US strikes 3 Iranian tankers for IRGC targeting US troops; Iran vows 'more painful response'

The USS Abraham Lincoln left Thailand on Sunday after a five-day port call amid its extended deployment and military operations in the Middle East, Reuters reported.

Carrying around 5,000 personnel, the aircraft carrier stopped at Laem Chabang, near Pattaya and is now scheduled to wrap up its deployment and return to San Diego in late September or early October.

“We would like to thank the people of Thailand for their incredible hospitality,” U.S. Navy Capt. Dan Keeler, the Abraham Lincoln’s commanding officer, said in a statement.

The death toll from Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon has risen to seven, Lebanon’s health ministry said Sunday, as Israel carried out retaliatory attacks after what it said were Hezbollah drone launches against Israeli troops.

Two men were killed in a town near the Israeli-occupied security zone, while two women were killed in Arab Salim, according to the ministry. Three more people were later reported killed in a separate Israeli drone strike on Nabatieh al-Tahta.

Several others were wounded.

The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah weapons storage sites and a command center inside a building previously used as a hospital. Israel said it issued an evacuation warning before striking a building in Arab Salim and used precision munitions and aerial surveillance to limit civilian casualties.

The strikes came despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah reached in June. Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the attacks as a “dangerous escalation,” saying they struck civilian government and health facilities.

The Israeli military said the operation was launched in response to Hezbollah drone attacks in areas where Israeli forces are operating.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The midterms will not interrupt the maximum pressure campaign against Iran, according to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who sees real trouble ahead for the Iranian economy.

“The blockade was a smart play: It's hurting the Iranians badly; it's hurting the government that nothing's coming in, nothing's coming out,” Kennedy told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. “They're going to have to eat and drink their oil.”

The battle over the Strait of Hormuz will "probably not" be over by the midterm elections, according to Kennedy, noting Iran’s economy is under intense strain while the strait remains only partially open for oil that is not coming in or out of Iran.

Increased gasoline supply and lower demand after the holiday will ultimately bring down U.S. gas prices, no matter what happens in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday.

Americans lamenting Labor Day weekend gasoline prices will soon see some relief.

“Well, gasoline production's about to go up, and demand is about to down," Wright told “Fox News Sunday.” "So if I had to guess, they're more likely to go down than go up.”

AAA said the national average was about $4.15 a gallon Sunday, with volatility around the Strait of Hormuz helping keep crude oil and pump prices elevated.

Gasoline futures two months out are more than 30 cents a gallon below current prices, pointing to increased refinery production and declining demand as the summer driving season ends, according to Wright.

Blue states are sabotaging Trump administration efforts to lower gas prices, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday.

"We changed refinery specs recently so that American refineries can produce more gasoline and diesel," Wright told ABC News' "This Week." "New York, Connecticut, California, and other democratic-run states decided not to adopt those.

"Their goal is to raise energy prices. California's had that goal for quite some time."

The midterms are not going to stop President Donald Trump from getting Iran to come to heel, according to former CIA operative Dan Hoffman.

"I see no evidence, no matter what happens in the midterms, that the Trump administration is going to take their foot off the gas pedal and press Iran as we have, with economic pressure and military strikes when needed," Hoffman told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."

Iran will have to choose its fate, he concluded.

"This is an unprecedented level of economic pressure on Iran," he said. "I can't emphasize enough the importance of this blockade, which has denied Iran the opportunity to export oil. There's some cost to the world economy, for sure, because the Strait of Hormuz is the new center of gravity for this conflict.

"Iran has three options while their economy is in freefall and their currency is worthless. Iran can escalate the conflict, which they have limited capability to do that. They have some drones and and they have some ballistic missiles dispersed throughout the country, so they can do a little bit of that.

"But we've been very effective at targeting Iranian military sites to prevent them from escalating.

"Iran could capitulate. There's no evidence that the IRGC-dominated hardline regime is interested in doing that. Or they could seek to wait us out and run the Taliban playbook back against us, hopeful that somehow, as a result of the midterms, perhaps that we would decrease this pressure on Iran."

Iran's plan to "wage economic terrorism" on the world is a "losing game" against the U.S. Department of War, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

"This is a losing game for Iran," Wright told "Fox News Sunday." "We wish it would come to an end tomorrow.

"The Iranian regime, either the regime is going to change or this regime is going to change its policy. One of those two things is going to happen."

Wright detailed the two missions for President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign.

