Brian Jose Morales Garcia and his boss were riding in a pickup truck through Texas Hill Country on their way to an air conditioning job near Fredericksburg when a trooper pulled them over.
The 25-year old was taken to a series of prisons over the course of four days. His attorney claimed that he had been stripped and shoved along the way. He was also threatened with years of prison. On April 7, he had boarded a flight for deportation to Mexico.
It was his country that sent him.
According to USA TODAY, a copy his birth certificate was reviewed. Morales Garcia is a Denver native.
His story is part of an uncounted, long history of U.S. citizen’s being swallowed up by immigration authorities. Researchers, journalists and other oversight agencies conducted investigations that documented the detention, deportation or targeting of thousands U.S. Citizens by federal immigration agents over decades. According to one study, U.S. citizens make up as much as 1.5% all of the deportees.
The Government Accountability Office’s report of 2021 gives a glimpse into how frequently Americans could be involved in immigration enforcement. According to the report, between fiscal years 2015 and 2020’s first two quarters, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained 121 and arrested 674 possible U.S. Citizens, and 70 were deported. Most of these deportations, 66 individuals, occurred in the first year of President Donald Trump.
Even these numbers don’t tell the whole story. Watchdog found that ICE failed to track all cases involving possible U.S. Citizens, so it was impossible to determine how many individuals were in the system.
The problem persists despite successive Republican and Democratic Administrations. Experts fear that a long-standing failure will collide with the rapid expansion of immigration enforcement, which is pushed for record arrests and increasingly assisted by local and state police, and operates with less internal controls. They warn that the result could be more people being caught up in this dragnet, and having fewer options once there.
Jacqueline Stevens is the founder and professor of political science at Northwestern University’s Deportation Research Clinic. She said, “This system is moving forward with less accountability than it did before.” And less oversight, because the officials are not releasing all of the documents that should have been produced in these cases.
Citizens make up a tiny fraction of the people targeted by immigration officials. If someone is wrongfully arrested or deported it can cause lasting trauma and result in mounting legal fees.
Morales Garcia had to spend nearly five months abroad in order to return home.
USA TODAY did not receive a response from the Department of Homeland Security. In light of pending litigation, the Department of Justice refused to make any comments on Morales Garcia’s case. The government, in court documents, said Morales Garcia had told agents that he was Mexican-born and chose to go back there.
What happened when a traffic stop led to deportation
Morales Garcia, born 2001 in Denver, was the child of two Mexican immigrants who came to America in search for better prospects. He was baptized in Aurora, Colorado at St. Therese Catholic Church, and the baptismal records list Denver as his place of birth. Morales Garcia has also a Social Security Card, which USA TODAY examined. His card is not restricted to U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents.
The family lived in America for a short time. Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Morales Garcia’s attorney, stated that after Morales Garcia’s brother was born, in 2002, Morales Garcia’s parents moved back to Mexico so they could raise their boys close to the family. Morales Garcia spent the majority of his 20-year span in Mexico, learning Spanish and getting married.
Morales Garcia, who had just become a dad, returned to the United States in order to support a growing family, which included his pregnant wife. In January 2025, Morales Garcia drove from Aguascalientes to the north. Aguascalientes is a city in Mexico’s central highlands that has a lot of sun. Lincoln-Goldfinch reported that Morales Garcia presented his Colorado birth cert to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent at the point of entry. He was let through.
After settling in Austin, he worked at a number of jobs installing air conditioning units.
According to the federal suit his lawyers filed, on April 3, while he was on his way to work at one of these jobs, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers pulled over his employer’s truck near Fredericksburg due to an alleged violation of window tint. Lincoln-Goldfinch stated that no one inside the truck was cited as a consequence of the traffic stop.
Morales Garcia told state troopers and then the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Deputies, who had been called to interpret, that he was an American. Lincoln-Goldfinch reported that Morales Garcia explained to the state troopers in Spanish his birthplace was Denver, and requested an opportunity for him to retrieve documents.
However, the officers contacted ICE. According to the suit, the agency told them to detain Morales Garcia along with another passenger. Morales Garcia, meanwhile, was taken to Gillespie County Jail. The Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office and Texas DPS have both formalized partnerships with ICE. They are part of a network of agencies from state and local governments that help enforce federal immigration laws.
