US military says struck and destroyed three oil tankers; Iran retaliates

Day 184: US insists Iran conflict is not a war while economic blockade tightens

Day 183: Trump boasts ‘unlimited’ US ammo, warns of more strikes

Day 182: US strikes on Iran would not continue 'too long': Trump

Day 180: Trump warns of more strikes on Tehran

Day 179: UAE strongly condemns missile attacks on Jordan

President Donald Trump said Friday that the Iran war was "small potatoes" for the United States, in his administration's latest bid to play down the conflict ahead of crucial midterm elections.

Trump's comments came a day after Vice President JD Vance said that "I wouldn't call it a war" despite an upsurge in clashes between Iran and the United States over the Strait of Hormuz.

"A lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about Vance's remarks.

"It's not a big thing. We did Venezuela, and we did this," added Trump, who was surrounded by cattle ranchers invited for the signing of two executive orders on beef processing.

The six-month-old war in which 18 US troops and thousands of Iranians have died has reached a stalemate, with Tehran disrupting shipping traffic in the strategic waterway.

But with fuel prices threatening to cost Trump's Republicans their control of Congress in November's midterms, his administration has been trying to minimize the conflict.

Trump said the US was carrying out "intermittent strikes" but that "we're not fighting right now."

He reiterated his claims that the United States effectively controlled the Strait of Hormuz and had decimated Iran's military.

"What we've done is amazing. We took over Venezuela and we have essentially taken over Iran," Trump said.

Pressed on calling the war "small potatoes" when 18 service members died, an increasingly irate Trump compared the Iran war to the years-long US wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan.

"I don't think it matters what you call it. What matters is the fact we have had tremendous success. We've stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon," he said.

President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) said the United States could ‘hit’ Iran's heavily fortified underground nuclear site known as Pickaxe Mountain ‘very soon’, days after Washington targeted Iranian military targets.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump defended the months-long US military campaign against the Islamic Republic, saying its primary objective was to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

"We're in five months now. And you know what we did in five months? They're not going to have a nuclear weapon; that's what we did," Trump said.

"Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did, you probably wouldn't be standing here very long," he added.

Trump then warned that Pickaxe Mountain could be targeted if the US detects activity there.

"We may hit Pickaxe very soon because if there was anything going on with Pickaxe," Trump said, adding that US intelligence was closely monitoring activity at the site.

"We know everybody that's moving at Pickaxe; we know everybody that's moving everywhere all over Iran. And if anything goes bad, we hit them; we hit them hard," Trump said.

Trump also argued that US military intervention had prevented a wider regional conflict, saying that without American action, Israel and the broader Middle East would have faced a potentially more serious threat.

"If we didn't go in there, you wouldn't have Israel right now, you wouldn't have the Middle East, and they probably would go at European cities and our cities next," Trump said.

"But we stopped them from having a nuclear weapon in five months," he added.

Trump also spoke about the recent US strikes on Iranian radar systems, claiming American forces had destroyed sophisticated radar installations on two occasions.

"There had been no shooting for days before the hit that we gave them the other night to wipe out the radar they had," Trump said.

"They had very sophisticated radar – they brought in radar because we knocked it out once, and now we knocked it out twice. Now we don't notice any activity," he added.

Trump suggested Iran had become reluctant to continue deploying radar systems because of repeated US attacks.

"I think they're tired of putting it in and getting blown up," he said.

The United States on Friday announced the approval of a $5 billion sale of bombs, guidance kits and other equipment to Saudi Arabia, which has been repeatedly attacked during the US-Israeli war against Iran.

"The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia's airborne defence capability to counter current and future regional threats, strengthen its homeland defence, and improve interoperability with systems operated by US forces and other Gulf region partners," the US State Department said in a statement.

The sale will also "support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a Major non-NATO Ally," the department said.

Saudi Arabia has been targeted with drone and missile strikes by Iranian forces and Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi rebels since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran earlier this year.

The State Department has notified Congress of the proposed sale of the bombs to Riyadh, which still needs to be approved by US lawmakers.

The United States, Britain, France and Germany have drafted a resolution for possible consideration by the Board of Governors of the UN nuclear watchdog that seeks to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for failure to comply with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, diplomats say.

Under those obligations, which are part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran is legally bound to declare all nuclear material and activities and allow inspectors of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency to verify that none of it is being diverted from peaceful uses.

The diplomatic move has been under consideration since June 2025 when the IAEA board found Iran officially in noncompliance with its nonproliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years - one day before the US and Israel launched attacks against Iran's nuclear sites.

The possible referral of Iran to the UN Security Council shifts the responsibility to a higher authority that is able to enact further legally binding measures, including sanctions or asset freezes.

But specific punitive measures by the UN are unlikely in this case since Iran's allies Russia and China hold a veto power on the UN Security Council.

The draft resolution, which was seen by The Associated Press and reported earlier by Reuters, requests the IAEA director general Rafael Grossi "to transmit this resolution and the previously adopted resolutions … to all Members of the Agency and to the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the IAEA Statute."

The resolution also "stresses its support for a diplomatic solution to the challenges posed by the Iranian nuclear programme and its implications for regional peace and stability leading to an agreement that addresses all international concerns related to Iran's nuclear activities, and encourages all parties to constructively engage in diplomacy."

Diplomats say that the resolution is still under negotiation and has not yet been formally submitted to the board. The text of the draft resolution may therefore still change, as board members still have the opportunity to suggest amendments.

Once formally submitted, it will be put to a vote during next week's IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna.

Iranian media on Saturday reported several explosions near the country's major oil hub of Kharg Island in the Gulf, days after renewed fighting broke out with the United States.

