Iran-US war latest: Trump threatens to ‘blow the entire nation up’ after Tehran warns of ‘painful strikes’

Indendent-Sept21,2026

Donald Trump has threatened to “blow the entire nation up” in another bombastic rant against the Iranian regime, amid concerns the US is planning to scale up its war in the region.

Speaking to Fox’s Trey Yingst, the US president said the “question” was “if and when” it would be required to “blow the entire nation up” if Tehran failed to agree to his demands.

“They better behave,” Yingst said the president told him of Iran’s government, adding that the choices included “wiping them out, letting Iran rot economically, or making a deal”.

It comes after Tehran warned the US and Middle East regions they will be targeted by “painful strikes” if they make “any mistake” against Iran.

It comes as t

he US State Department issued a security alert warning Americans in the Middle East that hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen had the “potential to escalate rapidly”.

At least 11 US embassies in the region issued a warning that travel disruptions are possible.

Key Points

Has Trump achieved his goals in the war with Iran?

Shortly after the US and Israel attacked Iran, Donald Trump laid out several objectives, from destroying Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities to ensuring Tehran can never have a nuclear weapon. Here’s where things stand after seven months:

Missiles and drones

Before the war, Iran held the largest ballistic stockpile in the Middle East, with between 2,500 and 6,000 missiles of different types. A month into the conflict, US sources told Reuters they believed a third of that arsenal had been destroyed and another third likely damaged, destroyed or buried.

It is unclear how many missiles Iran has left, but the country still has the ability to reach US bases and allies across the region.

Military capabilities

The US says it has degraded Iran’s conventional military ability to project power in the region or threaten US operations.

It claims to have destroyed at least 161 Iranian naval ships and 82 per cent of its air defence systems. But Iran’s Revolutionary Guards still exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global trade and forcing up oil prices.

Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, September 6 (Reuters)

Nuclear programme

Trump has repeatedly said that his main goal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Tehran says it has no intention of building a bomb and its programme is for peaceful purposes.

But the war has not significantly changed Iran’s nuclear capability. US intelligence estimated two months into the war that Iran would still need less than a year to produce a nuclear weapon – no change from the estimate given last summer.

Iranian proxies

Trump said on March 2 at the White House that Tehran cannot be allowed to continue to arm and fund the armed proxy groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen that Iran has relied on for decades to project power and harass enemies.

US Admiral Brad Cooper said in May that Iran no longer has the ability to reliably supply those groups with advanced weapons. The Yemeni Houthis have regardless tightened their grip on traffic through the Red Sea, cutting Saudi Arabia off as it tries to divert oil from the Gulf. The vital East-West pipeline was cut off in September after it was attacked by drones from Iraq.

Regime change

Trump encouraged Iranian protesters to overthrow their rulers before the war began and said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death on February 28 was their “single greatest chance” to seize the government.

The war has failed to dislodge Iran’s government, but supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed and replaced by his son at the start of the conflict. Trump has since refrained from repeating his calls for the toppling of Iranian leaders.