Iran-US war latest: Trump’s forces dismiss Tehran’s claim that mines blew up oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

The US military has rejected an Iranian claim that a Panama-flagged oil tanker struck naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the vessel was instead attacked by an Iranian drone.

US Central Command said the El Gaia was struck by an Iranian missile last month, which rendered the tanker “inoperable”, before it was hit again by an Iranian drone over the weekend while it was in waters off Oman.

The vessel is now being towed by a regional partner.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had claimed the tanker struck naval mines and caught fire in Hormuz.

Donald Trump has said he is “open” to negotiations to end the war with Iran, but stressed the final decision rests with him.

In a post on Truth Social, he said: “The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage – the concept of which we are open to.”

Meanwhile, a Pentagon watchdog report said the US spent an estimated $22.3bn on munitions during the first four months of its war with Iran, exposing weaknesses in the US defence industrial base.

The US military has rejected an Iranian claim that a Panama-flagged oil tanker struck naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the vessel was instead attacked by an Iranian drone.

US Central Command said the El Gaia was struck by an Iranian missile last month, which rendered the tanker “inoperable”, before it was hit again by an Iranian drone over the weekend while it was in waters off Oman.

The vessel is now being towed by a regional partner.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had claimed the tanker struck naval mines and caught fire in Hormuz.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Israeli forces launched a strike on a clearly identified aid convoy in besieged Gaza, injuring at least one humanitarian worker on Monday.

“An MSF bus carrying 10 humanitarian staff in Gaza City was damaged by an Israeli airstrike on a targeted vehicle just two metres away. One of our colleagues was injured in the strike,” the NGO said in a statement.

“The bus was clearly identified as an MSF vehicle, with a large MSF sticker visible on its roof. Once again, Israeli forces have shown a blatant disregard for the safety of humanitarian and medical personnel,” Doctors Without Borders added

The Saudi-led coalition ⁠in Yemen said on ⁠Tuesday ​that ⁠13 ⁠civilians ​were injured ⁠in ‌attacks by the Iran-aligned ‌Houthis ‌on the ⁠Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha and ‌Taif ​on ‌Monday.

In a statement posted on X, coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said the injuries ranged from minor to moderate and that seven houses and two vehicles were damaged.

He added the coalition would respond “responsibly and firmly” and take what it called necessary operational measures to deter further attacks.

The US spent an estimated $22.3bn on munitions during the first four months of its war with Iran, according to a Pentagon watchdog report.

The Defense Department’s inspector general estimated that the war had cost the US military $33.4bn by 29 June, including $22.3bn in expended munitions, $3.7bn in destroyed or lost equipment and $7.4bn in additional costs, largely covering day-to-day military operations.

The estimate does not include the cost of repairing US military bases damaged by Iranian counterattacks, the report said. Facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan were damaged.

The scale of weapons use has exposed weaknesses in the US defence industrial base, with the inspector general citing the Pentagon’s acquisition office as saying that the expended munitions had “resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply”.

The Pentagon is now working to speed up procurement and production, while stockpiling critical materials, components and selected munitions to ensure it can respond more quickly to future conflicts, the report said.

The US also suffered significant equipment losses during the conflict. Up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones were destroyed, along with four F-15E fighter jets and several other aircraft, according to the report.

Several aircraft and helicopters were also destroyed during a US search-and-rescue operation in early April to recover an Air Force officer stranded deep inside Iran.

Separately, the State Department incurred $113m in costs by early June, including the evacuation of American diplomats and US citizens from the region.

Iranian attacks also caused an estimated $184m in damage to US diplomatic facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the report said.

The figures cover the period through 29 June. In late July, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress that the war had cost the US about $37.5bn.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran should not be distracted by mixed signals from Donald Trump.

“Don’t get distracted by the US president’s mixed signals—from ‘no negotiations’ to ‘we’re ready to talk,’” Rezaei wrote in a post on X.

“The stakes around oil and the straits have changed. Damage control won’t stop what’s coming,” he added.

“No talks until Iran’s conditions are met. Period!”

"The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage -- The concept of which we are open to,” Trump said on his social media platform on Monday.

The Saudi Arabian Civil Defence sent an all clear ⁠on Tuesday after issuing alerts for potential danger in six cities ⁠including Yanbu, ​the ⁠kingdom's main Red Sea oil port, where ⁠millions of barrels ​a ⁠day are loaded.

Saudi ‌Civil Defence said the danger had passed ‌in Jeddah, Abha, Jazan, ‌AlUla and Taif after the areas received ⁠emergency alerts amid an uptick in attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.

The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi cities ‌and energy infrastructure while ​advancing along Yemen's ‌Red Sea coast ⁠towards the Bab ⁠el-Mandeb Strait, a key ‌shipping route.

Donald Trump said on Monday that ⁠Iran wants to make a deal and ⁠he ​will decide whether ⁠the US will ⁠engage in ​that effort.

"The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage -- The concept of which we are open to,” Trump said on his social media platform on Monday.

It comes even as Trump cast doubt on Iran’s trustworthiness and suggested that a deal would not hold any value.

"I think an agreement with them isn't worth the paper it's written on," Trump told Fox News on 1 September.

"I couldn't care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement."

Australian energy minister Chris Bowen said ​he would travel to Saudi Arabia next week to meet his counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, as an escalation in the Middle ⁠East conflict raises concerns over global energy supply disruptions.

Australia imported 84 per cent of its petroleum product demand last year, official data shows, leaving it exposed to global shocks. Canberra has ⁠been moving quickly to ​shore ⁠up supplies since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February.

"What we are seeing ⁠in the Middle East is deeply concerning," Bowen told ​ABC ⁠News late on ‌Monday.

Australia currently holds 41 days' worth of petrol reserves, Bowen said, adding, "The approach of the Saudi ‌Arabian government will be key for ‌ensuring that fuel security overcoming weeks and months."

Bowen ruled out the possibility of a fuel tax cut, after the ⁠Labor government in March halved the fuel excise for three months to help families cope with surging costs.

"That excise cut was temporary ... we're not going to respond to every daily movement on the world oil price."

Israeli strikes on a southern Lebanese town killed at least 13 people including six children on Monday, Lebanon's health ministry said, in one of the deadliest days of Israeli bombardment in recent weeks.

Fears of a renewed Israeli military campaign are mounting in Lebanon after days of escalating strikes despite a June ceasefire that was meant to halt fighting between the Israeli military and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

A woman who said she was related to at least three of the dead said one attack hit a residential building as children were getting ready for school. The Israeli military said it struck people seen transferring weapons in the area of the town, Kfar Rumman.

At the site, Reuters reporters saw children's schoolbooks strewn between chunks of concrete where the building once stood. Rescue workers with heavy machinery had worked throughout the morning to pull bodies out from underneath the rubble.

Eight-year-old Mustafa Farhat lost his grandparents and his mother in the strike, locals said. Rescue workers were still searching for his father's body on Monday morning while the boy lay in the hospital being treated for his wounds, they added.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have forced a lightning offensive to the Red Sea coast, assuming control over another vital waterway in the region and threatening to expand the frozen US-Israeli conflict with Iran to the east.

By securing a position overlooking the narrow Bab el-Mandeb strait, the Iran-aligned group has opened a second pressure point, further squeezing Saudi Arabia’s oil exports already diverted from the Strait of Hormuz.

The sudden land grab over the last week has been accompanied by an aerial campaign against military instalments in southern Saudi Arabia, shifting the balance of power after more than a decade at war.