Theme: Iran

The United States sanctioned on Wednesday two individuals and one entity accused of helping Iran obtain man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS). The State Department identified the targets as Mohammed Ali Tolibov, CEO of Belarus-based Armory Alliance; Nigeria-based Vanguard Tactical Supply Limited; and Russia-based Alisher Domullodzhanov. According to the department, the network sought to facilitate the procurement of Chinese-origin MANPADS for Iran, including through false end-users — Israeli newspaper Ynet describes the case as an attempt to purchase hundreds of Chinese-made shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, with a Belarusian company acting as intermediary. The statement places the move under Operation Economic Outcast, following designations on May 8, June 10 and July 15, 2026.

Republicans lost the midterm elections because of the war with Iran, United States Vice President JD Vance said. According to Vance, many of those who voted for Trump and Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026, demanding an end to the war, a focus on the cost of living, priority to the United States and a change in the relationship with Israel. Voter frustration over the war and the relationship with Israel sealed the defeat, in a distancing from Donald Trump — who acknowledged the weight of gasoline prices but defended the decision to start the conflict — ahead of a possible 2028 White House bid.

Disagreements inside the United States government over the next steps regarding Iran intensified following the midterm congressional elections, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a text republished by TASS. Some officials are urging Donald Trump to launch new strikes against Iran and then try to secure peace, while others believe he should stop and scale back the military operation; Trump said he would end the war whenever he wants, but that this must be done right.

A growing number of Iranian clerics and officials are pressing the country's leaders to reverse their pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons, according to The New York Times, in a report cited by The Jerusalem Post. Specialist Mohammad Ghaderi told the paper that advocating leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), once a minority view, has become the majority position in Tehran, and analyst Mohammad Ali Shabani said the religious taboo on the weapon is gone — “the question is whether a strategic or political shift will follow”. President Masoud Pezeshkian and former President Hassan Rouhani still back a peaceful nuclear doctrine, according to the paper.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the Islamic Republic has inflicted defeats on Donald Trump on the battlefield, in Hormuz and now a “political defeat” in Washington. “The Iranian nation handed Trump a strategic defeat on the battlefield and in Hormuz — and a political defeat in Washington. Meanwhile, Americans got stuck with the bill for his war,” he wrote in a post on X. “Anyone who takes on Iran will pay the price, from the battlefield to their own doorstep,” he added. After the Republican midterm defeat, a giant banner depicting Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was burned at a rally in Tehran.

President Donald Trump said it is “largely true” that the war with Iran cost the Republicans the midterm elections, pointing to the short-term rise in gasoline prices, and said he would do it again because “you can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” in remarks cited by the ANI agency. The same day, Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that “the reason we lost is the war” and that voter anger over the conflict drove former Trump supporters to back Democrats. Trump also said the main reason was the price of fuel, with “tremendous oil” flowing out of the Strait of Hormuz at the moment. He said he was prepared to work with Democrats after their midterm gains, while warning that he would veto legislation he opposed, and dismissed the possibility of an impeachment effort, saying it would damage Democrats. He also said his personal popularity did not transfer to Republican candidates and that, if he had been on the ballot, Republicans would have won. “If I were on the ballot, we would have won... But you couldn't just transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies; it was incredible. We weren't able to transfer that love to the candidates,” he said.

Iranian lawmaker Manouchehr Mottaki, a former foreign minister and member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that the chamber would vote unanimously to reconsider Iran’s continued membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the supreme leader asked, according to the Mehr news agency. Mottaki said lawmakers receive around 200 text messages a day urging withdrawal and that he believes the time has come to discuss leaving the treaty, stressing that the decision rests with the supreme leader. The Paydari Front, led by former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, issued a statement calling for Iran’s withdrawal from the treaty, arguing that recent wars show the country needs nuclear weapons for deterrence. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said on October 31 that Iran’s future as a party to the treaty was uncertain. On November 1, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that Iran is a member of the NPT and upholds its commitments under the treaty.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said that three oil tankers struck naval mines and caught fire while navigating “unauthorized” routes through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Tasnim news agency, which cited a statement from the force’s public relations office. According to the statement, the explosions occurred in the early hours of Tuesday and the ships, abandoned near the southern shores of the strait, remained engulfed in flames that illuminated the eastern section through the night. The Guard warned that ships disregarding the rules and cooperating with the US military to cross unauthorized routes could face similar incidents. On Monday, Iran’s Navy had already announced that an oil tanker had struck a mine and caught fire in an area described as prohibited and unsafe east of the strait.

Major General Esmaeil Ghaani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said that resistance forces have formed a united front against the aggressors, namely the United States and the Zionist regime in the region. “Otherwise, you will end up fighting a war with weapons in the Strait of Hormuz while facing the opening of the Bab el-Mandeb by the Resistance,” he said. According to Ghaani, US President Donald Trump gambled on war with Iran after being misled by Netanyahu, and the outcome was the loss of America’s 250-year reputation and its defeat in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent fell nearly 8% to $95.41 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate dropped 7% to $89.40, after President Donald Trump told the Financial Times on Tuesday that he has no immediate plans to strike Iran. Oil had risen more than 10% in October on fears of a possible escalation and has fallen over three consecutive sessions. The Energy Department said it would lend 300,000 barrels from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve to four companies, nearly a third of the stockpile, and US crude inventories fell 900,000 barrels to 409.8 million in the week ended October 30, 4% below the five-year average.

Two explosive drones hit a Komala base in the Alana valley of Balisan, approximately 90 kilometers northeast of Erbil, at around 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Rudaw. Komala said the attack caused material damage but no casualties, and that Iran has carried out more than 1,000 attacks on the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, using drones and missiles. In a separate incident, a strike damaged a house in Tawella, in Halabja province, early in the morning on November 3.

US Vice President JD Vance dared anyone to argue that losing the Senate for the next six years was worth the cost of the war with Iran after writing on X on Wednesday morning that “the reason we lost is the war.” “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay,” he wrote. President Donald Trump said that the Iran operation had to be done and continues, that he spoke to Vance on Wednesday morning and called the vice president’s post “good.” About 6 in 10 voters said the US made the “wrong decision” in taking military action against Iran, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of more than 100,000 voters. Vance called an earlier recommendation to end the war “sound advice,” while US officials say restarting major combat operations against Iran remains under consideration.

US President Donald Trump told Fox News that the economy is strong, but that the gasoline price, caused by Iran, kept voters from seeing it, and told The Wall Street Journal about the war with Iran: “I did the right thing. I would have done it again.” He denied responsibility for the Republican defeat in the midterm elections: “I wasn't on the ticket,” he told The New York Times, “and because I wasn't on the ticket, we couldn't get enough people out to vote.” The statement contradicts Vice President JD Vance, who attributed the defeat to the war and said the president himself had acknowledged it.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wrote on X that the message from American voters was “NO TO WAR,” and that Iran endorses it. Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, head of the judiciary, said Trump “has suffered defeat both on the battlefield and in the political arena, and we will inflict further defeats on him,” and said November 4 had always been a day of defeat for the United States. Hamidreza Moqadamfar, an adviser to the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, said Iran’s response to any new aggression would be disproportionate and without geographic or time limits: “Our responses will no longer be proportionate or commensurate; we will set their assets ablaze—beyond the point of attack, and regardless of time or location.” The same adviser described the US election result as a referendum against Trump’s policies, in which Iran played a key role.

US Vice President JD Vance attributed the Republican defeat in the midterm elections to the war with Iran, in a lengthy post on X: “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.” Vance cited a survey according to which the top four answers from voters who left the Republicans were ending the war, cost of living and inflation, putting America first and changing the relationship with Israel. He wrote that anyone who considers the war a cost worth paying should defend it openly, including losing the Senate for the next six years. Trump said that “Iran was a piece of it” and defended the decision to launch the conflict: “I don’t think about it. I did the right thing. I would do it again.” AFP described the move as an attempt by Vance to distance himself from the conflict ahead of a possible 2028 White House run.

Iran’s Oil Ministry brought the private sector together on Tuesday to discuss winter gas supply, in a meeting with acting Oil Minister Hamid Bovard. Bovard said current conditions are not normal and that energy issues cannot be approached with the usual past perspective. The ministry says it is working around the clock to restore lost gas production capacity and return to the previous level as quickly as possible.

Wall Street opened higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq up 1 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.8 percent and the S&P 500 up 1.1 percent, on the heels of the Democratic sweep in the midterm elections. Brent was down 3.09 percent at $100.40 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 3.13 percent at $93.08. Traders were betting on a US-Iran deal to push crude lower.

Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Resistance Front commanders had received the message of borderless confrontation with the enemy and put it into practice. According to him, Resistance Front fighters demonstrated the unity of the various fronts by issuing a written declaration of full allegiance, referring to a recent message from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on confronting the enemy without geographical boundaries.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said four oil tankers caught fire after hitting naval sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the IRGC said two of the vessels were still burning and that two additional tankers were intercepted trying to use a prohibited southern route in the strait. BBC Verify investigated the claims and has not found any evidence that four tankers were destroyed. In a separate incident, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said a tanker was struck by two unknown projectiles about 14 nautical miles (26 km) northeast of Limah, in Oman’s Musandam peninsula, on Tuesday evening, with no casualties reported. The IRGC also said it had shot down another US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has been effectively closed since the start of the Iran war, because of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and the US naval blockade.

US President Donald Trump said the country does not see the need to use nuclear weapons against Iran, in a phone interview with Politico, according to TASS. “I don't need it. We've knocked them out already 90%. So, I don't need that,” he said.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump said that people agree with what he is doing on Iran but probably were not willing to accept the short-term consequence of paying more for gasoline: “I understand that; I don’t agree with that.” He also said he was “a little bit surprised” and that he thought Republicans would do better. The president blamed Fox News for the defeats: “It’s their fault, not mine — my numbers are better than ever,” and posted an image of a red cap with the word “VETO,” anticipating the use of presidential veto power to block proposals passed by Democrats.

A poll by the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Arab Center for Contemporary Syria Studies found that 61 percent of respondents named Israel as the main threat to Syria, against 20 percent who named Iran, 6 percent Turkey and 5 percent the United States; the results were published on Monday. Some 97 percent said Israel threatens the security and stability of the Middle East, up from 78 percent a year earlier. Almost 80 percent oppose recognizing Israel, up from 74 percent in 2025, and 74 percent oppose any agreement that does not return the occupied Golan Heights. On the US-Israel war on Iran, 80 percent said Iranian missile strikes on Israel were justified, and three-quarters said Washington had waged the war on Israel's behalf.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says that four oil tankers were destroyed after hitting naval sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with two still burning and two additional vessels seized for trying to use a prohibited southern route. Trump confirmed that the US struck Iran on Tuesday targeting an anti-aircraft facility, an attack US officials described as limited and defensive, in response to IRGC fire on a US aircraft; the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported projectiles in a tanker’s engine room off Limah, Oman, with no casualties, and the IRGC account could not be independently verified or linked to that incident.

Brent crude returned to trade at US$ 103.60 per barrel and WTI at US$ 95.98, according to OilPrice, after benchmarks fell to a four-week low on reports that Iran may be open to discussing previously non-negotiable issues. According to Vortexa data, combined exports of crude oil, condensates and fuels through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 17.1 million barrels per day in October, down from 18.9 million barrels per day in September. The consultancy Rystad Energy said it did not expect oil flows out of the Persian Gulf to return to normal any time soon, even if the United States and Iran reach an agreement to end the war.

After saying he would accept the results, Trump acknowledged, according to Reuters, that the war with Iran contributed to Republican losses in the midterm elections, while claiming voters understood the importance of what he did in Iran. He said Democrats will send him bills he considers insane and that he will veto, until they come to negotiate. There are no plans to change the cabinet following the Republican defeat, Trump said.

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said that the US response to Iran’s seven conditions was not convincing and that the Strait of Hormuz will only reopen if Washington fully meets the demands. The indirect talks center on an Iranian proposal to reopen the waterway over two days if the United States meets the seven demands, including the lifting of sanctions and an end to the US naval blockade. Four oil tankers were destroyed after striking naval mines south of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who also said two other vessels were halted. The statement did not identify the vessels, their owners, flags, cargoes or the exact location, and there was no immediate independent confirmation of the attacks. The Guards also said they shot down a US MQ-9 drone over the strait, the 56th by their count, a claim that could not be independently verified. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that two unidentified projectiles struck a tanker’s engine room about 14 nautical miles northeast of Oman’s coastal village of Limah, with no casualties reported. US media, citing US officials, reported that Central Command had prepared plans for strikes that could begin as early as Wednesday, after the midterm elections, when three American aircraft carriers would be in the region.

Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that the United States launched strikes on Iran, saying the target was a newly completed anti-aircraft facility, hit the previous night, in a minor attack. Trump said US forces stand ready to act, but that there may be no reason for further action. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the government is still trying to resolve the crisis through dialogue and that no one will benefit if war reignites, while negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Islamic Republic stands ready for battle. An Israeli military spokesperson said Israel was not involved in the latest strikes. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said both sides are reviewing the proposals presented by Doha and that there is still a chance for an interim deal. A senior Iranian official said Tehran stands ready to reopen Hormuz within two days if Washington accepts its list of demands.

Donald Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday that the United States has no immediate plan to renew strikes against Iran. Trump said the U.S. military is “locked and loaded” if strikes are necessary, but noted that there may be no reason to reignite military action. On indirect negotiations with Tehran, Trump claimed — “We seem to be getting everything we want.” The interview came in the same window in which The New York Times reported, according to The Jerusalem Post, a Central Command (CENTCOM) plan to attack Iran as early as November 4, with three aircraft carriers in the region. Trump has not yet approved a large-scale attack, and diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran continue.

Qatar says it is working toward an interim deal between the United States and Iran to prevent renewed fighting, as diplomats try to bridge differences between the two sides. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday that both countries remained committed to negotiations and were reviewing proposals from mediators, including Qatar. Al-Ansari warned that further escalation could complicate negotiations, after fresh U.S. strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on Tuesday.

Israel provided the United States with intelligence indicating that Iran is considering using chemical weapons against its adversaries, The New York Times reported, citing American and regional officials. Some senior U.S. officials received the intelligence with concern, while others expressed deep skepticism, viewing it as part of a pressure campaign by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to resume large-scale fighting. Gulf officials questioned the Israeli assessments and said Israel had presented no evidence that Iran is making its chemical arsenal operational. Israel’s Home Front Command did not include chemical-weapons scenarios in this week’s exercises nor distribute protective guidance, and the Israeli military declined to comment. Tehran denies possessing chemical weapons and calls the accusations psychological warfare by Israel and Netanyahu.

Iran has opened a third military training center in Tehran and announced plans to train one million paramilitary volunteers nationwide, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. Members of the Basij, a paramilitary force affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, attended the opening, and two other centers opened in Tehran in August and September.

Donald Trump said on Monday night in an interview with Fox News that the United States might have to strike the facility buried under Pickaxe Mountain, in the Isfahan region, south of Natanz. According to him, the operation can be carried out “in one hour”, “at any time”. The president also played down the conflict with Iran: “This isn’t a war. This is a very soft war.” Two American officials said Monday’s strikes on Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, were defensive. Trump said new strikes could happen if there is no deal, but that there is “a very good chance” a deal is reached.

In an Associated Press (AP) election-day poll, about six in ten voters say the United States made the “wrong decision” in taking military action against Iran. A recent Pentagon estimate cited by the AP puts the cost of the war at more than US$47.1 billion. About one-third of voters say the war with Iran was a “crucial” factor in their vote for Congress, less than the share of those concerned about the cost of living and government corruption. In the same poll, about six in ten voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the presidency. The economy was the top issue facing the country for 39% of voters, followed by the state of democracy at 32%.

US officials acknowledged having launched strikes on the Iranian island of Qeshm, in the Strait of Hormuz, and told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that the operation was limited and responded to fire from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at a US aircraft. Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported several explosions on the island on Monday. According to The New York Times, US Central Command (Centcom) has a plan to strike Iran as early as Wednesday, after the midterm elections, when three aircraft carriers will be in the region. Some cabinet members want more time for sanctions and a US blockade, saying that economic pressure would eventually bring down Iran’s government; other officials see little prospect of its collapse without further strikes. Trump told Axios he was in no rush: “Either way, we will do something, but there is no rush. We have weakened them financially.” In an interview with Fox News, he said the US “may need to strike Pickaxe,” a site linked to Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program if the US lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire, including in Lebanon. Parliament speaker and chief Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said the country had delivered a “firm and rational response” to the Americans and that it is now up to Washington to prevent war. The head of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said the US response to Tehran’s demands was not convincing and that the strait will not reopen until the US addresses Iran’s conditions. Iran opened its third military training center in Tehran and announced plans to train 1 million paramilitary volunteers nationwide. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called on Iran and the US to negotiate an agreement and warned against further military escalation in the region. US military cargo aircraft departing from Fort Bliss were tracked arriving at bases in Israel in recent days, according to FlightRadar24 data.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that President Donald Trump has not made a decision on resuming military action against Iran, and said Trump wants to solve the Iran war “peacefully”.

Iranian media reported on Tuesday night, citing unnamed sources, that shots had been fired toward vessels allegedly violating restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran International. The Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, had earlier reported sounds of gunfire in the cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik, citing accounts from local residents.

Israel has shared with the United States intelligence asserting that Iran is considering the use of chemical weapons against its adversaries, information met with alarm by some American officials, according to The New York Times. According to JFeed, which reports the contents of the article, some US officials expressed deep skepticism about the information’s credibility, and some compared it to the flawed 2002 intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Some American and Gulf officials suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be trying to draw President Donald Trump back into military action against Iran. According to the newspaper, Trump said he would not order an attack before Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Crude oil exports from Persian Gulf producers averaged nearly 12 million barrels per day in September and the first 20 days of October, below the pre-war level of approximately 18 million bpd, Rystad Energy estimated. The consultancy assesses that the security situation in and near the Strait of Hormuz has deteriorated even as flows recovered, with a higher number of attacks on tankers in recent weeks. In Rystad’s view, a comprehensive settlement between the United States (US) and Iran would require addressing Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions, Tehran-backed armed groups in the region and the security of maritime shipping, while also taking into account Israel’s security interests.

President Donald Trump confirmed that US forces struck Iran on Monday night, at a target he described as a “minor attack” on an anti-aircraft facility. “They built an anti-aircraft facility… As soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely,” he said in a Fox News interview. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency also reported several explosions on Qeshm Island, near the entrance to the strait. The US deliberately kept the attacks quiet to reduce the risk of escalation, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the strikes, and one US official described the strikes as “defensive.” According to that report, in one exchange the Revolutionary Guard fired a surface-to-air missile at a US warplane, which fired back in self-defense, and another strike came after the US intercepted a missile fired from Qeshm at a commercial vessel. Iran said it downed a US MQ-9 Reaper drone and two Lucas drones near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

Israel’s military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, is resisting a new joint offensive with the United States against Iran, according to Haaretz, in a text published by Opera Mundi. Zamir had already opposed Benjamin Netanyahu’s intention to attack Iran before the October 27 legislative elections. Opposition leader and former chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot said that, until a new government is formed, he would back military operations “only in the event of a clear and imminent danger to Israel that cannot wait for the new government to take office”. Also according to Haaretz, Netanyahu openly advocates toppling the Iranian government, while Donald Trump seeks to press the country into a deal more favorable to US interests that would restrict its nuclear program and allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said two US LUCAS drones were destroyed over Bandar-e Khamir by fire from its Imam Sajjad air defense unit, which operates within the national air defense network. The previous night, the force had announced that two MQM-170 reconnaissance drones were brought down south of Qeshm Island using electronic warfare, and said the number of aircraft of that type captured had reached four.

No official English text of the Iranian seven-condition plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has been published: the circulating list is reconstructed from statements by officials, according to the Tehran Times, based on remarks by Araghchi, Qalibaf, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei and Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi. In that reconstruction, the conditions include a full ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, an end to the naval blockade, a license to export oil, the release of at least $12 billion in frozen assets, cancellation of post-June unilateral sanctions, an end to strikes and acceptance of the Iran-Oman safe navigation route.

