Iran loses grip on Strait of Hormuz as oil exports hit highest level since war began

President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, marking the end of a military presence that began 23 years ago, and said American forces left with all of their equipment intact while pledging Washington would continue to assist Iraq if needed.

“We're now gone and we took everything with us, every, every nut, every bolt, every screw,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

“Every tank, every plane,” he added.

“We should have left a long time ago,” Trump said before adding that the United States left with “dignity and respect.”

Trump also said that after the withdrawal, Washington would “be there to help if we need to.”

“But that's a big thing. We're out of Iraq after 23 years,” he said.

“If you look at Iraq, we lost 4,500 people. And the result isn't anywhere near what we have here, although we went into Iraq to destroy ISIS, and I did that in my first term.

“That's why they should have left. Long ago.

“But the sole reason we went to Iraq was to eradicate ISIS, and I did it in my first term.”

Yemeni armed forces carried out 468 operations targeting Houthi fighters and military equipment across several fronts, killing or wounding hundreds of fighters, a military spokesman said Monday.

Majed Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, a spokesman for Yemen’s armed forces, said the operations targeted Houthi forces on the eastern, White and Mansoura fronts in Al-Wadi'ah and resulted in the “killing and wounding of hundreds of militia elements, as well as the destruction of their equipment and military vehicles.”

“Meanwhile, the militia continues to target civilians and civilian facilities, including educational institutions, in a desperate attempt to break the will of the Yemeni people to restore the state and reject its extremist and destructive project,” Al-Nuzaili wrote on X.

Republican congressional candidate Scott Singer voiced support Wednesday for U.S. efforts against Iran, arguing Tehran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon while drawing a contrast with Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz over support for Israel.

"I think we need to have a resolution of this,” Singer, the former mayor of Boca Raton who is challenging Moskowitz in Florida’s 25th Congressional District, said of the conflict.

“I think we need to emerge victoriously. We have to remember that nuclear Iran is an existential threat," he told Fox News Digital.

"We have seen how dastardly, vicious, murderous this regime has been over 47 years. Their foreign policy is death to America. They've killed Americans, they'll kill more.

"And even since this conflict started, they've started attacking other nations who weren't combatants, trying to widen the conflict. They support terror across the world. It's hurt America, it's hurt Americans, it's hurt our allies like Israel, and it's hurting the free world. We need to stop this," Singer said.

"And I am optimistic we'll see a resolution soon. And that's a small price to pay. Even if we have some hiccups there, it's a smaller price to pay to ensure Iran does not have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

Singer also contrasted his record with Moskowitz’s on Israel.

"I'm a stronger supporter of Israel. I would never have put Ilhan Omar on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I would not have, like he did, voted against U.S.-Israel cooperation in the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act]," Singer said of Moskowitz.

"I would have not voted to undercut President [Donald] Trump's efforts and our military's efforts with the War Powers Act vote months ago when the U.S. and Israel were fighting against a common enemy," Singer said.

"He's done all of those things because Democratic leadership requires him. And he admitted three weeks ago to Jewish Insider that he's being ostracized in his own party. He doesn't have any more chits to give in.

“He has to go with the way the majority is going, and that expanded squad is going to tamp out any voice he has," Singer said.

"In my party, support for Israel is a feature, not a bug, and I don't have to moderate my views or vote in accordance with the majority…I can be a strong supporter for Israel without reservation. Jared's admitted he can't be and won't be," he added.

This is an excerpt from a report by Fox News Digital's David Unsworth.

The State Department on Wednesday dismissed an open letter from the IRGC as an attempt to mislead Americans and divert attention from its history of terrorism and aggression.

The letter to the American public, released Tuesday, had urged U.S. voters ahead of the midterm elections to reject President Donald Trump's foreign policies, end U.S. support for Israel and accept an offer of "peaceful coexistence."

"The IRGC’s desperate effort to lie to the American people does not change the hard facts about the Iranian regime’s record of maliciousness both in Iran and abroad,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

"Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism, continues to choose terror over prosperity, and ordinary Iranians pay the price," the spokesperson added.

