U.S. and Iran exchange attacks as Middle East hostilities reignite

FILE: An Iranian woman enjoys a dip in the sea as vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off the port city of Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran on August 10, 2026. Photo by ATTA KENARE /AFP via Getty Images

Article content

The US and Iran exchanged strikes for the first time in about a month as American forces hit an island in the Strait of Hormuz and the Islamic Republic responded by launching attacks on the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Article content

President Donald Trump told Fox News on Monday morning that the US would respond to Iran’s attacks on US forces, without giving details.

Article content

Article content

Iranian media also said the country’s authorities seized a bulk carrier near the port of Bandar Abbas in the strait and claimed an oil supertanker trying to go through the waterway was hit by mines early on Monday. US Central Command said in a social media post on Monday that no ships had hit mines in Hormuz.

Article content

Article content

Crude oil prices rose, with Brent climbing 2.4% to above $90 a barrel. European natural gas prices increased too.

Article content

Pedestrians walk past a wall mural along a street in downtown of Tehran on August 31, 2026. Photo by ATTA KENARE /AFP via Getty Images

Article content

Article content

The incidents underline the high tensions between Washington and Tehran, with the countries still at odds over the status of the Strait of Hormuz and neither willing to restart negotiations to end a war now more than six months old. Trump’s comments of further US attacks indicate they may be back in a cycle of military escalation that could bring further volatility to energy and stock markets.

Article content

Several current and former US and Iranian officials have said they expect the conflict to drag on for months, with the sides essentially deadlocked and bouts of fighting puncturing weeks-long lulls in hostilities.

Article content

“The state of neither war nor peace cannot be a sustainable solution,” Anwar Gargash, a senior foreign-policy adviser to the UAE’s leadership, said on X soon after the country fended off a drone attack. “What is needed today are realistic and sustainable political solutions that address the political and economic dimensions of the crisis, beginning with overcoming the escalation and returning navigation in the Strait of Hormuz to its normal state.”

Article content

Article content

US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said it fired on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces after spotting them preparing to deploy mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

Article content

U.S. President Donald Trump waves after stepping off Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on August 28, 2026. Photo by KENT NISHIMURA /AFP via Getty Images

Article content

Article content

It was a “limited, precise action,” Central Command said. “Iran created the threat and the US military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce.”

Article content

Iran said several people were killed in the US strikes, and that they targeted Larak Island overnight. The IRGC retaliated with a missile-and-drone attack on US air bases in Jordan early Monday. Jordan’s military intercepted eight missiles, destroying them before they caused any damage, the Jordan News Agency reported.

Article content

The UAE’s military dealt with a drone coming from Iran over the country’s territorial waters and said its forces remain on high alert. The Gulf Arab state denied an IRGC claim that the Al Minhad airbase just outside of Dubai was targeted with missiles.

Article content

Iranian media reported that a vessel carrying sugar was seized near the port of Bandar Abbas, which sits in the strait, because it was polluting the surrounding waters. The ship wasn’t identified.