Day 192 | Iran to announce new restricted zone outside Strait of Hormuz, says top security official

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Read more: Day 193 | Tehran warns ships against using the 'US corridor' in Hormuz

• Security forces kill three militants and arrest nine others.
• Authorities confiscate military weapons and say suspects received combat and bomb-making training abroad.

Iranian security forces have dismantled three operational cells affiliated with terrorist groups in the country's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, killing three suspects and arresting nine others during armed clashes, state media reported on Monday.

According to a statement issued by the Intelligence Ministry’s provincial office, intelligence units intercepted the organized cells as they were entering Iran, thwarting potential sabotage and terrorist operations targeting public security in the province's southern counties.

Three members of the group were killed in subsequent firefights with security forces, while nine individuals who had crossed into Iranian territory from abroad were taken into custody.

JUST IN: Iranian Intelligence Services have Dismantled several Terrorist Cells within the Country

Suicide vests and Explosives were seized

Iranian Intelligence Services believe the CIA has launched Covert Operations aimed at sowing Instability in the Country pic.twitter.com/fB201OmHzd

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) September 7, 2026

Foreign training 

The Intelligence Ministry stated that the nine detained individuals had received specialized military training, including instruction in bomb-making and assassination techniques, at facilities outside Iran before attempting to infiltrate the country.

In addition to arresting the suspects, intelligence forces located and seized a large cache of light and semi-heavy military weapons and ammunition that had been illegally smuggled across the border and concealed within the region.

Sistan and Baluchestan Province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has frequently seen clashes between Iranian security forces and armed militant groups operating in the borderlands.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a sharp rebuke of 'Israeli' military operations in the Middle East, warning that the fallout from the ongoing conflict extends far beyond regional borders and directly threatens global stability.

Speaking in urgent public remarks, Erdoğan emphasized that the economic, security, and humanitarian consequences of 'Israeli' aggression are being felt globally.

"The bill for the war initiated by Israel in the region is paid not only by the Iranians or the Gulf states, but by everyone," Erdoğan stated.

Erdoğan condemns 'Israeli' lies 

Erdoğan further criticized 'Israel's' political and military posture, accusing Tel Aviv of actively working to derail diplomatic frameworks intended to de-escalate regional tensions.

Specifically targeting the Islamabad Agreement—the diplomatic framework mediated in Pakistan to ease standoffs between the US and Iran—Erdoğan asserted that 'Israeli' actions had deliberately weakened international trust.

" Israel's lies and continuous provocation have undermined the efforts of the Islamabad Agreement," the Turkish leader declared.

The comments come amid renewed exchanges of strikes and escalating military activity across regional maritime and land fronts.

• ‘Israeli’ military claims follow-up strikes hit weapons storage and command facilities.
• Military alleges its soldiers killed the Hezbollah member.

The 'Israeli' military says its forces engaged in a close-quarters firefight in the Beaufort area of southern Lebanon on Monday, claiming a Hezbollah member opened fire on soldiers during routine patrols in the region.

According to claims by the 'Israeli' military, soldiers were patrolling the area when a Hezbollah member positioned inside a building opened fire toward them.

The 'Israeli' military alleges that its forces returned fire during the encounter.

It says two 'Israeli' soldiers sustained light injuries during the exchange and were evacuated for medical treatment, with their families having been notified.

Follow-up strikes

Following the initial exchange of gunfire, the 'Israeli' military says its soldiers fired toward the location where the Hezbollah member was hiding, alleging that he was killed in the action.

Additionally, the 'Israeli' military claims it launched subsequent strikes targeting weapons storage facilities, command centers, and additional infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah across the surrounding area.

Hezbollah has not issued an official confirmation or statement regarding the alleged clash or the reported death of its member.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Monday issued a response to US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, warning that any American strikes on Iranian assets would trigger attacks on exposed US oil and gas facilities in the region.

Quoting Hegseth’s post on X, Ghalibaf wrote: “It’s simple: the oil and gas production chain here is sprawling, accessible, and exposed. American oil and gas companies across these waters and facilities share that exposure. Strike our assets and you get struck. We’ve already proven it. Ask the bases that are no longer viable.”

It’s simple: the oil and gas production chain here is sprawling, accessible, and exposed. American oil and gas companies across these waters and facilities share that exposure. Strike our assets and you get struck. We’ve already proven it. Ask the bases that are no longer viable. https://t.co/XiHAf6KzqV pic.twitter.com/0wBf40K4D3

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) September 7, 2026

Hegseth had stated that if Iran fires on US Navy ships, American forces will “destroy (and sink) their oil tankers,” describing Iran’s tanker fleet as defenseless.

The warning followed US Central Command strikes that disabled and destroyed three Iranian oil tankers after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy vessels.

No American personnel were reported harmed.

Emergency teams scrambled overnight to respond to ‘Israeli’ air strikes across Lebanon.

Significant destruction is seen in residential areas, with damaged homes, shattered vehicles, and heavy machinery clearing rubble as civil defense units work to recover casualties.

