Category: Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military hit targets in Iran on Tuesday and Tehran fired missiles and drones in response as hostilities flare once again in an intermittent war that has lasted more than six months. One U.S. strike hit a home hosting a wedding, killing two people and wounding dozens, local officials said.

The U.S. strikes followed others on Sunday that abruptly ended a month without military action and threatened to fully reignite a conflict that has spiked global oil prices and posed political problems for Republicans in November’s midterm congressional elections. The renewed fighting comes after President Donald Trump had appeared to pivot toward trying to bend Iran to his will through economic sanctions.

“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings,” Trump warned on social media.

U.S. Central Command said the latest strikes were in response to Tehran trying to attack commercial ships and American forces in the Middle East. Trump offered an additional explanation, telling Fox News in a phone call that U.S. forces struck Iran’s radars.

“They tried to rebuild their radar because they can’t see anything,” Trump told Fox. “We waited until it was almost built and then we hit it.”

Iranian state media reported that the U.S. had bombed civilian sites along Iran’s southern coast and hit a civilian airport. A U.S. strike hit a home where a wedding ceremony was being held in Kuhestak in southern Iran, killing two people and wounding at least 50 others, Ahmad Nafisi, Hormozgan Province’s deputy governor, told Iranian state television in a phone call. Red Crescent rescue officials in the province said the death toll had risen to four, including a child.

U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on those reports.

Iran’s military warns of ‘devastating blows’

Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and its joint military command said the armed forces would deliver what they described as “crushing and devastating blows” against the United States. The state-run IRNA news agency cited a statement by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which warned that the attacks have only strengthened the Islamic Republic’s resolve and tightened Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows.

Explosions were reported across several southern Iranian coastal areas, including the port city of Bandar Abbas that is home to naval and air force facilities as well as Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Witnesses in Bandar Abbas told the Associated Press that the explosions were stronger than those on Sunday and said they saw smoke rising from the eastern part of the city on the strait.

Iranian state television said U.S. strikes hit a fishmeal factory on Qeshm Island and several civilian sites in Hormozgan province. It said a fishing pier and a Ports and Maritime Organization tower in Sirik were among the locations struck.

State TV also reported that the U.S. military struck the civilian Jiroft Airport in central Iran’s Kerman province, saying a projectile struck an area outside the runway and caused no casualties or damage to airport infrastructure.

The U.S. and Iran are both seeking control over the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway off Iran’s coast that is a vital oil shipping corridor. Tehran effectively closed it after the war began.

Oil prices have moved sharply higher this week with renewed clashes between Iran and the United States. Crude, already up about 7% this week, continued to rise following the strikes on Tuesday.

The price of crude has jumped more than 50% this year and it’s dragged the cost of gasoline upward with it. The cost for a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. ticked higher again overnight to $4.10, according to AAA. Last year at this time, a gallon cost $3.19.

Strikes have renewed after Iran said it would stick to a ceasefire deal if the U.S. did the same

Before military action began again, the Trump administration had argued that hitting the right economic target in a campaign of financial isolation would get Tehran to its breaking point. Now, strikes are renewing even as U.S. stockpiles of advanced interceptors have been diminishing and the war has been unpopular among many Americans.

A return to open conflict would be dangerous for the region, where Iran has targeted U.S. military bases and infrastructure in Gulf countries since the war began.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier Tuesday before the latest strikes that the Islamic Republic is ready to return to the interim ceasefire deal reached with the U.S. in June if Washington does the same.

“If the U.S. returns to its commitments in the memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate,” Iranian state media cited Pezeshkian as saying at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan.

The June interim deal called for an immediate ceasefire and started a 60-day period for negotiations aimed at reaching a wider agreement, but crumbled soon afterward.

In the previous strikes on Sunday, U.S. Central Command said its forces struck Iranian rocket launchers that would launch sea mines into the strait.

Iran responded to Sunday’s attacks by launching missiles at U.S. sites in Jordan, which were intercepted, while the United Arab Emirates said it stopped an Iranian drone over its waters. Trump acknowledged Monday that more strikes might be necessary.

The American military in recent days has cast the renewed fighting as limited, though Trump had acknowledged Monday that more strikes might be necessary.

U.S. Central Command said Monday on X that its attacks on Iranian targets on Sunday were narrowly focused.

“U.S. forces took limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz,” U.S. Central Command said. “In essence, Iran created the threat and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce.”