"The U.S. military has two major missions there," Wright said, pointing "to stop the flow of any Iranian oil" and "putting maximum economic pressure on Iran and isolating them."

"At the same time that we're doing that, they are trying to wage economic terrorism against the rest of the world by trying to impede the flow traffic," he continued. "And they're doing everything they can to stand in our way. So, yes, it is the U.S. Navy that's assuring that this flow comes out.

"We wish Iran would stop doing what they're doing, but we are degrading their capacities to do that. And we are learning and getting better and better at defending from their attacks."

U.S. naval operations are helping restore oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, with flows rebounding to more than two-thirds of pre-conflict levels when bypass pipelines are included, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

“Our transit through the strait is averaging over 9 million barrels a day now, and with the access pipelines that go around the straits, we're probably two-thirds or more of pre-conflict flows," Wright told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.

"So Iranians are still causing trouble, but the United States Navy is winning that battle.”

Asked whether the U.S. Navy would need to remain in the region indefinitely to keep oil moving, Wright said he expects either a change in Iran’s government or a shift in Tehran’s policies.

“Oh, I think we'll see a change in the Iranian regime, or certainly a change in their policy, if they want to become a trading nation again and engage with the world,” Wright said.

"They have not lightly given up their nuclear weapons program.

"Thank God for President [Donald] Trump's courage to take this on. He did not want to kick the can down to the road to the next administration to deal with a nuclear-armed Iran. This is Iran without nuclear weapons. Imagine Iran with nuclear weapons?"

Israel moved Sunday to cut fuel taxes for two months after the U.S.-Iran conflict helped drive gasoline prices to an all-time high.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered a 0.5-shekel-per-liter reduction in the fuel excise tax, which will lower gasoline prices from 8.25 shekels ($2.74) to 7.75 shekels per liter beginning Monday night.

The move comes as Middle East tensions push up global energy costs, with Brent crude closing Friday at $96.28 a barrel, its highest level since July 24. At current levels, Israeli gasoline costs roughly $10.41 a gallon.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Gulf stock markets ended mixed Sunday.

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index rose 0.3%, while Qatar fell 0.3% and Kuwait slipped 0.2%. Oman finished flat, while Egypt’s blue-chip index gained 0.7%.

Investors remained wary of renewed U.S.-Iran military action and stalled efforts to end the six-month conflict.

The caution followed fresh exchanges over the weekend, with U.S. Central Command saying it struck three Iranian tankers Saturday in retaliation for ballistic missile attacks on two U.S. Navy warships.

Tehran has meanwhile vowed a “painful response” to further aggression while pushing back against sweeping U.S. sanctions.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week the plan is to render the Strait of Hormuz a "worthless piece of water" in two years, and the operation is working, according to analysts.

The United States and its Middle East partners are increasingly blunting Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, as tougher sanctions, a naval blockade and adapting energy markets reduce Tehran’s ability to use the key shipping lane as an economic pressure point.

“The balance of power has tilted against Iran a bit,” Iranian analyst Arash Azizi told Reuters, adding that the U.S. naval blockade was “really hitting Iran.”

Azizi said Tehran’s effort to shock the global economy through Hormuz had fallen short.

“It hasn’t happened, really,” he said.

Iran had hoped disruption in the strait, which carries roughly a fifth of global oil and LNG supplies, would trigger a major global shock and force Washington to compromise. Instead, alternative supplies have continued to flow and markets have adjusted.

Still, analysts cautioned that economic pressure might not be enough to force Tehran to back down.

Former U.S. negotiator Dennis Ross under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations said Iran has repeatedly shown an ability to absorb pressure.

“The Iranians have consistently surprised us in terms of their resiliency,” Ross warned.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's office called Israel's strikes Sunday on Hezbollah "a dangerous escalation."

"President Aoun held the Israeli side fully responsible for this ongoing escalation, calling on the United States and the international community to take immediate action to stop these violations and hold the perpetrators accountable," the office's statement read.

The Israeli strikes killed four in southern Lebanon on Sunday, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Israel retaliated for what it said were Hezbollah drone attacks within areas occupied by its troops.

Despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah agreed in June, the Israeli military is operating in what it has declared as a security zone in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry said that two men were killed in a town on the edge of the zone occupied by Israeli troops, while the two women were killed in Arab Salim, which sits well north of the occupied area.

