight, Kuwait’s air defences intercepted missile and drone attacks originating from Iran. On its X profile, the army reassured the public that any sounds of explosions heard were the result of air defence systems intercepting incoming threats.

The head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, has extended the deployment of US troops in the Middle East until 2027. The Wall Street Journal reports this, citing several sources, and notes that the war could drag on until next year. Maintaining 50,000 troops in the region gives US President Donald Trump the flexibility he needs whilst he considers his next moves.

“We’re winning” in Iran: “We control the Strait of Hormuz.” This was stated by US President Donald Trump at the White House, where he is hosting the Republican candidates for the US mid-term elections.