US politics as it happened: Five Iranian oil tankers destroyed, US confirms

An Iranian tanker has been sunk by American forces in the Gulf of Oman.

It comes after the US accused Tehran of trying to attack one of its Navy warships.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) posted a video to X, saying it captured the vessel going down following the US attack.

The military said it carried out the strike after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attempted to target the American warship.

Iran says it has attacked two US vessels and eight oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed the strikes were in retaliation for US attacks on five Iranian tankers, according to a statement reported by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

It also said another 10 ships were targeted after entering an area of the strait Iran had declared unsafe and off-limits.

The IRGC accused the vessels of entering the area with US backing and maintained that its forces remained in control of security and movements through the waterway.

The claims have not been independently verified.

A new report has found that the Iran War so far has cost the average American household US$770 ($1066) in extra fuel costs since February.

Between gas and diesel, US households as a whole have paid more than $100 billion ($138.4 billion) collectively in that same time frame, Brown University’s report said.

The report compared the estimated cost of fuel if a war hadn’t broken out, to the historical record.

And some grim forecasts suggests oil could continue to trade even higher into the future, should the war not end imminently.

Even then, as has been said since the start of the conflict, it will take months for the global oil trade to find its old momentum.

Iranian state media claims cluster bombs were used in the most recent missile attacks on Jordan.

That hasn’t been confirmed officially by the US or Jordanian militaries but if it’s so, it would be the first use by Iran of cluster missiles during months.

They had previously been used to challenge Israel’s Iron Dome defence system, and may be used to signal to other Gulf nations that these weapons can be turned on them as well, testing their air defences.

Top Iran expert Danny Citrinowicz, an ex-intelligence operative for Israel, has offered his assessment of Iran’s latest response to Us attacks.

“Iran is escalating and nothing about that should be surprising. Tehran has repeatedly signalled that it will respond to growing U.S. pressure by moving up the escalation ladder, not by backing down,” he wrote on X.

He said the “scale and coordination” of the launch suggested Iran had rebuilt some operational capacity, and had growing confidence in its ability to reach US allies.

As well, Citrinowicz said, Iran didn’t appear to be making a token gesture.

“Tehran likely calculates that a sufficiently large and complex salvo,  potentially including cluster-warhead missiles, could overwhelm or penetrate US and allied air defences in Jordan,” he said.

“In other words, the objective is not simply to demonstrate capability; it is to inflict damage.”

The creators of irreverent and iconic adult cartoon South Park have declared they’re changing the name of the show to “South America”, an obvious dig at the White House’s preferred nomenclature.

“Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA,” Trey Parker and Matt Stone said in an attributed quote on the cartoon’s Instagram page.

Apple and Google both changed their map app to show “Lake America” instead of “Lake Ontario” for US users after Trump declared the border lake renamed.

South Park, after previously having addressed the Trump phenomenon obliquely through substitute characters, decided to take the opposite tack in Trump’s second term and outright depicted the US president in a sexual relationship with Satan, prompting furious responses from Trump and the White House.

Jordanian armed forces claimed to repel 18 of 20 missiles launched by Iran this morning (Australia time).

The other two supposedly landed in unpopulated areas and caused no damage.

An attack of 20 missiles is an apparent increase from Iran, which normally fires smaller missile stocks.

Trump has taken a turn to the liturgical today, wishing “Mary, Queen of Victories” a “happy birthday” on Truth Social.

In some Christian traditions, the feast day of Mary, mother of Jesus, takes place on September 8 (which date it is currently in the US).

The “Queen of Victories” epithet is more historical, though it tends to be rendered as “Lady of Victories”.

Mary traditionally has been the patron of many rulers, realms, and cities, and in widespread traditions, including Catholicism, has been credited in the past with interceding with God to bring about unlikely delivery from trial or victory in battle.

Unlike many saints, whose martyrdoms or deaths are often marked by a feast day, Mary's feast day lands on her apocryphal birthday.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen launched a wave of attacks on Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding more than 70 people and igniting fires at oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom, authorities said.

The attack was a major escalation in renewed fighting between an important US ally and the Iranian proxy group.

It also threatened to further destabilise a region rocked by nearly three years of wars and deliver a new blow to the global economy.

The rebels hit “civilian and economic facilities” in the Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait, said Major General Turki al-Malki, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

Seventy-three people were wounded, including women and children, he said, calling the attacks a “serious escalation” and vowing retaliation.

The attacks ignited fires at several oil facilities and utilities in Saudi Arabia’s southern region, the kingdom’s Energy Ministry said, adding that operations at the oil facilities and utilities were temporarily suspended.