Brent plunged more than $6 a barrel on Tuesday morning, from $107.24 to $100.80, before recovering to around $104 shortly after 10 a.m. Eastern as traders reacted to a succession of conflicting reports about peace negotiations between the United States and Iran. The drop followed a 7.6% decline on Monday that left Brent at $104.77. Prices initially rose overnight after reports of US strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, near the Strait of Hormuz, before reversing sharply on Tuesday morning. Qatar confirmed that both sides were reviewing proposals and that no agreement has been announced.

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said on Tuesday that the United States’ response to Iran’s rights and demands was not convincing and that Washington must provide a comprehensive and explicit response. In a televised speech, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran stands ready for battle “with its finger on the trigger” but has also given the American side a “powerful and rational” response, and that the ball is now in America’s court to prevent war. Donald Trump told Fox News he is “not looking to kill lots of people” in Iran and described the action on Qeshm Island as a “minor attack” rather than a resumption of war, saying the US has Iran “totally where we want” and could “finish them off” or “be nice and let thousands of people live that would get killed in a war.”

The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, Ali Abdollahi, presented a plan with five conditions for lasting security, including an end to hostilities on all fronts, the complete lifting of sanctions and the unfreezing of Iranian assets and the payment of war reparations, according to the Tasnim news agency. The plan also calls for recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and a guarantee against future aggression under a regional security framework for West Asia. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said a Qatari delegation met Iranian officials in Tehran for more than three hours on Monday and that both sides are now reviewing Qatar’s proposal. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it downed two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm and destroyed an MQ-9 east of the strait, while the Revolutionary Guard navy told Brasil de Fato that the two MQM-170s were captured intact by electronic warfare without being destroyed. Iran’s Parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Iran’s military response to any miscalculation by the enemy will be unpredictable.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the country remains in a “state of war”, with its forces mobilized and prepared for any scenario, in remarks to the Tasnim agency carried by Opera Mundi. According to him, Iran neither started nor sought the war, but will respond firmly to any new aggression. Tehran demands an end to the US naval blockade of its ports, the suspension of new economic sanctions and guarantees for selling its oil before fully restoring circulation in the Hormuz region, with the measures implemented within 48 hours, according to the same source. According to Russian agency Sputnik, the United States has no intention of escalating attacks on Iran after the strike on Qeshm Island, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. A US official cited by Reuters said the Qeshm operation was defensive in nature and hit anti-aircraft missile systems used against US forces. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that Iran’s military and strategic response to any miscalculation by the enemy would be unpredictable.

An Iranian military spokesperson warned that any renewed attack by the United States (US) will be met with a harder and broader response than Tehran's past retaliations. According to him, a new war would not remain limited to West Asia, and US facilities, equipment, personnel and interests in any location within Iran's reach could become targets. On the diplomatic track, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said that efforts to bring the US and Iran closer are ongoing and that both countries are studying proposals.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, after switching off their navigation and identification systems and taking an unauthorized route. According to the statement, the vessels were left along the southern shores of the strait and were still ablaze, and fishermen in the east saw a night lit by the flames.

A billboard towering over the busy Enghelab Square in Tehran reads “We will kill Trump”, depicting the US president behind bars with his head bowed. Another billboard nearby shows Trump alongside Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with bloodied faces and ragged suits against the background of worn-out Israeli and US flags. Since the war began on February 28, when US and Israeli strikes killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, new designs of billboards mocking Trump and vowing revenge have frequently been set up around Tehran.

The United States launched limited strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island late on Monday, hours after Vice President JD Vance said he was optimistic that diplomatic efforts to end the war were moving in the right direction. The strikes targeted surface-to-air missiles being used against US assets, according to Reuters and the Associated Press (AP). Several explosions were heard on Qeshm on Monday evening, according to Iranian state media, with local outlets describing their cause as unclear. The Wall Street Journal reported that the US had been carrying out a series of smaller-scale strikes, purposefully kept secret by the Trump administration so as not to signal any intent of resuming the military campaign against Iran.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday that Iran delivered a “firm and rational” response to the US, that Washington must decide whether to prevent another war and that a new American strategic mistake would open a new battlefield, while Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the revised seven-stage diplomatic proposal could be fully implemented within two days, conditioning security in the Strait of Hormuz on an end to the American naval blockade and measures such as sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets — according to Sputnik, Iran’s Armed Forces are at the highest level of defensive readiness.

Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States could go after Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear complex in Iran, if there is no deal — the operation could be done in one hour — and did not rule out resuming the war, but said there is a good chance of a deal. A senior Iranian official told Reuters, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post, that the two countries are far from an understanding to end the war and that Tehran will not accept Washington’s excessive demands, while Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a televised address that the ball is now in the United States’ court to prevent war.

Talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia are ongoing, with the aim of reaching new regional security arrangements without foreign military involvement, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday in a post on X. Araqchi also said Iran harbors no hostility toward the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Devdiscourse.

Iran conditions the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on the end of the US naval blockade and on meeting Tehran's demands. “The Strait of Hormuz cannot reopen unless the blockade ends and Iran's demands are met”, an Iranian spokesperson said, according to Brasil 247.

US Vice President JD Vance said Washington had held a number of good conversations with the Iranians and that he and Donald Trump felt optimistic about a negotiated settlement, with some progress already made and more work ahead.

Oil bounced back following reports of US strikes on Iran, with Brent crude trading at $105.26 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $97.07 per barrel, after the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed US officials on the strikes.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it shot down two more US MQM-170 drones over Qeshm Island and destroyed an MQ-9 east of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the armed forces on Saturday to give an “immediate, effective and with no geographic limits” response to any threat from the United States and Israel, according to the EFE news agency, in a text republished by swissinfo.ch.

The US military carried out what US officials called “defensive strikes” in the Strait of Hormuz. On Qeshm Island, the blasts came in rapid succession late on Monday, and witnesses told the state-owned IRNA news agency they saw two planes flying over the island. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had downed a US MQ-9 drone over the eastern Strait of Hormuz, the 55th such drone brought down.

The US attacked Qeshm Island in Iran on Monday, according to US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), in the latest of a series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against the country in recent weeks.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that contacts with the US on ending the eight-month war are continuing, after days of talks with Qatari mediators ended with altered proposals but no breakthrough, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Investing.com, adding that the basis of the dialogue remains Iran's seven-step proposal, now condensed for implementation within two days.

Israel has asked the Lebanese government to deploy troops to set up roadblocks in areas where Hezbollah operatives live, to prevent the group from joining a new war with Iran, according to an Israeli broadcaster cited by The Times of Israel. The request was relayed by US mediators, with the warning that fighting in Lebanon will flare up again if Hezbollah attacks Israel.

US Vice President JD Vance said Washington has made progress in talks with Iran and that he and President Donald Trump feel optimistic about a negotiated settlement. Asked whether Iran had been given a deadline before strikes resume, he said: “No, we haven’t set deadlines.” Vance tied a deal to a firm and verifiable commitment that Iran does not rebuild its nuclear program. Trump said Iran wants a settlement as soon as possible and that it could happen.

The Aerospace Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it brought down two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm Island using electronic warfare. Explosions were also heard on the island, according to the state-run IRNA news agency, with no known cause and no official statement on their origin.

Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States is not going to attack Iran after the midterms, one day ahead of the election. Asked by a reporter in Washington whether he was considering striking the country again, he answered “no” and said that “Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible. It could happen!”

The Brent fell 7.6% to close the day at $104.77 a barrel, while US crude dropped 7.3% to $96.46. On the European exchange, gas fell to nearly $1,100 per 1,000 cubic meters, the lowest level since October 29, amid news of peace talks between Iran and the United States, according to TASS.

Qatari mediators and Iranian officials held two rounds of talks last week, and diplomatic efforts have made progress toward a framework in which Iran would cease its attacks in the Strait of Hormuz in return for the United States lifting its blockade on Iran's ports, according to two officials. On Sunday, Iranian negotiators were in Doha for a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators aimed at reaching a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to an official briefed on the discussions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for a new wave of strikes on Iran after Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States, according to two regional officials and a third person familiar with the matter. In a weekend call, he pressed President Donald Trump to strike, and Trump would not commit to taking military action, according to a person briefed on the conversation. Sources told Axios that Netanyahu is pressing Trump to strike Iran immediately after the elections; for now, Trump wants to let negotiations play out — a strategy that concerns Netanyahu.

Iran has a two-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks with the United States, Tehran said on Monday, shortening a process originally expected to take seven days, and has conditioned the reopening on Washington accepting its demands. They include an end to military operations on all fronts, the end of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, the unfreezing of Iranian assets held abroad and the suspension of sanctions on the country’s oil sector.

A sanctioned Iranian tanker carrying about 500,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas slipped past the US naval blockade and delivered its cargo to China, according to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which says it filmed the ship at a Malaysian anchorage along the way. On October 8, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the tanker as one of 17 shadow-fleet vessels, saying the Comoros-flagged ship, owned by Marshall Islands-based Gravion Maritime Company, had transported more than 2 million barrels of Iranian propane and butane since September 2025.

Iran rejected the transfer of its enriched uranium abroad and conditioned the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on the United States ending its naval blockade and meeting Tehran’s demands, according to the Tehran Times. Asked whether the possibility of transferring Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile to another country was raised in the talks and whether Iran might agree, Iran said no, according to Al-Monitor.

An Emirati-owned offshore tug, the Selat Storm, was hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz northwest of the Musandam Peninsula, and was seen partially submerging on Sunday evening. It was the second likely Iranian attack on a tug in the strait since October 18, when a projectile hit the Dutch-flagged tug JIF Barracuda.

Tucker Carlson said Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are allegedly planning a nuclear strike on Iran's Pickax Mountain, where Israeli intelligence claims the Iranian government has restarted its nuclear enrichment program. According to Carlson, the program sits in tunnels under 300 feet of solid granite, and only a nuclear strike would penetrate them. He said Netanyahu calls Trump about it every day and that a US nuclear strike would make a third world war inevitable.

Oil prices plunged nearly 7% on Monday after Washington and Tehran both signaled they would give diplomacy a chance. Brent traded at $105.60 per barrel, down $7.85, and WTI fell $7.20 to $96.92. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Supreme Leader had granted the government “certain authorities” over the peace talks and that Tehran “will try to resolve the problem with dialogue,” state media reported.

Iran's Army Navy said a tanker caught fire after colliding with a naval mine in an area it described as restricted and insecure east of the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel had turned off its navigation systems, the statement said.

China will send its Middle East envoy to Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia later this month for shuttle diplomacy visits aimed at promoting peace talks and easing tensions, a foreign ministry spokesperson said. The announcement followed separate meetings in Beijing between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and between Wang Yi and Saudi national security adviser Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council head, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Iranian state media reported. Both sides stressed the importance of continuing strategic cooperation in accordance with the roadmap outlined by the two countries' leaders.

Negotiations to end the US-Iran war produced a draft deal: Iranian negotiators left Qatar on Sunday and a draft proposal began circulating for a possible follow-up meeting, according to a Reuters source cited by OilPrice. On Monday morning, Brent traded at $108.61 a barrel, down 4.25% on the day, and WTI fell 4.32% to $99.62.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said that 11 tankers violating passage rules in the Strait of Hormuz had caught fire since October 25, some of them sinking. In a post on X on Monday, the force counted the nine days since the visit of US Central Command (Centcom) commander Brad Cooper to the strait and said the tankers sank “to the depths of the sea”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Donald Trump on Saturday about US negotiations with Iran and pressed him to strike Iran immediately after the midterm elections on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing one Israeli and one US source. Trump said he would rather give negotiations between the two countries a chance first than bomb Iran right away, according to the same sources.

Iran says, according to Sputnik, that it is not discussing the removal of its highly enriched uranium to third countries. A reported preliminary draft calls for transferring the country’s enriched uranium stockpile to an agreed third country or lowering its enrichment level, with China potentially acting as guarantor.

Oil prices fell more than 4% as hopes grew that US-Iran peace talks would ease supply disruptions in the Middle East. Brent dropped 4.5% to $118.3 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 4.37% to $99.57 at the time of the quote.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that all parties in the West Asia conflict should focus on political solutions rather than resorting to arms and that China supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty and security, according to The Hindu.

United States (US) President Donald Trump reiterated on Sunday his threat to resume strikes against Iran, telling a campaign rally he may have to give Tehran “the hammer” at some unspecified time. On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that signals that new military actions are planned against Iran cause alarm.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that the country was open to the possibility of reopening the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the United States met Iran's demands. According to AFP, the conditions include ending the Middle East war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian assets abroad, lifting sanctions on its oil sector and ending the US naval blockade.

In a joint statement, Beijing and Muscat urged the United States and Iran to resume dialogue and reach a “comprehensive agreement that includes the nuclear issue”. China's Foreign Ministry said the country's special envoy for Middle East affairs will visit Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia this month, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Mehr News.

Somali pirates seized the Iranian fishing vessel Azini, carrying 23 people, and the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean warned the ship was approaching a commercial shipping lane and could become a floating base for further attacks. The Azini was hijacked on Thursday between Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, a Maritime Police Force officer from Puntland said on Sunday. According to the officer, 12 pirates seized the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali guards.

US President Donald Trump is weighing blaming his defense and military chiefs for the handling of the war on Iran, according to a Sunday report by The Atlantic, in a text republished by the Times of Israel, while considering resuming attacks after Tuesday’s midterm elections. In a conversation described by sources as tough and direct, Netanyahu pushed Trump to restart the campaign, while Trump wanted to allow more time for negotiations, according to Axios, in a text republished by the Times of Israel.

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Al Mayeda, carrying cargo from Qatar to Pakistan, was struck by unidentified objects near the Strait of Hormuz, despite reports that Pakistani authorities had prior Iranian clearance for safe passage. Qatari carrier Nakilat confirmed in a statement that the attack happened on the evening of October 30, with no crew injuries and no reported environmental damage, and shipping data indicates the vessel changed course and headed back toward the Gulf.

Iranian negotiators left Doha on Sunday after three consecutive days of consultations with Qatari mediators on a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Arab News. An official briefed on the talks told the agency on Monday that the departure was not due to difficulties in the discussions. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday it is weighing a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the US meets its conditions.

Crude oil prices started the week lower on renewed optimism about a possible peace deal between the United States (US) and Iran, following mediation talks involving Iran and Qatar over the weekend, OilPrice reports. At that time, Brent crude traded at US$109.82 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate at US$100.57 per barrel.

The chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Ebrahim Azizi, warned the US of a devastating response from the Armed Forces if Iran is attacked.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Ashgabat on Monday to meet with high-ranking officials of Turkmenistan, according to Mehr News.

Iranian Army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said that a future war with the United States (US) could last longer than the previous conflict and that the American president would not dictate the timing or the conditions of its end. President Donald Trump said he still needs to “take care” of one or two targets in Iran, citing Pickaxe Mountain, and repeated that he could give Tehran “the hammer.” Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said that in a conflict with the US there are no geographical limitations and that a vast theater has been defined to inflict damage on the enemy. Commentator Tucker Carlson claimed without evidence that Trump could decide within days on a nuclear strike against Iran and alleged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressing for it daily.

The spokesperson for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said two oil tankers exploded after hitting Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz, in a statement to the state media channel Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. According to the spokesperson, the vessels were traveling on 'an unauthorized route in the Strait' and were in violation of regulations.

Former Mossad chief David Barnea said Israel intentionally released footage of its covert operation in Iran during the June 2025 conflict to provoke mass arrests and make it harder for Iranian forces to find real Israeli agents. Barnea said an official video was released on the morning of Operation Rising Lion, bearing the Mossad logo, to protect the agents who were in the field. According to him, Iranian authorities arrested 21,000 people during the operation.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Donald Trump prefers to resolve the war with Iran diplomatically, without resorting to military force, amid reports that both sides are preparing for new strikes after the midterm elections. In parallel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Trump for new strikes against Iran after the elections, while Trump seeks a deal to restart negotiations with Tehran and keeps preparations underway for a possible return to major combat operations, according to the Times of India, citing Axios.

A diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue that the country hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in negotiations between Iran and the US, according to Middle East Eye.

In a new turn in the standoff between Washington and Tehran, the Iranian Army said that any new war with the United States could last longer than the previous conflict, according to Arab News. Army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said the American president would not dictate the timing or the conditions of its end, and a Revolutionary Guard spokesperson said that in a conflict with the United States there are no geographical limitations for inflicting damage upon the enemy, according to Iranian state television in a France 24 piece. In the same piece, Donald Trump said one or two sites still remained to be hit in Iran and that it would take 10 minutes, according to the same outlet.

Democratic Representative Ro Khanna said on Sunday that he would stop funding for further US military action in Iran, amid growing voter dissatisfaction with the war, and compared the move to what Congress did to end the Vietnam War. “I would stop the funding. The House and the Senate should stop the funding for any further actions in the Iran War. That’s what we did to stop the Vietnam War,” he said on Fox News Sunday, according to The Hill. A Democrat-led Congress would cut off funding for further military action even with American personnel still in the region, according to the Daily Wire.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the war with Iran would end very soon, one way or the other — through a deal or further American action, according to Israel National News. “We’ve had such a victory and we’ll put it away very soon, one way or the other. Either they’ll make a deal or we’ll just end it,” he said. At a midterm campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama, on Friday, he said he expected the conflict to end “very soon” and oil prices to fall sharply once the war is over, according to Fox News.

Gulf leaders met in Qatar in an effort to stave off a new escalation in the US-Iran war, according to NPR. Qatar has led intense mediation over the past 72 hours to prevent a new round of possible US attacks on Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections, and the uncertainty has the entire Gulf region on edge.

US President Donald Trump is prioritizing diplomatic engagement with Tehran despite pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch military strikes immediately after Tuesday's US midterm elections, according to Axios, in an article published by TRT World.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said two oil tankers exploded after striking mines while traveling along an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters. Both vessels deliberately deactivated their navigation and identification systems to pass covertly through the restricted southern route, Mehr News reported.

Lawmaker Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran's parliament will unanimously vote to reconsider the country's continued membership in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) if asked, and that the decision rests with the Commander-in-Chief, the Leader. Mottaki, a former foreign minister, spoke to national TV on Sunday night.

Iran says it could revise its nuclear doctrine but insists that no official decision has been taken. The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said that “so far, no official decision has been taken by the government or the Supreme National Security Council to change the nuclear doctrine”, according to Opera Mundi. Rezaei also confirmed that a new message, relayed by US intermediaries, reached Iran's Foreign Ministry, with a tone different from that of previous communications. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he hoped Washington would choose “diplomacy over other paths” and that Iran was ready for both defense and diplomacy, according to the Hindustan Times. The indirect talks are mediated by Qatar and Pakistan and cover Iran's nuclear program, sanctions imposed by Washington and the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Saturday about when and whether to ramp up combat operations against Iran, US media reported. Netanyahu pressed the president to launch strikes on Iran immediately after the US midterm elections, while Trump was eager to let negotiations play out. An Israeli source described the call as “tough” and an American source called it “direct,” according to Axios. Al Arabiya confirmed the Axios report on the call and the split between striking and negotiating. On Saturday, October 31, 2026, Trump told reporters that negotiations with Iran to end the war were “going fine” and that there were still one or two targets to “take care” of.

Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said that identifying new targets and planning operations across additional geographical areas had been placed on the Corps’ agenda, according to the Tehran Times. Iran warned that any renewed war with the United States could last longer than the previous round of fighting, after President Donald Trump said he still had to “take care” of more targets, according to Middle East Eye.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry designated MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence service, as a hostile group and the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force (RAF) as terrorist organizations, as a reciprocal measure against the British, according to the Tehran Times. The ministry said the decision was adopted in response to British actions over the past year, including the country’s involvement in the US-Israeli war against Iran through the provision of military bases, facilities and logistical support.

A senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Mohammad Mokhber, said in a post on X on Sunday that Iran is “rapidly” changing its defense doctrine and will no longer limit its retaliation to attacks on the aggressors’ regional assets, according to Mehr News. “The geography of the threat no longer determines the geography of the response,” he wrote in Farsi. Mehr News also reported that on Saturday Ayatollah Khamenei directed the country’s top military brass to prepare to deliver a swift and powerful response to any threat, “without any geographic limitations.”

The Pentagon has put the damage to US military bases from Iranian strikes at a minimum of $5 billion, according to US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal. The Journal’s investigation identified 274 damaged structures at 24 installations with a US military presence during the war’s first six months, drawing on satellite imagery, Iranian military statements and interviews with US officials, according to the Tehran Times. An Associated Press analysis found more than 115 drone and missile strikes claimed by Iran or Iranian-backed militias that damaged or destroyed structures at 26 bases and other sites with US equipment through August, according to the Times of India.

The United Arab Emirates is hoping for a “breakthrough” that could end the conflict with Iran, its Al-Ain outlet reported, according to the Jerusalem Post. In the same report, Gargash said that “the security of the Gulf states is interconnected and what affects any of them affects the UAE”, and that “trust with Iran has been shaken”.

Former Mossad chief David Barnea said Israel intentionally released images of its covert operation in Iran during the June 2025 conflict to provoke mass arrests and make it harder for Iranian forces to find real Israeli agents, according to Middle East Eye. Barnea said Iranian authorities arrested 21,000 people during the operation.

Pirates seized the Iranian fishing vessel Azini on October 29 between the coastal towns of Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, according to a maritime security officer with the Puntland Maritime Police Force, cited by The Hindu. Twelve pirates took the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali security guards, according to the Associated Press. The vessel was carrying 23 people, according to the South China Morning Post.

Iran said it has submitted evidence of US and Israeli attacks on its maritime infrastructure to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), according to Middle East Eye.

Iranian negotiators were in Doha on Sunday for a third consecutive day of talks with Qatari mediators, Reuters reported, according to Mehr News. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed in an interview the previous night that his assistant had been sent to Doha for the talks, according to Mehr News. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday, October 31, 2026, that Trump has not decided whether to launch new strikes against Iran, but would prefer to resolve the conflict diplomatically, according to The Hindu.

Iranian Defense Minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi said the country is committed to strengthening combat readiness and to ensuring an immediate, effective and proportionate response to any threat, anywhere, without geographical limits. The secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, warned that any attack on Iran will be met with devastating strikes, using new and modern weapons, and said Tehran remains open to diplomacy if its seven conditions are fulfilled.

President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Washington prepared to resume strikes on Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal. The call took place after Trump discussed options for resuming military operations with senior commanders, including US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Admiral Brad Cooper, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine. Trump said “one or two sites” remain to be dealt with in Iran’s nuclear program, including Pickaxe Mountain, and that the US could do it “in ten minutes.” “We have a plan for it, and we can execute it very quickly,” he said. Asked about a new offensive, he neither confirmed nor ruled out the possibility, according to Brasil 247.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described US Vice President JD Vance’s letter on resuming talks as a “positive step,” in comments to Al Jazeera on Friday, according to the Jerusalem Post. Iran has no plans to meet with US officials, he said, calling reports of such a meeting “merely media speculation”. Araghchi’s listed conditions include lifting the sanctions imposed following the Islamabad memorandum, reducing US forces in the region, restoring oil waivers and releasing all frozen Iranian funds.

Democrats party leader Yair Golan said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not have the public’s trust and should not be permitted to lead the country through another war with Iran, in a social media post on Sunday morning. Golan wrote that he and opposition bloc leaders Gadi Eisenkot, Avigdor Lieberman, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid “know the security system very well”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened within two days if Washington agrees to a set of conditions, including formal recognition of the new shipping route designated by Iran and Oman in the strait. In an interview with Al Jazeera, according to Middle East Eye, Araghchi also cited lifting the sanctions the United States imposed on Iran after the collapse of the Islamabad memorandum in July, reducing the US military presence in the region, reinstating the oil waivers granted in June as part of the memorandum and releasing frozen Iranian funds, including those held in Qatar.

Iran’s foreign ministry announced on Sunday that it had designated the UK’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as “terrorist organizations”, according to the Hindustan Times, which cited Iran International. The ministry also classified MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service, as a “hostile group”. The statement characterized the move as a reciprocal step to Washington’s designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

The foreign ministers of the US and Iran said that a diplomatic end to the war is still possible, with no direct US-Iran talks planned. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would decide whether talks are direct or indirect only after Washington accepted its conditions. The statements came after more than 12 hours of discussions between Iranian and Qatari envoys in Tehran on Friday, according to Reuters, in a text republished by CGTN.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), suggested the country could withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) should military hostilities against the Islamic Republic resume, according to Sputnik. Rezaei said Iran’s priority in the nuclear field is to discuss its rights rather than accept restrictions, and that it remains unclear whether the country would remain a party to the treaty should a war break out in the future.

Iran has bought Russian Su-35 fighter jets and expects to receive them after the war ends, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said, according to Middle East Eye. The aircraft were supposed to arrive before the war began, and the necessary preparations and training have been completed, the spokesperson said.

Hezbollah is unlikely to join a war between the United States and Iran if the two countries resume military operations against each other, unless Iran’s leadership faces an existential threat, according to a report by the United Arab Emirates state-owned outlet The National cited by the Jerusalem Post. According to Lebanese security personnel briefed on the group’s activities, Hezbollah spent at least three months preparing for a resumption of hostilities with Israel after receiving an infusion of cash from Iran.

US President Donald Trump said American forces had knocked out much of Iran’s military. Washington still needs to “take care of” one or two remaining targets, including a suspected underground nuclear complex known as Pickaxe Mountain, according to TRT World. “We’ve knocked out their nuclear. We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes,” Trump told reporters at his Florida residence. “You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain, and you have to take care of that. We can do that all very quickly.” According to TRT World, the Iranian government has repeatedly denied carrying out nuclear operations at the facility. Trump reiterated that Washington is in no hurry to resume strikes because it has decimated Iran’s armed forces and atomic program.

The United States Central Command (Centcom) said that as of October 31 its forces had redirected 144 commercial vessels to ensure compliance with the naval blockade against Iran. In a post on X, Centcom said the vessels were redirected “to ensure compliance” and that the George Washington aircraft carrier was supporting enforcement of the blockade, according to Middle East Eye.

US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, after discussing with military commanders options for restarting major combat operations, according to The Wall Street Journal, in a Jerusalem Post report. In Atlanta, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump has not made a decision about fresh strikes on Iran, amid stalled peace talks.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz include lifting the sanctions imposed after the Islamabad memorandum, reducing US forces in the region, restoring oil waivers and releasing frozen Iranian funds, including those held in Qatar. Araghchi said talks are under way with Qatari mediators on a plan to reopen the Strait within two days if the United States meets those conditions, according to Al Jazeera.

The Israeli military has completed preparations for a renewed military confrontation with Iran, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, in a report published by the Anadolu Agency. The chief of the United States (US) Central Command, Brad Cooper, presented President Donald Trump with options for resuming the attacks, and the decision to return to war remained with Trump as negotiations between Washington and Tehran continued. This week, ten US military transport aircraft arrived at Israeli Air Force bases as part of an airlift delivering military equipment to the region, according to Ynet.

Iranian negotiators met in Doha on Saturday with Qatari mediators to discuss paths out of the war in the Gulf, according to Reuters, which cited a source briefed on the negotiations. The meeting comes as diplomats try to avert new fighting after this week’s US midterm elections.

Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone strikes damaged at least 274 structures at 24 US-linked military installations across the Middle East, according to the Tehran Times, citing a Wall Street Journal analysis based on satellite imagery and US officials. Estimated repair costs are as high as 15 billion dollars. The Pentagon has estimated the damage at a minimum of 5 billion dollars, while a separate assessment put the figure as high as 15 billion, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that rebuilding the damaged buildings alone would cost more than 4 billion dollars, the Tehran Times reported.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, said he has studied the US vice president's letter and has not yet replied to it. According to him, no serious decision has been made about a change in the country's nuclear doctrine, though the debate continues, Mehr News, Iran's state media, reported.

Iran’s Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei told state media on Saturday that the country is debating whether to maintain its longstanding ban on nuclear weapons if hostilities resume, and that no decision has been taken on any change, according to Middle East Eye. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has no plans to hold talks with US officials and dismissed reports suggesting otherwise as unfounded. Araghchi also said Iran had carefully examined a message sent by US Vice President JD Vance to senior Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei, and that the matter remains under review by the relevant authorities, according to the official Iranian news agency IRNA.

Iran’s army said a tanker illegally operating in a restricted and dangerous area east of the Strait of Hormuz struck naval mines, was damaged, caught fire and was left unable to move, according to PressTV. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said three violating oil tankers exploded and caught fire over the past 24 hours after striking mines while attempting to pass through the unauthorized southern route of the strait, Arab News reported.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday in Atlanta, at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, that President Donald Trump has not decided whether to strike Iran. “He hasn’t made a decision. I have no announcement to make in that regard today, nor do we take any of it lightly,” he told reporters.

Iranian legislator Mahmoud Nabavian called on Saturday for Iran to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to change its nuclear doctrine, according to Al Jazeera, adding to similar demands from other lawmakers and public figures. Lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said 10 proposals to withdraw from the treaty had been registered in parliament and that withdrawal was under consideration, according to the Fars news agency.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei ordered commanders to update the country’s target list to include “all types of tangible and intangible assets belonging to the American-Zionist enemy”, according to France 24. At the meeting with top military commanders, he said that “any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful and geographically unrestricted response.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a G20 press conference in Atlanta, Georgia, that Trump has not yet decided on new attacks: “We can achieve military objectives if we seek to. He hasn’t made a decision. I have no announcement in that regard with you today, and nor do we take any of it lightly.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “currently, there are no plans for meetings with American officials.”

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described a US effort to open dialogue with Tehran as “a positive step” in an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday. He said that, in high-level meetings, Iran had studied a letter sent by US Vice President JD Vance, and that Tehran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz remain clear, with mediators continuing consultations on them. Iran has no plans for direct meetings with US officials, according to TASS.

Iran said the two Iranian fishermen it had reported missing after what it called a US attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz have been found on Saturday. Earlier, Iranian state TV had cited a provincial official as saying that two fishermen had gone missing and two others were wounded in what he called an attack by the United States.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera that Tehran agreed to shorten to two days the timeframe for implementing its plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to TASS. He said Iran demands recognition of the shipping route it discussed with Oman and the closure of the others. An Iranian delegation arrived in Qatar to discuss mediators’ proposals on the nuclear program, and the minister said there are no plans for a meeting with US officials for now.

An analysis by the Wall Street Journal identified 274 damaged structures across 24 installations with an American military presence, according to RT. An unnamed US official told the newspaper that the Pentagon estimates the damage to the bases at a minimum of $5 billion. According to the Pentagon’s latest estimate to Congress, the Iran war has cost $47.1 billion through October 16, excluding base damage.

Two Iranian fishermen were injured in a drone attack attributed to the American “enemy” on two fishing boats in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday morning, China’s state-run Xinhua reported. Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, citing a Hormozgan province official, said the US attacked two fishing boats near Qeshm Island, leaving two fishermen missing and one wounded, Reuters reported.

Mojtaba Khamenei met with senior commanders of Iran's armed forces and issued what his office described as “important and strategic orders”, according to the Middle East Eye. He also ordered the army to prepare “an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response” should its enemies resume attacks, and said that Iran will set the “timing and terms for ending any new conflicts,” according to the Jerusalem Post. The order also directs the Revolutionary Guard to update its target list to place “all tangible and intangible assets” of the US and Israel within reach of the armed forces, according to the newspaper.

Iranian diplomat Nasser Kanaani criticized what he termed an attempt by colonialists to strip nations of their powers, in response to the UK prime minister’s remarks on Iran’s nuclear deal and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Mehr News.

Oman rescued 25 sailors from a merchant ship set ablaze in an attack in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, while Iran reported that three oil tankers were halted while crossing, according to The Hindu. Oman's Maritime Security Centre evacuated the people aboard the RITI, a Panamanian-flagged vessel that tracking website MarineTraffic identified as a crude oil tanker. In a separate statement, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said a third tanker, a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil, exploded and caught fire while attempting to pass through an unauthorised route.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, criticized German Chancellor Merz for backing Israeli and US strikes on Iran and warned of a devastating response to anyone who dares harm the Iranian people, according to Mehr News. In a post on his X account late on Friday, Araghchi wrote that Merz hailed the Israeli and US bombings of Iran when they began last year.

US President Donald Trump’s oil and gas holdings rose an average of 43% since the end of 2025, during the eight-month war with Iran, according to the Jerusalem Post, which cites a report by congressional Democrats. His estimated holdings rose from a range of 12.6 million to 46 million at the end of 2025 to between 22.5 million and 81.6 million. Between March, after the war began, and the end of August, Trump’s accounts bought between 4.7 million and 17.5 million in oil and gas stocks, according to the report obtained by CBS News.

Qatari mediators held more than 12 hours of talks in Tehran on Friday to restart direct negotiations between the United States (US) and Iran, Hindustan Times reported. The negotiations are to continue in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday as regional powers seek a diplomatic breakthrough. An official briefed on the talks told Reuters that Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday as part of efforts to reach a deal between the US and Iran.

The US military is conducting nightly missions over the Strait of Hormuz to enforce a blockade on Iranian ports along the waterway and protect commercial vessels, according to the Jerusalem Post. The frequency of flight operations has put a strain on aircraft, crew members and the mechanics responsible for maintaining fighter jets, according to officers cited by the Wall Street Journal. The US has 50,000 troops and 20 ships deployed in the Middle East, at a cost of $2 billion to $3 billion a month on munitions, fuel and supplies.

The United States may resume strikes on Iran the day after the midterm elections for Congress, according to the MS NOW network, cited by the Russian agency TASS. According to the sources cited by the network, the US administration informed several Persian Gulf countries that they should prepare for “a short, intense round of strikes as soon as November 4.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said it had captured intact a US reconnaissance and decoy drone west of the Strait of Hormuz, after taking control of the drone’s guidance and control systems, according to the Iranian agency IRNA. According to the Guard’s statement, the drone’s mission was to identify Iranian air defense systems along the Persian Gulf coast and around the Strait of Hormuz, and analysis of the recovered data indicated it had taken off from the coast of a southern Persian Gulf country.

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that Iran wants to talk and keeps talking, and that Tehran is struggling to meet its financial obligations to security personnel: “There are talks. They want to talk. They keep talking. They’re not paying their soldiers. They’re not paying their police. They’re in a lot of trouble.” Earlier Friday, Trump told Kansas City radio station KCMO that the military confrontation with Iran was approaching its conclusion, though he did not provide a timetable or explain how an agreement might be reached, Israel National News reported.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy (IRGC Navy) said four oil tankers had caught fire and exploded in the Strait of Hormuz while attempting to use what it described as unauthorized routes, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media. The Associated Press (AP) reported that Iran said four tankers struck mines and caught fire. In its latest statement, the IRGC Navy said a fourth vessel, a tanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil, had hit a mine, suffered a powerful explosion and was burning.

Tehran’s interim Friday prayer leader, Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, described calls to review Iran’s nuclear doctrine as a growing national demand rooted in the Iranian people’s experience of Western conduct and in the need to strengthen the country’s deterrence, according to the Tehran Times. He cited previous surveys in which more than 70 percent of respondents supported reviewing the doctrine. The cleric said the final decision rests with the Leader and urged universities and experts to prepare studies and proposals.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei condemned Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for reiterating territorial claims over Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb, according to the Tehran Times. He called the UAE’s claims “brazen and interventionist” and criticised Canada for endorsing them in a joint statement. Baqaei said “the islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and the Lesser Tunb are inseparable and eternal parts of Iran’s territorial domain” and that the repetition of “baseless and unfounded” claims will not change “the established geographical, historical and legal realities.”

The Iranian Navy’s deputy coordinator said the navy targeted the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with a strategic cruise missile during the 40-day Ramadan War, according to the Tehran Times. According to him, the vessel halted flight operations for three days after the strike before moving farther away from Iran’s coastline.

Pakistan’s army said it is cautiously optimistic about mediation between Iran and the United States, according to Al Jazeera. Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir has been to Tehran twice this month, most recently on Monday, alongside Saudi and Turkish officials, Al Jazeera reported.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy captured a US MQM-170 spy drone and landed it intact in the western Strait of Hormuz, Press TV reported. The Guard described the action as an offensive electronic warfare operation in which it landed the drone intact, according to Mehr News.

A supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of oil was among three tankers that exploded and caught fire while traveling through an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Friday, according to the Associated Press (AP). The force said the vessel had struck a naval mine. Oman’s navy evacuated 25 crew members of the merchant ship Riti, sailing under the Panamanian flag, after it was targeted and a fire broke out on board, Oman’s Maritime Security Center said in a statement. The United Arab Emirates said on Friday that the oil leak from the Gem No. 2 tanker had been stopped, with no new leakage detected, as cleanup operations continued along affected coastlines, according to the Jerusalem Post.

US Vice President JD Vance sent a personal letter last week to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in which he expressed willingness to meet with him personally to discuss ending the war through negotiations, the Jerusalem Post reported. According to officials cited by Foreign Policy, the letter stressed that the central US interest “is in ensuring Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon” and described Iran's interest as “rebuilding [its] war- and sanctions-ravaged economy” and “preserving its national sovereignty.” If the two sides agree to meet, Istanbul or the Qatari capital, Doha, would be the most likely locations.

Senator Chris Murphy said he was briefed on the United States (US) plan to restart the war on Iran and called the proposal “insane,” saying it would lead to a “devastating escalation,” according to Middle East Eye. Murphy said the plan developed will lead, in his view, to a prolongation and an escalation of the war that will be devastating for the country’s security interests.

Iran’s Army Navy said it destroyed an enemy unmanned surface vessel (USV) in the eastern Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The agency said two oil tankers that were transiting prohibited areas with their tracking systems turned off suffered damage and caught fire after hitting sea mines, disregarding warnings and regulations.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said on Friday that two oil tankers were involved in an incident and were stopped in waters south of the Strait of Hormuz after ignoring radio warnings from Iran, according to the Jerusalem Post. Russia's TASS news agency also reported the incident and the stoppage of the two vessels.

United States (US) President Donald Trump said in an interview with KCMO radio that the conflict between the US and Iran will end very soon, according to Chinese state agency Xinhua. Trump said in the same interview that there must be a guarantee that there will never be a nuclear weapon, according to Al Arabiya.

A tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was hit by two limpet mines fixed by a small boat and suffered a fire in its engine room, the first successful use of such explosives in the waterway since the start of the United States (US) war with Iran in February, according to Reuters, in a text republished by gCaptain. The British naval agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the crew is safe, with no environmental impact, the fire extinguished and the vessel heading to its next port, according to OilPrice. The navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two tankers attempting unauthorized routes in the strait encountered incidents and were stopped in the waterway's southern waters, according to Mehr News. Brent crude reached US$117 a barrel in Asian trade amid fears of escalation after the US midterm elections on November 3, according to OilPrice.

Gulf states will have to reconfigure their trillion-dollar defenses given the damage to their economies and the questionable value of US bases in the face of Iranian attack, according to a study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reported by the Guardian. The report cites 4,670 Iranian one-way attack drones and more than 1,400 Iranian ballistic missiles against 12 regional states in the weeks before the April 8 ceasefire, and an estimate cited in the study puts damage to energy infrastructure at as much as US$58 billion.

The head of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, briefed President Donald Trump on Thursday on options for renewed attacks on Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported, according to Al Jazeera. The US and Israel have drawn up joint plans to attack Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, The New York Times reported, according to the same Al Jazeera report.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force says it intercepted a fighter jet described as hostile near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday night, according to Mehr; Qeshm residents heard explosions and saw unidentified lights and heard unidentified sounds in the sky and over the water, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday as part of efforts to reach a deal between the US and Iran, an official told Reuters, in a text published by Middle East Eye.