Lincoln-Goldfinch stated that there is no requirement in the United States that U.S. Citizens carry ID when going to a restaurant or driving as a passenger. What’s going on in the street is DPS, ICE, and sheriffs stop people who have brown skin, ask them their status, and if the answer isn’t what they want, then they take them. It’s all quiet, and they don’t say anything. But it is a slippery path.
Morales Garcia ended up being transferred to CBP custody. Lincoln-Goldfinch claimed that agents mocked Morales Garcia’s repeated claims of being an American, and that they warned him that if he kept making these claims, he would face up to five years imprisonment.
Lincoln-Goldfinch stated that “at that point, the abuse had lasted for 4 days and that he thought he would either have to sign a document they wanted him to or spend years in jail.” He signed the documents under pressure.
Morales Garcia signed a document indicating that he consented to his deportation to Mexico.
The 900-pound Gorilla in the Coal Mine
Morales Garcia’s experience fits into a pattern that Stevens has been tracing for decades. After being detained, some people only discover that they can claim U.S. Citizenship. Morales Garcia is an example of someone who knows they’re American right from the start, but watches as the officers ignore their claim and deportation proceeds anyway.
Stevens refers to these cases as “the coal mine’s 900-pound giant.”
She said, “I don’t study U.S. Citizens because I am more concerned about U.S. citizen being deported wrongfully than anyone else.” She said: “But, if U.S. Citizens can’t even survive the illegality of deportation processes, it tells us much about what happens to everyone else.”
The deportation machinery is supposed to be interrupted by claims of citizenship. According to federal regulations, unresolved cases must be sent to the immigration court. ICE requires that officers consult with supervisors or attorneys before putting their findings into writing. Even if the evidence is inconclusive, releasing the individual until the government makes a decision should happen if the suspicions are there.
It is unclear whether these safeguards were observed in Morales Garcia’s case.
The GAO 2021 investigation revealed that protections are not equally understood or applied. The report revealed that some ICE agents were not trained to follow their own guidelines, nor did ICE or CBP track every detainee and removed citizen in a reliable manner. The report also found that agents are not required to update their database if the person they were investigating turned out to actually be a US citizen.
In theory, the burden of proof falls to the government. Stevens says that in reality the burden is often reversed. This, Stevens said was due to Supreme Court decisions which have granted immigration authorities great power with few checks.
Stevens says that the DHS is now more willing to take action even if there are signs of citizenship.
She said, “Information consistent with removal is considered accurate.” She said: “And any information inconsistent with the deportation of a person is considered to be inaccurate or fraudulent.”
Dulce Consuelo Morales, 22, spent 25 days last year in ICE’s custody as DHS contested her Maryland birth certificates. The Baltimore Banner reported that months later she was issued a U.S. Passport and the government dropped their effort to expel her. According to Oklahoma Voice, Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez (20) was jailed in Florida even though a court verified his citizenship, and DHS claimed that he told officers that he wasn’t documented.
Morales Garcia, who was in Mexico at the time, could only wait as his lawyers tried to reconstruct his paper trail. They filed a lawsuit in May accusing local, federal and state officials of violating Morales Garcia’s constitutional rights. The suit asked a court to order that the government bring him back home.
Crossing the bridge again
After Morales Garcia’s lawyers sued the government, it told a completely different story.
According to a court document filed on May 21, Justice Department lawyers said Morales Garcia first claimed citizenship, telling a Border Patrol Agent that he entered the country using a birth certification. Morales Garcia claimed to have been born in Zacatecas after the Border Patrol agent told him that lying can lead to criminal charges.
In court documents, the DOJ stated that he signed his documents freely and voluntarily requesting to return to Mexico. The DOJ also cited Mexican records that contained a different birthdate, the spelling of “Bryan”, and an identification code for Zacatecas.
Lincoln-Goldfinch stated that Morales Garcia’s mother had registered Morales Garcia’s birth in Mexico, in 2004. According to the family’s account, the registrar entered a wrong date and changed “Brian” to “Bryan”, a more common spelling in Mexico. Lincoln-Goldfinch said that dual citizens often have records in both countries, and there are discrepancies.
Lincoln-Goldfinch stated that after nearly five months, and with a growing dossier of evidence, the Justice Department has agreed to allow Morales Garcia to return to the United States.
Morales Garcia was at the border again on August 30, following a long bus trip north from Aguascalientes. He held the Colorado birth certification that his attorneys had been trying to convince the government of for months. It was time to stop.
