By Frank Andrews, Khaled Wassef
Updated on: September 17, 2026 / 6:35 PM EDT / CBS News
What to know about the Iran war today:
- There are "reasonable grounds" to believe the U.S. committed war crimes with two strikes in Iran that killed at least 178 civilians, a U.N.-commissioned panel of human rights experts said Thursday.
- Oil prices dropped for a second day Thursday after U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said a damaged Saudi oil pipeline should be back online again "relatively soon" after being hit by drones. Meanwhile, gas and diesel prices continue to soar as energy experts warn those costs are likely to climb in the days ahead.
- President Trump insisted Wednesday again that Iran wants to make a deal to end the six-and-a-half-month war. "Hopefully we're toward the end of the war," he said during a midterm appearance in North Carolina.
9:02 PM
Attack reported on ship in Strait of Hormuz
By Joe Walsh
An attack was reported late Thursday on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre. The organization said the crew has been reported safe.
In a statement to Iran's semi-official Mehr and Tasnim news agencies, the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to strike a ship that was making "illegal passage" through the Strait of Hormuz. It's unclear whether that incident is related to the one reported by UKMTO.
Iran has pushed commercial ships to ask for permission and use a regime-approved route before sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Updated 6:35 PM / September 17, 2026
Farmer who voted for Trump on high costs of Iran war: "I think we've been misled"
By Jordan Freiman
Matt Bell, 52, has been farming for more than half his life in central North Carolina. He grows soybeans, corn and wheat and raises beef cattle on more than 1,000 acres. But Bell, who voted for President Trump, says soaring prices for fuel, fertilizer, and equipment are hurting his farm and leading some of his fellow farmers to consider calling it quits once this growing season ends.
Bell initially supported Mr. Trump's policies and even thought short-term price increases resulting from the Iran conflict would be worth ensuring Iran never has a nuclear weapon, one of the president's stated goals of the war.
But he now says the administration has made miscalculations in the war. "We're just being strung along as a country, and that's not good," Bell said.
Bell criticized the administration's decision-making around the war, saying, "I think we've been misled."
Read more here.
Updated 5:31 PM / September 17, 2026
Russia and China veto U.N. resolution for Iran sanctions monitoring
By The Associated Press
Russia and China vetoed a United Nations resolution Thursday that would have authorized U.N. experts to keep monitoring sanctions that were reimposed against Iran last year over its nuclear program.
The U.N. Security Council sanctions are still in effect, which freeze Iran's assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran's ballistic missile program, among other measures.
Using a provision in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered the "snapback" mechanism, which reimposed the sanctions on Sept. 27, 2025. It restored the Security Council sanctions committee and authorized a panel of U.N. experts to monitor implementation.
The United States had drafted a resolution to extend the U.N. expert panel's mandate for a year. The proposal was defeated by a vote of 11-2, with Somalia and Pakistan abstaining, because of the Russian and Chinese vetoes.
It comes as the Trump administration is pursuing a wider campaign to isolate Tehran from its remaining economic partners as the more than six-month-old war in Iran has hit a stalemate.
4:34 PM / September 17, 2026
Gas and diesel prices continue to surge
By Mary Cunningham
Gasoline and diesel prices continued to surge on Thursday, with energy experts warning that those costs are likely to climb in the days ahead.
"Consumers should plan on higher prices for longer," said Patrick De Haan, a petroleum expert at GasBuddy, which tracks U.S. fuel prices.
The national average for gasoline jumped 7 cents overnight to $4.44 a gallon, according to AAA, up nearly 50% since before the Iran war started in February. Diesel, essential for transporting food and other goods around the U.S., hit a record $6.40, up 77 cents since the beginning of September.
Read more here.
Updated 4:04 PM / September 17, 2026
U.S. sanctions Iranian cryptocurrency venture Bitbank, Treasury says
By Mark Osborne
Bitbank is allegedly run by financier Babak Zanjani, who is already sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury.
"Today's designations of Iranian digital asset infrastructure make perfectly clear that efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond OFAC's reach," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "If you support the Iranian regime, the Department of the Treasury will sanction you."
Also sanctioned were BitBank's developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company and three high-level executives associated with Zanjani, according to the Treasury.
Bitbank was labeled a "key component" of Iran's attempts to evade sanctions that are limiting ways for the regime to acquire funding.