A letter from US Vice President JD Vance to the head of Iran’s National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, was sent in a bid to revive peace negotiations, according to Reuters, in an article published by CGTN, which cited the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. President Donald Trump told reporters the matter was “help with medical supplies and various things” and that Vance asked him what he thought, and he answered: “if you want to do that, that’s okay”.

United States Vice President JD Vance said Donald Trump will not let the conflict with Iran become a “forever war” and that the US has been involved with Iran “in some form for seven months,” dealing with the country for 47 years. Vance rejected fears of an endless war and said Trump will finish the mission.

10 United States Air Force transport aircraft arrived at Israeli bases in southern Israel as part of a larger Middle East air convoy, according to KAN News, in a text published by The Jerusalem Post. The aircraft came from Fort Bliss in Texas and would carry air defense systems to protect regional assets, according to KAN, and United States Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper briefed Trump on military options for Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal, in a text published by The Jerusalem Post. An Israeli source told KAN the United States and Israel are coordinating closely and preparing for whatever decision Trump makes, with no decision yet made.

Iranian Parliament speaker and negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said progress in negotiations with the United States depends on Washington accepting Tehran’s seven conditions, rejecting the carrot-and-stick approach. According to Middle East Eye, he said the conditions “have been repeatedly and clearly stated to the mediators” and that progress can only be achieved once Iran’s seven conditions have been agreed upon.

Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia admitted to leaking classified information about Ukraine and Iran to two reporters from separate outlets over a one-year period, according to an internal investigation report obtained by Axios, in a text republished by Yahoo News. He failed three polygraph tests about sharing classified material with the press, and the case was referred to the Department of Justice after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired him, according to CBS News.

US envoy Tom Barrack told CNN the sides are “very close” to an agreement on a process aimed at securing a temporary pause in hostilities with Iran, Middle East Eye reported. Qatar, Pakistan and other US allies had brought the sides to that point, and President Donald Trump and his administration were seriously considering “kinetic action”; asked about a possible “short, sharp” military operation against Iran, Barrack said the option remains on the table. Saudi Arabia has asked the Trump administration to “give diplomacy a chance” before a final decision on a strike, two regional sources told the Jerusalem Post, and Riyadh fears the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could retaliate against Saudi water, electricity and oil and energy infrastructure.

A soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been indicted for providing information to Iran, the Shin Bet, the Israel Police and the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a joint statement. According to the Jerusalem Post, the information he allegedly provided included the locations and coordinates of military bases, along with photographs of interceptor missiles, military vehicles and the US refueling aircraft stationed at an Israeli airport. The Times of Israel reported that the soldier was charged with spying for Iran in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Trump met at the White House on Thursday with the top US military commander to review options for attacking Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal, in reporting by G1. Senator Chris Murphy said he had been briefed on the US plan to restart the war on Iran and called the proposal insane, saying it would lead to a devastating escalation, according to the Middle East Eye. He spoke after US media reported on Wednesday that the United States had warned several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military offensive against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, a senior planner on the Joint Staff, on Thursday over accusations that he leaked classified information to the public, according to officials cited by Reuters, in a text republished by the Italian outlet Internazionale. Sylvia led the Joint Staff’s Directorate for Strategy, Plans and Policy, known inside the military as J5, a key position that helps advise the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine. Earl Rasmussen, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel, told Sputnik that the ouster may have come from differences between Sylvia’s position on the war with Iran and that of Secretary Pete Hegseth, rather than from the alleged leak.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Thursday it had received a report that a tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Middle East Eye. No injuries to the crew or environmental impact was reported, UKMTO said.

Iran said three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours while attempting to transit an unauthorized route, according to the state broadcaster, which cited the Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the report. A British military monitor said a vessel spotted another vessel on fire while transiting the strait.

Iran received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance and has not yet responded to it, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Thursday, according to Middle East Eye. The letter was sent to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei, as The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, in a bid to revive peace negotiations. Tehran insists that its seven conditions be met by the United States and says that “any position that contradicts this framework is unacceptable,” the agency added.

The intelligence department of Sistan and Baluchestan province said it dismantled four terrorist cells and arrested 16 people in the center and south of the province, some of whom came from abroad, according to Mehr News. Security forces seized nine Kalashnikov rifles, two US-made M4 rifles and seven pistols with ammunition.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Thursday that Britain was “doing everything we can” to support the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, amid the impact of the Iran war, according to Middle East Eye.

A Kremlin spokesperson told Al Jazeera that Moscow is ready to mediate between Iran and the United States if requested, according to Middle East Eye. The same spokesperson said Russia is willing to receive Iran's enriched uranium if the material remains a sticking point in negotiations.

Israel has asked the United States for permission to strike previously untargeted energy facilities in Iran if the military campaign against Tehran resumes, according to state broadcaster Kan, cited by TASS. On Wednesday, Donald Trump told Republican supporters in Ohio, ahead of the US midterm congressional elections, that he intended to end the war against Iran very quickly.

The European Union (EU) spent an average of $30.7 billion a month on petroleum oil imports between April and July, up from $19.7 billion in the same period of 2025, according to OilPrice. Since volumes rose by just 1.2%, Euronews Business estimates the bloc paid $11 billion more on oil imports in April–July than a year earlier.

A Reuters investigation identified more than 5,000 agencies with the MOD prefix, for the Ministry of Defense, that form a financial and military machine, in a text republished by Al Arabiya. The secret network of military agencies, with global reach, imported at least $2 billion in hardware, explosives and heavy-duty trucks since January 2025, evading the US naval blockade and Western sanctions, according to the agency.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it brought down a US MQM-170 spy drone intact in an offensive electronic warfare operation west of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Mehr news agency. In the Guard’s account, the drone’s mission was to conduct reconnaissance of Iran’s air defense systems along the Persian Gulf coastline and the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday that three oil tankers exploded and caught fire after hitting sea mines over the past 24 hours while attempting to cross an unauthorized route south of the Strait of Hormuz, in a statement carried by state media. The claim has no independent confirmation. The independent maritime report came earlier, from the British agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which reported a ship on fire in the strait without details on the cause or casualties.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Wednesday (28/10) that any military aggression instigated by Israel in the Persian Gulf region could have devastating consequences.

US forces in the Middle East are prepared to launch major military operations against Iran within 96 hours of receiving an order from President Donald Trump, according to two officials cited by CNN, and one official said it “will be a big effort”.

Vice President Vance wrote to Mohsen Rezaei to discuss the prospect of a peace deal with Iran, and Brent fell 1.1% to $114.10 while WTI dropped 1.3% to $101.45, according to Reuters.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-1 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz, the 14th downed, in an announcement carried by IRNA opposite Sirik and under the integrated air defense network.

Barack Obama criticized Donald Trump’s handling of the war with Iran, saying allies and bases have been attacked, Americans have been killed and hundreds have been wounded. According to the former president, the US has run down its missile stock, making the country more vulnerable, and Iran now has veto power over the Strait of Hormuz. Obama also linked the rise in oil and diesel prices to the conflict.

Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia was removed as head of strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a post known in military circles as the J5, under US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He is the second general ousted from the J5 under Hegseth, according to the Associated Press (AP). The dismissal comes as Donald Trump weighs new strikes on Iran, according to the South China Morning Post.

Donald Trump said he intends to rename the Strait of Hormuz the Trump Strait, at a Republican rally in Ohio, in the United States, ahead of the midterms, according to TASS. He compared the idea to renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and said the new name would come “at some point”.

US officials told Middle East countries and regional allies to be prepared for potential renewed military action against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections — as well as for the possibility that Iran will attempt to retaliate against them, according to two diplomats briefed on the matter who spoke to the AP. Donald Trump has not made a final decision on whether to carry out new strikes, but has repeatedly said he is weighing ordering new military action once the elections are over. The allies were also urged to take precautionary measures in anticipation that Iran's response will include retaliatory strikes on energy facilities and other crucial infrastructure.

Regional mediators led by Qatar are working to convince Iran to allow UN inspectors to return to its bombed nuclear sites in return for some sanctions relief from the US, according to Axios. The mediators are trying to reach a diplomatic deal to restart negotiations between the US and Iran and prevent the resumption of war after the US midterm elections, according to TASS.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he remains in close and permanent contact with intermediaries to examine proposals that could implement the Seven-Day Plan, under which Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the necessary conditions are met, including a ceasefire across the Middle East, with a Qatari delegation in Tehran on Sunday to discuss the talks, Hormuz and energy supply.

Qatar presented Iran with a proposal that, according to reports, would give United Nations (UN) inspectors access to Iranian nuclear sites bombed in previous rounds of fighting in exchange for some US sanctions relief, according to The Times of Israel. A senior Iranian official told Reuters, cited by Middle East Eye, that his country could not work with what had been presented and that Tehran would show no flexibility on the nuclear issue.

Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said the company will increase the number of Russian nuclear experts at the Bushehr plant in southern Iran to 700, according to Mehr News. An agreement has been signed for the site of several new units, and more than 500 people are planned to be added to the 192 Russian experts currently working in construction and services at the plant.

US Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaee, in an effort to restart peace talks, according to US officials and people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Wall Street Journal and were cited by Middle East Eye. Rezaee is a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards. According to LaPresse, which also relays the WSJ report, the letter was sent at the behest of President Donald Trump, who was aware of the initiative.

Iran will remain in close contact with mediators to examine ideas that could facilitate the implementation of the seven-day plan, even within a period shorter than one week, Araghchi said, according to Mehr News.

The United States warned several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military offensive against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, according to The Wall Street Journal, cited by Middle East Eye. US forces have been restocking their munitions in the region, and bomber aircraft and jet fighters are preparing for attacks, officials told the newspaper.

The United States advised vessels to refrain from making non-essential transits through the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz to avoid delays, according to Sputnik. The command recommended that crews be prepared to change course or stop at the direction of US forces and to have the necessary documents ready for inspection. The document said neutral vessels, carrying neutral cargo or in ballast, between neutral ports in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz may be subject to questioning, visit, and search to confirm their intentions regarding the blockade.

Iran's economic planners are weighing a scenario of $130 a barrel in the budget for the next Iranian year, which starts in March 2027, according to Iranian media cited by OilPrice. As of early October, the US blockade in the Gulf of Oman had already stranded at least 50 Iranian tankers laden with oil inside the Persian Gulf near Iran's coastline, the same report said.

The United States is moving a Patriot air and missile defense system from Texas to the Middle East as Washington and Israel prepare for a possible new round of heavy combat operations against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections, according to The Wall Street Journal, cited by The Jerusalem Post. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Washington had warned several Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a short, intense military campaign against Iran after the midterms, according to people briefed on the conversations.

Qatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal on Sunday to end the war with the US and Israel, and Tehran is expected to send a response by the end of the week, an official briefed on the negotiations said on Wednesday, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Al Arabiya English. The draft sets a seven-day timeline addressing both Tehran’s and Washington’s concerns and lays out daily confidence-building steps that each side must take, the official said.

British prosecutors said they had charged two British nationals under the National Security Act over an incident last month at the RAF Fairford airbase, and police say the two are suspected of assisting Iran, according to CNN. The base had been used by US B-1 bombers to carry out strikes on Iran, and the aircraft were withdrawn on security grounds shortly after five men were arrested outside the base in the early hours of September 27.

The United States has told several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military campaign after the midterm elections, according to people briefed on the conversations, the Hindustan Times reported. The newspaper also cited new signs that the American and Israeli militaries are preparing a potential wave of strikes to muscle Tehran to the negotiating table.

The US military has already spent over US$47 billion on the war in Iran, more than 25 percent above the July estimate, according to Pentagon data obtained by Reuters.

A private geospatial-intelligence firm examined 40 missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia by Houthis and Iraqi militias between July 1 and Oct. 19, according to the Associated Press (AP), which points to a match with Russian spy-satellite activity. The Saudi deputy minister for public diplomacy told the AP that Iran and the Houthis receive intelligence from elements in Russia and China.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told Vladimir Putin that Iran, Russia and other countries in the region can resolve local problems without US interference, according to TASS. According to TRT World, Pezeshkian said trade between the two countries is growing “day by day” and that US actions in the region make it easier to strengthen cooperation with countries subject to unilateral US sanctions: “Our trade is expanding and growing day by day.” Russia is meeting all its commitments on projects in Iran and construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant is under way, according to Mehr News.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said one area of particular concern is Iran's previously declared nuclear material, which includes 440 kg of highly enriched uranium, and that the issues have remained outstanding for more than five years, TRT World reported. In a statement to the UN Security Council, Grossi said the Bushehr nuclear power plant is the one exception where agency inspectors are carrying out verification activities.

Saudi Arabia reportedly offered a $1 billion financial package to the Houthis in an Iran-brokered deal to secure a ceasefire and halt attacks on the kingdom, according to the Hindustan Times, citing a report. The proposal was reportedly discussed during a surprise visit by Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman to Tehran, where Iran offered to act as a regional diplomatic mediator, according to NDTV.

Qatar and Iran discussed the Middle East war and the blockaded Strait of Hormuz at a meeting in Moscow, the emir's office said. Iran's navy said an oil tanker caught fire after striking naval mines east of the Strait of Hormuz, after the vessel entered a prohibited area with its tracking systems switched off.

Qatar’s emir met with Iran’s president to review the current state of relations between Tehran and Doha, according to Mehr News. The two sides stressed the importance of expanding political and economic relations and of using existing capacities to raise the level of bilateral cooperation, the agency reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the Eighth Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit in Moscow, according to TASS — five bilateral meetings are expected during the day, including with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkiye and Pakistan agreed to continue talks for regional peace and security, in a joint statement issued late on Monday, according to Al Jazeera — Riyadh sent Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan sent Army chief Asim Munir and Turkiye sent intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin.

Donald Trump described the summer ceasefire with Iran as a waste of time, according to TASS. On Monday he declared that past ceasefires with Iran were ineffective, brushing aside previous efforts to de-escalate tensions. The US-Iran ceasefire took effect in April and was later formalized and extended under the 60-day Islamabad Memorandum signed in June, before collapsing in July.

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan met with Iran in Tehran on Monday in an attempt to stop the Middle East war from reigniting, France 24 reported. It was the first joint visit to Tehran by the three countries since they formed a defense alliance in Mecca in August. Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, told state television the talks were “very good”.

On the eve of Israel’s election, Benjamin Netanyahu touted Donald Trump’s endorsement and suggested the two leaders could restart their war against Iran if he wins, after the US president said they should “finish the job”, the South China Morning Post reported. “Vote for Bibi Netanyahu for Prime Minister, we have to finish the job that we started!” Trump wrote on Sunday. The White House said the United States will not attack Iran at any time before the November 3 midterm elections, according to a spokesperson cited by the paper.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was reportedly the only Israeli security chief to oppose the military action against Iran sought by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the Times of Israel reported. Netanyahu and Katz denied plans to fire Zamir before the election, calling the report a “complete fabrication”, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Qatar is working on an agreement between the United States and Iran under which both sides would make mutual concessions within five days, according to The New York Times, cited by Sputnik, which heard from diplomatic sources. Under the outline, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping and the United States would reportedly lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports. The main obstacle is deciding exactly when each side makes its concessions.

The Iran war is set to make global liquefied natural gas (LNG) importers spend at least 39 billion dollars more in 2026, even as they buy 60.7 million tonnes less, as Qatari and Emirati exports are disrupted through the Strait of Hormuz, Rystad Energy estimates. Europe takes the biggest hit: its LNG bill rises at least 12 billion dollars, or 18%, even with demand falling 24 million tonnes.

Israel votes on Tuesday (October 27) with 7,331,981 eligible voters and 34 parties running for the Knesset. Polls project 20 to 23 of the 120 seats for Yashar, ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud, with no easy majority for any bloc to form a coalition. At his final rally, candidate Eisenkot pledged to heal divisions in Israeli society after Netanyahu's government and spoke of a commitment to security and the economy. Netanyahu said “90 percent of the work” had been done and “10 percent remains”, and that Eisenkot and the Muslim Brotherhood “will not destroy Iran's nuclear programme”: “Who is going to do it? Only I can.” Israeli media reported that officials discussed actions in preparation for a strike on Iran at Netanyahu's request, according to Middle East Eye.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called for “regional unity” at a meeting in Tehran on Monday with representatives of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, which recently signed the Makkah defence pact, Dawn reported. Iran’s state broadcaster said the quadrilateral meeting discussed regional cooperation, the US-Israeli aggression against Iran and its consequences, among other topics. The talks also included Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkiye’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin.

High-level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were in Tehran on Monday for meetings with Iranian authorities, in an attempt to avert renewed fighting between Iran, Israel and the United States, according to the Associated Press (AP), in a text republished by the Times Herald. Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and the head of Turkey’s intelligence service, Ibrahim Kalin, were to meet Iran’s top security officials and negotiators to push for a deal between Tehran and Washington. The war in Yemen and strikes by Iran-backed Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia were also topics of the talks, according to AP, in a text republished by Bay News 9.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed US President Donald Trump to carry out a joint strike on Iran before the Israeli election, and Trump did not give the green light, according to CNN, in an account reproduced by Israel Hayom. Netanyahu’s office rejected the report and called it fake news, according to Israel National News.

Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan's army chief, and Turkey's intelligence chief arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials, according to Mehr News. Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said officials from the countries that signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement will hold regional security talks in Tehran on Monday, according to Sputnik. In an interview with state broadcaster IRIB, he said Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin will take part in the joint meeting.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian travels to Russia tonight to attend the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit, with bilateral meetings with some of the attending leaders also planned, according to Mehr News. IRNA reported that Iran, one of the world’s largest holders of gas reserves, will be represented by Pezeshkian at the forum.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the American side is not serious about negotiations, speaking at his weekly news conference, according to TRT World, which cited the state-run IRNA news agency.

US forces are prepared to launch a major attack against Iran within 96 hours of receiving the order from President Donald Trump, two US officials told CNN on Sunday, according to The Jerusalem Post; Israel has been preparing for possibly striking Iran, as well as lobbying the US to participate in the strikes, a source briefed on the matter told CNN, also according to The Jerusalem Post.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir have been locked in recent days in an unprecedented confrontation surrounding an instruction by the prime minister for unspecified military action that defense officials believe could lead to a swift confrontation with Iran shortly before the election, according to a report by an Israeli broadcaster cited by The Times of Israel; Zamir had been resisting carrying out the action and sought further deliberations, as well as signed documentation regarding legal authorization; Netanyahu denied the report late on Sunday night, saying “there is no confrontation”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video on Sunday in which he warned Iran and its proxies that they would suffer blows out of all proportion if they tried to disrupt the elections, according to the Middle East Eye. There are intelligence indications that Iran and its proxies could attack to disrupt the October 27 election, according to Iran International.

Donald Trump said he has a decision to make on Iran: “finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or make a deal”, the Hindustan Times reported. The president said every Iranian nuclear site is under watch and that if there is any movement at the site, the United States knows exactly what to do: “but there won’t be”.

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are set to meet their Iranian counterparts in Tehran on Monday to discuss regional coordination, the Jerusalem Post reported. Saudi Arabia will be represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, and Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to Reuters. It will be the first high-level contact between Iran and all members of the three-nation bloc since Saudi Arabia came under escalating attacks, the Middle East Eye reported.

Iran remains fully united and on the highest level of alert amid continuing threats from the United States and Israel, Saeed Khatibzadeh, head of the Foreign Ministryʼs Center for Political and International Studies, has said, according to the Tehran Times.

Turkey warned the United States against fresh military strikes on Iran, saying a new attack would widen the conflict across the region and that diplomacy remains the only viable path, in a message delivered by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on October 23 after a meeting in Istanbul with counterparts from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, according to the Tehran Times.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff Eyal Zamir requested an in-depth discussion and formal authorization before carrying out a directive from the political echelon for an action related to Iran, according to the Jerusalem Post, citing Channel 12. Security officials told N12 the action could “trigger a rapid escalation into a confrontation with Iran”. Benjamin Netanyahu denied the report of an “unprecedented confrontation” with Zamir over the political leadership’s effort to order some kind of military action related to Iran just before Tuesday’s election, according to the Times of Israel.

