This live blog follows the latest developments across the Middle East crisis, including regional diplomacy, maritime security, ceasefire negotiations, and economic fallout.
Catch up on Thursday’s top developments here:
- US VP Vance says Hormuz oil flow 'almost' at pre-war levels
- Iran warns of ‘dark months’ for US economy
- OIC chief commends Pakistan's mediatory role
- Trump claims US has 'virtually unlimited' stockpiles of ammunition
- Iran Guards chief vows to avenge victims killed in wedding strike
You started this war: Azizi responds to Vance’s gas price claims
Published: Sept 4, 2026 | 01:47 GMT | by Web Desk
While responding to US Vice President JD Vance comments on the reason why gas prices were so high was because the Iranians were shooting at commercial shipping, Chairman of the National Security Committee of Iran's Parliament Ebrahim Azizi has said that Washington should start the telling the story “from the beginning” of the conflict.
“Never forget: you are the one who started this war,” Azizi said in a post on X.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Vance said that the fundamental reality was that the "reason gas prices are so high right now is because the Iranians are shooting at commercial shipping."
Nobody in Gaza is safe: UN Human Rights office in Palestine
Published: Sept 4, 2026 | 01:36 GMT | by Web Desk
The United Nations Human Rights office in Palestine has said that 24 Palestinians have been killed — out of which 21 were killed in airstrikes — in Israeli attacks in the five days between August 28 and September 1, including four children and a woman.
“Almost a year since a ceasefire was announced and nowhere and nobody in Gaza is safe,” the office said in a post on X.
“Israel’s stated pursuit of individuals that it alleges to be lawful targets does not suspend its international humanitarian law or international human rights law obligations, including in relation to Palestinians’ right to life,” the office said.
“Nor does it justify the daily terror Palestinians are subjected to in Gaza,” it said, adding that the “bloodshed must finally come to an end.”
“There must be justice and accountability for all the unlawful killings and other violations in Gaza.”
EU has officially joined ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ against Iran: US treasury secretary
Published: Sept 4, 2026 | 01:19 GMT | by Web Desk
US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent said that the European Union has officially joined “Operation Economic Outcast,” adding that Washington appreciated their “strong and early stance.”
Bessent said that US stood firm with their allies in ensuring that Iran “cannot exploit the global financial system to fund its nuclear ambitions, weapons programs, and terror proxies.”
“The world is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime: We will not stop until every remaining financial lifeline has been severed,” he said in a post on X.
Thursday at a glance
Published: Sept 4, 2026 | 00:00 GMT | by Web Desk
The conflict between the United States and Iran intensified as Washington probed the strike on a wedding in Iran that killed four people, including a child, while 68 others were wounded.
Iran's Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has called on the International Criminal Court to take legal action against the missile strike on the wedding ceremony. Separately, Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief, Ahmad Vahidi, also vowed to avenge the deaths of those killed at a wedding ceremony in southern Iran.
Speaking at a White House press briefing, US Vice President JD Vance said that the US was probing the strike but cast doubt on reports from Iran.
"I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what's happened in the conflict thus far,” Vance said, adding that he was very “skeptical” about the reports.
He also said that the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz was nearly back to levels seen before the Iran conflict, adding that Tehran's control of the waterway was “effectively gone.”
Refuting claims that the US was running out of ammunition for the Iran conflict, US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington had a “virtually unlimited” stockpile of ammunition.
“Far more than we could ever use for this, or for any other war,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Meanwhile, Organization of Islamic Cooperation Secretary-General Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed expressed gratitude to Pakistan for its efforts in “bringing an end” to the Iran conflict.
For earlier developments, read our Sept 3 live blog here.