Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, August 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, August 25, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that they had attacked a US naval drone that was trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, hours after Tehran and Washington traded strikes.
"The heroic Naval Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked an American military unmanned surface vessel (remotely operated vessel) that was attempting to enter the protected area of the Strait of Hormuz," the Guards said in a statement carried by Iranian state television IRIB.
Members of Basij paramilitary forces stand guard outside the Grand Mosalla, on the day international delegates participate in a farewell ceremony for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 during Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, July 3, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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US Intelligence: Iran Appears Determined to Continue War
Members of Basij paramilitary forces stand guard outside the Grand Mosalla, on the day international delegates participate in a farewell ceremony for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 during Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, July 3, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Washington: Julian Barnes, Dustin Volz
Iran has grown more confident in its ability to attack targets in the Middle East and appears determined to continue the conflict for months to frustrate the United States, according to US intelligence reports in recent weeks.
In many respects, the assessments reflect what has been observable on the ground as fighting erupted again after a period of relative calm. In the past week, Iran targeted ships in the Strait of Hormuz and American troops in the region, and US forces struck inside Iran, killing military personnel and civilians.
The new exchanges have been limited so far. But the intelligence reports, according to people who have read them, suggest that Iran’s hard-line government might be contemplating a significant escalation.
Iran has emerged from months of the on-again, off-again war with a far better understanding of its military strengths and is more sure of its capabilities, according to officials briefed on the intelligence.
The reports, some current and former officials said, suggest that any agreement to fully end the war will be hard to reach. There are few signs that Iran is ready to make any sort of deal with the United States, content to exacerbate US President Donald Trump’s political problems ahead of the US midterm elections, according to some officials.
A man drives next to a billboard of Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a street in Tehran, Iran, 09 July 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Trump, for now, is not pursuing negotiations and has said he believes he can apply economic pressure on Iran that would force Tehran to make concessions on its control of the strait and perhaps, eventually, its nuclear program. But in the short term, US economic sanctions are likely to continue to provoke escalation, according to officials who have read the intelligence reports.
In the coming weeks, Iran could take actions akin to what it did in July, according to US officials. At that time, Iran attacked American military bases in the Middle East, killing three Americans in Jordan; struck shipping in the Strait of Hormuz; and struck infrastructure in Kuwait and elsewhere.
US officials also believe that Iran-linked hackers were most likely responsible for cyberattacks on more than 100 water systems throughout the United States in late July. Though there were no indications any system was degraded in a way that made water unsafe to drink, the attacks in some cases led to disruptions that required manual overrides and precautionary boil-water advisories.
Current and former officials said the hackers have also shown interest in attacking American oil and gas infrastructure, though those systems are generally seen as harder to penetrate. It is not clear whether any energy systems have been breached.
There are signs that Iran-linked hackers may have regrouped in recent months after sustaining some losses at the start of the war, according to current and former US officials.
Even absent serious disruptions, cyberattacks are likely to remain an appealing way for Iran to seek to undermine public support in the United States for an already unpopular war, former intelligence officials and security experts said.
Alex Orleans, a former US government cybersecurity contractor who specializes in tracking Iranian hacking groups, said Iran’s cyberoperators probably feel emboldened. “Even if such attacks fail to meaningfully unsettle the American public, they can still play into a broader effort to exhaust domestic patience with this administration’s handling of the conflict,” he said.
At a news briefing on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance appeared to acknowledge that such attacks could further erode support for a conflict that has no clear end in sight. He sought to downplay the threat to Americans, but said the Trump administration expected Tehran to continue to “try to do a lot of things” to target the United States.
“If you look at the Iranian ability to disrupt the normal lives of Americans, I think it is quite limited,” Vance said, responding to a reporter’s question about cyberattacks. “It’s not zero, but it’s quite limited. I’d be much more worried about cyberattacks from other actors.”
Trump predicted a quick and decisive victory as US and Israeli forces launched the war on Feb. 28. After waves of punishing attacks, the president’s critics say it is painfully clear that the Trump administration underestimated Iran’s resilience.