The caretaker head of Iran’s oil ministry, Hamid Bovard, said in Moscow that broad agreements on gas exchange between Iran and Russia had reached the final stages, according to the Mehr News Agency. The initial transfer volume was estimated at around 1.8 billion cubic meters per year, and the project’s potential capacity in subsequent phases at up to 55 billion cubic meters annually, according to the same agency.

The chairman of the Iranian parliament's Energy Commission predicted that oil prices could rise above 150 dollars a barrel if the war on Iran resumes, according to the Mehr news agency. The prediction was published by the agency on Sunday.

Iran's Mehr news agency reported that the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces hit the headquarters of the Komala group in the Balisan region with drones the previous night, according to Middle East Eye, which cited the agency. Mehr described Komala as a “terrorist and separatist group”, and the target is in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared that “nothing will be the same” as before the US-Israeli war against Iran, including the administration of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Mehr News.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on Sunday an AI-generated image depicting a nuclear explosion over Tel Aviv and warned, two days before the election, that voting for anyone other than him could expose Israelis to the danger of a “second Holocaust,” according to the Times of Israel. He also warned Iran and its regional allies against any attempt to disrupt the parliamentary election on October 27, according to the Hindustan Times.

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said about 40 Iranian sailors aboard US-sanctioned oil tankers anchored just outside the country's territorial waters received urgent medical treatment on Saturday (October 24, 2026). According to AP, Sri Lanka answered a distress call and provided medical help to the 40 sailors before repatriating them to Tehran, a spokesperson said on Sunday. “We coordinated the transfer alone as per our humanitarian obligations. The Iranian Embassy bore all the expenses,” the ministry said, according to The Hindu.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US forces in the Middle East, has plans ready for follow-up strikes on Iran if authorized by the White House, according to The Hill, in a report cited by Al Jazeera. On Saturday, President Donald Trump suggested the United States could strike as soon as “tomorrow”, while also raising the possibility of a “big, beautiful” agreement with Tehran, according to Al Jazeera.

Iran's supreme leader directed the judiciary to pursue compensation for damages caused by the US-Israeli war, according to the state news agency IRNA, in a report by Middle East Eye.

Two Iranian officials, one of them a Revolutionary Guards member, confirmed to The New York Times on Saturday that the Islamic Republic is preparing to target US diplomats and personnel, according to The Times of Israel. Neither official was identified by the newspaper.

Iran's army air defense hit and destroyed a US Lucas drone over Bandar Abbas on Sunday morning, the army's public relations office said, according to Mehr News.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Sunday that a potential resumption of war with Israel and the United States would not change his country's positions.

Pakistan reopened the Gabd-Rimdan crossing in Balochistan, and trucks resumed crossing the border with Iran after a week-long halt to cargo traffic, according to the Times of India. The reopening took place on Saturday, when trucks carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and essential food supplies resumed movement, Mehr News reported, placing the start of the suspension on October 17. Mir Naveed Jan Kalmati, president of the Gwadar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, confirmed the reopening and said trucks and other vehicles were allowed to move in both directions with import and export goods, according to Mehr News. The Times of India reported a seven-day shutdown; Mehr News places the start of the suspension on October 17.

Russia denies plans to evacuate staff working at Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant, according to Middle East Eye.

A drone struck the headquarters of anti-Iran groups northeast of Erbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region, according to Reuters, which cited security sources in the region, in a report by Mehr News. No further details were announced on possible casualties or damage.

Former United States (US) president Barack Obama criticised at a rally in Ohio the "cruelty and corruption" of Donald Trump's second term, according to Al Jazeera. He said "the current president chose to make a series of bad decisions" and that, "most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for", referring to the US-Israel war on Iran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said that France, Germany and the United Kingdom, known as the E3, and Middle Eastern foreign ministers must examine the root causes of military conflict in the region, according to the Middle East Eye. He condemned what he called the E3’s double standards over their inaction in the face of US and Israeli military aggression against Iran, their comprehensive support for Israel and their destructive approach to Iran’s nuclear issue.

United States (US) President Donald Trump said there is a possibility of another attack on Iran, perhaps "tomorrow", and also a possibility of a "nice, big, beautiful agreement", when asked by reporters about the matter, according to the Hindustan Times. He said his goal is to permanently prevent Iran from eventually developing a nuclear weapon, and that an earlier operation involving B-2 bombers would not have guaranteed a lasting outcome — "I've got to make it permanent" —, according to TRT World. Iran, for its part, denied offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in return for the US lifting its naval blockade, and the Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Tehran has made no fresh proposal to Pakistani mediators, according to the Times of India.

Iran said on Saturday that “we will under no circumstances and at no time allow rusty U.S. military vessels to enter the Persian Gulf” and that, if attacked, it “will achieve absolute victory in this apocalyptic war”, according to The Hindu. The apocalyptic war remark was attributed to state-run Press TV. The comments by Iranian military officers came after US and Israeli media reported that both countries have drawn up plans to resume strikes against the Islamic Republic.

Iraq believes Israel was behind recent strikes on two sites where Iran-backed militias had stockpiled “Chinese-made shoulder-fired air defense systems” sourced from Tehran, sources told London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, as reported by the Jerusalem Post. The report did not provide evidence for the claims and noted that parts of them could not be confirmed.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it will stand with Iran against what it described as Zionist-American aggression against the Islamic Republic, according to Mehr News. The statement said 171 violations of Iraqi airspace by American combat and surveillance aircraft were documented between September 30 and October 23.

Iran has proposed to the United States reopening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting the US blockade on Iranian ports, according to Al Arabiya, as reported by TASS.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will travel to Moscow on Tuesday, October 27, for the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit, according to Iran's ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, who spoke to RIA Novosti. The main topics will be economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, including the North-South Corridor, energy security, food security and trade, as well as geopolitical issues between the two presidents.

Iran and 11 other countries warned that attacks against nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards must never be accepted as normal, according to Press TV. “Nuclear facilities shall never, under any circumstances, be subjected to attack or threat of attack,” the countries said in a joint statement delivered at the First Committee of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on Friday. The statement was signed by Belarus, Burkina Faso, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe.

Iran's armed forces chief of staff and commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, General Abdollahi, said the country will not allow “under any circumstances” rusting US warships to re-enter the Persian Gulf, according to the Middle East Eye. In remarks carried by Press TV, Abdollahi said Iran's armed forces had rendered the US Navy ineffective, to the point that it is no longer capable of approaching the waters around the Persian Gulf or Iran's territorial waters.

At a campaign rally in Florida, US President Donald Trump said the country “may do another little Epic Fury, or they’ll agree”, the Times of India reported on Friday. Trump warned Iran of another potential military strike if Tehran fails to reach a diplomatic agreement with Washington.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the United States has spent 11 billion in taxpayer money on missile defense for Israel over the past three years, Mehr News reported. In a post on his X account late on Friday, the top diplomat wrote: “The US has, over the past three years, spent 11 BILLION in taxpayer money on missile defense for Israel.”

The Joe Biden and Donald Trump administrations repeatedly asked SpaceX to turn its Starlink service on or off in various countries, the Jerusalem Post reported. Under Biden, the requests included switching off the service to prevent Iranian proxy militias in Yemen and Lebanon from using it to communicate, and activating it to provide internet inside Iran and in Ukraine to support its military. The Trump administration also discussed with Musk and SpaceX getting Starlink terminals into Iran after US-Israeli strikes there in June 2025 and again in February 2026, the Times of Israel reported.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Britain is “redoubling” efforts to find diplomatic solutions to the Iran war because the conflict is “driving up bills for families in Britain”, Middle East Eye reported.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will travel to Moscow next week for the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit on October 27 and is expected to meet Vladimir Putin, Iranian media reported, citing Iran’s envoy to Russia, Kazem Jalali, in a Middle East Eye report.

A memo dated October 23 from the Director of National Intelligence, Jay Clayton, to Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran has substantially increased its attempts to target American diplomats and officials, in the Middle East and beyond, according to the Hindustan Times. Some of the suspected plots involving potential loss of life have reached advanced stages, according to the document obtained by Axios. A US official confirmed that Washington directed several diplomatic missions to reduce staffing on Friday, cutting personnel at embassies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon, Qatar and Jordan.

The United States is accelerating the evacuation of diplomats and their families from its missions across the Middle East amid concerns over a possible regional escalation and renewed strikes on Iran, according to the Jerusalem Post. The State Department ordered nonessential personnel and their families to leave Saudi Arabia and quietly reduced staffing levels at US embassies in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

Tehran has drawn up detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if the United States and Israel attack Iran again, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters, according to The Hindu. One of them said Iran would aim to prevent repairs after any attacks, to prolong disruptions to communications, including internet connections.

US President Donald Trump said the country may launch “another little Epic Fury” on Iran, a reference to the joint Israeli-American military operation that sparked the war with Iran at the end of February, according to France 24. “We may do another little Epic Fury,” Trump said at a rally in Florida as he spoke about the war.

The Navy of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said two more supertankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz via an unauthorized southern route struck naval mines, with the explosions and fires incapacitating their engine rooms, and were abandoned by their crews. Together the vessels were carrying more than 4.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to the IRGC Navy, in a Mehr News report. The commander of the IRGC Navy said US forces had moved 600 to 700 kilometers away from the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Tehran Times.

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said a strike on Iran this weekend is possible. “Could there be a strike this weekend? Absolutely,” he said in an interview with Mario Nawfal’s podcast, according to the Times of Israel. The envoy, who does not have a direct role on Iran, said the consequence would not be regime change: “If you keep threatening the world, our allies, the Gulf, there will be a consequence. The consequence won’t be regime change.” President Donald Trump said that if that is the case he knows nothing about it: “Well, if that’s the case, I don’t know anything about it,” he said, according to TASS. In Istanbul, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said everyone agrees a new attack on Iran would expand the war in the region: “A military intervention on Iran is not in any way a solution. Nobody approves this at the moment,” he told a press conference, according to the Jerusalem Post. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said after Friday’s meetings that renewed escalation between Iran and the United States would only have losers and raise oil prices.

Ministers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, the E3 group, met in Istanbul on Friday, October 23, with counterparts from the R4 – Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt – along with Italy, and urged diplomacy between the US and Iran instead of new attacks, according to Al Jazeera. One of the ministers present said that “a military intervention on Iran is not in any way a solution” and that “nobody approves this at the moment”, according to Middle East Eye. A European minister warned that a further escalation between Iran and the US “would create nothing but losers” and would have very serious consequences for hydrocarbon prices.

Iran's central bank governor, Abdolnaser Hemmati, said the country's foreign exchange reserves are “in a good shape” and would last until the end of Donald Trump's administration, according to Mehr News.

Iran's mission to the Vienna-based UN organizations criticized what it described as the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) continued failure to condemn attacks by the United States and the “Zionist regime” on its nuclear facilities, according to the Iranian agency Mehr News.

Donald Trump suggested the United States (US) may launch further attacks against Iran, saying “we’ve knocked the hell out of them, and we may do it a little bit further”, according to the Middle East Eye.

Iran’s first vice president said trade with Tajikistan is up 50% since the start of the conflict with the United States, but Tajik figures show a rise of about 15%, to $254 million in the first half of 2026, according to OilPrice. Iran’s transport minister pitched Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on a north-south route centred on Chabahar to India, winning a Kazakh commitment to work on a transport agreement.

The United States Central Command said its naval blockade of Iran has completed 100 days and prevented at least $25 billion in Iranian oil exports, according to Middle East Eye. There have been no exports or imports to Iran by sea except for the humanitarian aid US forces have allowed, the command said in a post cited by CBS.

Israel's military and the US armed forces have drawn up plans to renew joint strikes on Iran in the coming weeks, according to two Israeli sources familiar with the plans, ABC News reported. The White House said on Thursday that the US will not resume attacks on Iran before the November 3 midterm elections.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Karnakis & Karnakis, a law firm based in Greece and Panama, for giving legal assistance for years to Iranian shipping networks, while Washington held off striking Iran this month and kept up a blockade of Iranian ports with waves of sanctions on shipping networks, according to CGTN.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced it was preparing to unveil a new weapon dubbed the “Father of All Bombs,” in response to US threats to use the most powerful conventional bomb against Iranian nuclear facilities, saying through spokesperson Hossein Mohabi that it was in the preparatory stages of the unveiling, according to The Jerusalem Post, citing the Young Journalists Club. US defence officials prepared a range of options for the president to consider as he weighs military escalation in Iran, sources told ABC News, according to ABC News.

The Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that four vessels conducting illegal oil transfers in the northern Persian Gulf were hit simultaneously and caught fire, according to Mehr News.

The United States and Israel have drawn up plans for renewed strikes on Iran for after the November 3 legislative elections, according to The New York Times in a text republished by The Times of Israel, with likely targets at energy sites, nuclear facilities and missile and drone arsenals — the new detail after the reports of a US veto and flights to the border. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel this week to discuss the new strikes, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran is prepared to give diplomacy another chance if it sees “strong evidence” of a sincere US desire to build trust and reach a just solution, in a post on his X account. “But if US chooses war over diplomacy, it’ll certainly result in an even greater strategic failure,” he added.

Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted a sortie on Monday, flying as far as the Iranian border, according to Israeli and US officials cited by Axios. Israel notified Washington in advance and described the operation as a training exercise intended for “power projection”, aimed at deterring Iran from attacking ahead of next week’s election, Axios reported. The Times of Israel reported the same advance notice, described as a military exercise and a show of force.

Explosions were heard in Sirik, in southern Iran, on Wednesday, according to Iran's Fars news agency, in an account published by the Middle East Eye. The nature and origin of the explosions were unknown at the time of publication.

President Donald Trump blocked an Israeli plan to attack Iran this month, according to the Financial Times, in a report published by G1. Sources told the newspaper the plan foresaw multi-day strikes starting October 10 against Iran's energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities and targets linked to the local government. The Jerusalem Post reports conflicting accounts, according to which the Israel Defense Forces were planning to strike Iran on October 10 before being reined in by Trump.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his directive to the Israel Defense Forces, the Mossad and the defense establishment is to overthrow the regime in Iran. At an officer cadet graduation ceremony, he said the Iranian regime “has still not learned its lesson” and accused new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei of following “in his father's footsteps” in developing “the bombs of death”, according to the Middle East Eye. Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened: “If Iran attacks Israel, Iran will burn!”

Israel’s Transportation Ministry notified United Airlines on Wednesday that one of its pilots has been barred from entering Israel as a crew member because of his history of Iranian sympathies, the Jerusalem Post reported. The Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Ministry forwarded information that the pilot, Sina Amjadian, shared political and pro-Iranian regime posts on his social media accounts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Jerusalem Post he had warnings from military intelligence and the Mossad that Iran and its allies are considering ways to influence the elections. “We have clear warnings that we got from military intelligence, from the Mossad, that Iran and its proxies are considering ways to influence the elections,” he said. Netanyahu also said that about a year ago Iran was on the verge of developing several atomic bombs, and estimated that the country still possessed more than 1,000 missiles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff that Moscow is willing to help resolve the conflict between Iran and the United States, according to Mehr News, an Iranian state outlet. Putin pointed to Russia’s special, trust-based relationship with Iran and said Moscow would be pleased to take any steps to help resolve the crisis. Mehr describes the moment as the escalation in West Asia after the “war of aggression” by the United States and Israel on Iran.

Iran unveiled advanced quantum labs at three academic centers, according to the Mehr News agency. The announcement did not specify which institutions are involved or the scope of the training.

Iraq has closed the Al Sheeb border crossing with Iran to travelers and goods, according to a government official cited by The National. The closure took effect at 6am local time on Wednesday and will remain in place until further notice. Two sources at the crossing told Reuters that the measure also affects vehicles and commercial trucks, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei told Pakistani army chief Asim Munir that no enriched nuclear material will leave the country, as it is national wealth for domestic use, according to state TV cited by The Hindu. Tehran maintains that it will not hand over to any country material enriched to 60%, close to the 90% bomb threshold, but has hinted at diluting it inside Iranian borders, according to the Korea Herald.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the military to prepare a multi-day operation against Iran for the weekend of October 10, targeting nuclear facilities, power plants and civilian infrastructure, as well as regime sites, according to Ynet. US President Donald Trump blocked the operation over not wanting to restart the war ahead of the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, and a source told the Financial Times (FT), according to The Jerusalem Post, that there will either be a deal or an attack, with a fresh round of strikes in the coming weeks as a realistic possibility.

The executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, said he sees no credible pathway toward a normalization of the oil market in 2027, according to The Hindu. The war has lifted oil above US$100 a barrel, from below US$70 before hostilities began, with diesel at record highs on refinery damage, and the IEA has organized the release of up to 400 million barrels of strategic reserves, with further releases admitted if warranted. Brent traded at US$110.30 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at US$99.12, both higher on Middle East supply fears, according to OilPrice, in a text published at the address recording the quotes.

Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei told visiting Pakistani army chief Asim Munir on Tuesday that Tehran will not allow nuclear material to leave the country, according to Iranian state TV, as cited by the Times of Israel. “Not even a tiny bit of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran. Such materials constitute a major asset and national wealth for the Iranian people, intended for use within the country,” Rezaei said. Iran International also reported the statement at the meeting with Munir.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has not received a response from Saudi Arabia or Yemen's Houthis to its offer to help broker talks to end the fighting between them, in a television interview aired on Tuesday, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil exploded and caught fire after striking a naval mine south of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the statement, the vessel had switched off all its radar and navigation systems and was attempting to exit through the unauthorized southern route of the strait despite warnings from Iranian naval forces. Dawn reported that two tankers were set ablaze and brought to a halt south of the Strait of Hormuz after hitting Iranian mines, according to an IRGC Navy statement shared by state media on Tuesday.

British police rearrested two men on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service in the suspected plot at a US-run air base in England, police said on Tuesday. Counter Terrorism Policing said the men, a 24-year-old British national and a 25-year-old dual UK-Iranian national, were arrested under the National Security Act. Police are investigating a suspected terror plot on Sept. 27 against the US-run base at RAF Fairford in western England, which has been used to bomb Iran during this year’s war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he discussed with US President Donald Trump on Sunday the need to topple Iran’s regime. According to Netanyahu, dismantling the Iranian government is key to preventing the country from rebuilding its nuclear programme and the so-called Axis of Resistance.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed mediation efforts and regional developments with Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, in Tehran, according to Nournews, cited by The Jerusalem Post. The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, told Munir that “not even a particle of enriched uranium will leave Iran”, according to Mehr News. Rezaei also said Tehran will not negotiate until its conditions are met, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Record-high freight costs are changing the behavior of Asian buyers, who are increasingly using smaller tankers and ships under long-term charter deals to pick up crude oil, according to OilPrice. The Iran war reshuffled trade routes and patterns and tied up more supertankers in inefficient, lengthy voyages and on a shuttle service to move crude through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's envoy said Iraq agreed to expel the anti-Iran adversary group, Mehr News reported. Tehran and Baghdad agreed on the expulsion of “anti-Iran separatist terrorists”, according to the official Iranian agency IRNA. Iran says Iraq has agreed to expel Iranian Kurdish opposition groups from the Kurdistan region, according to The National.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that Russia and Iran have “never” worked so closely, as Moscow seeks to play a mediating role in the Middle East war, The Times of Israel reported. Araghchi hosted his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Iran on Monday, in his first visit to the country since the outbreak of the conflict.

Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran on Tuesday with a delegation of Pakistani officials to meet senior Iranian officials, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, cited by The Jerusalem Post.

Two tankers were set ablaze and brought to a halt south of the Strait of Hormuz after hitting Iranian mines, the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement shared by state media and cited by Middle East Eye.