Central Command reiterated Tuesday that its attacks followed Iranian aggression against commercial vessels and American troops in the region.

VIENNA — Syria was constructing a nuclear reactor in Deir el-Zour under the leadership of ousted former President Bashar Assad, according to a U.N. report seen Tuesday by the Associated Press.

Inspectors with the U.N. nuclear watchdog visited several sites in Syria in August and carried out verification work that confirmed the existence of a long-suspected nuclear site, according to the confidential report circulated to member states.

Based on this visit, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that it is “able to establish that the former Syrian authorities had failed to report nuclear material, facilities, and activities as required under the NPT Safeguards Agreement.”

This information included a nuclear reactor under construction in Deir el-Zour, a fuel fabrication plant, and another site used for fuel storage during the rule of Assad.

Under Assad, Syria was believed to have operated an extensive undeclared nuclear program that included a nuclear reactor built by North Korea in eastern Deir el-Zour province. Following Assad’s ouster, the new government agreed to give IAEA inspectors access to suspected former nuclear sites.

The site in Deir el-Zour only became public knowledge after Israel launched airstrikes in 2007 that destroyed the facility. Syria later leveled the site and never responded fully to the IAEA’s questions about it. Israel is believed to have its own undeclared atomic weapons program that makes it the only country in the Mideast with nuclear bombs.

Israel neither confirms nor denies having atomic weapons.

The IAEA took samples at the site in 2024 and reported last year that they contained uranium particles.

The new Syrian authorities have also expressed an interest in developing a civilian nuclear energy program and said any nuclear material found in the country would remain in Syria’s custody under international safeguards.

The IAEA reported Tuesday that its inspectors visited the Deir el-Zour site on Aug. 29 “to monitor progress on the excavation work.”

“Based on observations made at the location, the Agency confirms that the cooling infrastructure which has now been uncovered is consistent with that of a nuclear reactor.”

In its confidential report, the IAEA said three locations were “functionally related” to the Deir el-Zour site. One was related to “conversion and/or fuel fabrication activities,” another was for “temporary storage of construction material,” and another was for the “temporary storage of construction materials being transferred to/from” the site, as well as for “planned reprocessing activities.”

During the visit to Syria, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and a team of senior inspectors also visited a previously undeclared site in the country.

Syria notified the agency of the site’s existence in a July 17 letter and invited the IAEA “to cooperate with the Syrian authorities in the inspection and verification of the site and of any nuclear material to be potentially found.”

The IAEA said in its report that this new site contained “natural uranium metal in the form of fuel rods with cladding.” The agency verified the material and confirmed “the presence of around 73 tonnes of natural uranium metal.” The agency reported that “all of this nuclear material is currently subject to Agency containment and surveillance measures.”

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Drone pilot Manish Maharjan has helped rescue teams in Nepal find people missing after last week’s catastrophic floods, sometimes using speakers mounted on the devices to call out to or play music for those stranded on hillsides.

But the search for hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in power plant tunnels — now a major focus of rescue operations — presents an entirely different challenge, he said.

“We found tunnels were filled with mud like toothpaste in a tube,” Maharjan said. “There was no hollow or empty space inside.”

Maharjan, who is also a filmmaker, joined the Nepal Army’s rescue efforts a day after the Aug. 26 flash floods, which have killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands missing in Nepal and Tibet.

“We used microphone speakers to call out to them. In some places, we even played songs and then waited for a response,” Maharjan said. “That worked in a few cases and helped us locate people.”

The torrent of water unleashed after a glacial collapse caused widespread damage to critical infrastructure, including roads, buildings, bridges, and hydropower plants — in the latest sign of the growing risks across the rapidly warming Himalayas. At least 900 workers are still missing from 12 hydropower projects buried under mud and debris. About 500 of them are believed to be trapped inside power plant tunnels.

Some workers in the tunnels managed to call for help when the disaster struck, according to Mohan Kumar Dangi, president of the Independent Power Producers’ Association. But it was unclear whether rescuers have had any contact with the trapped workers since the initial calls for help.

As time slips away, rescuers are finding it increasingly difficult to locate these missing people.

Maharjan, who has been operating thermal drones in the tunnels, said the searches were challenging because of their difficult access and the absence of any empty space.

“I can only fly drones in tunnels that are long and straight,” he said. “Once there are bends, turns, or zigzags, it becomes much harder to operate and search effectively.”