"This false letter, the Iranian regime's latest act of desperation, is nothing more than a smokescreen, and the world sees it for what it is."

Iran on Wednesday warned the United Arab Emirates that hosting U.S. military bases has failed to bring security, arguing that a recent visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not make the region safer.

Tehran’s warning also came as Britain said there are “strong indications” Iran was involved in a suspected terror incident near RAF Fairford, a U.S.-used air base — an allegation Tehran has denied.

“Just as hosting U.S. military bases has not brought you security, hosting the ‘Butcher of Gaza’ will also not have favorable consequences,” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on X.

“Learn from the last war, stop igniting wars, and cease issuing baseless claims regarding the Iranian islands!” he added.

Rezaei's remarks also came after Netanyahu's visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday, where he met President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed for talks on bilateral relations and regional issues.

Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref declared Sept. 29 that the global campaign of “Iranophobia” has ended while calling for Tehran to take on a new role in the Middle East.

The Stanford-educated Iranian official said Tehran is now directly engaged with the United States and Israel, according to Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

“Even if the recent negotiations between Iran and the United States lead to a memorandum of understanding, our position vis-à-vis the United States will not change,” he said, according to Mehr News Agency.

“As the ‘Iranophobia’ project has been neutralized in the post-war condition, we must fulfill our new role in the region,” he added.

Aref also said Iran was the only nation that “stood against the US with authority,” according to IRNA.

He said that over the next two years, Iran must “secure the region’s top ranking and a globally influential position in science and technology,” thereby “fulfilling the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s strategy in this domain.”

Aref had earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1976 and a doctorate in 1980. 

President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed the end of the U.S.-led coalition’s mission against ISIS in Iraq as an American victory, saying the terror group’s "caliphate" had been destroyed and “completely decimated.”

“We came to fight a caliphate, and there is no longer a caliphate, so we are going home,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We are getting out of there.”

The withdrawal ends the coalition’s military mission in Iraq under an agreement Washington and Baghdad reached in 2024, shifting primary responsibility for combating remaining ISIS elements to Iraqi forces. The U.S. will continue providing targeted training and intelligence support.

“So this day is a victory for the United States, a victory for Iraq, and a decisive victory over ISIS, which has been completely decimated,” Trump said.

Trump contrasted the Iraq withdrawal with the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, emphasizing that American forces had removed their equipment before leaving.

“We took all of our equipment,” Trump said. “In Afghanistan, everything was left behind. Here, I said, ‘I want every screw taken.’”

“I had a choice to stay or leave, and I felt without question that it was time for America to go home.”

Trump also praised Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

“This is a great day for America, and importantly, we leave Iraq having a wonderful new Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi,” Trump said.

“He is a fantastic guy and a friend of mine, somebody I supported from the very beginning and fully endorsed.”

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the war with Iran will be resolved quickly while touting U.S. military gains and asserting that the United States has full control of the Strait of Hormuz.

“You'll see things happening very soon,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration.

Trump also described Iran as a country whose military and economy had been devastated.

“We have a nation that's been virtually destroyed. Their economy is in bad shape, with 300% plus inflation,” he said before adding that “their navy is gone, their air force is gone, and their anti-aircraft equipment is gone."

“We have another one where we're six months in, and their military is totally wiped out,” Trump said of Iran before adding, “we're going to have that war won very quickly, one way or the other. It will be resolved one way or the other.”

Turning to Hormuz, Trump said the United States has “almost total control” of the waterway.

“I would say total control,” he said before adding that “everyone said, 'Well, they'll drop a mine in there and disrupt things a little bit,' but we have virtually total control of the strait.”

Trump also said oil shipments through the chokepoint have surged in recent days.

“In fact, in the last three days, more oil has come out of the Strait of Hormuz than at any time in history,” Trump added.

“I'm not just talking about since the war; I'm saying at any time in history. It had been pent up.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that a recent thwarted terror plot near a United Kingdom military base used by the United States involved a "foreign actor," linking the incident to global threats from adversaries such as Iran.