2:51 PM / September 17, 2026
U.S. approves visas for Iranian representatives to attend U.N. General Assembly next week
By The Associated Press
The Trump administration has approved visas for top Iranian officials, including the president and foreign minister, to attend next week's U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting in New York even as the two countries are locked in a stalemated war.
The State Department said Thursday it had approved visas for Iran's "core delegation," along with essential staffers to participate in the U.N. meetings. The core delegation includes President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to visa privacy laws.
"Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend UN General Assembly High Level week. The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our policy. The delegation is smaller than last year," the statement said.
The move is unusual due to the more than six-month-long conflict between Iran and the United States and no sign that agreements to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or return to talks on Iran's nuclear program are close.
2:38 PM / September 17, 2026
Iran supports Houthis' claim they did not target Mecca with drone
By Mark Osborne
Iran is backing up the claim of its proxy in Yemen, saying the Houthis should be believed when they say they did not attack the Muslim holy city of Mecca with a drone yesterday as Saudi Arabia claimed.
"Any attack on Islamic holy sites, particularly Mecca, Medina and Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as any threat to visitors and residents of those sites, is condemned," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in Arabic on X.
"At the same time, the mere claim that a drone was intercepted on its way to Mecca cannot constitute a basis for accusing a specific party, particularly since Yemen's Government of Change and Construction has explicitly denied this claim," he added.
Iran also specifically pointed out "false flag" propaganda operations as a potential explanation for the announcement by Saudi Arabia. Most of the other Gulf countries immediately came out in condemnation of the alleged attack. The Saudis said they interrupted the drone before it could do any damage.
"It should not be forgotten that our region has witnessed numerous cases of 'false flag' operations, particularly in recent months, whose objective has been to divert public attention from the crimes committed by [Israel] and the United States in the region, and to sow division among Islamic countries," Baqaei said.
12:53 PM / September 17, 2026
More than 100,000 displaced in Yemen so far this month, UNICEF says
By Mark Osborne, Khaled Wassef
Over 100,000 people were displaced in Yemen in just the first two weeks of September amid the increased fighting between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemen government, according to UNICEF, the U.N. children's relief agency.
The agency said more than 104,000 people have been displaced, including over 57,000 children. Many displaced individuals came from the city of Taiz, the largest city in the southwestern part of Yemen, as well as Marib and Aden.
The Houthis blitzed through the western part of the country last week, capturing new territory as they approached and eventually took over the key coastal city of Mocha.
"Children in Yemen were already living through one of the world's most grave humanitarian crises, and many have known little but conflict and displacement," Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. "Now, tens of thousands of families have been forced from their homes in just two weeks, many fleeing only with what they can carry. For children who have already endured years of hunger, displacement and disrupted schooling, this latest violence is eroding what little stability they had left."
The problem has already crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with over 2,000 people moving into Djibouti, UNICEF said.
U.S. approves visas for Iranian representatives to attend U.N. General Assembly next week
By The Associated Press
The Trump administration has approved visas for top Iranian officials, including the president and foreign minister, to attend next week's U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting in New York even as the two countries are locked in a stalemated war.
The State Department said Thursday it had approved visas for Iran's "core delegation," along with essential staffers to participate in the U.N. meetings. The core delegation includes President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to visa privacy laws.
"Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend UN General Assembly High Level week. The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our policy. The delegation is smaller than last year," the statement said.
The move is unusual due to the more than six-month-long conflict between Iran and the United States and no sign that agreements to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or return to talks on Iran's nuclear program are close.
2:38 PM / September 17, 2026
Iran supports Houthis' claim they did not target Mecca with drone
By Mark Osborne
Iran is backing up the claim of its proxy in Yemen, saying the Houthis should be believed when they say they did not attack the Muslim holy city of Mecca with a drone yesterday as Saudi Arabia claimed.
"Any attack on Islamic holy sites, particularly Mecca, Medina and Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as any threat to visitors and residents of those sites, is condemned," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in Arabic on X.
"At the same time, the mere claim that a drone was intercepted on its way to Mecca cannot constitute a basis for accusing a specific party, particularly since Yemen's Government of Change and Construction has explicitly denied this claim," he added.
Iran also specifically pointed out "false flag" propaganda operations as a potential explanation for the announcement by Saudi Arabia. Most of the other Gulf countries immediately came out in condemnation of the alleged attack. The Saudis said they interrupted the drone before it could do any damage.
