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Orgo-Life the new way to the future Advertising by AdpathwayTaking to X, Iran’s embassy in Ghana said it had caught “the most advanced ghosts sub ever” deployed by US forces in the Strait of Hormuz.
“It came in cocky, like a tourist who doesn't read signs. Our guys picked it up like a plastic bottle in a fishing net. Fully intact. Still blinking like an idiot,” the embassy added.
The capture gives Tehran an opportunity to possible reverse engineer the vessel, delivering a setback for the Pentagon and drone maker Anduril - although the US military and Anduril have downplayed the significance of the drone falling into Iranian hands.
But the loss of advanced drones has previously been treated by Washington as a serious matter.
The vessel in question, a Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle, is among a new generation of military drones intended to operate without human intervention for days. It is designed largely for long-range surveillance.
It comes as Donald Trump has said he believes the war with Iran will continue until after the US midterms, suggesting Tehran will sue for peace "immediately" once the election is over.
Watch: Trump says Strait of Hormuz could be renamed the ‘Trump Strait’
Alex Croft10 September 2026 20:00
Sunni Kurdish cleric killed in northwest Iran, Guards blame 'separatists'
Sunni Kurdish cleric Mamosta Mohammad Nezhati was killed in northwestern Iran, the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement reported on Wednesday by the semi-official Mehr news agency.
The statement accused what it called “Zionist-American Kurdish separatist groups” of carrying out the attack.
The Guards' West Azerbaijan provincial command said the killing of the local cleric was an attempt to create divisions between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims and undermine security in the province.
In a Telegram post, the semi-official Fars news agency described Nezhati as a member of Basij, a paramilitary force linked to the Guards.
It quoted the Guards' statement as saying he had a long history of cooperation with Basij organisations for professors, seminarians and clerics.
His killing follows that of Molavi Mohammad Anvar Rigi, a Sunni Baluch Friday prayer leader in the southeastern border town of Mirjaveh, who was killed by unidentified gunmen in July.
In border provinces with large ethnic minority populations, such as Sistan-Baluchistan and the Kurdish-populated western provinces, Iran has long faced militancy targeting security forces and figures associated with the state.
Bryony Gooch10 September 2026 19:00
Satellite image shows increase in construction at Pickaxe Mountain
Satellite imagery shows a sharp increase in construction activity this year at Iran’s deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz, according to a new analysis by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The analysis, published on Wednesday, found that imagery from 2020 to 2026 showed the site had shifted from active excavation to probable internal construction and continued reinforcement of the complex’s exterior. Road activity this year was higher than at any other point since construction began.
The activity includes hardening tunnel entrances, paving internal roads, reinforcing access areas and removing excavation spoil, CSIS said.
However, the available imagery could neither confirm nor disprove Israeli intelligence claims that Iran had moved centrifuges into the complex.
CSIS said the absence of an increased security presence, as well as a lack of observed non-construction vehicles and equipment, suggested the underground facility was not yet capable of uranium enrichment, if that is its intended purpose.
Pickaxe Mountain, about 2km south of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, is a large underground tunnel complex built into granite. Its depth and fortifications would make it extremely difficult to destroy, even with the heaviest US conventional bunker-buster bombs, according to CSIS.
The think tank said open-source evidence was insufficient to determine exactly what was happening inside the facility. Possible uses include centrifuge assembly, uranium enrichment and other nuclear-related research and activities.
Shweta Sharma10 September 2026 18:01
Houthis step up attacks on Saudi cities: the latest
The escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia has continued into Thursday. Here are some of the latets updates:
- The Houthis said that Saudi strikes hit the bordering Yemeni provinces of Jawaf, Marib and Saada, bordering the kingdom, as well as the provinces of Taiz in the south and al-Hodeidah along the Red Sea coast, a Houthi stronghold from which it launches attacks on Red Sea shipping.
- Saudi civil defence authorities issued an emergency alert declared in the southwestern province of Khamis Mushait for the fourth time in 24 hours. The alert has now been lifted.
- At least 73 people were wounded in four southern Saudi cities, including Khamis Mushait, in recent Houthi attacks on the world's largest oil exporter, the Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday.
