This live blog follows the latest developments across the Middle East crisis, including regional diplomacy, maritime security, ceasefire negotiations, and economic fallout.
Catch up on Tuesday’s top developments here:
- Completed a wave of strikes against Iranian military targets: CENTCOM
- US Treasury Secretary says Hormuz will be 'worthless' in two years
- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps target US Marine base in Jordan
- UN chief calls for maximum restraint in the Middle East conflict
- Trump warns of 'much harder' action if Iran retaliates to strikes
Stocks sink, yields at multi-decade highs and oil spikes on Mideast flare-up
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 05:13 GMT | by AFP
Stocks fell and bond yields held at multi-decade highs as investors ramp up rate hike bets amid a fresh flare-up in Middle East tensions that has sparked another surge in oil prices.
Crude jumped more than two percent and has spiked around 10 percent this week after the United States hit an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a series of tit-for-tat attacks in which Tehran has targeted American interests in several regional countries.
Iran says 11 dead in US strikes on its territory: state media
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 03:23 GMT | by AFP
Iran said Wednesday that US strikes on its territory killed 11 people, state media reported, after a fresh attack in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
"The Deputy Governor of Khuzestan Province for Security and Law Enforcement Affairs said that last night's US missile attack on three locations in the province left seven people dead and eight injured," state-run IRNA said.
It came after the Iranian Red Crescent said Tuesday that four people including a child were killed and more than 50 people wounded by a US attack at a wedding in southern Sirik county.
Imprint of US crimes evident in Minab, Sirik: Iranian govt
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 02:56 GMT | by Web Desk
Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said that the imprint of US crimes was evident in both cases: the targeting of students in Minab and the turning of a wedding celebration into mourning in Sirik.
A “crime that no claim can conceal,” she said in a post on X, adding that the government shared the grief of the Hormozgan people and stood alongside them.
IRGC carries out ‘heavy ballistic missile attack’ on Prince Hassan base in Jordan
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 02:45 GMT | by Web Desk
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps carried “a heavy ballistic missile attack” on the drone hangar at the Prince Hassan base in Jordan, the military said according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.
"A number of drones were destroyed and a number of pilots and flight crew members were killed," the military said.
Targeting a ‘wedding’ proof of Washington’s ‘utter desperation’: Ebrahim Azizi
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 02:39 GMT | by Web Desk
Chairman of the National Security Committee of Iran's Parliament Ebrahim Azizi has said that targeting a “wedding and slaughtering innocent civilians in Kuhestak,” was the “ultimate proof of the utter desperation of the fake defenders of human rights,” terming the US strike “a repetition of their atrocities in Minab and Lamerd.”
“Make no mistake: these crimes will not go unpunished,” he said in a post on X.
“Nothing will protect them from the crushing will of Iran’s Armed Forces,” he added.
Bahrain issues alert of a’ potential threat,’ urges citizens to remain calm
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 02:29 GMT | by Web Desk
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry issued an alert of a potential threat and urged citizens and residents to remain calm, proceed to the nearest safe location.
“Follow news through official channels for the protection of public safety,” the ministry said.
Trump says US position is ‘much better,’ denies forcing Iran into negotiations
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 02:25 GMT | by Web Desk
President Donald Trump has said that the position US had now “much better,” refuting claims that he was trying to “force Iran to the bargaining table.”
“I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement,” he said in a post on TruthSocial.
“I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing,” the president said.
He added that Iran was “just playing out the inevitable.”
Peru cuts ties with Iran, accusing Tehran of escalating Mideast war: foreign ministry
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 01:39 GMT | by AFP
Peru's Foreign Ministry said it has severed diplomatic relations with Iran, accusing Tehran of inciting "an escalation of conflicts" in the Middle East and hindering maritime transit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Citing a historic pacifist stance, the Peruvian government "has made the decision to sever diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran," the ministry said in a statement.
Turning blind eye to injustice does not contain it: Baqaei condemns US attack on wedding
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 01:39 GMT | by Web Desk
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has said that turning a blind eye to injustice does not contain it while condemning a US strike on a residential home in Sirik which killed four people and wounded 50.
In a post on X, Baqaei said that the US “catalogue of atrocities” against Iran was now complete after it attacked while families were celebrating a wedding.
“This cruelty cannot be separated from the chain of atrocities that preceded it in Minab, Lamerd, Qeshm and elsewhere nor from the strikes on military targets that were dressed in deceptive justifications,” he said, adding that it was more dangerous to normalize bombing than the bomb itself.
He said that Tehran will respond to these “savage crimes with firmness,” calling out governments and international institutions that remain silent, or sought to justify such acts.
Such governments and institutions “must understand that their silence is not neutrality,” he said.
“Those who remain silent today will not be immune to its consequences tomorrow. Turning a blind eye to injustice does not contain it; it only emboldens the perpetrators,” he added.
Iran says targeted US forces at Bahrain air base: Report
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 01:39 GMT | by AFP
Iran's army said it targeted US forces at an air base in Washington-allied Bahrain, as Tehran launched strikes targeting American interests across the Middle East.
"The Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, several hours ago, targeted radar installations and assembly points of US terrorist forces at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain through intensive attacks carried out by suicide drones," state media reported.
Iran Guards say struck US bases in Erbil with missiles, drones: Report
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 01:23 GMT | by AFP
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that they struck US bases with missiles and drones in Erbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported.
The Guards said they "carried out a coordinated missile and drone attack on US bases in Erbil" that destroyed a maintenance centre, warehouses and the "guidance system of a US surveillance aerostat", according to a statement carried by the state-run IRNA.
Tuesday at a glance
Published: Sept 2, 2026 | 00:00 GMT | by Web Desk
The United States and Iran on Tuesday engaged in tit-for-tat strikes as conflict escalated across the region, with Central Command saying its forces completed a wave of strikes against military targets, while Iran said it targeted a Marine base in Jordan with ballistic missiles.
After six months of war, the two sides remain at an impasse, with Iran disrupting traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz and the US persisting with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the conflicts in the Middle East have had far-reaching effects, urging the warring parties to show maximum restraint.
The escalation comes after Washington and Tehran threatened retaliatory strikes in response to recent aggression, with US President Donald Trump warning that Tehran faced "much harder and higher" attacks if it hits back, while Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed “unforgettable lessons for the American enemy.”
Both Kuwait and Jordan confirmed strikes on their territory, while AFP journalists reported that air alert sirens rang out in Bahrain as authorities called on residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.
Meanwhile, Qatar called on the US and Iran to return to negotiations, urging both parties to exercise wisdom and return to the negotiating path.
As US continued its economic pressure campaign against Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said US was “probably going to announce a bank sanction this week,” and another the following week, adding that Washington received “great support around the world.”
For earlier developments, read our Sept 1 live blog here.