The Israeli military had issued an online evacuation warning at 6 a.m. local (0300 GMT) for areas near a building in Arab Salim that it said it would strike because it was being used by Hezbollah.

Reuters contributed to this report.

U.S. Central Command said Sunday that American forces enforcing the maritime blockade against Iran have redirected 92 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two in the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM also released footage of a U.S. Air Force F-35A stealth fighter patrolling over regional waters as part of the operation.

OPEC+ kept its oil production policy unchanged for October on Sunday as the war in Iran continued to disrupt exports through the Strait of Hormuz and curb the group’s ability to influence global supply.

The meeting of seven core OPEC+ members — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman — comes as the Iran war continues to ​disrupt oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, limiting OPEC+'s influence over prices and market ​share.

The producer alliance is still pumping well below its targets despite previously agreed output increases, with analysts warning that supply decisions on paper might not translate into barrels reaching the market.

“OPEC+ currently has very limited power over the physical oil market,” Rystad Energy analyst Jorge Leon said. “The group can change production targets on paper, but it cannot guarantee that those barrels will be produced or actually reach the market.”

OPEC+ is now expected to turn its attention to a review of members’ production capacity and 2027 quotas. The seven core members that met Sunday are scheduled to meet again Oct. 4.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Iranian officials admitted Sunday that mounting U.S. pressure on the country’s oil exports and financial networks is putting growing strain on the economy, as Tehran grapples with inflation, unemployment and sharp currency swings.

“They speak of economic pressure and isolation, of breaking off financial ties and they think that by pressuring the economy of a country they can change the decisions of its people,” Madanizadeh said. “I have to clarify one point: the responsibility of reforming Iran’s economy is with its government and people, not with the U.S. Treasury."

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran’s battle now extends beyond the military front to production and the livelihoods of ordinary citizens, warning that Iranians could endure hardship but not government mismanagement or inaction.

Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh rejected the idea that sanctions would force Tehran to change course.

Separately, Economy Ministry deputy Morteza Zamanian said the ministry’s “Economic War Headquarters” was intensifying efforts to address problems caused by the conflict, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Israel Defense Forces said it apprehended a 10-member Hamas cell accused of working to advance terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.

The IDF said troops initially located a rocket without a launcher. During questioning, one of the suspects then disclosed the location of a weapons cache containing an M16 rifle and a large quantity of explosives allegedly intended to make explosive devices.

Israeli forces dismantled the weapons and explosives at the scene, according to the military.

Israel said it struck Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure in southern Lebanon after the group allegedly launched two drones toward Israeli troops operating in the area.

“ANOTHER BLATANT VIOLATION OF THE UNDERSTANDINGS,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X, adding that troops shot down one of the drones and that no Israeli injuries were reported.

The IDF said its retaliatory strikes hit Hezbollah targets, including a command center it said had been established inside a building previously used as a hospital.

Israel said the attacks were carried out in response to Hezbollah’s attempted drone strike and “to remove threats posed by Hezbollah,” marking another flare-up along the Israel-Lebanon front.

U.S. Central Command wrote last Saturday night that the M/T Kylo sank in the Gulf of Oman following an American military operation, touting the strike as a demonstration of U.S. precision.

The statement marks the latest escalation in the widening U.S.-Iran conflict, with American forces targeting Iranian maritime assets as Tehran vows increasingly forceful retaliation.

Israeli strikes killed four people in southern Lebanon on Sunday, according to Beirut officials, as fighting continued despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah reached in June.

Lebanon’s health ministry said two men were killed in a town near an Israeli-occupied security zone, while two women were killed in Arab Salim, farther north. Six others were injured in the Arab Salim strike.

The Israeli military said it targeted a building used by Hezbollah and issued an evacuation warning before the attack — only the second such warning since the June ceasefire.

Israel said the strikes were retaliation for Hezbollah drone attacks in areas occupied by Israeli troops.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Iran warned Sunday that any further U.S. attacks on its interests would draw a faster and more punishing response, a day after American forces struck several Iranian tankers in the Gulf.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned the U.S. should understand that the rules of the game in war against Iran have changed "before it is too late.”

“From now on, any attack against Iran’s interests and security will receive a faster, heavier and more painful response,” Qalibaf said in remarks published on his Telegram channel.

The warning marked the latest escalation in rhetoric between Tehran and Washington following Saturday’s U.S. strikes on Iranian tankers, as both sides signal a widening confrontation in the Gulf.

Reuters contributed to this report.