- The Houthis said they attacked an airbase in Khamis Mushait and oil infrastructure in nearby cities in one of the biggest attacks on Saudi Arabia since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in February.
- The coalition said the Houthis continued their attacks on national assets and infrastructure on Wednesday.
- The Houthis were nearing complete control of coastal cities on the Bab el-Mandeb strait including the ports of Mocha and Dhubab that sit directly along the strait, sources told Reuters.
Alex Croft10 September 2026 17:00
Trump invokes dad of wealthy Princess Di boyfriend to make crass joke about Iranians
Donald Trump made an off-color reference to the father of Princess Diana’s boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, during his remarks Wednesday at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas as he joked about his war in Iran.
The president delivered the keynote address on night one of the two-day convention in Texas, where Republicans are trying to rally support for flagging candidates nationwide in the face of a resurgent Democratic opposition. As he spoke about the war in Iran, he made an unexplained reference to Mohamed Al-Fayed and mocked his Arabic name in the process.
Speaking about a potential attack on Pickaxe Mountain, an alleged Iranian nuclear site, Trump told a whooping crowd that the U.S. Space Force could “see everything” taking place at secure Iranian facilities: “We can see everything. We can see the tag on their coat. ‘Mohamed Al-Fayed.’
The Independent’s Washington correspondent John Bowden reports:
Alex Croft10 September 2026 16:15
Pakistan warns Houthis to rein in attacks on Saudi Arabia
Pakistan has urged Iran to rein in its Houthi allies in Yemen after they stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, Pakistani and Iranian sources have told Reuters.
The warning suggests the country’s defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Turkey is kicking into action.
While officials in Islamabad stressed any military role would be confined to defending Saudi territory, Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif said attacks spilling into the kingdom could trigger a joint security arrangement involving Riyadh, Ankara and Islamabad.
"An aggression on one country will be considered an aggression on all three countries," Asif said on Pakistani TV.
"There is no ambiguity or doubt... Unprovoked aggression or spillover... into Saudi Arabia will definitely make this agreement operational."
The Houthis struck an airbase in Khamis Mushait and oil infrastructure in nearby cities on Tuesday, wounding 73 people, in one of the biggest attacks on Saudi Arabia since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran in February.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Wednesday that Saudi warplanes carried out 54 airstrikes across various Yemeni provinces over the past 12 hours.
Alex Croft10 September 2026 15:30
Watch: Trump says Iran war will end ‘immediately’ after November midterm elections
Alex Croft10 September 2026 14:31
Oil prices hold firm despite attacks
Oil prices held firm on Thursday after Brent crude breached $100 a barrel, with traders bracing for deeper supply disruptions as Iran and the United States launched their largest attacks on shipping since their six-month-old conflict began.
Brent crude futures inched lower by 0.1 per cent to $101.10 a barrel by 0256 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $96.24 a barrel, up 0.2 per cent.
Brent prices have surged nearly 30 per cent from lows touched in early August as a permanent agreement between the US and Iran to cease attacks never materialised, while renewed fighting began later in the month.
Alex Croft10 September 2026 14:00
Vessel approached by unidentified skiff near Yemen, says UKMTO
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency is reporting that an unidentified skiff has approached a large vessel near Yemen’s Al Mukalla on Thursday.
The incident comes as fighting intensifies in Yemen between the Iran-aligned Houthis and forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed government.
We’ll bring you more as we get it.
Alex Croft10 September 2026 13:29
Internal White House warnings caution Trump that Iran war could last years: report
Top White House advisers, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have privately warned President Donald Trump that the conflict with Iran could extend through the remainder of his presidency, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. officials.
The private warnings were delivered during internal strategy discussions held in the Oval Office and the Situation Room. During these confidential meetings, senior officials informed the president that Tehran could continue to resist U.S. pressure, potentially prolonging the conflict beyond Inauguration Day in January 2029.
According to details reported by the Journal, the assessment from key aides highlights concerns within the administration that Iranian resistance may not be easily broken, suggesting military engagement could become a defining foreign policy issue for Trump's entire term in office.
Read the full report here:
Alex Croft10 September 2026 13:01
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