US-Iran war: Tehran plans Hormuz exclusion zone as Israel accuses Hezbollah of ceasefire violations

Israel on Monday accused Iran-backed Hezbollah of repeatedly violating a ceasefire agreement in recent days, as Lebanese state media reported 11 killed in overnight Israeli strikes in a southern village.

"Repeated drone attacks. Weapons storage. Terror infrastructure. Command centres embedded in civilian areas. Hezbollah continues attempting to rebuild its military capabilities in southern Lebanon. These violations will not be accepted," Israel's foreign ministry wrote on X.

Lebanese state media reported Monday that Israeli strikes overnight killed 11 people in a southern village, including two infants, a day after separate raids left seven dead.

The official National News Agency said nine people were killed in one strike that destroyed a three-storey residential building in Kfar Rumman, while two rescuers in the area whose car was targeted were also killed.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah received a phone call from UK Foreign Secretary Edward Miliband, during which the two ministers discussed regional developments and efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

They reviewed Saudi-UK relations and ways to enhance coordination, as well as developments in the region and their implications for security and stability.

The ministers stressed the need to intensify diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions and strengthen regional security.

For four months, Marzieh Nourmohammadi searched for her twin daughters.

She went from hospitals to government offices and courts, desperately trying to discover what had happened to Taraneh and Romina Rahimi after masked men took the 19-year-old high school students from their beds in the middle of the night.

Then came a phone call.

Read full story here.

The U.S. military denied that Iran struck an uncrewed American military vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, calling the claim a "total lie." A top Iranian official said Tehran plans to announce an "exclusion zone" outside the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels it believes are attempting to transit the waterway.

The Israeli army demanded early Monday that residents of Deir Zahrani in southern Lebanon leave a specific zone ahead of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The army said that an explosive drone had been launched toward its forces and "Hezbollah's terrorist activity compels the IDF to act forcefully against it", without specifying whether any of its soldiers were wounded.

It warned in a message in Arabic that it was targeting a "Hezbollah terrorist facility" and said those who remained in the area were at risk.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel later reported Israeli airstrikes on Deir Zahrani.

Two luxury London penthouses linked to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei have been forced onto the market after their sanctioned registered owner defaulted on mortgages, offering a glimpse of how mounting financial restrictions are squeezing an overseas property network allegedly built for Iran’s ruling elite.

The apartments at 3a Palace Green, one of London’s most exclusive addresses overlooking Kensington Palace, were bought for a combined £35.75 million (About $48 million/Dh 177 million) but have now entered receivership, The Sunday Times reported.

President Donald Trump wants US oil companies to produce more gasoline and bring down prices at the pump. But the refiners he is pressing face a problem they cannot easily solve: there is little spare refining capacity to unlock, and building a new refinery would take years and billions of dollars.

Trump has few immediate options as gasoline prices remain elevated and the war between the US and Iran continues to disrupt oil and fuel supplies around the world.

Trump met this week with executives from major oil and refining companies, including Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Valero Energy and PBF Energy, urging them to increase refining capacity and boost fuel supplies.

But US refineries are already operating at exceptionally high rates. The bigger obstacle may be even harder to overcome: the price of crude oil itself, with WTI crude trading around $92 a barrel Monday, while global benchmark Brent was near $97.

Oil prices were mixed early on Monday (September 7), with global benchmark Brent crude holding near $97 a barrel as markets continued to assess the impact of the U.S.-Iran conflict and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz. As of 8:28 am Tokyo time on Sept. 7, the market snapshot showed: Brent crude up 0.43% to $96.69 , WTI Crude up 0.60% to $92.03, and Murban crude at $103.30, down -1.36%. Natural gas was down 1.5% to $2.929.

The Strait of Hormuz remains at the centre of the oil market's risk calculation. The waterway normally handles a huge share of global oil shipments, but tanker traffic has been severely disrupted amid the conflict.

Brent had already climbed above $96 last week after the latest escalation, while traders weighed the possibility of prolonged disruptions through Hormuz, as the market remained volatile. The premium could widen further if shipping restrictions become more severe or if attacks damage additional energy infrastructure.

Iran is preparing to expand its maritime restrictions beyond the Strait of Hormuz, escalating an already dangerous confrontation with the US and raising fresh concerns for commercial shipping and global oil supplies.

Iran hardliner Mohsen Rezaei, 71, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said on Sunday that Tehran would announce a new “restricted zone” in the Arabian Gulf in the coming days.

The zone would begin at the line of the US naval blockade and extend into parts of the Gulf. Ships entering the area would be placed on an Iranian sanctions list, he said.

Iran's expansion of its "restricted zone", announced by top security chief Mohsen Rezaei, follows an earlier Iranian campaign against vessels Tehran says have violated its navigation rules.

Iran has expanded its blacklist by 11 vessels, bringing the total to 56. The vessels include crude-oil tankers, LNG and LPG carriers and clean-product ships. Iran has also warned that vessels cooperating with blacklisted ships — including through ship-to-ship transfers — could face sanctions.

Meanwhile, the US blockade is also becoming more aggressive, as Central Command forces struck three Iranian oil tankers, according to US military officials.

The latest escalation marks a significant shift from economic pressure into direct confrontation over the movement of Iranian oil. The US says its naval presence is intended to enforce the blockade and protect maritime security. Washington has also argued that the Strait of Hormuz is a vital international waterway rather than an Iranian-controlled passage.

The new head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Sunday said Tehran plans to announce an "exclusion zone" outside the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels it believes are attempting to transit the waterway.

Mohsen Rezaei's comments to Iran's state broadcaster came with few details, a day after the U.S. struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to Tehran launching ballistic missiles at U.S. warships. Experts called the launches a dangerous escalation after Iran's previous attacks at sea targeted commercial shipping.

The new zone should be announced in the coming days and weeks and "will begin from the line of the U.S. naval blockade, extend toward the Strait of Hormuz, and from this side continue into the Persian Gulf," Rezaei said. "Any ship that enters this area with the intention of passing through the Strait of Hormuz and is identified will be placed on our sanctions list."

Iranian authorities on Sunday announced they were raising the price of petrol for heavier consumers, as the United States steps up sanctions seeking to isolate the country's economy.

Iran's quota system prices petrol in three tiers -- 1,500 tomans per litre for a consumer's first 60 litres in a given month, 3,000 tomans per litre for their next 50, and 5,000 tomans per litre after that. The toman is an informal unit equivalent to 10 Iranian rials.

On Sunday, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the price for the third tier would double to 10,000 tomans (about 4.5 US cents).

"The rate will increase to 10,000 toman rials from the morning of September 8," Mohajerani said in remarks carried by state media.

Day 186: Iran to declare 'prohibited zone' near Hormuz Strait

Day 185: Iran military vows 'more severe' reprisals if US attacks continue

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