His attorneys, on the other hand, took him out to Starbucks.
Morales Garcia claimed that returning to the scene did not change what happened. He said officers judged him based on his appearance and because he couldn’t speak English. He was worried that another traffic stop would end in the same manner.
He said during a press conference in Spanish, “That fear is with me forever.” It happened one time and can happen again.
The lawsuit was not ended by his return. Richard “Dicky Grigg”, one of the attorney’s, stated that they intend to pursue damages in order to prevent other citizens going through a similar experience.
Grigg stated, “They sent a U.S. Citizen to Mexico and took 4 months out of his life, only for them to realize their mistake. They then allowed him back into the United States.” We will do everything we can to ensure that government officials at all levels, federal and state, take responsibility and are held accountable.
Morales Garcia has simpler plans. He just wants to get back to his job and continue doing what brought him to America in the first instance.
He said, “Echarle Ganas,” to continue working hard and giving his best.

The Drive brings you The Downshift or TDS, The Drive’s daily morning roundup of the most important automotive news from all over the globe.
For those who want more information, The Downshift provides links to the full articles. This is your Friday bulletin, September 4, 2020. Enjoy the Labor Day long weekend and happy Labor Day!
Volkswagen’s supervisory board has finally approved the plan for restructuring the company. This will result in 50,000 additional job losses. The planned reduction of headcount from a workforce of over 650,000 to just 100,000 people is a significant achievement. VW is also looking for alternatives to closing four plants in Emden and Hanover. Neckarsulm and Zwickau are among them. [Reuters]
We apologize for the self-promotion, but in collaboration with Blipshift we have brought back five more of our favourite t-shirt design. Sale starts today and lasts through Thursday, September 17. Grab them while they’re still available!
A leaked VW restructuring document suggests that the company could retire Seat in the next few years while keeping Cupra, the much more recent performance-oriented spin-off from the Spanish automaker. [Autoblog]
BMW Germany has recalled over 190,000 old sedans from 2014 to 2020. The starter relays aren’t adequately protected against moisture. This could cause corrosion, shorts and fires. This recall is not yet recognized by the NHTSA in America, and so anyone with concerns about their car should contact their dealer. [BMW Blog]
Alliance for Automotive Innovation is a coalition of lobbyists that include Ford, General Motors and Honda. Hyundai, Stellantis and Toyota are also part of the group. They sent a message to Congress urging them to “enact a Chinese Vehicle, Software, and Hardware Ban” which would prevent manufacturers such as BYD and SAIC from obtaining authorizations for U.S. sales. However, non-Chinese firms that export cars from China like Ford and GM can continue to do so if they choose. [Reuters]
It’s been revealed that the reborn Jensen Interceptor, powered by a Chevy small block, has a new face, which is a bit more like a Camaro. [CarBuzz]
Watch the weekend races (all times Eastern).
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in Darlington: Sat. at 7:30 p.m., on CW/ESPN
Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix on Apple TV Sunday morning at 8 am
World Endurance Championship: 6 Hours COTA on Sunday, 2 pm.
IndyCar at Laguna Seca: Sunday at 3 p.m. on Fox
NASCAR Cup Series Darlington at USA: 5 pm Sunday
NHRA Drag Racing US Nationals Finals on FS1: 12 p.m. Monday
Have a suggestion or comment for TDS staff? Contact tips@thedrive.com

2 hours ago
Pinned
VP Vance says Trump’s social-media posts are warning Iran of ‘consequences’
Vice President JD Vance said Monday that President Donald Trump’s recent social-media posts are meant to send a message to Iran over its alleged attacks on commercial shipping.
“The president likes to switch it up on social media a little bit,” Vance told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, adding that Trump “would be the first to say he doesn’t make announcements about military actions on social media.”
Vance said the U.S. has “a lot of tools at our disposal” to prevent or reduce Iranian attacks on commercial vessels, and described Trump’s message as a warning to Tehran.
“You guys are shooting at commercial shipping. You guys are behaving like a terrorist country. You’ve got to stop, but there are going to be some consequences,” Vance said.
Posted by Eric Mack
Breaking News1 hour ago
Army extends 82nd Airborne Division’s Middle East deployment to a full year
The deployment of the 82nd airborne in the Middle East has been extended to a full year, two U.S. Army officials tell Fox News.
