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Iran accuses the US of targeting a tanker near Kharg Island, and other key Mideast developments

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Iran accuses the US of targeting a tanker near Kharg Island, and other key Mideast developments
News

News

Iran accuses the US of targeting a tanker near Kharg Island, and other key Mideast developments

2026-09-05 20:58 Last Updated At:21:00

Iran has accused the U.S. of attacking an Iranian tanker near Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. did not immediately comment, and there was no sign of retaliation. The past week saw the first exchange of fire after a month of relative calm.

Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Israel has again condemned settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels accused Yemen's government of killing three people in attacks. Israeli strikes killed three people in southern Lebanon.

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A general view of the school that was hit by a strike on Feb. 28, is seen in town of Minab in southern Iran, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A general view of the school that was hit by a strike on Feb. 28, is seen in town of Minab in southern Iran, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A tern flies over commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A tern flies over commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman relaxes along the rocky shoreline as commercial vessels lie anchored off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman relaxes along the rocky shoreline as commercial vessels lie anchored off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A boy plays in wet sand as others swim and commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A boy plays in wet sand as others swim and commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A boy plays with a toy truck on a beach along the Strait of Hormuz in Kuhestak, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A boy plays with a toy truck on a beach along the Strait of Hormuz in Kuhestak, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man, woman and boy ride a motorcycle along the waterfront as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man, woman and boy ride a motorcycle along the waterfront as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man rests at a waterfront shelter as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man rests at a waterfront shelter as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Here’s a look at the news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.

Iranian state TV said four U.S. missiles struck a tanker about six miles (10 kilometers) from Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil. It said there were no casualties.

The report did not provide evidence and did not include comment from Iranian officials. U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kharg Island been repeatedly targeted during the war, including U.S. strikes on military sites there in March. The latest report comes almost a week after the U.S. resumed strikes on Iranian targets following a monthlong pause, as fighting around the Strait of Hormuz has intensified.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel has again spoken out against Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, calling their behavior an “act of terror.”

Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Saturday referred to the settlers as “terrorists,” a word U.S. officials usually reserve for Palestinian militants. He was speaking to Palestinian American residents in the village of Turmus Ayya.

“If there are squatters that come in and put up their own flags and take possession of something that does not belong to them, if they burn a car, if they torch a mosque, if they go into someone’s home and vandalize it, paint graffiti on the walls, that’s a criminal act. But it extends beyond a criminal act. It’s an act of terror,” Huckabee said.

The ambassador last month spoke out sharply after weeks of unrest in the town of Qusra, where settlers surrounded several homes including one owned by a Palestinian American. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the actions of a “handful of rioters” and the foreign ministry called the settlers’ actions “a disgrace.”

Netanyahu’s government, the most ultranationalist and religious in Israel’s history, has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank. Most of the international community views settlements as illegal.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels said government forces in western and southwestern Yemen killed at least three people. The attacks Friday in Hodeida and Taiz provinces came as Yemen’s military said it launched more than 15 airstrikes on the Houthis.

The Houthi authorities in Hodeida said a father and daughter were killed in an attack on their house in southern Jarahi district. In Taiz, shelling killed a man and wounded another, according to the Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel.

Fighting has intensified recently along Yemen’s west coast near an important supply route.

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes killed three people and wounded nearly two dozen in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Israel's army said it struck positions of the Hezbollah militant group late Friday in response to a drone launched toward Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. The drone was intercepted and no soldiers were injured, it said.

In June, Lebanon and Israel signed a U.S.-mediated framework deal under which Israeli forces are to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon in exchange for disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, but little progress has been made. Hezbollah has vehemently opposed the direct Lebanon-Israel talks.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel days after Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Israel invaded Lebanon and has since occupied a large swath of its south.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Saturday called for the U.S. and Iran to return to the negotiating table. The comments came in separate phone calls with the foreign ministers of Bahrain and of Oman, which sits across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran.

Abdelatty urged prioritizing de-escalation, the Egyptian ministry said, and called for maintaining the safety of shipping through the strait, where traffic remains at reduced levels as Iran continues to assert control over the waterway.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

A general view of the school that was hit by a strike on Feb. 28, is seen in town of Minab in southern Iran, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A general view of the school that was hit by a strike on Feb. 28, is seen in town of Minab in southern Iran, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A tern flies over commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A tern flies over commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman relaxes along the rocky shoreline as commercial vessels lie anchored off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman relaxes along the rocky shoreline as commercial vessels lie anchored off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A boy plays in wet sand as others swim and commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A boy plays in wet sand as others swim and commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A boy plays with a toy truck on a beach along the Strait of Hormuz in Kuhestak, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A boy plays with a toy truck on a beach along the Strait of Hormuz in Kuhestak, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man, woman and boy ride a motorcycle along the waterfront as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man, woman and boy ride a motorcycle along the waterfront as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man rests at a waterfront shelter as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man rests at a waterfront shelter as commercial vessels lie anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek air force jet crashed at an air show north of Athens on Saturday, killing the two pilots, officials said, as thousands of people were in attendance at the event.

A fire after the crash sent up large plumes of black smoke. There were no injuries among the spectators. The crash of the twin-seat Phantom F4 jet occurred during a low-altitude maneuver.

Air force officials in Greece said the bodies of the two pilots were located during a rescue operation, hampered in the early stages by the fire on the grounds of Tanagra air force base, 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) north of Athens.

Eleven water-dropping planes and helicopters assisted 85 firefighters in an effort to contain the blaze, which remained at some distance from the viewing area at Athens Flying Week, an annual air show.

Organizers canceled remaining events planned over the weekend, while the fire prompted an evacuation order in an area near the base.

Video footage of the crash showed a plume of smoke rising from the point of the impact followed by a larger, second explosion that occurred nearby as the plane broke apart.

Cyprus' Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas said that he had called his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, to express the condolences of his government.

“It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of the two officers of the Hellenic Air Force, who lost their lives in the tragic accident that occurred during the air show at Tanagra Air Base,” Palmas wrote in an online post.

Spectators watch as smoke rises after a Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed, during the Athens Flying Week airshow at Tanagra Air Force Base, north of Athens, Greece, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kallista Allaway)

Spectators watch as smoke rises after a Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed, during the Athens Flying Week airshow at Tanagra Air Force Base, north of Athens, Greece, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kallista Allaway)

Smoke rises after a Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed, during the Athens Flying Week airshow at Tanagra Air Force Base, north of Athens, Greece, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kallista Allaway)

Smoke rises after a Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed, during the Athens Flying Week airshow at Tanagra Air Force Base, north of Athens, Greece, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kallista Allaway)

Smoke rises after a Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed, during the Athens Flying Week airshow at Tanagra Air Force Base, north of Athens, Greece, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo)

Smoke rises after a Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed, during the Athens Flying Week airshow at Tanagra Air Force Base, north of Athens, Greece, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo)

Spectators watch as smoke rises after a Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed, during the Athens Flying Week airshow at Tanagra Air Force Base, north of Athens, Greece, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kallista Allaway)

Spectators watch as smoke rises after a Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed, during the Athens Flying Week airshow at Tanagra Air Force Base, north of Athens, Greece, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kallista Allaway)

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