Iran-US war latest: America launches fresh airstrikes on Iranian missile launch sites and mine-laying boats

Rubio says US will give diplomacy 'every chance to succeed' in Iran negotiations

The US launched fresh airstrikes against Iran, claiming the attacks were in “self-defense”.

American forces “conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Central Command’s Captain Tim Hawkins said in a statement shared by US media Monday evening, Washington time.

“Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines,” the military spokesperson added.

The strikes come as US President Donald Trump vowed on Truth Social that any buried enriched uranium in Iran “will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed,” eradicated in Iran or “at another acceptable location”.

Trump has also demanded that countries including Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey sign peace agreements with Israel as part of an effort to end the Iran war.

Earlier Monday, Trump said on Truth Social that progress had been made on a draft agreement with Iran but that he would only accept a “great deal for all or no deal at all”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the US will either have a good agreement with Iran or deal with the country “another way”.

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Iranian official says there will be no retreat in fight against US

The newly appointed leader of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said in his first public message that “there will be no retreat” in Iran's fight against the US and Israel, according to Tasnim News Agency.

“The military field, the diplomatic field and the people sent forth into the streets demonstrated this through their courageous resistance and brought the enemy to its knees,” Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:50

Israel continues to bomb southern Lebanon

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Nabatieh (AFP/Getty)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon (AFP/Getty)

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:37

Israel will escalate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Netanyahu says

Israel will escalate strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, as a US official said the militia had ignored warnings to halt firing at Israel in a conflict that could threaten US-Iran negotiations.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to trade blows despite a 16 April aimed at halting the ⁠deadliest spillover of the US-Israeli joint war on Iran.

Tehran has demanded a halt to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a condition in talks with the US aimed at ending the broader war.

As the US and Iran appeared to draw closer to a potential deal on Sunday, Netanyahu said he and president Donald Trump agreed in a phone call that Israel would retain the right to confront perceived threats on all fronts, including Lebanon.

Netanyahu doubled down on that message on Monday night, saying in a video released on Telegram: "We are at war with Hezbollah, and we will ⁠intensify our strikes."

He said Israel's military was not taking its "foot off the gas. On the contrary, I ⁠said to step on the gas even more.

Israel's military has remained deployed in a broad swathe of southern Lebanon since the truce, with its air force striking what it describes as ⁠Hezbollah positions and its ground forces demolishing towns where it says the militia holds sway.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:35

Oil prices rise after US attack on Iran

Oil prices rose this morning and stocks were mixed as investor optimism over an imminent US-Iran peace deal was tempered by new US strikes in the Middle ‌East.

The developments sent Brent futures rising more than 1 per cent in early Asian trade to $98.39 per barrel. The West Texas Intermediate futures also climbed, but there was no settlement on Memorial Day. It remained at $91.79.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:31

Rubio says Strait of Hormuz has to be open 'one way or the other'

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said this morning ⁠that the Strait of Hormuz has to be ⁠open, "one way or the ⁠other", when referring to ⁠US strikes on Iran.

"The straits ‌have to be open; they're going ‌to be ‌open one way or the other, ⁠so they need to be open," Rubio told reporters on his plane in India's Jaipur.

He said a deal with Iran was still being negotiated in Qatar despite the renewed strikes on southern Iran's port of Bandar Abbas.

“There were some talks going on in Qatar today, so we’ll see if we can make progress,” he said.

“I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days."

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:10

Trump rips into Obama's 'Iran policy' in new post

Donald Trump has ripped into former US president Barack Obama’s “Iran policy” in a new Truth Social post.

Trump shared a side-by-side illustration Monday night, Washington time. On the left was a picture of a pallet of cash titled, “Obama’s Iran Policy”. On the right was a picture of a US ship firing strikes titled, “Trump’s Iran Policy”.

During Obama’s second term, Tehran signed the so-called Iran Nuclear Deal. Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.

The deal restricted Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions, but Trump argued during his first term, “the deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and — over time — reach the brink of a nuclear breakout”.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:10

Trump's counterterrorism chief who quit over Iran war says US is 'inviting escalation'

Donald Trump's counterterrorism chief, who quit over the Iran war, has said that the US is “inviting escalation,” following fresh strikes.

“Iran would have no incentive to mine the Strait of Hormuz if we weren’t there”, Joe Kent wrote on X in reaction to the US announcing defensive strikes on Iranian missile launch sites and mine-laying boats.

“Pull our forces out & Iran faces major pressure to open the Strait from the rest of the world & loses their justification”, Kent added. “Staying in our current posture is inviting escalation for zero gain”.

Kent, Trump’s former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in March, claiming “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation”.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:03

US attacks Iran as Tehran ministers discuss peace deal in Qatar

The US launched fresh strikes on Iran while Tehran’s top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with the US to end the three-month-old war.

US Secretary ⁠of state Marco Rubio told reporters in New Delhi earlier that the US would give diplomacy every chance to succeed before considering whether to deal with Iran in "another way".

There was a "pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the strait (of Hormuz), get the strait open, enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter, and hopefully we can pull it off," Rubio said.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said talks with Iran were going "nicely", but warned of fresh attacks if they failed. It "will only be a Great Deal for all, or no Deal at all," he ⁠wrote.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a briefing that conclusions had been reached on many topics but that ⁠did not mean the sides were close to agreement.

The official briefed on the Iranians' Doha visit told Reuters the discussions focused primarily on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium while Iran's central bank governor attended to discuss the potential release of frozen Iranian funds as part of a final deal.

Baghaei said earlier ⁠that nuclear issues would only be negotiated on if the framework accord is agreed first.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:02

US launches fresh strikes against Iran

The US launched fresh airstrikes against Iran, claiming the attacks were in “self-defence”.

American forces “conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Central Command’s Captain Tim Hawkins said in a statement.

“Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines,” the military spokesperson added.

Two Iranian boats were caught laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil passageway in the Middle East, a senior US official told Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin.

“The US military eliminated both IRGC vessels and also struck at a SAM (surface to air missile) site in Bandar Abbas that was targeting US warplanes,” Griffin wrote in an X post.

Two sources said the strikes do not indicate the fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran is broken, per Griffin.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:01

Iran war briefing for Tuesday 26 May:

The US has launched fresh airstrikes against Iran, Central Command said, claiming the attacks were "to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces"
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that the Strait of Hormuz has to be open "one way or the other" following the fresh strikes
The US struck Iran as Tehran's top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with Washington
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, with Brent futures rising more than 1 per cent in early Asian trade to $97.32 a barrel

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar26 May 2026 04:00

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