‘Israeli’ airstrikes overnight killed 11 people in a south Lebanon village, including two infants, Lebanese state media said Monday, a day after separate raids left seven dead.

‘Israel’ has been intensifying strikes in the southern Nabatieh area after it said Thursday it had seized the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge from Hezbollah, a claim the Iran-backed group has not commented on.

Fighting in Lebanon, which erupted in March after Hezbollah targeted ‘Israel’ in support of Iran, had decreased since a June memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran on the wider Middle East war and an ‘Israel’-Lebanon framework agreement later that month.

But on Monday ‘Israel's’ foreign ministry accused Hezbollah of "repeated drone attacks" and "attempting to rebuild its military capabilities in southern Lebanon".

The ministry said Hezbollah had violated the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and ‘Israel’ that includes disarmament of the group.

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said nine people were killed in a strike overnight that destroyed a three-storey residential building in Kfar Rumman, near Nabatieh.

Two rescuers in the area whose car was targeted were also killed, the agency said.

‘Israel’ issued no warning to Kfar Rumman before the strikes but released an evacuation order ahead of a separate strike in nearby Deir Zahrani.

The army claimed an explosive drone had been launched towards its forces and "Hezbollah's terrorist activity compels the IDF to act forcefully against it".

It did not specify whether any ‘Israeli’ soldiers were wounded.

The military warned in a message in Arabic that it was targeting a "Hezbollah terrorist facility", and said those who remained in the area were at risk.

The NNA reported that the ‘Israeli’ strike destroyed the building in Deir Zahrani 22 minutes after the warning was issued.

On Sunday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged Washington and the international community to help stop ‘Israeli’ attacks.

‘Israeli’ airstrikes and a ground invasion of Lebanon have killed more than 4,300 people since March, Beirut says.

‘Israeli’ forces are operating inside a self-declared "security zone" around 10 kilometres (six miles) deep inside Lebanon along the border.

Lebanese state media reported Monday that ‘Israeli’ strikes overnight killed 11 people in a southern village, including two infants, a day after separate raids left seven dead.

The official National News Agency said nine people were killed in one strike that destroyed a three-storey residential building in Kfar Rumman, while two rescuers in the area whose car was targeted were also killed.

US Navy SEALs conducted a covert four-month mine-clearing mission in the Strait of Hormuz, using divers, robotic vessels and specialized underwater systems in a high-risk effort to reopen the vital waterway, the Financial Times reported.

The operation, carried out mostly under cover of darkness amid ongoing exchanges of strikes between the United States and Iran, aimed to neutralize Iranian mines that had deterred commercial shipping since the conflict erupted following US and ‘Israeli’ attacks on Iran in February.

Iran claimed it had placed mines in international and Omani waters; the International Maritime Organization estimated in June that roughly 80 mines had been deployed along key shipping routes.

Traditional US Navy mine-countermeasure ships based in the Gulf were reportedly outside the region, leaving special forces and unmanned systems to handle much of the work.

Navy SEAL divers operated in small teams from rubber or inflatable-hulled boats, supported by robotic surface vessels and underwater vehicles towing high-resolution side-scan sonar arrays.

These systems scanned the seabed to identify objects without immediately exposing personnel.

“That is usually followed up by a navy diver who’s got to get in the water and approach the mine, and then put a charge on it and destroy it,” retired US Navy Capt. Bill Hamblet, who spent years operating in the Gulf, told the FT.

He described the force as a “very small, lightweight kind of force.”

The mission faced significant hazards in the narrow strait, with strong currents, tidal variations, and the constant risk of Iranian attack.

Mine-warfare expert Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute noted that “mine-clearing forces are vulnerable because the operation is slow and their boats or helicopters lack defences.”

Nitya Labh, an associate fellow at Chatham House, called it “an extremely time-consuming process,” adding that teams were “doing, essentially, active bomb detonation underwater.”

No US casualties were reported.

In late August, US Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Coopersaid that forces had cleared Iranian sea mines from major international shipping lanes in the strait’s Traffic Separation Scheme.

“We have successfully cleared sea mines in the Strait’s international shipping lanes that were laid months ago by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” Cooper said.

“Our forces meticulously and quietly cleared them of sea mine threats using a combination of Navy divers, Navy SEALs and U.S. air power from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.”

He added: “The circumstances were challenging and dangerous to say the least, but we got the job done.” President Donald Trump had earlier declared that all mines in the strait’s international waters had been removed or detonated.

Despite these announcements, questions persist about whether the entire waterway is mine-free.

Shipping companies and security advisers generally believe the southern routes near Oman, where the US has directed vessels, have been cleared, but remain less confident about other areas.

“It doesn’t take much to put a mine back in because there is a lot of small-boat traffic going across Hormuz every night,” one tanker industry executive said.

Iranian officials have disputed full clearance, with one noting that “no one except Iran knows the locations of these mines.”

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has called President Donald Trump “dangerously delusional” after Trump dismissed the US war on Iran as “small potatoes” and “not a big thing.”

