The United States has claimed attacks on five Iranian oil tankers after accusing Iran of launching ballistic missiles at a US warship twice in two days.
Iran responded to the attacks on Tuesday by firing missiles at US forces stationed at the Al Azraq base in Jordan. Amman said its air defences intercepted and destroyed 18 of 20 Iranian missiles, while the rest fell in open areas.
The United States military said Saturday its forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles toward two US Navy warships.
The fresh exchanges threaten to heighten a shipping war in and beyond the Persian Gulf, as Iran seeks to prevent shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz without its consent and the US steps up targeting of Iranian shipping.
Cuba denounced on Friday the impact of the US blockade on human rights, just days before the presentation of the report by Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan to the United Nations.
According to Alejandro GonzĂĄlez, Director of International Organizations at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the report on the negative repercussions of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights in the Caribbean nation will be presented in Geneva on September 8 and 9.
âThere are foreign companies that have yielded to this pressure and have withdrawn from the country. Others remain and continue working with us,â the Deputy Prime Minister stated.
According to PĂ©rez-Oliva, the intensification of the blockade has severed Cubaâs banking and financial relations with numerous institutions and imposes a trade embargo through direct threats against international shipping companies.
The Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment explained that Cuba has containers being held in international ports because some shipping companies have suspended services to the island, while others are operating under ârestrictions imposed illegally and unilaterally by the United States.â
Das von der Trump-Regierung verschĂ€rfte Ăl-Embargo bezeichnet Lianys Torres Rivera, Kubas ranghöchste Diplomatin in den Vereinigten Staaten als âKrieg ohne Bombenâ. Indes hat die CIA ihre Operation im Land ausgeweitet â Ă€hnlich wie vor dem Venezuela-Angriff.
The average price for a gallon of diesel fuel in the United States hit an all-time high average price of $5.85 on Friday as the Trump administrationâs war on Iran and its resulting disruptions to the global energy market showed no signs of ending.
US Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Thursday that the United States does not plan to hold talks with Iran unless Tehran stops attacking commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
„They‘ve got to stop. It‘s that simple,“ he said.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Thursday that its forces had redirected 87 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two under Washington‘s blockade against Iran in regional waters as of Sept. 3.
(September 1, 2026)
The U.S. military attacked two Iranian government tankers as part of the round of strikes that took place on Tuesday, U.S. officials said.
Why it matters: This is the first time the U.S. military has struck Iranian tankers in retaliation for Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz â rather than to prevent them from violating the naval blockade.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Kingdom strongly condemned the targeting of the vessel by Iran and expressed its rejection of Iranian attacks against Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.
âThe Kingdom also condemns the Iranian attacks targeting Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, and affirms its full support and solidarity with the brotherly countries in the measures they take to protect their security and sovereignty from any threat,â the ministry said in a statement.
Two Filipino sailors were killed in an attack on an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, Saudi Arabia‘s national shipping company Bahri said on Wednesday.
„Bahri confirms that its vessel SIDR was involved in a security incident while transiting the Strait of Hormuz“ on the evening of 31 August, the carrier said on X, confirming „the loss of its two Filipino seafarers as a result“ of the attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin just held a high-stakes bilateral meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Bishkek. The optics and message were unmistakable.
(March 26, 2026)
The average earnings of Russian crude oil exports increased by 26 percent in the first two weeks of war alone to a rate of 230 million dollars a day in crude oil alone.
Combining both the revenues of oil and gas, the total daily earnings were at least 760 million. During the same period of two weeks, Russia also sold an extra 672 million euros or about $777 million of oil in comparison with the level during pre-war times.
(March 13, 2026)
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is creating major disruptions in global oil markets. Iranâs control over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for the worldâs oil shipments, has slowed exports and pushed countries to look for alternative supplies. Russia is stepping in to fill the gap, benefiting from rising demand and higher oil prices, which is driving a significant boost in its revenues.
Oil prices surged Tuesday following U.S. military action against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, a retaliatory move after Tehran launched overnight attacks on vessels passing through the waterway.
A naval blockade imposed by the United States on Iran has effectively halted Iranian crude oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz for nearly seven consecutive weeks. This unprecedented development has suspended all new petroleum shipments to China, the primary remaining buyer of Iranian oil, according to data and market tracking reports cited by Reuters.
(Updated 6 hours ago)
Two supertankers carrying Saudi âoil were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other while âtransiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday, according to shipping intelligence and tracking firms Marisks and Kpler.
„The near-simultaneous incidents represent a further escalation in the threat environment within âthe Omani corridor,“ Marisks said.
âAt my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer,â Trump wrote on social media.
Trumpâs emphasis on lowering American gas prices, almost two months before the US midterm elections, comes as the national average gas price sits at more than $4 a gallon.
(August 26, 2026)
During a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Cuban Representative to the UN Ernesto SoberĂłn GuzmĂĄn spoke about the link between peace and global food stability.