About 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd airborne first deployed to the region in March. The extended deployment was announced Sunday by division Commander Maj. Gen. Brandon R. Tegtmeier.
The extension is due to “operational requirements,” according to a letter to military families obtained by Fox.
The division’s headquarters, members of artillery units, the sustainment brigade, and air defense troops will be in the region for a full year, according to the Army. Paratroopers and the division’s combat aviation brigade have had their tours extended for up to a full year.
Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
1 hour ago
Pentagon signs 7-year deals to triple Patriot interceptor, quadruple THAAD production
The Department of War announced seven-year agreements with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and Lockheed Martin aimed at rapidly expanding U.S. missile-defense manufacturing capacity.
The agreements are designed to triple production capacity for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement, or PAC-3 MSE, interceptors and quadruple capacity for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors.
“Today’s announcement represents an example of the evolution of how we partner with industry to expand the Arsenal of Freedom, outpace emerging threats, and ensure the Warfighter never faces a fair fight,” Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey wrote in a statement. “General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin have answered the call.
“We are cutting red tape, shortening timelines, and rapidly scaling our domestic manufacturing capacity to deliver the advanced air and missile defense capabilities.”
General Dynamics will scale up production of specialized interceptor components, including motor cases, seeker housings, midsections and shroud deployment systems.
The deals, subject to annual appropriations, guarantee minimum yearly procurement quantities intended to give the defense industry confidence to invest in workers, materials and facilities.
Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
3 hours ago
CENTCOM shares image of F-35 stealth fighter patroling Middle East skies
U.S. Central Command shared an image Monday showing an Air Force F-35A stealth fighter jet flying over regional waters while patrolling the skies in the Middle East.
The display of American air power comes as tensions remain elevated following renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, including Iran’s missile attack on U.S. forces in Jordan after American strikes on Iranian launchers on Larak Island.
The F-35A is the Air Force’s fifth-generation stealth fighter, designed to conduct air superiority, surveillance and strike missions. CENTCOM did not disclose the aircraft’s specific location or mission details.
Posted by Eric Mack
3 hours ago
Stocks sink at opening bell as US-Iran strikes fuel oil, inflation fears
Major U.S. stock indexes fell at Monday’s opening bell as military exchanges between the United States and Iran pushed oil prices higher and renewed investor worries about inflation.
The drop threatens to set a sour tone for September, historically a weak month for stocks, while raising the stakes ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting next month.
Traders now see more than a 60% chance of a rate hike at the Fed’s September meeting, according to CME FedWatch — up sharply from 41.4% a week earlier — after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said policymakers may have to increase borrowing costs if inflation does not return to the central bank’s 2% target.
“He took any chance of a cut off the table,” Thomas Kikis, Standard Chartered’s head of markets for the U.S. and Americas, said of Warsh.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
Breaking News4 hours ago
Iran vows retaliation ‘dozens of times greater’ for every US attack
Iran fired back with bold rhetoric Monday, vowing to respond to every U.S. attack with force “dozens of times greater,” according to a senior Iranian source who spoke with Reuters.
The source pointed to Iran’s retaliation following U.S. strikes on launchers on Larak Island, claiming it demonstrated that “no target in the region is beyond Tehran’s reach.”
Tehran also warned that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz would worsen for vessels that violate what it called Iranian rules, raising new concern for shipping through the vital energy chokepoint.
Despite the threats, the Iranian source described the latest exchange with Washington as a “limited and contained confrontation,” signaling Tehran does not currently view the renewed hostilities as a wider war.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
Breaking News4 hours ago
Bessent: Iran ‘lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically’
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that Iran is responding with military aggression because U.S. sanctions are inflicting economic pain on the regime.
“I would think that they are lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically,” Bessent told reporters at a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in North Carolina.
Bessent said Tehran is taking the sanctions seriously and that the Trump administration will continue exerting pressure.
He argued Iran’s economy “doesn’t have to collapse” but said the regime needs to “come to its senses.”
His comments came after Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Jordan following American strikes on Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launchers on Larak Island.
The U.S. is also expected to roll out additional secondary sanctions as it seeks to deepen Tehran’s economic isolation.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
4 hours ago
CENTCOM says Iran’s Strait of Hormuz mine-strike claim is false
U.S. Central Command rejected Iran’s claim that a supertanker struck two mines and was brought to a halt while passing through the Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had claimed the vessel was hit along the southern route of the strategic waterway.