Fars news agency said blasts were heard by its correspondent but that there was no smoke visible, while the SNN news agency claimed "an Iranian tanker was targeted by the US" near the island.

There was no immediate comment from US or Iranian officials.

Iran on Saturday accused the US of attacking an Iranian tanker near Kharg Island in the Arabian Gulf. The US did not immediately comment, but a new strike would raise the risk of sparking a new round of Iranian attacks on US allies and interests in the region.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting said Saturday that four US missiles struck a tanker about six miles (10 kilometers) from Kharg Island. It said the crew was being evacuated and there were no casualties.

The report did not provide evidence and did not include comment from Iranian officials. US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fighting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces and the country's Houthi rebels killed more than 60 people on Saturday, including civilians, medical and military sources told AFP.

According to three Yemeni military sources, 26 government troops were killed during several hours of fighting in the country's southwest, while medical and military sources from the Iran-backed Houthis said 31 rebel fighters were killed.

One medical source in the government-held city of Taiz said a missile strike killed six civilians travelling by bus and wounded seven others.

Drivers formed long lines outside fuel stations in Baghdad on Saturday as gasoline supplies dropped in oil-rich Iraq due to import disruptions caused by the Middle East war.

Despite being OPEC's second largest oil producer, Iraq imports oil derivatives because its refineries do not produce enough gasoline to meet domestic demand.

In recent weeks, as regional hostilities drag on, long queues have been reappearing every few days, mostly outside government-run fuel stations in Baghdad and other provinces.

Lebanon on Saturday raised the toll in Israeli strikes on the country's south and east overnight to four killed, with Israel saying it was responding to an attempted Hezbollah attack.

Lebanon's health ministry reported four people killed including an 18-year-old woman, and 32 others wounded, including several women and children, in Israeli strikes on several locations on Friday, particularly in the Nabatieh region.

An Israeli army statement said its forces struck Hezbollah "terrorists and infrastructure" including "weapon storage facilities".

"The strikes were carried out in response to Hezbollah's attempted attack" on Friday against Israeli troops in south Lebanon "during which a drone was launched toward the soldiers", it said, without reporting troop injuries.

The US military said Saturday it had struck and destroyed three oil tankers linked to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after the Iranian military organisation fired on American warships.

"Following Iran’s failed attacks, CENTCOM permanently disabled the IRGC crude oil carriers M/T Downy off the coast of Kharg Island and M/T Stark 1 near Jask. American forces also completely destroyed the unladen crude oil carrier M/T Kylo... in the Gulf of Oman, striking the vessel in multiple critical locations to render it inoperable after the crew was directed to abandon ship," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on X.

“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

The US statement said the tankers were part of a shadow network helping to fund Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard.

The Pentagon has launched a lie-detector dragnet to comb through high-ranking military officials and identify who leaked information about US munitions stockpiles, according to US press reports.

In July, reports emerged that the United States was rationing munitions -- its missile interceptors, in particular -- over supply concerns after several months of fighting Iran.

Administration officials vehemently denied those reports, with President Donald Trump saying "we have a lot of ammunition, different types," while acknowledging that "for some of the more sophisticated stuff, we'd certainly like to have more."

Late Friday, The New York Times reported that some 50 members of the military's Joint Staff -- the Pentagon's planning and advisory staff -- were being required to take polygraph tests as part of an investigation into how classified stockpile information made its way into journalists' hands.

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre tweeted about a report it received including merchant vessels. It said: "UKMTO has received a report involving several merchant vessels in the Northern Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reports indicate the vessels were subject to disabling fire as part of ongoing military activity in the region. UKMTO is unable to confirm if any casualties or environmental impact has occurred at this time. Authorities are aware and relevant investigations remain ongoing. Mariners are advised to consider the latest maritime security information and maintain awareness of the evolving operational environment."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday that its forces had smashed a "terror" team it said was affiliated with the United States and Israel in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, killing two of its members.

In a statement published on the IRGC's official news outlet, Sepah News, the Quds Base of the Ground Force of the IRGC said the "terror" team was busted in a joint operation involving its members as well as the provincial police and intelligence forces.

It said the team had sought to perpetrate "acts of terror" against a series of "pre-determined" targets.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday that its forces had smashed a "terror" team it said was affiliated with the United States and Israel in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, killing two of its members.

In a statement published on the IRGC's official news outlet, Sepah News, the Quds Base of the Ground Force of the IRGC said the "terror" team was busted in a joint operation involving its members as well as the provincial police and intelligence forces.

It said the team had sought to perpetrate "acts of terror" against a series of "pre-determined" targets.

Iran's military on Saturday vowed "more severe" retaliatory attacks on US naval vessels if Washington kept up its strikes on Iranian ships, hours after US Central Command said it had destroyed three Iranian tankers.

"The US terrorist army is warned that if the evil actions, insecurity and harassment of Iranian ships and the naval blockade of Iran continue, the strikes by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran against US military vessels in the region will be more severe than before and there is a possibility of their expansion," the Khatam al-Anbiya central command said.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned US attacks on Iranian oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman as a “war crime".

It said the strikes violated Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and posed “a clear threat to international peace and the security of commercial navigation.”

The ministry said Iran was determined to defend its sovereignty and national interests against what it called US “state terrorism” and aggression, including attacks on commercial shipping.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that they had attacked several vessels, including ones allegedly linked to the United States, in retaliation for American strikes on Iranian tankers earlier in the day.

Noting the morning's attacks, the Guards said their naval forces had subsequently "targeted three oil tankers on the unauthorised route of the Strait of Hormuz and three vessels affiliated with the child-killing America in other areas", warning other ships not to attempt to transit by unapproved routes.