"It should not be forgotten that our region has witnessed numerous cases of 'false flag' operations, particularly in recent months, whose objective has been to divert public attention from the crimes committed by [Israel] and the United States in the region, and to sow division among Islamic countries," Baqaei said.
12:53 PM / September 17, 2026
More than 100,000 displaced in Yemen so far this month, UNICEF says
By Mark Osborne, Khaled Wassef
Over 100,000 people were displaced in Yemen in just the first two weeks of September amid the increased fighting between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemen government, according to UNICEF, the U.N. children's relief agency.
The agency said more than 104,000 people have been displaced, including over 57,000 children. Many displaced individuals came from the city of Taiz, the largest city in the southwestern part of Yemen, as well as Marib and Aden.
The Houthis blitzed through the western part of the country last week, capturing new territory as they approached and eventually took over the key coastal city of Mocha.
"Children in Yemen were already living through one of the world's most grave humanitarian crises, and many have known little but conflict and displacement," Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. "Now, tens of thousands of families have been forced from their homes in just two weeks, many fleeing only with what they can carry. For children who have already endured years of hunger, displacement and disrupted schooling, this latest violence is eroding what little stability they had left."
The problem has already crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with over 2,000 people moving into Djibouti, UNICEF said.
12:28 PM / September 17, 2026
Strait of Hormuz will be closed until Trump and Netanyahu removed from power, adviser to Iranian leader says
By Frank Andrews, Khaled Wassef
A senior Iranian figure said Thursday that Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are removed from power.
"Our fighters will not open the Strait of Hormuz until they bring the criminal Trump and the bloodthirsty Netanyahu down from the seat of power," Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, the political adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said according to Iranian state broadcaster IRNA.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since replacing his father as Iran's supreme leader.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28, the first day of joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, and Vice President JD Vance has said Mojtaba, his son and successor, was likely gravely wounded in the same strikes.
11:54 AM / September 17, 2026
Rubio discusses Middle East on call with Chinese counterpart, Chinese state media say
CBS/AFP
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the situation in the Middle East during a phone call Thursday, Chinese state media reported.
The call, which was not immediately confirmed by the State Department, came days before the two countries' leaders are due to meet in Washington. Beijing has presented itself as a potential mediator in the U.S.-Iran war.
President Trump on Sunday dismissed a report by the Wall Street Journal that China had given Iran satellite imagery of an air base before a strike that killed three American soldiers in Jordan.
"You know, when they say that China spies on us, I say you're right, and we spy on them too," Mr. Trump told reporters. "That's what we do. They basically do what we do."
The President did not answer questions about whether he would broach the incident with President Xi Jinping when they meet on Sept. 24, instead reiterating his belief that they have a good relationship.
"I think he's behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well," Mr. Trump said.
11:15 AM / September 17, 2026
Yemen's Houthi rebels claim strikes by Saudi-backed government forces killed 3 children
CBS/AFP
Strait of Hormuz will be closed until Trump and Netanyahu removed from power, adviser to Iranian leader says
By Frank Andrews, Khaled Wassef
A senior Iranian figure said Thursday that Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are removed from power.
"Our fighters will not open the Strait of Hormuz until they bring the criminal Trump and the bloodthirsty Netanyahu down from the seat of power," Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, the political adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said according to Iranian state broadcaster IRNA.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since replacing his father as Iran's supreme leader.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28, the first day of joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, and Vice President JD Vance has said Mojtaba, his son and successor, was likely gravely wounded in the same strikes.
11:54 AM / September 17, 2026
Rubio discusses Middle East on call with Chinese counterpart, Chinese state media say
CBS/AFP
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the situation in the Middle East during a phone call Thursday, Chinese state media reported.
The call, which was not immediately confirmed by the State Department, came days before the two countries' leaders are due to meet in Washington. Beijing has presented itself as a potential mediator in the U.S.-Iran war.
President Trump on Sunday dismissed a report by the Wall Street Journal that China had given Iran satellite imagery of an air base before a strike that killed three American soldiers in Jordan.
"You know, when they say that China spies on us, I say you're right, and we spy on them too," Mr. Trump told reporters. "That's what we do. They basically do what we do."
The President did not answer questions about whether he would broach the incident with President Xi Jinping when they meet on Sept. 24, instead reiterating his belief that they have a good relationship.
"I think he's behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well," Mr. Trump said.
11:15 AM / September 17, 2026
Yemen's Houthi rebels claim strikes by Saudi-backed government forces killed 3 children
CBS/AFP
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed Thursday that three children were killed in government strikes.
