Donald Trump has denied reports that he is trying to push Iran back to the negotiating table, instead urging the Iranian people to "rise up" against their government as US strikes on Iranian military targets resumed after a weeks-long pause. In a Truth Social post, Trump rejected an ABC News report suggesting he wanted Tehran to restart peace talks, saying he "couldn't care less" whether Iran signed an agreement, and claimed America's grip on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's collapsing economy meant the outcome was inevitable. The renewed hostilities and Trump's rhetoric come months after a ceasefire lapsed with no replacement deal in place, raising the stakes in an already volatile standoff.

The latest escalation saw around a dozen US strikes hit Iranian radar systems and military sites along a 300-mile stretch of coast near the Strait of Hormuz, including Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas and Chabahar. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have retaliated with a ballistic missile strike on a US base in Jordan, though the Pentagon had not confirmed this, while US embassies in Qatar, Israel and Jordan issued travel warnings over the risk of sudden escalation. A ceasefire brokered by Pakistan in June had given both sides 60 days to negotiate, but it expired on 17 August without a follow-up agreement, and Brent crude rose 4% to $94 a barrel amid the renewed fighting.