WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that the United States may hit Iran's Pickaxe Mountain very soon.
Pickaxe Mountain, located near Iran's heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, is a heavily fortified site that hosts two deeply buried tunnel complexes.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery and Steve Holland;Editing by David Ljunggren)
Sept 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Friday it had approved the potential sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions-Extend Range to Saudi Arabia for an estimated $5 billion.
The principal contractor is Boeing, the state department said.
The State Department also said it had approved a possible sale of AGT-1500 engines to Saudi Arabia for an estimated $750 million. The principal contractor for sale of the engines is Honeywell, the department said.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Christian Martinez; Editing by Katharine Jackson)
President Donald Trump said Friday that the Iran war was "small potatoes" for the United States, in his administration's latest bid to play down the conflict ahead of crucial midterm elections.
Trump's comments came a day after Vice President JD Vance said that "I wouldn't call it a war" despite an upsurge in clashes between Iran and the United States over the Strait of Hormuz.
By Ismail Shakil, David Lawder and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a small Turkish investment bank and two subsidiaries on Friday as part of the Trump administration's campaign to increase economic pressure on Iran, the department said.
By Maya Gebeily and Rami Ayyub
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Israel's military has cleared Hezbollah fighters holed up in tunnels under the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday, though the Iran-backed group did not immediately comment.
Israel had said Hezbollah fighters were embedded in tunnels under the ridge, which overlooks a wide area and had become one of the most hotly contested areas in the Israel-Hezbollah war, despite a ceasefire announced in June.
By Orhan Qereman
QAMISHLI, Syria, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Female Kurdish fighters who became global symbols of the fight against Islamic State are negotiating with Syria's new authorities to retain a combat role after a government overhaul left their future uncertain.
The Women's Protection Units, known as the YPJ, fought alongside the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during Syria's civil war, helping drive Islamic State from large parts of the country's north and east.
By Francois Murphy and John Irish
VIENNA/PARIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The United States, Britain, France and Germany are seeking a resolution by the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board next week reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council for the first time in 20 years, according to diplomats and the proposed text seen by Reuters.
If passed, the resolution would follow up on one adopted on June 12 of last year declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for not fully cooperating with an investigation into uranium traces found at undeclared sites.
The United Nations warned Friday that Israel's forced displacement of the entire Palestinian populations of three West Bank refugee camps last year could amount to crimes against humanity.
In a report slammed by Israel, the UN rights office described how a military operation launched in the north of the occupied territory in January 2025 had forcibly displaced over 33,000 people.
By Nilo Tabrizy, Edward Carron, Idrees Ali and George Sargent
Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance said that the United States was investigating a deadly strike on an Iranian wedding earlier this week that an analysis published by Reuters showed likely resulted from a direct hit by a U.S. munition.
By Maya Gebeily and Ahmad Al Kerdi
TYRE, Lebanon, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The schoolyard in southern Lebanon echoed with the squeals of playing children despite the beating sun and distant booms of Israeli airstrikes. But for most of the youththere, the public school isn't where they learn. It's where they live.
