U.S. launches new attacks on Iran

9m ago / 5:41 PM EDTU.S. launches new attacks on IranU.S. Central Command said that it has carried out new attacks on Iran."U.S. Central Command forces began launching additional self-defense strikes today at 5:15 p.m. ET against multiple targets in Iran at the Commander in Chief’s direction. The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression," CENTCOM said in a post on X.22m ago / 5:28 PM EDTU.S. will be attacking Iran tonight, Hegseth saysDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. military will be attacking Iran tonight during comments made to reporters at U.S. Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida."CENTCOM, Central Command will be busy tonight because President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard and we will be," Hegseth said. He added, "We will hit them hard on our terms, on the targets that improve the environment for us to operate in and undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have."Hegseth also said that the U.S. military has been helping commercial ships get through the Strait of Hormuz."We’ve been protecting commercial shipping going through the Strait of Hormuz, as the president announced, to the tune of over 100 million barrels that have moved through and more in the middle of the night protected by the United States in a way that Iran can’t stop," he said.2h ago / 4:36 PM EDTU.S. issues sanctions over weapons procurement for Iran The State Department announced today that the U.S. is imposing sanctions on 13 people and entities who it said sought to source and purchase weapons for the Iranian military. The U.S. government said that the individuals and entities were based in Iran, Belarus and China, including Hong Kong. They are accused of seeking to source and buy weapons, including man-portable air-defense systems, on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.“The United States continues to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and take actions to deny the IRGC and the government of Iran access to the resources that sustain their destabilizing activities,” Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesperson, said in a statement. “The United States continues to use all available tools, to expose, disrupt, and counter Iran’s destabilizing activities and to stop Iran from efforts to reconstitute its proliferation-sensitive programs.”The Treasury Department also announced today that it sanctioned nine individuals and entities that have facilitated weapons procurement for the Iranian military. The individuals and entities included people based in China and Hong Kong, as well as a company based in Hong Kong, according to a statement. The department said they operated “within Iran’s clandestine banking network that attempted weapons procurement-related transactions.”Treasury said it will continue to “aggressively target the overseas procurement and financial networks that sustain Iran’s weapons production and proliferation capabilities, which threaten Americans and U.S. partners and allies around the world.”3h ago / 3:45 PM EDTCENTCOM says it disabled oil tanker in Gulf of OmanU.S. Central Command said today that U.S. military forces disabled an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, after disabling another yesterday, after the tanker “violated the ongoing blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran.”CENTCOM said it disabled Palau-flagged tanker Settebello in the Gulf of Oman when a U.S. aircraft fired precision munitions into the ship’s engine room “after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces.”Since the blockade began on April 13, U.S. forces have disabled eight “non-compliant vessels,” redirected 134 ships that complied with directions from U.S. forces, and allowed 42 ships that were carrying humanitarian aid to pass through, CENTCOM said.3h ago / 3:00 PM EDTU.S. military helping ships through the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. official saysThe U.S. military has been coordinating with the commercial shipping industry to provide support, advice and coordination for the safe and swift transit of their vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a U.S. official. The U.S. has helped coordinate more than 200 transits to date, including ships moving in and out of the strait, the official said. This effort has supported moving more than 100 million barrels of oil through the strait and out to the global economy over roughly the past month, the official said.Trump alluded to the operation while speaking at the White House earlier, saying that “every night, we’ve been taking out oil” via the strait, citing the destruction of Iran’s radar capacity.Trump later said on Truth Social that "this wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran."4h ago / 2:09 PM EDTIran’s president denounces strikes on water infrastructureIran’s president said today that threatening to target critical infrastructure was “a sign of helplessness” after the country said earlier that two concrete water storage reservoirs were hit by U.S. strikes.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on social media that such critical infrastructure “constitutes the lifeline of the people.”