But CENTCOM said no ships have struck mines in the strait.
“[N]o ships have hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM wrote in the X post, calling the Iranian claim “yet another IRGC attempt to intimidate regional commercial shipping through disinformation.”
The denial comes as tensions continue to mount around the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy-shipping chokepoint, following renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran.
Posted by Eric Mack
4 hours ago
US to hit Iran ‘hard’ after attack on American forces, Trump tells Fox News
President Donald Trump vows retaliation on Iran’s strikes on U.S. bases in Jordan.
“We’re going to hit them hard,” Trump told Fox News’ Trey Yingst in a phone call Monday.
“There will be a response.”He says that U.S. forces let one missile get past air defense overnight because it wasn’t going to hit anything. The other missiles were intercepted, according to the president. Still, there is a slimmer of hope for possible talks.”
They want to meet so badly,” Trump said. “I just don’t know if you can count on a deal with them.
“The sanctions are kicking in really strongly.”
Iranian officials are increasingly acknowledging the toll of U.S. sanctions and reduced oil exports, while regional intelligence sources warn that mounting economic pain could spark fresh unrest.
The Iranian rial has fallen to about 2.1 million per U.S. dollar, a historic low.
A U.S. source told Fox News that there were no significant impacts as Iran fired at least eight ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Jordan on Sunday, following an American strike on Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launchers on Larak Island.
U.S. forces struck after identifying preparations for an IRGC rocket launch intended to deploy new sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Central Command called it “limited, precise action” against minelaying forces posing an “imminent threat” to commercial shipping and the free flow of global commerce.
Iranian officials have acknowledged sanctions are taking a growing toll as oil exports decline, yet Tehran has shown no sign it is ready to change course or reach an agreement with Washington.
Fox News chief foreign correspondent Yingst contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
4 hours ago
Trump: Iran a ‘Failed Nation; IT IS DEAD’ – all they have is ‘FAKE NEWS,’ ‘BULLSH–‘
President Donald Trump declared Iran a “Failed Nation” in a Monday Truth Social post, escalating his rhetoric as the U.S. seeks to ratchet up military and economic pressure on Tehran.
The post came around a brief call with Fox News’ Trey Yingst.
“Iran is officially a Failed Nation,” Trump wrote. “IT IS DEAD! They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, they have no currency, they are not paying their soldiers or police, Inflation is at 300%, and their leadership is in total disarray and incapable of properly representing the country.
“The only thing they have is FAKE NEWS from the USA, a willingness to kill their protesters (now over 100,000 people dead. They must be tried for war crimes against humanity!), and a good line of ‘BULLSH––.’ Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The post follows renewed hostilities after Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Jordan, following American strikes on Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launchers on Larak Island.
Yingst reported that Iranian officials are increasingly acknowledging the strain of sanctions and reduced oil exports, with the rial falling to roughly 2.1 million per U.S. dollar.
Posted by Eric Mack
Developing Story5 hours ago
Oil prices up 3% amid wider market fears as strikes renew, inflation, interest rates weigh
Oil prices rose more than 3% on Monday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $2.91, or 3.49%, to $86.31.
U.S. forces struck two launchers on Iran’s Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the first known American strikes on the country since late July.
In response, Iran attacked two U.S. air bases in Jordan on Sunday.
“Renewed military strikes in the Middle East and concerns of further oil supply disruptions have lifted oil prices,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo, adding that markets will focus on whether the situation de-escalates or not.
President Donald Trump is working a massive oil deal with Venezuela, but renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz have caused Wall Street futures to drop.
The interest-rate outlook is turning more hawkish with inflation fears stoked.
The losses could set the tone for September, which is typically a weak month for equities, and are likely to up the ante at the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting next month.
Traders see a nearly 60% chance of a rate hike at the September meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool, a sharp increase from 41.4% a week ago, after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said policymakers may need to increase interest rates if inflation doesn’t ease to the central bank’s 2% target.
“Chair Warsh delivered a distinctly more hawkish message than investors anticipated, making it abundantly clear that policy easing is not on the horizon,” said David Chao, global market strategist, Asia Pacific, at Invesco.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
5 hours ago
No strikes on Kharg Island, US official acknowledges to Reuters after Trump AI video post
The U.S. military did not target Iran’s Kharg Island in overnight strikes, a U.S. official confirmed Reuters.