"Three children were killed and several Yemeni nationals were injured in strikes by the Saudi-backed mercenaries" in the far southwest Taiz province, which is held by the Houthis, according to the Almasirah television network. The broadcaster, which is affiliated with the Houthis, earlier said Saudi airstrikes had killed one person.
Saudi Arabia's civil defense emergency response agency said Thursday that one person was killed when shrapnel from an intercepted Houthi drone crashed down over Taif governorate, east of the holy city of Mecca.
"Three children were killed and several Yemeni nationals were injured in strikes by the Saudi-backed mercenaries" in the far southwest Taiz province, which is held by the Houthis, according to the Almasirah television network. The broadcaster, which is affiliated with the Houthis, earlier said Saudi airstrikes had killed one person.
Saudi Arabia's civil defense emergency response agency said Thursday that one person was killed when shrapnel from an intercepted Houthi drone crashed down over Taif governorate, east of the holy city of Mecca.
7:20 AM / September 17, 2026
U.N. experts say "reasonable grounds" to believe U.S. committed war crimes with 2 strikes in Iran
CBS/AP
Human rights experts commissioned by the U.N. say they have found "reasonable grounds" to believe the United States committed war crimes in two strikes in Iran, including on a school in the southern city of Minab.
The international fact-finding mission on Iran says the findings center on a pair of airstrikes which killed at least 178 civilians, including women and children.
"Following the United States and Israeli attacks on 28 February, the mission found reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks resulting in the loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects," the fact-finding team said in a statement.
The team also said that killings by Iranian state security forces occurred on a "staggering scale" in Iran.
At the start of the war in February, at least one U.S. missile hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh in Minab, according to an investigation by The Associated Press. Iranian state media have said 168 people were killed in the strike, most of them children.
The U.S. was "likely" responsible for the bombing, sources told CBS News in March, citing a preliminary U.S. assessment, but it did not intentionally target the school and may have hit it in error, possibly due to the use of dated intelligence which wrongly identified the area as still being part of an Iranian military installation.
The other incident cited by the U.N. rights experts was an attack using precision strike missiles that dispersed tungsten pellets over a "clearly identifiable sports complex and residential area" in the southern city of Lamerd, also on Feb. 28.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House or U.S. military on Thursday to the claim of possible war crimes, but Central Command has repeatedly rejected such accusations by Iran and said the U.S. military never targets civilians, which it accuses Iranian forces of doing regularly.
7:20 AM / September 17, 2026
Houthis say Saudi strikes killed one, targeted telecom towers
By AFP
Saudi strikes in Yemen killed one person and targeted three telecommunications towers on Thursday, Houthi media said, in the latest attacks since the Iran-backed rebel group seized control of the entire Red Sea coast.
"Saudi enemy warplanes targeted three telecommunications towers" in Taiz province, while one civilian was killed and another injured in strikes on the town of Abs, Almasirah television said.
On Wednesday, Riyadh accused the Houthis of launching a "cowardly" attack targeting Islam's holy city of Mecca, a claim they denied.
The Houthis have been reporting dozens of daily Saudi strikes since they seized control of strategic coastal areas overlooking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait from Saudi-backed government forces.
Their latest territorial gains cement the hold of Iran and its allies on the two waterways that the wider Gulf, including top crude exporter Saudi Arabia, relies on to ship its oil.
In July, a fragile 2022 truce between the Houthis and the government fell apart after the group welcomed an Iranian plane to Sanaa in defiance of Riyadh's control over Yemeni airspace, setting off a spate of attacks.
They later announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its ships and territory.
The conflict in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country has forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
7:20 AM / September 17, 2026
Trump says Iran wants to make a deal: "Hopefully we're toward the end of the war"
By Kiki Intarasuwan
During a midterm campaign appearance in North Carolina on Wednesday night, President Trump again claimed Iran wants to make a deal.
"Hopefully we're toward the end of the war. They want to make a deal. We'll see how that works out," Mr. Trump told the crowd at Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley's rally in the city of Gastonia, a 30-minute drive east of Charlotte.
Mr. Trump has frequently insisted that Iran is looking to make a deal, though negotiations between the U.S. and Iran have stalled in recent months.
Growing voter concerns over rising prices, tariffs and the cost of fuel, triggered by the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have presented a challenge for many Republican candidates ahead of the elections in November.
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