“Threatening to target it, from transportation networks to the electricity and water sectors, is not a display of strength but a sign of helplessness in the face of the will of a nation,” he said in the post.Pezeshkian said that the country would rely on its specialists, national unity and solidarity and “will remain steadfast in the face of any pressure or threat.”U.S. Central Command said earlier it had launched precision attacks on military infrastructure in response to the downing of a U.S. helicopter.5h ago / 1:43 PM EDTIDF says it struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon The IDF said that over the past 24 hours, it struck Hezbollah infrastructure and killed members of the group in the area of Tyre and other areas of southern Lebanon.The Israeli military said in one attack, it struck a weapons cache held by Hezbollah, with secondary explosions at the site.Israel's ongoing war with Hezbollah has caused a huge humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 1.2 million, or 1 in 5, people in the country, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.5h ago / 12:54 PM EDTHegseth: ‘Iran would be unwise to challenge’ U.S. further U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said today that Iran “would be unwise to challenge us further.”“President Trump is seeking a deal, but not just a deal, a great deal on behalf of the American people, so that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,” he told troops at the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.6h ago / 12:29 PM EDTOil prices spike to highest levels of the dayThe price of oil spiked to the highest levels of the day after Trump said he planned to hit Iran again "very hard" today.The price of U.S. crude oil rose 3.5% to more than $91 per barrel. International Brent crude rose almost 3% to more than $94.Meanwhile, stocks fell to their lowest levels of the day. The S&P 500 fell 1% and the Nasdaq fell 1.4%. 6h ago / 12:20 PM EDTTrump reiterates he wants a deal with IranTrump reiterated that he wants to reach a diplomatic deal with Iran despite the military action that has resumed. "We want to deal that is meaningful. We want a deal that works. We don't want to just have a Barack Hussein Obama deal, JCPOA, the worst deal that was a path to a nuclear," Trump said about the Iranian nuclear deal negotiated under the Obama administration that Trump withdrew from in his first term. 6h ago / 11:56 AM EDTTrump on Iran: 'We hit ‘em hard yesterday and we’re going to hit ‘em hard again today' Trump said that the U.S. plans to continue attacking Iran “very hard” in the wake of the downing of an American helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz. “Well, we’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” Trump said when asked by NBC News what he meant this morning when he wrote in a Truth Social post that Iran has to pay the price for the helicopter. Trump claimed that Iran shot down the helicopter and then said that a “bomb” was “lodged in the helicopter,” but said “it didn’t explode.” “We hit ‘em hard yesterday and we’re going to hit ‘em hard again today,” he said. 7h ago / 11:29 AM EDTIran decries U.S.-backed resolution to declare uranium stocksA U.S.-backed resolution passed by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog that called for Tehran to declare its remaining enriched uranium stocks and let inspectors verify them was “devoid of professionalism expected from a technical body,” Iran said in a statement today. Iran questioned how the IAEA could “be trusted when instrumentalized by warmongers, and decapacitated in a way that is not even able to express a simple concern over the most extensive unlawful armed attacks — unprecedented in its history- on peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities of a member State?”“The resolution hypocritically expresses support for a diplomatic solution, while the U.S. simultaneously engages in further acts of aggression including against Iranian civilian infrastructure and promotes confrontation,” Iran said.“Iran will protect its inalienable rights including in response to this flawed resolution,” it added.7h ago / 11:09 AM EDT2 missing after fire on tanker off Oman, British navy says Two people are missing after a fire broke out in the engine room of a tanker northeast of Sohar, Oman, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said today. It did not say what might have caused the blaze or provide further details on those unaccounted for.Authorities were still investigating the matter, but no environmental impact had been reported, according to the organization, which is run by the Royal Navy and helps to protect commercial shipping in high-risk areas.7h ago / 10:52 AM EDTU.N. nuclear watchdog board passes resolution demanding Iran report uranium stocks The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a U.S.-backed resolution today telling Iran to declare its remaining enriched uranium stocks and let inspectors verify them, which could complicate Washington’s talks with Tehran.The move came within hours of the U.S. and Iran trading military strikes after President Donald Trump said Iran had downed a U.S. Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.Israeli and U.S. attacks in June of last year destroyed or badly damaged Iranian uranium-enrichment plants but much of the enriched uranium they produced, including material close to weapons-grade, is thought to have survived.Iran still has not informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of the fate of that material, or let IAEA inspectors return to the bombed sites to check. The U.S. led the push for the resolution, but Iran has called it “whitewashing military aggression,” since inspectors had access before the strikes.The resolution text submitted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany was passed with 21 votes in favor, three against and 10 abstentions, diplomats at the closed-door meeting said. The countries opposing were Russia, China and Niger, they said, adding that Venezuela was not allowed to take part.8h ago / 10:30 AM EDTIsrael’s attacks on Syria and Lebanon threaten Turkey too, Erdogan saysIsraeli attacks on Syria and Lebanon also threaten Turkey, the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warned today. Calling for an end to Israeli aggression, Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party that he wanted “everyone to know ​that if the ⁠rights of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots are violated in the Eastern Mediterranean, our response will be very clear and ​very strong,” according to Reuters. Urging world powers to ⁠take a clearer stance, Erdogan said Israel was ⁠emboldened by the “silence of international community.”“Pulling Israel back to within the bounds of ‌the rule of ​law has become a shared duty ‌not just for certain countries, ​but for all of humanity,” he added. Mourners carry one of the four coffins of members of the al-Hariri family, a woman, her daughter and her two sons, killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, during their funeral today in Busra al-Harir, in Syria's southern Daraa province. Ghaith Alsayed / AP8h ago / 10:03 AM EDTU.N. to send investigators to Lebanon over possible international law breachesA team of investigators will be sent to Lebanon next week to assess possible violations of international law in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the U.N.'s human rights chief announced today. Volker Türk said the probe would look at potential "violations by all parties," according to Reuters, adding the investigation would document its efforts and a report was expected to follow. It comes as Israel ramped up its operations in southern Lebanon, issuing an evacuation warning in the city of Tyre. Cars burn after an Israeli airstrike today in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon. Mohammed Zaatari / APAround 1 million people have been displaced within Lebanon amid Israel's offensive, which it says aims to root out the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. The U.N. has also warned that nearly 1 in 4 people in Lebanon could face crisis and emergency levels of food security until August as a result of the crisis.9h ago / 9:45 AM EDTRussia 'extremely concerned' after latest U.S.-Iran fighting The Kremlin is “extremely concerned” by the latest round of fighting between the U.S. and Iran, according to Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia's Foreign Ministry. Accusing the U.S. and Israel of unprovoked aggression against Iran, Zakharova said Moscow was calling on “both sides to exercise restraint and to immediately cease military attacks.” Her comments came after Trump issued a fresh threat against Iran, warning it would pay a price after failing to reach a peace deal to end the war the U.S. and Israel began in late February.9h ago / 9:38 AM EDTNetanyahu to seek re-election, party says after Trump raises doubts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party has said he will run in the country's upcoming elections after President Trump cast doubts on whether he would seek re-election. “Prime Minister Netanyahu will run in the upcoming elections — and with God’s help, he will win,” the party said in a statement, according to The Times of Israel.It comes after Trump told ABC News he didn't know whether Netanyahu would run in the upcoming elections, which are due to take place before Oct. 27. “I don’t know, he’s had an amazing career,” the president said, according to a post on X by ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl, who spoke to Trump by phone. According to Karl, he continued: “Does he want to continue? Because, you know, he’s a wartime prime minister. We will very shortly win the war one way or the other, and you know he’s a wartime prime minister.” According to Karl, Trump added: "That's okay, just like I'm a wartime president."9h ago / 9:09 AM EDTU.S., allies condemn 'Iranian threat activity' worldwideA coalition of North American and European nations, along with Australia, have issued a joint statement condemning what they described as "Iranian threat activity" in their regions. In the statement, the countries came together to condemn "lethal plotting and other malign actions" in their regions by Iran. "We stand united in our determination to protect our countries and our people against these threats," they said, adding: "The Islamic Republic of Iran must halt these actions now." The signatories condemned threats against "Iranian dissidents, journalists and Jewish and Israeli communities and interests," as well as a "recent campaign of attacks across Europe targeting Jewish communities, Iranian journalists, and U.S. interests," claimed by pro-Iranian Islamist group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya "and supported by their intermediaries."The signatories said the relationship between the Iranian security services and international and local criminal groups was "long-standing" and that the use of such groups was "deplorable." The joint statement was released by the governments of the U.S., U.K., Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.9h ago / 8:55 AM EDTQatari delegation in Tehran for talks A Qatari delegation arrived in Tehran today for talks, including on the latest diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war with the U.S. and Israel, Iranian state media reported. The delegation was reported to have arrived prior to Trump's comments today threatening that Tehran would pay for failing to reach a peace deal with Washington amid ongoing negotiation efforts. Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency said regional developments and bilateral issues would be discussed during the talks following the Qatari delegation's arrival, with the discussions sure to center around Trump's latest threat.10h ago / 8:41 AM EDTTrump tells Fox News he is getting close to ordering more strikes on IranTrump told Fox News in a phone interview that he was close to ordering new strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges, Fox News reporter Trey Yingst said on “Fox & Friends.”“He says the bully of the Middle East is dead, and he told me, 'I may keep going,'” Yingst said. “The president said they had a chance to sign a deal and survive, indicating again that he may order new strikes against the Iranian regime in response to their dragging their feet at the negotiating table again,” Yingst added.Trump also detailed the incident that led to the U.S. military helicopter going down near Oman earlier this week. The president said that an Iranian drone lodged between the two U.S. pilots, adding that the drone did not explode. Yesterday he said Iran "shot down" the helicopter.A U.S. official told NBC News an Iranian drone collided with the Apache, causing it to crash.“At any moment it could have exploded, the president told me, and he said it was on fire,” Yingst said. “There was a lot of heat inside the cockpit of this helicopter, and ultimately these two pilots were able to take it down into the sea, where ultimately they were rescued for the first time in U.S. military history by an unmanned sea drone.”10h ago / 8:30 AM EDTPhotos: Symbols of nationalism inside Iran's capitalMajid Asgaripour / via ReutersMajid Asgaripour / via ReutersMajid Asgaripour / via ReutersAtta Kenare / AFP via Getty ImagesIranians were pictured in Tehran today among displays of nationalism, as the country traded new strikes with the U.S.10h ago / 8:21 AM EDTOil prices jump after Trump says Iran will 'pay the price'The price of oil, after trading flat all morning, sharply rose 2% after Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran has been too slow to negotiate a deal to end the war and will "pay the price."U.S. crude oil rose past $90, while international Brent rose to more than $93 per barrel. 11h ago / 7:44 AM EDTU.S. and Iran trade strikes in new wave of attacksThe United States announced it retaliated to Iran’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter by attacking Iranian air defense, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran claims it returned fired with 21 attacks against U.S. military targets across the Middle East.11h ago / 7:33 AM EDTStock futures slide after U.S. strikes IranAfter the U.S. struck Iran and it responded overnight, stock futures were down sharply in early trading. S&P 500 futures were set to drop about 1%, Nasdaq 100 futures were tumbling 1.3% and Dow futures fell 460 points. European markets were also lower in late morning trading. Germany's flagship DAX stock index was down 0.8%, while the United Kingdom's FTSE benchmark was down 0.6%. Spain's IBEX index also fell 0.5%. Meanwhile, the price of oil, which has been volatile in recent days, was flat.11h ago / 7:30 AM EDTTrump's threat casts new uncertainty on peace talksTrump's threat that Iran will have to "pay the price" after taking "too long" to agree to a peace deal has cast fresh uncertainty on negotiations to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The president's post on Truth Social this morning, in which he proclaimed that the "Bully of the Middle East is DEAD," marks a dramatic shift in tone from the optimism he expressed just days ago when he said a deal with Tehran was only days, if not hours, away. “We’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,” Trump said yesterday morning of talks to end the war that the U.S. and Israel began in late February.It's unclear whether the president's latest threat constitutes a shift in position over the delay and the downing of a U.S. military helicopter, or whether it is simply his latest bid to force concessions from Iran in negotiations.11h ago / 7:13 AM EDTTrump: Iran has taken 'too long' to agree to peace deal, will 'pay the price'Iran has taken "too long" to agree to a deal "that would have been great for them" and will now "have to pay the price," President Trump said in a Truth Social post just now. His comments came after the U.S. and Iran traded attacks after the president accused Tehran of downing a military helicopter. "Iran is all talk and no action," Trump said in the post, calling the Islamic Republic's military a "complete and total mess." "The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!" he wrote in the post. 11h ago / 6:53 AM EDTWhat the U.S. targeted in its strikes on IranThe