(August 26, 2026)
The Cuban government, in a statement to the Security Council on Tuesday, August 25, warned against the use of hunger as a weapon of war and argued that conflicts, economic inequalities and unilateral coercive measures were aggravating global food insecurity.
Havana specifically linked the worsening food situation in Cuba to the impact of the United Statesâ economic, commercial and financial restrictions, which it refers to as a blockade.
The intervention came only days after Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno RodrĂguez launched a fresh attack on Washington over new sanctions imposed on Cuban state entities and officials, accusing the administration of US President Donald Trump of deliberately squeezing the Cuban economy and undermining the governmentâs capacity to provide basic services.
RodrĂguez said the latest measures were particularly affecting the movement of containers carrying food, medicines and medical equipment, including supplies acquired by Cubaâs private micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
The on-again, off-again conflict, characterized by tit-for-tat retaliatory strikes, is a lose-lose situation for both parties and for the region as a whole, yet we are unlikely to escape this tragic dynamic unless more realist strategic thinking prevails in both Washington and Tehran. Neither side can âwinâ this war, but they can cut their losses before they incur even higher human, financial, and military costs. The realist school of thought offers a compelling diagnosis of this conflict, and points the way to a mutually beneficial conclusion.
Cassif eventually reached the families and expressed his support.
Louai Ridi, a Palestinian American, has been effectively trapped on his property since settlers first arrived in the area on Aug. 9. The settlers pitched a tent surrounding Ridiâs home before cutting water pipes and electricity lines and blocking roads leading to his property, making it extremely difficult for the Ridi family and other residents to go about the area.
Videos posted by Cassif, Zo Haderekh and the Palestinian families have brought international attention to the standoff, creating an unusual degree of pressure on the Israeli government and its military.
Israeli soldiers blocked Knesset member Ofer Cassif from reaching a Palestinian family home in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, where settlers have maintained a 17-day siege.
Cassif eventually reached the families and expressed his support.
Palestinians trapped in their homes by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank town of Qusra are running out of food as the siege enters its 12th day.
Israeli forces and settlers launched at least 467 attacks on Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank over the past week, the Palestinian prime ministerâs office said.
In a post on X, the office said the violence damaged 75 Palestinian homes and other structures.
It described the attacks as part of a ârelentless escalation of violence, dispossession, and destructionâ.
(August 14, 2026)
âThe three families under siege have been threatened, harassed and attacked by Israeli settlers from nearby outposts for several months. They have been confined to their homes since Sunday 9 August, are running out of food, and lack access to basic necessities, including running water. The homes targeted in these attacks are located in Area B of the West Bank, supposedly under Palestinian administrative control and Israeli military control, according to the classification of the Oslo Accords. Yet Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances trying to deliver food and water to the homes were also attacked by settlers. Despite these violent attacks, Israeli forces allowed the settlers to remain close proximity to the Palestinian familiesâ homes.
âFor far too long, the world has ignored the immense, unfathomable suffering of Palestinians being uprooted and erased from land they have inhabited for generations. The international community must stop treating such incidents as âisolatedâ and instead hold Israel accountable.â
(August 14, 2026)
Palestinian families near Qusra in the occupied West Bank say they remain trapped in their homes, six days after far-right Israeli settlers moved into the area. Despite U.S. pressure on Israel to disperse the settlers, residents say some still remain, while the IDF continues to be present â for now. NBC News‘ Matt Bradley reports.
NABLUS, August 15, 2026 (WAFA) â Israeli colonists on Saturday attacked a team from the Qusra municipality south of Nablus as it attempted to restore electricity to homes that have been under siege for about a week, while Israeli forces detained three members of the crew.
Local sources told WAFA that the municipal crew headed to the homes after receiving coordination to restore electricity, which colonists had cut off more than a week ago. The colonists attacked and surrounded the crew before Israeli forces intervened and detained three of its members.
Meantime, colonists continued to besiege the homes of three Palestinian families in Qusra amid a deployment of Israeli forces in the area, the sources said.
(August 13, 2026)
Huckabee‘s post on X was an unusually sharp rebuke from a U.S. official, even as he defended the Israeli military‘s response. Huckabee is a longtime ally of Israel‘s settler movement and in the past has expressed support for Israeli control over the occupied West Bank while condemning settler violence.
(August 13, 2026)
Three Palestinian families â around 15 people in total, including at least two children â have remained confined to their homes âin a state of terrorâ in the Ras al Ein area of Qusra village, south of Nablus, OHCHR said, alleging that the settlers had cut their power and water.
âThese criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and their land,â the UN office said. âTime is running out for these three families before they are forcibly displacedâ.
Iranâs politburo-like body known as the Supreme National Security Council says the Strait of Hormuz will not open until the United States âcorrects its behavior,â and issues drastic new demands that could shake up talks on a deal to manage the waterway and traffic on it.
Iranâs state broadcaster publishes the statement by the councilâs secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a commander in the powerful Revolutionary Guard.