Morning update

Live Blog Update| War on Iran 28 August 2026 06:45 BST Good morning Middle East Eye readers, Here are the latest developments: The Israeli army has fired two shells on Friday in the western suburb of Damascus, according to the official news agency SANA. Israeli forces also raided and searched homes in the village of Rasm al-Ajraf in southern Syria’s Quneitra province late on Thursday, Al-Ikhbariyya TV reported. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary warned that Tehran will US economic interests if the maritime blockade against the country continues. "If the blockade continues, we will target US economic interests fully and with intensity and force," Mohsen Rezaei said. The US Central Command (Centcom) said Thursday that internationally recognised shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz are open after its forces cleared sea mines. Army commander Brad Cooper also claimed that US forces assisted nearly 1,500 commercial vessels in transiting the strategic waterway in the last several months. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington's blockade of Iranian ports will destroy the country's economy. "The Blockade and Operation Economic Outcast will crush the failing Iranian economy," Bessent said in a post on X, claiming that the US helped move 130 millions barrels of oil through the Gulf over the past two weeks. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has slammed allegations by Bessent after he accused Tehran of wasting vast sums of money abroad while its citizens struggle to meet basic needs. "Instead of funneling billions to its terrorist proxy, Israel, and 750 bases, this failing empire could spend that cash on its own people, but nah, that'd make too much sense for this regime," Ghalibaf said in a post on X.