"What happened, what almost happened, what could have happened in the U.K. over the weekend is a very serious situation," Rubio told Fox News' "Hannity" on Monday night. "It's one that clearly involves the hands of a foreign actor."

"I won't get into great detail about that yet."

Rubio added there would be "repercussions" for threats against U.S. interests.

"I think it ties us to the reality here, and that is, we are dealing with elements in the world, and in the case of Iran, for example, who have openly threatened to attack American interests globally," he continued. "We're going to always take that very seriously. There will be repercussions for that, if it ever were to happen or even attempted."

Rubio thanked the partners in the U.K. for helping thwart the "very serious threat" of an attack.

"I want to thank the U.K. for their cooperation and their help on it," he said. "There's a lot more news that will come out on this in the days to come. But there's only so much I can say right now at this point about it, other than this was a very serious thing, and it was responded to appropriately."

British police declared a major incident at the RAF Fairford base in western England following the arrests early Sunday, and the government held a national emergency meeting.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Eric Mack.

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed Wednesday that there are "strong indications" that Iran played a role in an alleged bombing plot targeting a U.S. air base in the U.K. this weekend.

Iran's Embassy in the U.K. had previously denied involvement in the plot, which saw five men arrested outside RAF Fairford on Saturday night.

"There are strong indications that Iran played ​a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but ⁠of course it remains an ongoing, complex, and serious police investigation," Burnham told the BBC ​in an interview on Wednesday.

Authorities have yet to identify the five men who were arrested.

Fox News host Sean Hannity discussed the latest developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict, including escalating tensions in the Middle East, as well reports of an attempted bombing at a U.K. military base used by U.S. forces and the broader security implications on 'Hannity.'

President Donald Trump emphasized that a nuclear-armed Iran would cause immense turmoil and warned of potential threats to Israel, the Middle East, and the United States.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicts Iran's economy will collapse within two weeks as the country runs out of oil on the water to trade.

FOX Business' Lauren Simonetti and "Varney & Co." host Stuart Varney analyze the timeline and the impact of the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz

This is an excerpt from an opinion article by Fox News' Hugh Hewitt.

"Iran’s regime has lost control of the Strait of Hormuz," Swiss energy analyst and investor Alexander Stahel declared in his Monday morning investment letter "The Commodity Compass."

Stahel followed up his assertion with a 1,200-word description (excluding maps and charts) of how the operation that he describes as "the Hormuz shuttle" got stood up and is now running massive quantities of oil out of the Arabian/Persian Gulf to an oil-thirsty world.

Find and read Stahel’s detailed analysis. He has an "X" account where he posts under his own name and links to his newsletter. He is persuasive.

First, the United Arab Emirates and then its neighbors developed an enormous system to shuttle oil out of the Gulf via a new shipping channel which hugs the Omani coast and which is patrolled and protected by the United States military. Central Command isn’t replicating the destroyer-heavy escort system of decades past when Iran threatened the Strait, but its new tactics are effective and the September decline in the price of oil demonstrated that, as October’s anticipated decline will as well.

It started early. Already back in May, it placed eleven hulls — mostly VLCCs [very large crude carriers], owned, leased & operated by ADNOC [Abu Dhabi National Oil Company] — to get the risky job done of shuttling crude out of the Persian trap via the Oman Lane into the Gulf of Oman, unloading it via Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfer and then re-entering the Persian trap to repeat the trade."

The detailed assessment focuses on the key exporters: "ADNOC has become very good at the Hormuz Shuttle, Aramco [Saudi Arabia’s state-owned energy giant] and Kuwait have learned from the UAE and copied the model. By now, we have some 116 hulls active in the Shuttle trade around the Strait of Hormuz, most of them using the Oman Lane." The assessment is that Qatar and Iraq are also now using the "Hormuz Shuttle."

"Iran has failed to shut the Strait," Stahel concludes, "the shuttle system is scaling, and time is increasingly working against Tehran."