In a post on X, Murphy pointed to what he described as the costs of the war, including the deaths of 18 Americans, billions of dollars in damage to US bases, critically low missile supplies, record farm bankruptcies and $5-a-gallon gasoline.

“But ‘small potatoes’,” Murphy wrote. “Our president is dangerously delusional.”

Trump made the remarks at the White House on Friday after a reporter asked about Vice President JD Vance’s refusal to describe the US fighting with Iran as a war.

Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group’s forces shot down a Saudi CH-4 armed reconnaissance drone over Yemen’s al-Jawf province.

Saree said the drone was carrying out “hostile activities” over the Khabb wa ash Sha’af district when it was brought down using an unspecified weapon.

More than 300 fighters and civilians have been killed since renewed fighting erupted in Yemen on Thursday, AFP reported, citing military and medical sources from both sides.

The fighting has centered on western Taiz and southern Hodeidah, where Houthi forces launched a major offensive toward government-held areas near the Red Sea coast and the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Government officials told AFP that 84 of their troops were killed between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday, mostly in missile attacks. Houthi military sources reported 57 fighters killed during the same period.

The fighting has also forced civilians to flee their homes.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said an estimated 1,790 households had been displaced by heavy shelling and clashes in Taiz’s Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi districts.

Yemen’s government-aligned armed forces said they carried out 13 air strikes targeting Houthi positions, gatherings and vehicles in al-Bayda province.

The forces said in a post on X that the strikes targeted sites in the districts of al-Sharyah, Dhi Na’im, al-Bayda and al-Sawadiyah, including a missile-launching platform.

They also reported strikes on Jabal Nasa in the Murays front of al-Dhalea province, saying their aircraft destroyed a command-and-control room and a thermal surveillance system.

The forces said Houthi fighter gatherings in the area were also targeted.

‘Israeli’ forces carried out a drone strike targeting a car on the outskirts of Kfar Reman in southern Nabatieh, Lebanese media reported.

Al Jadeed said the strike took place in the Doha area and killed at least two people. Al-Manar also reported the attack but did not provide casualty figures.

Ceasefire under strain
The strike came as ‘Israel’ continued attacks on Lebanon despite a US-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that ‘Israeli’ air raids on Sunday killed at least four people and wounded 20 others.

The average number of cargo vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz over the past 10 days has fallen to its lowest level since May, according to Reuters, citing data from shipping tracker Kpler.

The data showed an average of just 10 cargo ships crossing the strategic waterway each day during the period.

Only two vessels passed through the strait on Saturday, while six crossed on Sunday, with most using the Iranian route, Reuters reported.

The ‘Israeli’ army issued an urgent evacuation warning to residents of a building in Deir al-Zahrani, in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon.

The army’s spokesperson called on residents of the building marked in red on an accompanying map, as well as those in nearby buildings, to leave immediately.

The spokesperson said the building is located near a facility belonging to Hezbollah that the army intends to target.

Residents were instructed to leave the building and surrounding structures and move at least 300 meters away, citing concerns for their safety and that of their families.

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand called on Iran to end what Ottawa described as destabilizing activities in the Middle East, including threats to ships seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on X, Anand said Iran’s actions continue to undermine global peace and security. She said Canada is working with partners to maintain pressure on Tehran, including through sanctions and efforts to disrupt its ability to finance what Ottawa describes as terrorist activities.

A joint statement by Anand and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Canada is working closely with G7 partners to maintain “significant pressure” on Iran.

The statement said Canada supports US, French and British efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while maintaining sanctions imposed on Iran, including measures announced under the US-led “Economic Outcast” operation.

Ottawa said it would continue coordinating with its partners and consider additional measures aimed at promoting regional security and pressuring Iran to end its “malign behavior.”

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Washington is “strangling” Iran’s economy to pressure its government into changing its policies or being replaced.

“We are strangling their economy to try to bring either a change in policy from the existing regime or a new regime,” Wright told CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday.

Energy exports targeted
Wright said the US military’s main role is preventing Iran from exporting crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas and other energy-related goods.

He said Washington nevertheless remains open to negotiations with Tehran.

“We are always ready to make a deal,” Wright said, adding that President Donald Trump’s preferred outcome is a negotiated solution and that military action should be used only when “absolutely necessary.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the Strait of Hormuz was “wide open” before the US and ‘Israel’ launched their war on Iran on February 28.

Baghaei accused Washington of disrupting commercial shipping, saying tankers have been halted, trade disrupted and energy prices driven higher. His comments echo earlier statements blaming the US and ‘Israel’ for instability in the strategic waterway.

“Washington unleashed an unlawful and savage war on the region and disrupted the normal flow of commercial shipping,” Baghaei said in a post on X.

He accused the US of trying to shift responsibility for the consequences of the war onto Iran.

“America started the war but expects the whole world to pay the bill,” he said.

Baghaei accompanied the post with a The Simpsons meme mocking Washington’s handling of the crisis, showing a fire spreading out of control as Homer Simpson says: “Relax. It’s a controlled burn.”

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Read more: Day 191 | US CENTCOM, Iran's IRGC exchange missile strikes over vessels