US strikes Iran as Hormuz hostilities resume

On September 1, 2026, the United States military struck new targets in Iran, ending a month-long lull in hostilities. U.S. Central Command said the strikes were in response to Iranian attempts to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. service members in the region. Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones, with Iranian semiofficial media reporting such operations. Earlier, on Sunday, the U.S. struck rocket launchers on Iran — Larak Island, and Iran responded with missiles at U.S. sites in Jordan, which were intercepted, while the UAE stopped an Iranian drone. The conflict traces back to a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, after which Iran imposed a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil passed in peacetime, slowing traffic to a trickle and raising global energy prices. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed willingness to return to the June ceasefire memorandum if the U.S. does, but the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is pressing for greater concessions. The U.S. renewed a regionwide travel alert, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted the strait would become a 'worthless piece of water in two years' under 'Operation Economic Outcast.' Iran is working with Oman on a shipping framework, while Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. Separately, Israel raided State of Palestine — Gaza City detaining a senior Hamas official, Yemeni forces killed an Islamic State spokesperson, the IAEA reported inability to inspect Iranian nuclear sites, the World Food Programme warned of a hunger crisis in Yemen, and China's President Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt — Cairo for talks with Egypt's President el-Sisi.