U.S. airstrikes on Iran yesterday targeted Iranian ground control stations and surveillance radar sites that help it launch missiles and drones, as well as its air defense systems at Iranian coastal military sites along and in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said. The roughly 20 targets were at sites in Qeshm Island, Goruk, Bandar Abbas, Jask and more. Most were locations that the U.S. has targeted before.12h ago / 6:26 AM EDTNo reports of Americans hurt in Iranian attacks overnightIran launched multiple missiles and drones last night, targeting locations in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, according to a U.S. official, and many of the missiles were targeting U.S. personnel and bases housing Americans. Most were intercepted, according to ongoing assessments. The U.S. official said they had no reports of harm to any U.S. personnel and were not aware of any damage to U.S. locations at this time. The U.S. military struck approximately 20 targets inside Iran in retaliation for an Iranian drone that struck a U.S. Apache helicopter, causing it to crash. 12h ago / 6:24 AM EDT20,000 reported without drinking water in Iran after U.S. strikesAround 20,000 Iranians have lost access to drinking water after two reservoirs were reportedly struck in U.S. strikes, according to the Iranian judiciary’s official news agency, Mizan.The news agency reported the development after Abdolhamid Hamzehpour, CEO of Hormozgan Province Water and Wastewater Co., said two concrete water storage reservoirs had been hit in Sirik county. Mizan reported that with high temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit, conditions for residents had "become extremely difficult and critical." Hamzehpour had earlier told state-run IRIB news agency that teams were working to implement alternative measures to ensure access to drinking water.12h ago / 6:07 AM EDTOil inventories among wealthy nations fall to 23-year lows Oil stockpiles in some of the world’s wealthiest countries have fallen to their lowest levels since 2003, according to the U.S. Energy Department’s forecasting arm. The Energy Information Administration said in a news release yesterday that oil inventories in the 38 wealthy nations that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Israel, France, Britain and South Korea, were at their lowest levels in more than two decades. It further warned that global oil inventories were expected to fall by 6.3 million barrels per day this quarter and by another 7.6 million in the third quarter.The EIA said global oil demand in 2026 was falling by 1.1 million barrels per day compared with last year, but was expected to increase by 2.5 million in 2027 as oil prices decline and oil production in the Middle East gradually rises.12h ago / 5:53 AM EDTMillions face increasing risks of acute hunger due to Iran war, WFP says Ripple effects from the Iran war are increasing the risks of acute hunger for millions of people around the world, acting World Food Program Executive Director Carl Skau has warned. “In many places, we’re already taking from the hungry to give to the starving,” Skau said in an interview with CNN, with the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the war sending energy prices — and in turn, the cost of food around the world — soaring. "When the price of food goes up 20-30%, well, they eat 20-30% less," he said of communities that WFP serves. The organization had warned in March that 45 million more people would face acute hunger by July if the price of oil remained above $100 a barrel, with Skau saying the WFP was now seeing the impact of the continued rise in fuel prices on the ground in countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka. The WFP also relies on donations from governments to operate, with a drop in donations, including from its top donor, the United States, also having a devastating impact on its operations around the world. 13h ago / 5:28 AM EDTKuwait intercepted 'hostile aerial targets' this morning Kuwait's military said this morning that it had intercepted "hostile aerial targets" as Iran launched attacks targeting U.S. sites in the region in response to American strikes. "The General Staff of the Kuwaiti Army announces that Kuwaiti air defense systems are currently intercepting hostile aerial targets in accordance with approved operational procedures," the military said in a post on X this morning. It urged residents to follow security and safety instructions issued by authorities and to obtain updates from official sources.13h ago / 5:12 AM EDTChina 'deeply concerned' about renewed fightingChina is “deeply concerned about the current situation in Iran,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said today before he called for a diplomatic resolution of the dispute. All parties should “remain calm and exercise restraint,” he told reporters at a regular news briefing, adding that they should “stop escalating tensions.”13h ago / 4:51 AM EDTIran to 'assess' situation before moving ahead with peace talks Iran will "need to assess the situation" after overnight U.S. strikes before it can move forward with peace talks, the country's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said today. “Diplomacy does not occur in a vacuum,” Esmail Baghaei told the hard-line Student News Network, before accusing the U.S. of harming the diplomatic process "through contradictory messages, repeated shifts in its positions and demands and continual violations" of its ceasefire with Tehran. He also accused Israel of “undermining the process” through its ramped-up military operations in Lebanon. Israel has said it is rooting out the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group based in its northern neighbor.Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, yesterday. Kwant Haju / AFP via Getty ImagesBaghaei said that in order to move forward with any negotiations, there must be “at least a minimal environment in which diplomacy can function.”14h ago / 4:42 AM EDTU.S. attack hit water infrastructure in southern province, Iran says Two water storage tanks were hit by U.S. strikes launched in response to the downing of an American military helicopter, Iran has said. In a statement posted on X this morning, Iran’s consulate in Mumbai, India, said the strikes on Sirik county, in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province, had cut off access to drinking water for local residents. “Targeting civilian water infrastructure raises serious humanitarian concerns,” it said. In separate comments, Abdolhamid Hamzehpour, the CEO of Hormozgan Province Water and Wastewater Co., said that critical water distribution infrastructure in Sirik county had been “targeted,” including two reservoirs key to supplying drinking water to the county. He told the state-run IRIB news agency that teams were working to implement alternative measures to ensure a stable water supply.14h ago / 4:19 AM EDTBahrain says it intercepted aerial attacks from IranBahrain's military said this morning it had "confronted, intercepted and destroyed" a number of aerial attacks from Iran.Calling the attacks "heinous," the General Command of the Bahrain Defense Force said in a post on X that Iran had continued "its systematic hostile approach" using missiles and drones to attack Bahrain. It said that its own weapons and military units were "at the highest levels of readiness and are on high alert to protect the Kingdom." No injuries were reported in connection with the attacks.15h ago / 3:45 AM EDTIDF issues new evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon The Israeli military issued fresh evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon this morning, ordering residents of the villages of Ghassaniyeh and Houmine al-Faouqa to flee the area. The Israel Defense Forces did not give a clear reason for targeting the two villages, but said that it had been "compelled to act" against Hezbollah. "To ensure your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and stay away from the villages and towns for a distance of no less than 1000 meters to open areas," it warned residents. Children fleeing Tyre in southern Lebanon after Israel's evacuation warning yesterday. Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP via Getty ImagesDogs sit in the trunk of a vehicle waiting in traffic in Tyre, after Israel's evacuation warning yesterday. Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP via Getty ImagesThe two villages are the latest areas to be evacuated following a ramping up of Israeli operations in southern Lebanon. 15h ago / 3:39 AM EDTIran accuses U.S. of using helicopter crash as 'pretext' for strikes Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S.'s military strikes this morning, accusing Washington of using the downed Apache helicopter "as a pretext" to launch the attacks. The ministry said it believed the attacks were a "flagrant violation" of the United Nations charter, adding that Iranian armed forces struck U.S. bases and assets in the region in response. It comes after the U.S. launched strikes on Iran after Trump accused Tehran of shooting down a military helicopter, with both soldiers onboard rescued by an unmanned boat. Iran has not taken responsibility for the incident. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tehran would "not hesitate to exercise its inherent right of self-defence, including by targeting the origin of attacks and bases and logistical facilities used to support operations against Iran."15h ago / 3:31 AM EDTCargo vessel exchanges fire with craft off Yemen coast, Britain saysA cargo vessel has reported exchanging fire with an armed craft off the Yemen coast, the British military has said. The incident unfolded southwest of Balhaf, Yemen, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre, an organization run by the British navy that helps protect commercial shipping in high-risk areas. It said the cargo vessel reported being approached by a craft with at least six armed people onboard before an exchange of fire broke out. The craft ultimately turned away, it said, adding that authorities were still investigating the matter. As of early today, there were no reports of injuries related to the incident. The UKMTO noted that vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity. 15h ago / 2:56 AM EDTIran's military vows more 'devastating' strikes if U.S attacks againIranian forces have targeted "a number" of American bases in the Middle East in response to U.S. strikes after Trump said a military aircraft had been downed by Iran, Khatam al-Anbiya, the operational headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard said this morning. Revolutionary Guard footage claims to show missiles fired at U.S. military bases, in this still image taken from a video released today.