At the Rasuwagadhi hydropower project on Monday, Maharjan managed to send a drone to search deep inside and all the way to the end of the tunnel but found no sign of any life.

“We checked repeatedly but it was filled with mud and debris,” he said. “Looking at it, I could only imagine the force of the flood.”

BERLIN — The German government on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month using a drone laden with explosives, and announced that it would shut down a Russian consulate among other measures.

The drone was found near a Ukrainian plane on Aug. 4 and the device was defused. German officials said at the time that the incident posed a new level of danger.

Moscow has been widely accused by Western officials of running a campaign of sabotage and disruption with the aim of undermining support for Ukraine and destabilizing European nations.

Minister says evidence points to a familiar pattern

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said authorities found elements such as the drone configuration, components, explosives, and detonator that are “known to us from other Russian hybrid operations and its war against Ukraine.” He said the device pointed to “a high degree of technical expertise” and painstaking planning, but carrying out the plan appears to have been left to “low-level” agents.

Dobrindt told reporters that intelligence points to “people being involved who acted on behalf of Russian state entities,” though he didn’t specify which ones. “Taken together, the police investigations, the pattern, and intelligence findings prove a Russian responsibility for the attempted attack at Leipzig airport.”

Germany will shut a Russian consulate

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that “with the attempted attack in Leipzig, the Russian leadership decided deliberately to do significant damage again to our already massively burdened bilateral relationship.” He said the Russian consulate in Bonn will be closed effective Sept. 18 and the contract under which the Russian House cultural center in Berlin is operated will be rescinded.

Germany will propose the addition of more people from Russia to European Union sanctions lists “in the context of hybrid attacks,” step up entry controls for people from Russia, and increase “pressure on the shadow fleet,” a reference to tankers suspected of shipping Russian oil in violation of international sanctions, Wadephul said. The EU has sanctioned hundreds of “shadow fleet” ships.

The Russian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said there would be a “fitting response” to the planned closures, Russian state news agency Tass reported.

She rejected claims of Russian involvement in the attempted drone attack, calling them a “far-fetched and contrived pretext” for Berlin to escalate tensions and arguing that “as usual, no convincing or serious evidence has been presented whatsoever.”

Around 200 incidents blamed on Russia

Leipzig/Halle is a major hub for international freight and for providing support to Ukraine. The planes that regularly use it include Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft.

It is also home to NATO’s Strategic Airlift International Solution, or SALIS, which is currently operational almost every day in delivering equipment to NATO battle groups along its eastern flank from Finland to Romania and supporting EU and alliance nation missions.

In 2024, an incendiary device ignited at a logistics center at the airport and set fire to a freight container before it could be loaded onto a cargo plane, part of a plot that Western security officials suspect was organized by Russian intelligence.

The Associated Press has tracked around 200 incidents of sabotage and malign activity across Europe blamed on Russia by Western officials since the invasion of Ukraine.

That includes organizing plots to set fire to warehouses, launching drones and trying to kill enemies abroad as well as stealing defense technology and carrying out cyberattacks on critical European infrastructure.

In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the AP findings and said Moscow is not waging a sabotage campaign against Europe. He demanded that AP “name one proven fact.”

Russia has faced many packages of EU sanctions

The EU has slapped almost two dozen packages of sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, targeting roughly 3,000 people and entities. EU foreign ministers will meet in Ireland Wednesday.

European allies rallied around Germany after Tuesday’s announcement. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in a post on X that he had spoken with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and “NATO stands in full solidarity with Germany after the Russian hybrid attack in Leipzig.”

In mid-August, the German Cabinet approved plans to give the country’s intelligence services broader powers for actions such as disabling sabotage and hacking attempts. The planned reform, which had been in the works for months, still requires parliamentary approval.

Hours before Tuesday’s German statement, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has frequently warned that Russia is carrying out a campaign of sabotage against NATO countries, said Poland has been targeted by new acts of sabotage including arson within the past “dozens of hours.”

He spoke the day after a fire broke out at WB Electronics, which the Polish government has described as Europe’s biggest drone manufacturer.

Prosecutors said Monday they launched an investigation based on suspicions of the “participation of foreign intelligence activities against the Republic of Poland,” without elaborating on what country might be responsible. They said the fire in Skarżysko-Kamienna destroyed warehouse facilities and caused damage estimated at at least 15 million zlotys ($4 million).