Iran's envoy to the UN, Gholamhossein Darzi, wrote to the secretary-general and the Security Council against what he called the “arrogant threats” of US President Donald Trump and Israel, according to Mehr News — the letter cites reports that the White House and the Pentagon prepared military options including the possible use of the GBU-43/B bomb and says Israeli minister Yisrael Katz announced on October 18 he was ready to attack Iran and target all energy facilities, according to the same agency, and Iran requested an emergency Council meeting, condemnation and full reparation, according to Press TV.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks in Tehran with President Masoud Pezeshkian, focusing on bilateral cooperation and regional developments — with Pezeshkian urging faster energy, transport and trade deals — and also with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei, according to TRT World.

The foreign ministers of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, and of Brazil, Mauro Vieira, discussed regional issues and the latest international developments by phone, according to Mehr News.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-9 drone over the Strait of Hormuz early on Tuesday, according to the Middle East Eye.

Iran's ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, said consultations between President Masoud Pezeshkian and President Vladimir Putin will continue at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit in Moscow, according to Mehr News.

A Hamburg court found two men guilty of plotting to kill two leaders of Jewish organizations at Tehran’s behest and, after that, Iran summoned Germany’s ambassador, Axel Dittmann, according to Al Jazeera. The Dane, partially identified as Ali Hassan S, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years; the Afghan recruited as his accomplice, for four-and-a-half years. Tehran rejects the accusations as “baseless political claims” and says that attempting to give them a judicial face undermines the standing of the German judiciary itself.

Saudi Arabia’s newly appointed envoy to Pakistan, Rajeh Tami Albugamy, met Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Monday in Rawalpindi to discuss matters of mutual interest and regional security dynamics, the army said. Both sides expressed satisfaction over progress under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement and underscored the importance of strengthening defense collaboration. Munir will travel to Tehran on Tuesday for consultations with Iranian officials, according to Mehr News.

Iran summoned German Ambassador Axel Dittmann to the Foreign Ministry on Monday in protest over repeated allegations by German officials that Tehran considers baseless. On the same day, Germany’s Foreign Ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador over allegations of an attempted attack against a leader of one of the country’s Jewish communities, according to Mehr News.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Tehran to speed up the implementation of agreements between the two countries, citing energy, transport, trade and power generation as priority areas, according to the Tehran Times. Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s intention to expand cooperation in oil and gas, energy, transport, communications, media, culture, science and higher education. According to Brasil de Fato, the Russian minister discussed the crisis in Ukraine in Tehran and reinforced the partnership with Iran.

Donald Trump formally endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election and wrote that if Israel has “the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so”, in a Truth Social post on Sunday. Trump called Netanyahu a “great warrior prime minister and an even greater partner for peace” and said Iran had been “systematically destroyed both militarily and financially, and unless they change their ways, rapidly, we will soon finish the job”. The Israeli election will be on October 27, and Haaretz’s tracker projected on Sunday 52 seats for the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party against 51 for the Likud-led coalition, with no outright majority for anyone.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed the United States and Israel for insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz, saying that “the war imposed by the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel), combined with the economic blockade, constitutes the principal source of insecurity in our region”, at a press conference in Tehran on Monday alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to TRT World, Lavrov is on his first visit to Iran since the outbreak of the Middle East war, and Moscow is seeking to play a mediating role.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Tehran on 19 October to discuss de-escalation steps in the Persian Gulf region with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to Russian outlet TASS, in a report by The Cradle. The visit coincides with mounting US threats against Iran and a vow by the Islamic Republic to retaliate much more forcefully to any new attack, according to the same publication.

The Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), at its 108th session in Manama, Bahrain, condemned retaliatory attacks by the Yemeni army against Saudi positions and attributed missile and drone attacks against Council members and Jordan to Iran, according to Mehr News.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country has unfinished business with Israel in a social media post responding to rhetoric from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mehr News reported. Araghchi wrote that Netanyahu “is driving America into another war to stay out of jail, whatever the consequences for Israel”.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced another oil tanker exploded after hitting a mine in Hormuz, according to Mehr News. The state-run IRNA news agency reported a third oil tanker caught fire after striking a sea mine in the strait on Sunday, citing the IRGC Navy’s public relations office.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will present to Iran the steps Moscow says it is taking to reduce regional tensions created by the United States and Israel and brief Tehran on the outcome of his meetings with officials from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states in Manama, according to TASS. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will receive the Russian diplomat during the working visit to Iran.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two oil tankers, each carrying about two million barrels of crude oil, caught fire after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera. TASS, citing an IRGC statement, reports one tanker that struck a mine in the southern part of the strait and suffered an explosion and a fire in the engine room, and Middle East Eye, citing Iranian media, also describes one tanker on fire in the same stretch, according to the IRGC navy.

The foreign ministers of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, and of Egypt, Badr Abdelatty, held a telephone conversation on Sunday evening, according to Mehr News. In the call, they reviewed the latest regional developments and discussed diplomatic efforts and initiatives aimed at reducing tensions and maintaining stability in the region.

Iran’s new Defence Minister, Mehrdad Akhlaghi, threatened to inflict “enormous damage” on the United States and its allies in West Asia if Washington resumes its military campaign against the country, on Sunday, October 18. Akhlaghi was elected to the post with 237 votes out of 277 cast, according to the government website.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a working visit to Tehran on October 19, where he will be received by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and hold talks with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The situation in the Middle East is on the brink of a large-scale war, although the Islamabad memorandum between the United States and Iran has everything to bring the situation in the Strait of Hormuz back to the diplomatic track, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, according to TASS.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Iranian regime “must fall, and I will bring it down”, he said, according to the Times of Israel.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country has become self-sufficient in gasoline supply through consumption management and public cooperation, and that it previously had to spend 12 billion dollars importing the gasoline it needed, according to the Tehran Times.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened if the United States accepts Iran’s conditions, according to Mehr News. Cited by the Hindustan Times, the foreign minister said the strait could reopen within six days if Washington accepts the conditions, with negotiations resuming on the seventh day. Iran’s demands include lifting the US blockade on its ports, removing sanctions on Iranian oil exports and ending hostilities across all regional fronts, according to the Times of India. Iran’s new defense minister, Mehrdad Akhlaghi, warned that the United States and its allies will suffer enormous damage if Washington resumes military action against Tehran, according to Sputnik.

Iran’s parliament approved Mehrdad Akhlachi Ketabchi as defense minister on Sunday, ending months of interim leadership at the ministry. Akhlachi replaces Majid Ebn al-Reza, who took over in an interim capacity after then Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed by US-Israeli strikes in February. The name appears as Mehrdad Akhlaghi in a Times of Israel text, which says the predecessor was killed on the first day of the war.

US Vice President JD Vance said Washington was focused on securing a “long-term” and “verifiable commitment” from Iran not to rebuild its nuclear program, while claiming the US had “in some ways decisively won” the war against Iran and destroyed its nuclear program, according to Middle East Eye. Vance blamed Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on tankers for driving up prices, saying, “We’ve never had a situation like this” in which one country was “trying to completely choke off world energy supply”.

Iran’s foreign minister voiced support for Lebanon’s right to defend its sovereignty and national security against Israeli aggression during a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart in Baghdad, according to the Iranian Mehr News Agency.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported that a second supertanker struck a naval mine and caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, and Iran’s navy said an oil tanker caught fire in the Sea of Oman, according to Al Jazeera. United States Central Command (Centcom) said the “vast majority” of Iran’s attempted attacks on ships in the strait failed and that the waterway remains open, and spokesperson Tim Hawkins told Fox News that about 97 percent of vessels trying to cross the strait had done so without being struck, many with US military protection, according to Middle East Eye. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran presented a concrete seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, conveyed through Qatar, according to Iranian state broadcaster Press TV, cited by Middle East Eye; he told RT that, if the necessary conditions are met, the Strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days, in exchange for Washington lifting its naval blockade, easing restrictions on Iranian oil exports and releasing frozen Iranian assets.

Sounds of explosions were heard near the city of Sirik in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, according to the Fars news agency, in a report cited by TASS. Locals reported explosions in the Kuhestak coastal area and in several districts of Sirik, according to the same agency.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in Baghdad on Saturday that Tehran supports a “political process” to resolve the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis, according to The Hindu. Araghchi repeated Iran’s offer to mediate between the two sides; Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh previously said Riyadh had not responded to Iran’s overture. On Friday, Iran denied involvement in the Houthi attacks after Saudi Arabia accused Tehran of encouraging the group’s escalation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Baghdad on the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), according to Mehr News. The two foreign ministers exchanged views on bilateral ties, the latest developments in the region and issues of mutual interest.

Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters put forward six proposals to strengthen cooperation among Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states in combating illicit drugs and related crimes, according to the Tehran Times. The proposals include strengthening the regional early warning system on synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances and cooperation in countering chemical precursors used in the illicit manufacturing of narcotic drugs.

The naval force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared once again that “the Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the passage of ships of various nationalities through the strait is prohibited”, according to the official state IRNA news agency. An oil tanker caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after hitting a mine, according to the Revolutionary Guards. At least two other tankers were reported hit off Saudi Arabia’s coast since yesterday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi met with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, in Baghdad on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), according to the Iranian agency Mehr News.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said a supertanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, triggering an explosion and a massive fire, in a statement released on Saturday. The IRGC also said, in a report published by Mehr News, that the vessel was attempting to transit the strait through an unauthorized route when it hit the mine.

United States (US) officials say Iran has lost 25 billion dollars in oil revenue, according to the Times of India. The top US military commander in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, said Iran-backed militias are withholding salaries from their own fighters to send money back to the Revolutionary Guard, as sanctions and a naval blockade have cost Iran 25 billion dollars in lost oil revenue, according to Worthy Christian News, in a summary on the aggregator Ground News.

US President Donald Trump said the US Navy is carrying out an “effective” blockade that has stopped all Iranian ships from crossing the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghai, denied on Friday, in a statement, any Iranian involvement in the drone and missile attacks, according to Le Monde. The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Turki Al-Malki, said coalition forces intercepted and destroyed three drones in the south of the country and in Riyadh, as well as two cruise missiles over the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence lifted the early warning alerts it had issued for Abha city and the Khamis Mushait governorate, according to Middle East Eye.

Iranian Army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said on Friday that the country has new operational plans underway that will force US naval forces to withdraw farther from Iran’s coastline in the coming days, according to West Asia News Agency (WANA).

Iran plans to invite Gazprom to develop gas fields in the country, Deputy Oil Minister Saeed Tavakoli said at Russian Energy Week, according to TASS. Tavakoli said Tehran and Moscow have no specific program for joint gas production and that Iran will use Gazprom’s potential under contracts currently under discussion.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in Armenia that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons and described the destructive propaganda against the country as lies, according to Middle East Eye. “We have always been ready to talk; they think they can make us surrender, but we will not give in to force,” he said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, according to Mehr News — Pezeshkian arrived in Armenia to take part in the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17).

United States (US) President Donald Trump ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran and said the mother of all bombs under discussion is conventional, described by him as just an extremely large bomb, according to TRT World. Trump also raised the possibility of further strikes against Iran nuclear facilities, including the suspected underground site known as Pickaxe Mountain, and said he did not see an operation involving American ground troops.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei accused the United Kingdom of reversing the roles of aggressor and victim after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he discussed ending Iranian aggression, including in the Strait of Hormuz, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Middle East Eye. In a post on X, Baqaei said the regional turmoil stemmed from unlawful interventions, including those backed or supported by Britain.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that his department “will not relent until the Iranian regime’s coffers are empty”, after it announced fresh sanctions on Iran-related individuals and entities, according to Middle East Eye.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser, Ophir Falk, told The Jerusalem Post that Israel is “very close” to creating the conditions for regime change in Iran, and that the decision is up to the Iranian people.

Iran’s military said on Thursday that an oil tanker had caught fire in the Gulf of Oman as it was attempting to pass through an area deemed prohibited, according to Iranian state TV, in a text republished by Free Malaysia Today.

Representatives from Iran, Turkey, Kuwait, Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority walked out of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s speech on Thursday at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The US military developed new strike plans that include potentially using the so-called “mother of all bombs” to target Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites, according to CNN, in a text republished by KWWL. The report said military planners had included the weapon among the options against Iranian targets, including Pickaxe Mountain, according to SANA, which cited CNN.

US President Donald Trump said the war against Iran will end very soon, as soon as he wants it to, that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon and that oil prices will drop like a rock. The war has already caused an economic impact of roughly $265 billion in the United States, by the estimate of Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, according to Opera Mundi.

Iraqi Kurds have proposed a peace process between Iran and the Iranian Kurdish opposition, a proposal discussed extensively with Iranian officials in Tehran that Talabani said will be a lengthy process, in a report by Middle East Eye. Iranian Kurdish parties contacted by Middle East Eye said they were not aware of new talks with Iran, or refused to comment. Since the withdrawal, Iran has targeted the Iranian Kurdish parties with drones three times, including during the Meri forum in Koya.

Iran instructed Hezbollah to raise its level of military readiness for a possible confrontation, according to Lebanese security and military sources cited by the Emirati site Erem News, in a report by The Jerusalem Post. All full-time Hezbollah members who receive monthly salaries were summoned, with the caveat that the directions were only preparations for a near-term scenario, with no final decision to go to war. Over the past two weeks, Hezbollah launched at least three drones and intelligence-gathering devices toward the security zone in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli Army Radio. Israel tried to intercept all three items and managed to bring down only one, according to the report in Hebrew media reproduced by The Cradle.

A commander of the Basij’s Afzal Sisters female unit was killed in an attack on Wednesday in Mehrestan, a border county in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iranian state media reported, according to The Jerusalem Post. The victim, identified as Afsaneh Aqila, was reportedly assassinated outside her home in front of her children. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Tasnim News Agency alleged the gunmen had links to Israel and the United States, without identifying the group responsible or providing evidence.

Iran’s Army Deputy Coordinator Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the Strait of Hormuz is closed, that any passage through it must be coordinated, and cited high gasoline prices in the US as proof of the closure, according to Mehr News.

Crude oil prices retreated on the news that President Donald Trump is considering lifting sanctions on shadow-fleet tankers used to carry oil from Venezuela, Russia and Iran, with Brent trading at US$ 104.39 per barrel and WTI at US$ 94.02, after Brent topped US$ 106 earlier in the week, according to OilPrice.

US forces developed strike plans against Iran that include using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, according to CNN in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post. The plans call for using the weapon against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain, if President Donald Trump orders renewed combat operations, according to US officials cited by CNN.

Electromagnetic weapons of the United States (US) Space Force played a crucial role in military operations in Venezuela and Iran and include Meadowlands, an offensive system that can jam enemy satellites and disrupt their communications, according to The Wall Street Journal, cited by The Jerusalem Post.

The United States military destroyed an Iranian-affiliated dhow in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced. According to CENTCOM, the vessel was targeted after being observed conducting surveillance and targeting US Navy ships. The crew was safely removed before the dhow was destroyed, and repatriation efforts are ongoing, CENTCOM said.

Iranian leaders consider a new US strike inevitable and focus the discussion on when it will happen, according to regional diplomats quoted by the Jerusalem Post. Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akrami-Nia said the US objective in waging an illegal war is to destroy Iranian Islamic civilization. A spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Iran is prepared to respond to any further aggression with greater force than in the past and that the consequences for the US will be far more painful.

A senior UN official warned that a failure by the US and Iran to quickly approve a UN plan for shipping fertilizer through the Strait of Hormuz could plunge parts of Asia and Africa into a food security crisis, according to Reuters, in a text published by The Cradle. “It’s absolutely crucial to get the deal in the next few weeks. Otherwise, we will miss the planting season,” UN Under-Secretary-General Jorge Moreira da Silva told Reuters in Bangkok. According to the UN analysis he cited, daily traffic through the strait has collapsed from around 130 ships before the war to just five last week, and fertilizer prices have jumped 25 to 30 percent since late February.

Netanyahu said in an interview with Army Radio that a preemptive strike on Iran before the elections would be inconvenient timing for Israel: “I don’t think the timing is convenient for us.” An Israeli security official assessed on Wednesday that Israel is unlikely to launch a preemptive strike against Iran before the elections, according to Ynetnews. Israeli authorities have heightened their alert against Iranian interference in the vote. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned senior US administration and military officials that an escalation with Iran could lead to the postponement of Israel’s elections, scheduled for October 27, according to Ynetnews.

Iran’s stock market has seen an influx of investments despite increasing power outages, a shortage of foreign currency and the rate of the rial tanking, Iran International reported on Tuesday, according to the Jerusalem Post. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that Iran’s economy would contract by 7.6% in 2026, as compared to the rate of 5.4% projected in July, according to the same outlet.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said a container ship sank in the Strait of Hormuz after striking a mine, according to TASS. The ship was carrying about 2,500 containers, and the report did not identify the owner or provide information about the fate of the crew. LBC, citing Reuters and Iranian state media, reported that the ship was trying to transit a route the Guard described as unauthorised and dangerous.

Yemen’s Houthis are developing their own version of Iran’s Kheibar Shekan precision-guided missile using parts imported from Chinese companies, according to the Wall Street Journal with data from Conflict Armament Research, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post. The missile would have a maximum range of approximately 1,200 miles, putting all of Saudi Arabia and Israel in range, and the report drew on two shipments interdicted in 2025, the outlet said.

Iran’s Judiciary announced the execution of Ali Sina Mostafavi in Kerman on Wednesday morning, following confirmation of the sentence by the Supreme Court, according to Press TV. According to the Judiciary, the convict shot and wounded civilians, including a minor girl, in armed attacks during the 40-day war, and security forces seized from his hideout a Brno sniper rifle with a scope, a shotgun, firearms and 246 cartridges and 30 Molotov cocktails, the outlet said.

Brent was trading at $106.37 and West Texas Intermediate at $94.72, while Iranian officials attributed the recent surge in tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz to new tactics and suggested they are not about to end anytime soon, according to Reuters, in text republished by OilPrice.

US President Donald Trump said the country will hit Iran “hard”: “Wait and see what we do to Iran. We’re going to hit them hard,” he said, according to The Jerusalem Post. Trump also said that Iran’s nuclear facilities remain buried beneath “thousands of tons of rock”.

United States (US) President Donald Trump accused Yemenʼs Houthis of deliberately trying to drive up oil prices, probably ahead of the US elections, and said the group had emerged again probably at the behest of Iran and was hitting Saudi Arabia in a very nasty way, according to the Middle East Eye.

The United States Central Command (Centcom) rejected the Iranian claim of control over the Strait of Hormuz, said American forces and regional partners clearly control the strait – with more than 19 million barrels of crude oil shipped with American assistance – and said the naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has no navy, according to the Middle East Eye.

Iranian missile and drone attacks on ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz were at their most intense in the two weeks to October 11, the highest level since the US-Israeli strikes began seven months ago, according to the Financial Times, in a report by Middle East Eye. Six vessels were attacked on Sunday alone — the deadliest day of attacks on shipping near the strait since the start of the conflict, the newspaper calculated. Oil shipments through Hormuz fell to 2.9 million barrels on October 11, the lowest daily volume this month, according to Kpler.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he does not believe China and Russia are helping Iran at all, contradicting US intelligence reports from recent months. According to two people briefed on the matter, US intelligence assessments show that Russia and China provide military support to Tehran in the form of satellite imagery for targeting purposes and components for weapons.

The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence service MI5, Ken McCallum, said Iran has broadened its targeting in Britain to military sites and that the suspected plot at US-run RAF Fairford was not an isolated incident, according to the Los Angeles Times. McCallum also said British authorities have made more than 50 arrests in “Iran-linked operations” in the past 12 months, according to The Hill.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Donald Trump last week to discuss the possibility of a renewed military campaign against Iran before Knesset elections at the end of October, according to an Axios report cited by The Jerusalem Post. Senior US officials told Axios that Netanyahu cited alleged Iranian efforts to rebuild nuclear capacity as the reason for launching new strikes.

Iran summoned the British ambassador to Tehran over “accusations” linking the country to a suspected plot against Fairford air base in the United Kingdom, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday, according to the Middle East Eye. The ministry demanded that the British government provide “as soon as possible” the documents and evidence supporting its accusations and said that otherwise the Islamic Republic of Iran “will seriously reconsider its bilateral relations.”

