US Resumes Strikes on Iran, Trump Threatens 'Biggest Attack of Them All' as War Hits Six-Month Mark

Since the 60-day deadline for a US-Iran deal expired on Aug. 17 without an agreement, according to CNN, President Trump has ramped up both his rhetoric and his military activity against Tehran. This week that escalation turned kinetic again.

Strikes Resume, Iran Hits Back

U.S. forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets, and Iran responded with missiles and drones that American forces intercepted, according to Fox News. Trump called it a "love tap" on Wednesday, Sept. 2, while claiming the U.S. "blew up much more than their radars" and destroyed new military equipment Iran had built along the Strait of Hormuz.

"It was a very heavy attack last night, and we're prepared to do another one anytime we want," Trump said, according to Fox News.

One day earlier, on Truth Social, Trump had warned Iran that any retaliation would draw a response "at a much harder and higher level" and that "it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings," according to a report from alaska-native-news, which is republished from Common Dreams. That post came a day after Trump publicly called on Iranians to "rise up and fight" against their government.

Asked Monday, Aug. 31, whether he'd use nuclear weapons against Iran, Trump said no. "There's no reason for it," he told reporters, according to the same report, calling the question "stupid" since Iran is "totally defeated militarily." Brett Erickson, managing partner at Obsidian Risk Advisors, argued on social media that Trump's escalating threats the following day suggest nuclear options are "on the table now" despite that denial. Trump has not walked back his Monday statement, and no source here confirms any change in U.S. nuclear posture.

Bessent's 'Death Spiral' and the Regime-Change Question

Speaking Wednesday, Sept. 2, Trump said Iran's regime is "getting weaker and weaker by the day" and predicted it won't be able to keep suppressing protests much longer, according to Breitbart. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has called Iran's economy a "death spiral," laid out three possible endgames on Monday: the IRGC turns on itself, the public turns on the regime, or Tehran comes to the table for a deal "they can stick with."

Asked directly whether the CIA would arm Iranian dissidents, Trump declined to answer either way, telling reporters, "I wouldn't want to say that. It wouldn't be appropriate to say."

Six Months of War, By the Numbers

The Daily Wire's six-month accounting of the conflict, originally launched as Operation Epic Fury, lays out the toll on both sides. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the war's first day; his son and named successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared publicly since. Israel says it has killed more than 40 senior Iranian commanders, including IRGC Commander Mohammad Pakpour and Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh.

On the economic side, Iranian oil exports fell to as low as 65,000 barrels a day in May, down 69% from the 2.12 million barrels a day Iran exported before the war, per Business Insider figures cited by the Daily Wire. The IMF projects Iran's economy will contract 5.4% this year, its worst since 1988, with inflation potentially hitting 68.9% and the rial at record lows. But the regime is still standing, and the Daily Wire itself notes the war has shifted to economic attrition with no end in sight.

Six months of strikes, a dead supreme leader, and a collapsing currency haven't produced regime change or a signed deal, while global energy markets and shipping remain disrupted. Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb strait is still running well below pre-war levels, according to CNN.

Pickaxe Mountain Still Sitting There

Separately, Trump said in mid-July the U.S. may strike Iran's deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain facility near Natanz "pretty soon, and very heavily," according to Crypto Briefing. The site sits more than 100 meters underground in solid granite, and defense planners have openly questioned whether even the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator can reach it. Iran declared the facility to the IAEA as a future centrifuge plant; satellite imagery through mid-2026 shows continued construction but no confirmed operational activity. As of today, it remains unstruck.

What Comes Next

U.S. troops remain scheduled to leave Iraq by Sept. 30, ending a 23-year military mission, according to Fox News. Akram al-Kaabi, secretary-general of the Iran-backed Iraqi group Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, has warned that any American troops remaining past that date "will not return safely." Separately, the Financial Times has reported that Russia has been covertly helping Iran develop a supersonic cruise missile under a program dating to 2023, potentially capable of threatening U.S. carriers in the region. Whether the Sept. 30 withdrawal proceeds on schedule amid these threats, and whether Pickaxe Mountain gets struck before Iran can make it operational, are the two clearest open questions heading into the fall.