“Iranians are feeling pretty bullish about their position,” said Representative Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado and a member of the Intelligence Committee. “They have taken substantial damage, but that has always been built into their system. They understand they can take damage, and they are playing a much longer game here.”
People walk near a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump on a building in Tehran, Iran, September 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Crow declined to comment on classified assessments, but he said the Iranians believe that they are in a stronger position for several reasons. First, he said, Iran’s formerly splintered leadership is now more united, and the internal opposition has been silenced. Iran also continues to have a stockpile of missiles and drones.
Iran’s leadership also appears to have a more precise understanding of how to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, which carried one-fifth of the world’s oil before the war.
“They have always known the strait was a big bargaining chip, but have come to realize to a greater degree the leverage that gives them,” Crow said.
Others briefed on the reports said Iran probably believes that the US military will be hard pressed to mount major new strikes as its munitions stockpiles dwindle.
And there are signs that Iran is intent to drag out the conflict until at least the midterms, current and former officials said.
Iran, according to officials, understands that the war — and the high gas prices that closing the strait has caused — is politically damaging to Trump and the Republican Party.
“The Iranians think they have maximum leverage,” said Representative Josh Gottheimer, Democrat of New Jersey. “So, from their perspective, why not keep sticking it to the president?”
There are indications that Iran is seeking to spread propaganda that would undermine Trump electorally, as it did during the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
The New York Times
NATO Will Not Tolerate Hybrid Actions Against Members, US Envoy Sayshttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5315061-nato-will-not-tolerate-hybrid-actions-against-members-us-envoy-says
The US flag is lowered to half staff to honor country music legend Dolly Parton following her passing, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, 27 August 2026. (EPA)
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NATO Will Not Tolerate Hybrid Actions Against Members, US Envoy Says
The US flag is lowered to half staff to honor country music legend Dolly Parton following her passing, at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, 27 August 2026. (EPA)
NATO members should not tolerate deliberate actions of hybrid war, and the United States will stand by countries as they deal with these incidents, Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, said on Saturday.
Whitaker said last month's attempted drone attack at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport, which Berlin has blamed on Russia, was more worrying than other recent incidents NATO members have faced due to Russian drones targeting Ukraine that strayed off course.
"Then you have what I would call the more concerning hybrid actions like we saw in Leipzig, like we have seen in Poland," Whitaker said speaking on the sidelines of a business conference in Italy.
NATO members must be prepared, vigilant and also deliver a strong message when they are challenged by these events, he said.
"If we can identify who's doing it — which Germany did — we make sure we express strongly that is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it," Whitaker said.
Critical infrastructure, including energy assets, could be targeted and should be monitored by national authorities, he added.
The response to these challenges is primarily national, but the United States supports countries when they are dealing with these acts, he said.
Thousands March for Democracy Ahead of Eastern German Votehttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5315035-thousands-march-democracy-ahead-eastern-german-vote
People attend a demonstration as part of a democracy festival, a day before the Saxony-Anhalt state election, in Magdeburg, Germany, September 5, 2026. (Reuters)
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Thousands March for Democracy Ahead of Eastern German Vote
People attend a demonstration as part of a democracy festival, a day before the Saxony-Anhalt state election, in Magdeburg, Germany, September 5, 2026. (Reuters)
Thousands of people joined a march for "democracy" in eastern Germany on Saturday, a day ahead of a regional election expected to result in a historic win for the far right.
The march in Magdeburg, capital of the Saxony-Anhalt region, drew demonstrators holding up placards proclaiming "more love, less hate", "a better life without Nazis", and "the potato is also of foreign origin".
The march was organized by a coalition of groups dubbed "Saxony-Anhalt: Open to the World".
The far right, anti-migrant, pro-Russian and pro-Donald Trump Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is leading in the polls for the Saxony-Anhalt election, and is expected to top the vote in the small state of 2.1 million inhabitants.
It would be the first regional election win for the AfD, marking an unprecedented breakthrough for the far right in Germany in the postwar era.
However, the party is not assured of managing an absolute majority that would allow it to govern alone.
So far, all other parties have ruled out governing with the AfD, with the exception of the pro-Russian left-wing party BSW, whose members are divided on the issue.
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