The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence service MI5, Ken McCallum, said Russia remained “aggressor number one” and that the agency’s terrorism and state-threats operational missions are now of pretty much equal scale, according to BBC News. He said MI5 had made over 50 arrests in the last year over Iran-linked activities. McCallum also said Iran is trying to hit military sites in the UK and that the suspected plot to attack a US-run military air base in September is “not unique”, according to ABC News, in a story distributed by The Associated Press (AP).

Badr Abdelatty of Egypt urged Iran's Abbas Araghchi to help ease regional tensions and demanded that attacks on Saudi Arabia stop immediately, according to Middle East Eye. Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Abdelatty described the attacks as “unacceptable” and said there was “no justification for these attacks”. Abdelatty also urged Tehran and Washington to resume talks, saying diplomacy was the only route to settling their disputes and averting further instability.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that holding the country's enemies accountable for military aggression and environmental damage is an undeniable necessity, and that US and Israeli attacks on Iran and on oil and energy targets created serious environmental hazards, according to Mehr News, adding that Iran “neither forgives nor forgets.”

Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said that control over the Strait of Hormuz represents enormous national wealth and that its real value lies in the ability to ensure security, according to Mehr News.

US President Donald Trump said the US “might have gone too far” in targeting Iran's leadership, according to The Jerusalem Post, adding that Washington struggles to know whom to negotiate with, and repeated in Ohio that Washington is “having a hard time figuring out who to deal with”, according to the Middle East Eye.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he does not believe China and Russia are helping Iran “at all” and that Moscow and Beijing have “too much to lose,” according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Jerusalem Post.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament that the British assessment is that the episode at the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Fairford was [“highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran [and] almost certainly directed” by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and that the United Kingdom would bring further sanctions against Tehran and the Guard as a result](https://theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/12/iran-revolutionary-guards-irgc-raf-fairford-threats), according to The Guardian. Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the British allegations, calling them a false-flag plot to advance an anti-Iran campaign, according to Mehr News.

The commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Ahmad Vahidi, said no extra-regional power has the right to threaten, hold a domineering presence or intervene in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, according to Mehr News. According to Middle East Eye, foreign powers have no right to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC commander-in-chief said.

US President Donald Trump criticised the Houthis for “misbehaving very badly” following a series of attacks on Saudi Arabian airports, according to Al Jazeera. Trump said the midterm elections will not affect his approach to the war on Iran and that, as soon as the war ends — which will be very soon — the price of oil will drop “like a rock”, according to Middle East Eye.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi offered to help facilitate talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in a call with his Saudi counterpart amid deadly attacks, according to The Jerusalem Post. Xinhua reported that Iran voiced readiness to provide any kind of assistance to help initiate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said a suspected plot against Royal Air Force (RAF) base Fairford was almost certainly directed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Al Jazeera. The British government summoned the ambassador and announced sanctions against two individuals, according to DW.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said a third oil tanker caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz after striking a naval mine, according to Mehr News. The IRGC said the vessel had attempted to cross through an unauthorized route despite warnings, and that it was the third super tanker in two days to try to breach the blockade and hit a mine.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said it had struck a supertanker trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and that the vessel caught fire. The statement was published on the force’s news platform, Sepah News. According to the Guards, the ship tried to cross the area by disabling its transponders and ignoring warnings from the Guards’ navy. Al Jazeera, citing reports, said an oil tanker was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz region. Brent futures for December rose above $107 a barrel on the ICE, the first time since September 29, according to trade data cited by TASS.

Sixty countries supported a declaration on Monday (12) committing to work to preserve freedom of navigation and opposing the introduction of tolls in straits used for international navigation, according to G1. The document was signed by EU members, Australia, Japan and the UK, among others. Since the start of the war between the United States and Iran, the charging of fees for navigation through the Strait of Hormuz has been speculated about.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Parliament it is highly likely the threats against RAF Fairford were coordinated in Iran and almost certainly directed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Burnham said the UK would bring further sanctions against Tehran and the IRGC as a result, with more information to follow in an update from Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Five men from London drove to Whelford, a village next to a base used by the US air force, in three white vans shortly after midnight on 27 September. They were released on police bail a day later after no bombs or explosives were found. A week later, the US withdrew 12 B-1 bombers from the base, amid reports of concern about a possible drone attack on a base used to attack Iran during the Middle East war in the spring and summer.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that relations between Russia and Iran are based on mutual trust, including on the Iranian nuclear program, according to TASS. According to the agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump that the proposal to transfer enriched Iranian uranium to Russian territory remained on the table.

A drone struck an Iranian Kurdish opposition camp in Koya, east of Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Monday, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Iran International. There were no immediate reports of casualties, per two security sources cited by the agency. The Kurdistan-based website Rudaw released a video showing a drone over Koya.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran is “deeply concerned” about developments in the Arabian Peninsula and declared it ready “to help facilitate dialogue between the parties,” according to The Hindu. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that he discussed the ongoing conflict between Riyadh and the Houthis with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan and said, according to Sputnik, that the region’s crises have no military solution and that Iran is ready to provide any form of assistance to initiate dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and reach a political settlement.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Pakistan and Qatar continue to serve as intermediaries between Iran and the United States and that Tehran and Washington continue to exchange communications, according to TASS. He said Iran is reviewing US proposals for a seven-day plan to restore security in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said security will not return to the Strait of Hormuz as long as the United States (US) persists in its blockade and military aggression, according to Mehr News.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy released on Sunday a video showing a supertanker on fire after hitting a naval mine south of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the Navy itself, it was the third “violating” oil tanker since Saturday to hit naval mines on the strait's “unauthorized” route and catch fire. Mehr News also reported the third oil tanker catching fire in Hormuz after hitting a mine.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister spoke with his Iranian counterpart about the recent escalation of the regional conflict and efforts to lower tensions, the officials’ first publicly reported contact since Iran-aligned Houthis intensified strikes on the kingdom, according to the Saudi state news agency, in a Reuters report republished by the Jerusalem Post.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, said that Tehran continues to demand changes to Washington’s response before agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks, according to the Middle East Eye. Rezaei wrote on X that the United States (US) has agreed to some of Iran’s seven conditions, but that Tehran considers its response inadequate.

The director of Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, said on Sunday that the number of its employees at Iran’s Bushehr plant had reached 135. According to him, nine employees arrived the day before for scheduled maintenance at Unit 1, which is currently operational.

A seafarers’ union official told NPR that, as attacks mount on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, some crews are being offered big rewards for making the crossing.

Iran’s foreign minister said the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to provide any assistance to help start dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and reach a political solution, according to Mehr News. The minister also expressed concern about the escalation of tensions and said that insisting on a military approach and ignoring a political solution will complicate the current situation.

Iran’s Supreme Security Council secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, said Tehran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States accepts Iran’s seven-point plan for a peaceful resolution, conveyed through Qatar in September, according to Sputnik Globe. According to Rezaei, the United States responded to the conditions and accepted some of them, but its response to the rest was vague. He called the US response “insufficient” and said Iran is no longer responding to the Americans, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said a second supertanker carrying crude oil exploded and caught fire in its engine room after striking a sea mine in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. The ship had all navigation systems switched off and was on an unauthorized route, according to the IRGC. The IRGC also said that three tankers that violated transit rules in the strait have struck mines and caught fire since yesterday and that vessels with navigation and identification systems turned off will be classified as hostile, with severe punishment, according to TASS.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said that Tehran will take the legal case over the US strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab to foreign courts. According to him, the school was hit three times by missiles in the early hours of February 28, 2026, in what Tehran describes as the start of the joint US-Israeli aggression against Iran, and 168 people died, mostly schoolchildren, along with a number of parents and teachers.

A crude oil supertanker exploded and caught fire after hitting a mine while trying to leave the Strait of Hormuz on a route described as unauthorised and dangerous, according to Iranian media Press TV. The Revolutionary Guard said the vessel had switched off its navigation and GPS systems before hitting the mine and warned that “a massive fire awaits” any tanker that disregards the strait’s rules.

Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali slammed as a figment and campaign rhetoric US President Donald Trump's allegations that Iran can destroy Los Angeles and San Diego, according to TASS. Jalali said Iran's military doctrine is clear, responsible and based on defense and deterrence and that the country has never initiated any wars, according to the same source.

An Iranian rear admiral said Iran has already dealt blows to enemy vessels and will strike them again if necessary, according to Mehr News. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said on October 9 that a giant vessel carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was hit and caught fire, according to the same source.

The head of Iran's Department of Environment, Shina Ansari, said US strikes on the petrochemical hub in the Iranian city of Asaluyeh generated emissions equivalent to 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to Sputnik. Ansari said the amount equals what 66 million mature trees absorb annually, according to Iranian state television.

Iran's Medical Council called on the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Medical Association (WMA) to take immediate action against the use of patients' lives as a tool of political and military pressure, according to the Tehran Times. In an official letter to the three organizations, the council said the United States violates international humanitarian and criminal law through an economic blockade and pharmaceutical sanctions. Council head Mohammad Raiszadeh urged the leaders of health organizations to respond promptly and responsibly to what he described as inhumane acts and the weaponization of medical resources in armed conflicts.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said the international order collapses as much through aggression as when the use of force becomes normalised and the world stays silent about it, according to Mehr News. The statement reacted to new US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and threats to dismantle it, the agency said.

A US fighter jet struck the stern of the Panama-flagged cargo vessel M/V Ocean Molica, also known as Arika Sun, with a precision munition in the Gulf of Oman, fully disabling the ship’s propulsion without harming the crew, according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), cited by Middle East Eye. According to CENTCOM, the ship was attempting to run the naval blockade against Iran after departing an Iranian port and ignored repeated warnings. During three months of strict enforcement, US forces disabled four commercial vessels, turned around 135 and destroyed 10 tankers linked to the Revolutionary Guard’s shadow network.

The Pentagon updated its official count of US service members killed in the war against Iran, Operation Epic Fury, according to the Jerusalem Post. The report cites the Washington Post, which reported in September that the previous count of 18 may have been inaccurate and that at least four service members were potentially excluded from the official tally.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said an oil tanker exploded and caught fire after striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Jerusalem Post. The Guards did not specify the tanker’s name or flag, according to the Jerusalem Post.

A Congressional Research Service report released this week says the United States military had 81 aircraft destroyed or damaged in the war with Iran, according to CNN. The number includes airplanes, helicopters and drones, with MQ-9 Reaper drones accounting for more than half of the losses; the list includes an F-35A and an E-3 Sentry. The total cost of the aircraft lost is between $1.9 billion and $3.3 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cited in the report.

The Kremlin announced on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin conveyed to US President Donald Trump, in a phone call on Friday, Iran's stance on a potential agreement to end the war, according to Mehr News. According to spokesman Dmitry Peskov, cited by RIA Novosti, Putin conveyed to Trump the Iranian side's views on a possible settlement of the conflict, in coordination with the Iranian president. This week, Putin met with Iran's president on the sidelines of a regional summit in Turkmenistan, where he offered to mediate an agreement to end the war.

The United States pressed Israel to carry out a solo strike operation against Iran during discussions between the two countries over the past two weeks, sources told Maariv, in a report published by the Jerusalem Post. Washington wanted Israel to assume the political risks of a military operation ahead of the US midterm elections, rather than US President Donald Trump. The US has since backed down from its demand, at least for now, and Netanyahu’s position remains undefined.

The commander of the Iranian Army Ground Forces, Brigadier General Ali Jahanshahi, said that more than 50 combat and support units have been deployed along the country's borders to ensure security, according to the Mehr News Agency.

Iran has retained the ability to manufacture ballistic missiles and drones despite eight months of US and Israeli airstrikes, allowing Tehran to replenish its weapons stockpiles, according to the Jerusalem Post, citing Bloomberg. Western officials speaking on condition of anonymity said Iran had preserved parts of its weapons manufacturing infrastructure despite extensive strikes on its military-industrial capabilities.

Vladimir Putin conveyed to Donald Trump, in coordination with the Iranian president, Iran’s vision on a possible conflict resolution, according to Sputnik, citing the Kremlin.

Newly declassified US military footage shows an Iranian Arash suicide drone striking a base in Kuwait, according to Mehr News.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian proposed a new “Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) + Iran” format in his first appearance as a special guest at the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Turkmenistan, pitching Iran as Central Asia's natural route to open waters. Pezeshkian said Iran's southern ports, notably Chabahar, could link the region to South Asia, Africa and Europe. According to Mehr News Agency, Pezeshkian said regional diplomacy should not be limited merely to holding meetings and must serve as a genuine tool for crisis management, dialogue, preventing escalation and practical cooperation.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf responded to remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying he will kneel before the Iranians. Rubio had said on Wednesday that Iran has lost complete control of the waterway, pointing to the recovery in Gulf oil exports in September.

The US Central Command (Centcom) said it redirected 133 commercial vessels as of October 9 through the Strait of Hormuz to enforce the naval blockade against Iran. In a post on X, Centcom called the US blockade against Iran “ironclad”. A second outlet, Ajel English, reported that Centcom announced 133 commercial vessels redirected to enforce the maritime blockade on Iran since its resumption.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump that Moscow’s proposal to transfer Iran’s highly enriched uranium to Russia remains in force as a possible way out of the impasse, according to TASS. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Trump welcomed Moscow’s involvement in resolving the situation surrounding Tehran, according to TASS.

President Donald Trump left open the possibility of striking Iran before the midterm elections. Asked about it, he said, “We may. I mean, we’ll see,” according to The Jerusalem Post. Trump has signaled to aides that he would be willing to strike Iran again, though his advisers believe the right moment would be after the midterms, according to The Atlantic.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, accused French President Emmanuel Macron of a double standard on nuclear deterrence, according to Mehr News. In a post on X, Baghaei said that during a test of a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, Macron said that in order to be free, one must be feared, and to be feared, one must be powerful. According to Baghaei, Macron asserts regarding Iran, which has never sought to acquire nuclear weapons, that the country “must never possess nuclear weapons. Neither today, nor in five years, nor in ten years. Never.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with his Turkmen counterpart Serdar Berdimuhamedov on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit, according to Mehr News. The two sides discussed ways to develop political, economic and trade ties and stressed the need to accelerate agreed projects. They also discussed regional cooperation and Caspian Sea-related issues, emphasizing stronger cooperation among Caspian littoral states and protection of the sea's environment.

United States (US) President Donald Trump claimed the country “shouldn’t worry now” because it stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon and that the war will end soon, in a speech at a White House Columbus Day celebration. Trump alleged that 28 million barrels of oil were “taken out” on Thursday and that diesel prices will tumble. A high-ranking Iranian source told TASS that Iran won’t hold anything back in response to new attacks by the US and Israel.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said talks with the country can only succeed without pressure and threats, according to The Hindu. He made the remarks at a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Turkmenistan, according to Al-Monitor. Pezeshkian said negotiation conducted in the shadow of force is imposition and coercion.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan said the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was a “mistake”, arguing that it did not serve Israel’s interests, according to the Middle East Eye, citing The Times of Israel. Golan said the appointment of Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, had left Iran with “more extreme and violent individuals”.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it struck the gas carrier MT Sunshine, later called NV Sunshine, which was attempting to transit via an unauthorized route in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz, according to TASS. The force said the vessel suffered a massive fire in the engine room and propulsion system, according to Al Jazeera. The IRGC warned that vessels violating its rules and passing through the Strait of Hormuz would be punished, according to the Hindustan Times.

Two men accused of carrying out hostile surveillance on behalf of Iran against Israel’s embassy in London, Britain’s oldest synagogue and other Israeli or Jewish targets pleaded not guilty on Friday. Nematollah Shahsavani, 41, a dual Iranian-British national, and Alireza Farasati, 22, an Iranian national, appeared at London’s Old Bailey court and denied a single offence under the National Security Act, according to Reuters, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post. The pair allegedly gathered information and undertook reconnaissance in July and August 2025, with a list of targets including the Israeli Embassy, the Israeli Consulate and London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the country would not launch new military strikes against Iran before the November 3 congressional midterm elections, according to The Media Line. “We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd,” he wrote. The announcement helped ease market concerns: Brent crude fell to about $103 a barrel on Friday, after climbing above $104.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that trade between Russia and the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) exceeded 110 billion dollars in 2025 and grew 19% in the first half, according to Sputnik. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his Russian and Azerbaijani counterparts in Turkmenistan on the sidelines of a CIS meeting, according to Mehr News.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Vladimir Putin that Tehran will not walk away from the negotiating table despite US attacks, in a meeting on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States summit and the Caspian environmental summit in Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan, according to Mehr News. Putin arrived at the convention center in the Awaza national tourist zone, where the summits are taking place, according to TASS.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Ahmad Vahidi said that no extra-regional power has the right to threaten, establish a domineering presence in, or interfere in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, according to Mehr News. Brent was trading at $102.83 and WTI at $90.33, up on the week after tanker attacks, with only seven vessels crossing the strait on Tuesday, the lowest figure since late July, according to OilPrice.

The leading candidates in Michigan’s Senate race, El-Sayed and Rogers, held their first televised debate, according to Al Jazeera. Both agreed the war with Iran must end; Rogers said Iran’s uranium enrichment programme had been set back twenty years. Rogers backed continued aid to Israel, and El-Sayed called for ending it.

The United States (US) Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, called Amnesty International a fraud when rejecting criticism over the war with Iran, said the group should focus on the Iranian regime, which he said murdered in cold blood tens of thousands of people in the streets, and said the US keeps a regulated relationship with Portugal and Organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) allies, following the protocols every single time, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Two drones attacked positions of Iranian Kurds opposed to Tehran in the province of Erbil, in northern Iraq, hitting facilities in the Rizgari district, with no information so far about dead or wounded, in what Al Hadath TV described as the first attack on Erbil following the withdrawal of United States (US) troops, without naming who was behind it, according to TASS.

OpenAI said it shut down two influence operations from Russia and Iran that used ChatGPT to create fake journalist personas, according to France 24. The Iranian operation used seven fake journalist profiles to plant articles in media outlets around the world. The Russian operation co-opted people in Latin America to run a fake think tank against Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that Russia will do everything to help end the war on Iran, according to Al Jazeera. The two leaders met in Turkmenistan on Thursday, ahead of the summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Pentagon developed a plan for a three-day campaign against Iran, according to The Jerusalem Post. Zamir warned, in the same outlet, that a return to war within the next three weeks could postpone the Israeli election scheduled for October 27. US President Donald Trump said he will not resume military strikes on Iran before the November 3 midterm elections, according to the Associated Press, in a text republished by The Hindu.

At least 81 US military aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, were lost or damaged in Operation Epic Fury against Iran, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report released on Monday and reported by Al Jazeera. The CBO estimated the cost of the aircraft losses as of August 1 at between $1.9bn and $3.3bn. The aircraft include 12 F-15E fighter jets, one F-35A and seven KC-135 tanker aircraft; 45 of the 81 are MQ-9 Reaper drones. In a separate report in September, the CBO estimated the total cost of the war with Iran as of August 1 at about $38bn.

The homemade bomb left outside Bank of America’s Paris branch, in the city’s 8th arrondissement, on the night of March 27, was an operation orchestrated by pro-Iran groups, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concluded in a letter rogatory dated July 29 sent to French justice, according to Le Monde. According to the FBI’s investigations, an Iraqi identified as Mohammad A.-S., arrested in Turkey, is suspected of having orchestrated 18 attacks or planned attacks in Europe between March and May against American interests or targets linked to the Jewish community, in response to the military offensive the US and Israel launched against Iran in February.