The acknowledgement came after President Donald Trump’s Truth Social posts teasing the strategic oil hub “being blown to smithereens.”
Trump posted an AI-generated video depicting dramatic explosions at Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil-export terminal, in an apparent threat of retaliation amid the resumption of hostilities over the Strait of Hormuz.
An Iranian energy official called the president’s post “laughable,” saying conditions on the island were calm and oil operations continued.
The clarification comes after U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, about 410 miles east of Kharg, following what officials said was an imminent threat from Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces preparing to use rockets carrying sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran retaliated by firing on U.S. bases in Jordan.
Kharg handled about 90% of Iran’s oil exports before the current war.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
5 hours ago
Japan boosts US crude imports as Iran war disrupts Middle East oil supply
Japan’s crude oil imports rose 17% in July from a year earlier as a surge in U.S. shipments and recovering purchases from Saudi Arabia helped offset reduced supplies from other Middle Eastern producers, according to government data.
Japan imported 2.38 million barrels per day during the month, its second consecutive monthly increase despite disruptions tied to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Imports from the Middle East fell 21.4%, though the decline eased from much steeper drops earlier this year.
U.S. crude imports jumped nearly fivefold from a year earlier to about 879,800 barrels per day, while Japan also bought oil from Ecuador, Mexico, Vietnam and South Sudan.
The Middle East supplied 58.9% of Japan’s crude in July, down from 94% for all of 2025.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
6 hours ago
Iranian media: US strike on Iran’s Larak Island killed 2, injured others
A U.S. attack on Iran’s Larak Island missile launchers killed two people and injured others, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Monday, citing a local governor.
A U.S. official said forces had attacked Larak Island on Sunday after “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.”
Larak is a small island in the strait near the strategic Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The strait, which normally handles a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, has been effectively blocked since the start of the war.
The reported casualties followed U.S. strikes on two Iranian launchers on the small island near the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command said its forces took “limited, precise” action against Iranian minelaying forces it said posed an “imminent threat” in the strait, a vital route for global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
Iran responded by firing on U.S. bases in Jordan, according to Iranian media and officials, as hostilities between Washington and Tehran resumed after a weeks-long lull.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
6 hours ago
US stock futures down as Middle East strikes fuel inflation anxiety
President Donald Trump is working a massive oil deal with Venezuela, but renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz have forced Wall Street futures to drop Monday after military clashes between the U.S. and Iran drove up oil prices
The interest-rate outlook is turning more hawkish with inflation fears stoked.
The losses could set the tone for September, which is typically a weak month for equities, and are likely to up the ante at the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting next month.
Traders see a nearly 60% chance of a rate hike at the September meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool, a sharp increase from 41.4% a week ago, after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said policymakers may need to increase interest rates if inflation doesn’t ease to the central bank’s 2% target.
“Chair Warsh delivered a distinctly more hawkish message than investors anticipated, making it abundantly clear that policy easing is not on the horizon,” said David Chao, global market strategist, Asia Pacific, at Invesco.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
6 hours ago
Iran’s Pezeshkian says war with US is in no one’s interest
Tehran still seeks a negotiated solution to its conflict with the United States, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Monday, according to semi-official Tasnim news agency, following renewed clashes between the two countries.
Pezeshkian told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, that continued war was in no one’s interest and that dialogue and cooperation were the way to resolve existing problems.
Pezeshkian also said his country would respond decisively to any aggression.
“We will never remain silent in the face of any aggression,” state media quoted him as saying on Monday ahead of a visit to Kyrgyzstan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack
6 hours ago
Iran attacks US forces in Jordan after American strikes on missile launchers
Iran fired Sunday on two U.S. bases in Jordan after American forces struck two Iranian missile launchers on Larak Island, marking the first known exchange between the two countries since late July.
A U.S. official told Reuters the launchers were targeted after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were seen preparing to fire rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command described the action as “limited, precise” strikes against forces posing an “imminent threat” to shipping through the critical waterway.
The renewed hostilities jolted oil markets, sending prices nearly 2% higher Monday.
Iran also claimed it struck the Al Minhad air base in the United Arab Emirates and downed a U.S. drone over Gulf waters, though the UAE defense ministry denied the air-base claim and said only that its air force had engaged an Iranian drone over its territorial waters.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Posted by Eric Mack