At this writing, West Texas crude — critical to the American market — is at $94.50 a barrel and Brent just under $107.00 as the world’s commodity traders worry that President Trump rejected the Iranian overtures to reopen talks.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says the attempted hijacking of a Flydubai aircraft on Wednesday was an attempted jihadist terrorist attack.

Katz made the statement after Israeli passengers broke into the plane's cockpit after hearing shouts between the two pilots.

"The serious incident aboard the Flydubai aircraft was an attempted jihadist terrorist attack, thwarted only through the bravery of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist, and personally restored control of the aircraft to another flight crew that was on board," Katz said in a statement.

"According to the preliminary information available to us, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the aircraft with everyone on board. When the Prime Minister and I issue security warnings and alerts based on intelligence, everyone—both our external enemies and uninformed former officials at home—would do well to listen and take them seriously," he continued.

"Every warning has several intended recipients and objectives. Most importantly, these warnings never come at the expense of—and are no substitute for—the proactive and offensive operations that we are leading together with the IDF against every threat," he added.

A Flydubai passenger said the co-pilot apparently stabbed the captain during a cockpit altercation before the Israel-bound jet plunged thousands of feet, triggering a terrifying scene aboard the aircraft and an emergency diversion to Saudi Arabia Wednesday.

Two Israeli officials told Reuters that the co-pilot was believed to have stabbed the captain before cabin crew entered the cockpit and took control of the plane. The officials said Israel's current assessment was that the incident may have been an attempted "terror attack." The Jerusalem Post separately reported that the growing assessment among Israel's security establishment, including the IDF, Mossad and Shin Bet, was that the incident was intended as an act of terror.

The passenger told Fox News that accounts of what happened remained conflicting, but said passengers understood that the co-pilot had stabbed the captain and then collapsed onto the controls.

"There are many different accounts, but apparently the co-pilot stabbed the captain and collapsed onto the controls, shutting down the entire instrument panel. We began plunging downward for several minutes. Everyone on the plane was screaming, the overhead compartments opened, and the power went out. We were sure we were going to die. It was very scary," the passenger said.

Flydubai has not publicly confirmed the reported stabbing or the circumstances surrounding the cockpit confrontation. Saudi Arabia's Tabuk airport said both pilots were hospitalized after suffering injuries, according to Reuters. An investigation into the incident remains underway.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Bradford Betz.

Ret. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg commented on President Donald Trump's handling of Iran during an appearance on "Kudlow" on Tuesday.

Kellogg argued that Iran is showing more signs of weakness than ever as oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz return to nearly pre-war levels and the U.S. maintains its blockade on Iranian ports.

A leading American evangelical leader has condemned remarks made by a Palestinian official claiming the Bible as a "Palestinian book."

Palestinian Ambassador to the U.K. Husam Zomlot made the comments earlier this month at the University of Bradford as the revisionist argument takes shape asserting Jesus was a Palestinian.

Zomlot’s claims that the Bible is a "Palestinian book" and that, by extension, all Christians are Palestinian has drawn sharp criticism from those who say the remarks advance a contested historical narrative about the land.

"The Palestinians aren’t the ‘people of the Book.’ When the ‘Book’ was written, the term Palestinian had not yet been coined," Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), told Fox News Digital."

The Palestinian ambassador’s attempt to claim the Jewish mantle of religion and history as his own is the clearest indication that his own narrative lacks both," he said, adding: "Such attacks are contemptible, but their danger is decided by who will listen and who will challenge such bigotry."

Hagee argued that describing Jesus as Palestinian because Bethlehem is today in the Palestinian-controlled West Bank would be anachronistic, comparing it to calling television personality Dr. Phil Cherokee simply because he was born in Oklahoma.

"History also disproves what the ambassador is saying. The Romans intentionally adopted the name ‘Palestine’ as a replacement for ‘Judea’ in an effort to erase the Jews from the land, roughly a century after Christ was crucified," he added.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Amelei Botbol.

Iranian security forces have stepped up their presence in Tehran and other cities, with motorcycle patrols, checkpoints and forces positioned across major urban areas as authorities brace for possible unrest, multiple sources inside Iran told Fox News Digital.

The security buildup comes as university students have returned to the streets in Tehran, protesting compulsory hijab rules, rising education costs and political repression, videos published on Iran International show.

Sources inside Iran confirmed to Fox News Digital that motorcycle units have been operating across Tehran and other cities during events surrounding Iran’s annual "Sacred Defense Week," while members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Basij and law enforcement have been positioned at major squares and other locations.

The sources also said security personnel have stopped pedestrians, searched some individuals and examined mobile phones, including material authorities consider "anti-regime."

The accounts follow a report from the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI's) Committee on Security and Counterterrorism alleging that Iranian authorities ordered a "100%" state of readiness for the Army, IRGC, Basij and law enforcement and canceled leave through Sept. 27. The NCRI also claimed 51,000 personnel had been deployed across Greater Tehran, including 30,000 IRGC and Basij members and 21,000 law enforcement personnel. The reported preparations are taking place as signs of public unrest have begun resurfacing on university campuses. Fox News Digital has not independently confirmed those claims.

One source in Tehran told Fox News Digital that the heightened security presence extends beyond what is visible on the streets. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Efrat Lachter.

The U.S. military is scheduled to end its mission in Iraq on Wednesday, bringing to a close a military operation that has lasted more than two decades — despite an ongoing war in Iran sparked earlier this year.

The Iraq mission began with the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and later evolved into a campaign to help Iraqi forces defeat the Islamic State group after the terrorist organization's rapid rise across Iraq and Syria.

In recent years, however, the remaining U.S. military presence has increasingly served as both a counterweight to Iran's influence and a frequent target of Iran-backed militias.

The Iraq agreement was reached before the U.S. and Iran entered direct conflict earlier this year and under a different administration and military leadership — leaving the final phase of the withdrawal to unfold in a dramatically different security environment than the one envisioned when the timeline was negotiated.

The deadline stems from an agreement reached by Washington and Baghdad in 2024 under President Joe Biden to wind down the U.S.-led coalition's military mission after Iraqi officials concluded their security forces were increasingly capable of handling the fight against ISIS.

It follows the U.S. military's 2021 departure from Afghanistan, also under the Biden administration, which ended another two-decade American war and left no U.S. troops in the country. The withdrawal, however, was chaotic, widely viewed as 'botched' and resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and dozens of civilians.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Morgan Phillips.

The U.S. has officially ended Operation Inherent Resolve and is in the process of withdrawing U.S. military forces from Iraq, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell says the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces will take place from Erbil Air Base, ending a 12-year campaign that saw the defeat of ISIS.

"We expect the Iraqi Security Forces, including the Peshmerga and other security forces in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, to lead the continuing effort to secure Iraq and keep ISIS remnants suppressed. The Department of War will continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support to our Iraqi partners," Parnell said in a statement.

"The primary responsibility for addressing Iraq's remaining security challenges, including ISIS remnants and Iran-aligned militias that undermine Iraqi sovereignty and regional stability, now rests with the Government of Iraq. The United States remains committed to counterterrorism and will continue to work with Iraq and our partners to ensure ISIS can never reconstitute from Iraqi territory," he added.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is appealing directly to American voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, urging them to oppose President Donald Trump and pressure Washington to end the war.

The message appeared in a 25-page letter addressed to Americans and presented by IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi, according to the New York Post.

The letter blamed Trump and U.S. support for Israel for the conflict while accusing the president of misleading Americans about Iran’s nuclear program and the economic consequences of the war.

“The US economy is on the precipice of collapse, and yet he keeps on telling Americans that the economy is booming and the prices will soon start coming down,” the letter said.

The message comes as Iran faces mounting economic pressure of its own, with the rial falling Tuesday to a record low of more than 2.5 million to the U.S. dollar

Fox News' Brittany Miller contributed to this report.