Iranian attacks hit at least nine vessels in the Strait of Hormuz last week, a level of attacks on shipping not seen since July, according to The Washington Post. The uptick came after the Trump administration celebrated that US naval escorts had allowed oil flows to reach nearly prewar levels.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States has no plans to attack Iran before November’s midterm elections, an unusual public pronouncement about military plans that came as he said “productive conversations” with Tehran were underway, according to The Washington Post. The USS Abraham Lincoln will return home to San Diego later today after 265 uninterrupted days at sea supporting the Iran war, a record-long deployment, according to The Guardian.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, said inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of Iranian nuclear facilities attacked by US forces or threatened with strikes are ruled out. Eslami said cooperation with the IAEA is prohibited by law and that the agency “jeopardizes the security of the country and its specialists,” according to TASS.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel assassinated the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy, Alireza Tangsiri, on March 26, fearing he could become a more formidable IRGC chief than Ahmad Vahidi. Israeli officials viewed Tangsiri as a highly creative and resourceful commander, according to the paper.

Brent crude rose more than 5% to more than $105 per barrel, with U.S. crude up almost 5% to nearly $93, according to NBC News. The White House asked the Pentagon to draw up options for a possible resumption of attacks on Iran before the November 3 vote, according to NBC News and the Atlantic, cited by Quartz. In Brazil, oil prices surged on the threat of new U.S. attacks on Iran, according to Opera Mundi.

Iranian intelligence services are targeting US military bases in Germany, including Ramstein and Spangdahlem, according to German weekly WirtschaftsWoche, cited by The Jerusalem Post. Israel reportedly warned US and German partners three weeks ago of a potential threat, with concern focused on bases supporting operations linked to the conflict with Iran.

Brent crude rose by 3.8% to $104 a barrel on Thursday. The White House has asked the Pentagon to draw up options for strikes against Iran before the US midterm elections, according to a report in The Atlantic cited by The Guardian. Attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz reached their highest levels of the war, cutting traffic through the waterway.

Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened until the country’s problems are resolved, according to the IRNA news agency, cited by TASS. Mokhber added that Tehran is “changing its strategy in proportion to changes in the adversary’s strategy.”

US President Donald Trump said the conflict with Iran will end soon, bringing down global oil prices, and that there is no longer a nuclear weapon threat in Iran, according to TASS.

Brent climbed back above US$ 100, trading at US$ 102.50, up more than 2% from Wednesday’s close, according to OilPrice. There were a dozen attacks between September 28 and October 2, according to data from a US Navy-led information outlet cited by Reuters, and tanker traffic dropped sharply — Tuesday’s flows were the lowest since late July, according to Kpler.

About 7,000 troops were stationed at Camp Buehring, in Kuwait, and most were moved before fighting began, according to the Jerusalem Post, citing CBS News. The remaining troops left the base at night in vehicles, taking equipment, and set up forward operating bases in the Kuwaiti desert, after attacks with ballistic missiles and drones and what three service members identified as Iranian F-5 aircraft. No soldiers were killed by enemy fire at Camp Buehring or the desert positions, although several were injured.

A White House official said President Donald Trump will not allow the Iranian government to “manipulate” him, as he claimed Tehran did with previous presidents — the same official said the US controlled the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s economy was collapsing.

Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran had clearly and firmly set out its conditions for ending the imposed war and would respond to US proposals through mediators.

An adviser to the Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammadreza Naqdi, told the Fars news agency that transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz deemed illegal by Iran will soon be closed, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Devdiscourse. According to Naqdi, those routes were opened by blasting rocky passages in the waterway and would be used by small boats to smuggle oil, according to The Telegraph India.

Analyst Michelle Brohard of Kpler said she suspects Gulf countries pay Iran for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, possibly 10% to 20% of the cargo. The report itself notes that the suspicion has not been independently verified and that there is no public proof of a systematic state toll system, according to Al Jazeera, in a text republished by Yahoo.

Videos obtained by CBS News show Iranian attacks with ballistic missiles, drones and F-5 jets on the U.S. military base at Camp Buehring, in Kuwait, at the start of the war, according to the network. Service members who spoke to CBS said the base was abandoned and the troops moved out into the desert at night, where they set up forward bases; no one died there from enemy fire, according to CBS News.

Iran and Oman plan to notify an international body soon about the agreement on safe navigation corridors in the Strait of Hormuz, according to spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, in a text by IRNA carried by TASS. Baghaei said the consultations between Tehran and Muscat were successful and that the parties reached an agreement on the geographical coordinates of the corridors.

The White House asked the Pentagon to prepare options for strikes on Iran that could take place before the November 3 midterm elections, according to The Atlantic, which cited two administration officials in a report carried by The Jerusalem Post. US Central Command is developing the options, and the potential targets, the scope of an operation and whether President Donald Trump will authorize military action remain under discussion. The Pentagon has also presented options for operations after the elections, ranging from limited attacks to a broader campaign that could include additional strikes on Iran’s energy industry.

The Iran war pushed about 25 countries to adopt structural electrification policies since March, according to ABC News, in a text by OilPrice, after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupted oil and gas flows. COP31, in Türkiye, will ask countries to meet 35 percent of global energy demand with electricity by 2035, up from 23 percent today. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that 80 million kilometres of new or retrofitted lines are needed by 2040, and a report by consultancy Bain & Company found that between 50 percent and 60 percent of renewable projects in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia were cancelled or delayed from 2021 to 2025.

Iran’s ambassador to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Hadi Farajvand, said US military attacks damaged 111 Iranian petrochemical and pharmaceutical facilities, according to the Tehran Times. According to the account, 60 petrochemical complexes, 44 pharmaceutical factories and seven pharmaceutical facilities were damaged. The statement was made at the 113th session of the OPCW Executive Council, in The Hague, which runs until October 9.

An Iranian official cited by Western media said there are no nuclear negotiations under way between Washington and Tehran, according to Mehr News. The source set US recognition of Iran’s right to nuclear enrichment as a red line and said there would be no flexibility on it. The statement responds to US Vice-President JD Vance, who said on 5 October that Tehran must make a significant reduction in nuclear enrichment.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem declared that the liberation of southern Lebanon is within sight and that Israeli forces will not manage to maintain what he called their illegal occupation, whatever the time, according to the Tehran Times. Iranian general Ali Abdollahi said the 7th of October turned the Resistance Front’s defensive strategy into an offensive one and accelerated the decline of what he called the usurping Zionist regime.

The French foreign ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador on Wednesday over a disinformation campaign targeting France’s student protest movement, according to France24. Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said the misleading content disseminated by official Iranian ministry accounts was absolutely unacceptable and that the provocations had to stop. On Tuesday, Tehran had summoned France’s envoy in Tehran over what it called the violent treatment of demonstrators, according to Reuters, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post.

Iran’s president told Vladimir Putin that a ceasefire with the United States is not out of reach, according to Opera Mundi.

Iranian armed forces will soon block illegal routes used to transport oil through the Strait of Hormuz, said Mohammad Reza Naghdi, an adviser to the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), according to TASS, citing the Fars agency. Naghdi said the volume of oil transported illegally through the strait is extremely small, carried in small vessels up to tankers.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Athens that Iran has lost complete control of the Strait of Hormuz, that the strait is open, that almost as much oil is flowing out as before the conflict began and that Tehran’s economy is in “total and complete freefall,” according to Al Arabiya English.

Ali Fadavi, head of the advisory group to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed on Sunday evening, October 4, that for the first time no American naval vessels are present in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz or the Gulf of Oman, according to IranWire.

Countries in Central Asia began buying oil from Iran as the Russian fuel supplies they long depended on ran dry amid Ukraine’s mounting attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, according to Al Jazeera. Tajikistan expects to receive 2.55 million tonnes of oil and petroleum products from Iran.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) denied Iranian state media reports that a US Navy MH-60R helicopter had crashed in the Red Sea after declaring an emergency, calling them false, according to Türkiye Today via CENTCOM. According to the command, all US military aircraft and personnel across the Middle East are safe. The semi-official Fars agency claimed the helicopter sent an emergency signal near Yanbu and that radar data showed its altitude at zero.

Qatar, as mediator, says the United States and Iran remain engaged in indirect talks aimed at ending the conflict, despite an apparent deadlock, according to the Middle East Eye, citing the Qatari foreign ministry.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said continued dialogue and cooperation with neighbours is Iran’s chosen path toward a safer and more stable region, according to Mehr News. The two sides reviewed relations between Tehran and Yerevan and ways to deepen cooperation in economy, trade, transport and energy, according to Mehr News. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman received Germany’s new envoy in Tehran on Tuesday and described the conversation as frank and useful, according to Mehr News.

United States attacks damaged 111 petrochemical and pharmaceutical facilities across Iran, according to the Iranian representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) cited by Middle East Eye.

United States Vice President J. D. Vance said in an interview with Reuters that Iran must make a “meaningful” reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity to meet United States demands and end the seven-month war, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu. Any agreement would require Iran to reduce enrichment capacity rather than merely promise future cuts, Vance said after a campaign trip in Alaska, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Al-Monitor. President Donald Trump said he was weighing ending the conflict with Iran “the nice way,” according to TASS.

British police arrested a seventh suspect on Tuesday in a widening investigation into a suspected Iran-backed plot to attack an air base that hosts U.S. bombers, according to The Washington Post. The arrest is the seventh linked to the airbase incident, according to France 24.

Iranian men accused of spying went on trial at Woolwich Crown Court on charges of engaging in conduct likely to assist Iran’s foreign intelligence service between August 2024 and March 2025, according to the Washington Post. The men targeted journalists for “serious violence”, BBC News reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a working visit to Turkmenistan on October 8-9 for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said. On October 9, Putin holds a bilateral meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, RIA Novosti reported. The agenda includes bilateral cooperation and the crisis situation in the Middle East, Ushakov said. Lavrov arrived in Turkmenistan for the CIS Ministerial Council, according to TASS.

Two US officials told Reuters that fear of an Iranian drone attack plot on RAF Fairford led the country to remove its B-1 bombers from the British base, in a text published by the Middle East Eye. Iran denied any involvement in the alleged plot at Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers, according to the Middle East Eye.

Qatar has put forward a new set of proposals on the regional situation as it continues mediating between Iran and the United States, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said after talks in Doha, according to Sputnik. Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani presented assessments and proposals for Momeni to convey to the Iranian president upon his return to Tehran.

The spokesman for Iran's Defense Ministry, Brig. Gen. Reza Talaei-Nik, said the country's weapons production capacity has reached 2.5 times the level of the period before its conflict with the United States, according to the Tasnim news agency, in a text published by TASS. According to the spokesman, production of separate types of weapons, which involves the private sector, more than tripled in the reported period. Talaei-Nik threatened that if the enemy makes a wrong calculation, it will face more advanced weapons and a heavy response from the Armed Forces.

Senator Chris Murphy said the Pentagon denied him access to Al Udeid air base in Qatar, according to the Times of India. In Riyadh, Murphy said there is an active, unprecedented and unconstitutional effort to hide from Congress the costs of the war against Iran.

ASEAN energy ministers are meeting this week to discuss regional energy security against supply disruptions caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, and the 11 members imported about half of their oil needs from the Middle East before the war that began in late February and were left exposed to the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera. Saudi Aramco chief Amin Nasser said the conflict reduced oil supply from the region by nearly 3bn barrels, with over 1bn barrels released from reserves, and estimated that less than 6bn barrels of commercial inventories remain, according to the Middle East Eye.

The US and nine countries across the Americas condemned in a joint statement what they called Iran’s “terrorist actions”, in a text endorsed by Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago, according to the Middle East Eye.

At a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, United States President Donald Trump said about the war with Iran that they can take out a city — let them take out Los Angeles and San Diego, according to the Los Angeles Times. California Governor Gavin Newsom reacted to the remarks in a post on X. It was unclear whether the remarks were based on any intelligence, and whether Iran would have the capability for a missile attack on the United States.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday for a three-day official visit, from October 6 to 8, according to Arab News Pakistan. The agenda includes Pakistan’s role in mediation between Washington and Tehran in the conflict between the United States and Iran, and Guterres is due to meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Field Marshal Asim Munir.

US President Donald Trump said he believes Iran was involved in the incident aboard the FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. US Vice President JD Vance, however, said there is nothing conclusive linking the incident to Iran.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that negotiations have no meaning with an enemy that resorts to assassination, sanctions, pressure and threats and breaches its commitments, in a statement made on Monday during a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Tehran, according to the Tehran Times. Pezeshkian criticized the United States for launching attacks on Iran and then calling for negotiations, and said Iran had been attacked three times after engaging in talks.

US Vice President JD Vance said he has confidence that Iran was behind the incident at the base in Fairford, in the United Kingdom, and linked the withdrawal of the B-1 bombers to the episode, saying it was out of an abundance of caution to protect the troops, according to TASS. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would not directly tie the removal of the B-1s to the incident, according to Al Jazeera. Five British nationals were arrested near the base on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts and released on bail; a sixth man, a dual UK-Iranian national, was also released on bail, according to Al Jazeera.

A Kpler analyst suspects there is a toll being paid to Iran for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera. Provisional data from the consultancy show crude exports from the region exceeded pre-war levels on four days in the final week of September, reaching between 19.5 and 22.5 million barrels per day. Abdul Khalique, head of the Liverpool John Moores University Maritime Centre, told Al Jazeera that no public proof confirms a systematic, state-run Iranian toll system.

The British United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said a tanker 11 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman, was hailed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces and warned it would be targeted unless it turned back, and the tanker complied. The tanker's master confirmed it had complied with the instruction to turn back, according to Mehr News, citing UKMTO.

Two police officers were killed in an attack on a patrol in Bampur, in Sistan and Baluchestan province, and another was injured, according to Mehr News in English. The victims were identified as Amir-Hossein Ghasemi and Nezam Dastgoshadeh, according to Mehr News in English.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Ali Fadavi said the US moved more than 1,000km away from Iran's borders, according to Middle East Eye. Fadavi added that American vessels are not present in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman or the northern Indian Ocean, according to Middle East Eye.

Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei said that Iran will not back down from its seven conditions to end the war and that the United States (US) must submit to its diplomats or to Iranian missiles, according to the lawmaker himself.

Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said that a United States (US) proposal was conveyed to Tehran through the Qatari mediator, according to the lawmaker himself. The Iranian government confirmed it had received the US response to the Qatari-mediated proposal, without disclosing its content, according to spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Norway’s ambassador in Tehran to deliver an official protest over Norway’s continued inaction on unauthorized Starlink activities in Iranian territory, according to Mehr News. Tehran says the United States and what it calls the Zionist regime are using Starlink satellite internet systems to advance interventionist actions against Iran.

The rial traded at more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar, according to the Associated Press (AP), in text republished by U.S. News — just 27 days after the previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2; the United States announced a new round of sanctions aimed at Iran on Monday and warned every country that does business with the country, according to AP, in text republished by ABC News.

Araghchi said all Iranian diplomats left New York as scheduled except one who had departed earlier, after the UN General Assembly session, according to Türkiye Today; a US official said, in text citing AFP, that two members of the Iranian delegation were found still in New York well after the session ended, and that the State Department had instructed Araghchi and his delegation to leave the country by Monday.

Crude exports from the Middle East exceeded pre-war levels on September 24 and between September 27 and 29, rising to between 19.5 million barrels per day and 22.5 million bpd, according to Reuters, in text republished by The Hindu; the 7-day moving average stood at 18.5 million bpd on October 1, with at least seven incidents reported, according to a Marisks report on Saturday, October 3.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Sunday that Lebanon wants a new chapter in relations with Iran based on mutual respect and non-interference, according to Middle East Eye. Salam said he had accepted a meeting requested by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and that he prefers Iran to name a new ambassador.

The United States has withdrawn all its bombers from RAF Fairford in England and redeployed them to their home stations in the United States, following an investigation into an alleged terror plot against the base, according to The Guardian. The base, run by the US military, had been used to launch strikes on Iran, according to the Times of India.

Iran’s petroleum minister, Mohsen Paknejad, resigned and President Masoud Pezeshkian named Hamid Bovard as caretaker head of the Oil Ministry. No reason was given for the resignation. Paknejad had held the post since August 2024 and leaves it as the seven-month war between Iran and the United States pressures the country’s economy, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu. Bovard was managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Iranian airlines resumed flights to Najaf after the Iraqi government said it had secured an agreement with the United States allowing 40 daily flights to and from the city, except those of Mahan Air, according to the Middle East Eye. Last month, Iraq enforced the US ban on Iranian carriers, especially at Najaf’s airport, a major hub for Iranian flights.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that if the enemies again choose the path of military confrontation, they will receive a stronger response than before, according to the Tehran Times. Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said that the viewpoints received from Washington on Iran's seven-day proposal for the Strait of Hormuz are under study in Tehran, according to Mehr News.

Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran is aware of Russia's proposal to transfer enriched uranium to Russia but will decide based on its national interests, according to TASS. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 1 that Moscow's proposal remained on the table.

The co-pilot of flight FZ1073 was identified as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani who had previously been barred from flying in Oman over alleged extremist views and moved to an administrative role at Oman Air before being hired by flydubai, according to Al Jazeera citing the Associated Press. Israel received the flight's crew and passenger lists in advance, and the checks would fall to the Transport Ministry's security department and the Mossad, according to Al Jazeera citing Haaretz. Iran denied any link to the incident and said the accusations are based on fabricated evidence, according to the Hindustan Times.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz will only reopen when the United States meets seven conditions of the Islamabad Memorandum, according to Iranian state media cited by the Hindustan Times. Iran presented a proposal at the United Nations General Assembly to reopen Hormuz within seven days if the conditions are met, and the United States replied through Qatari intermediaries, according to the Hindustan Times. Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US response is under review and that some points still need to be communicated to Washington through mediators.

Iran's Army spokesman, Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, said the country will expand the range and speed of its missiles, justifying the decision by saying the enemy now operates farther from the coast, at distances of up to 1,000 km. The current Iranian arsenal, according to Sputnik, consists mainly of missiles with a range of up to 2,000 km.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the United States that there is no military solution, nor any solution based on new sanctions to the conflict between the two countries, according to The Hindu. Araghchi warned that, if the enemies again choose the path of military confrontation, Iran's response will be stronger than before, according to France24, in an AFP report. Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei characterised the latest US counterproposal as being in line with previous US proposals concerning nuclear issues.

The spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Iranian elites are holding serious discussions on the possibility of the country withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), TASS reported. According to him, Tehran continues to fulfill all its obligations under the treaty for the time being, and the ministry will abide by the decision of the competent authorities. Iranian lawmakers, meanwhile, are pushing a fast-tracked motion calling for the country's withdrawal from the treaty, according to Tasnim News Agency.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions set out in a June interim agreement with the United States are met, according to The Hindu. Qalibaf said Iran's position is clear and firm and cited the Islamabad Memorandum, according to Nournews.

Iran opened a military training centre in Tehran on Saturday aimed at preparing citizens to confront US and Israeli forces, according to reports cited by the Middle East Eye. Ali Kowsari, deputy for training at the Basij organisation, said 1,000 battalions had been prepared for training.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry arrested in Kerman province at least 31 people linked to four networks that Tehran says were backed by the US and Israel, according to Press TV, as reported by Middle East Eye. According to the ministry, the suspects in Sirjan prepared molotov cocktails to damage urban surveillance cameras in preparation for unrest and acts of sabotage.

At least three tankers were struck by unidentified projectiles in and around the Strait of Hormuz since October 1, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) warnings. In its weekly review released on October 2, UKMTO said 91 incidents of damage to vessels have been reported since February. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is “ironclad” and that US President Donald Trump has “all the options he needs on the table” if Iran continues to “play games” with the strait, according to the Associated Press, in a report carried by the Times of Israel.

Iran and Turkey are seeking to raise bilateral trade to $30 billion, with the development of the Bazargan border, the opening of a fourth crossing, expanded rail and road transport and the creation of a joint Khoy–Van–Mersin free zone, according to the Tehran Times. The Iranian outlet said trade between the two countries in the year 1404 was about $19.2 billion, including $6.8 billion in Iranian exports and $12.4 billion in imports.

US President Donald Trump said he is confident that Iran has abandoned all plans to acquire nuclear weapons, according to TASS. Trump added that he still has to make a decision on Iran, without giving details, and said the country has been defeated and that the conflict could end either well or badly.

The United States expelled two members of the Iranian delegation who attended the UN General Assembly after they ignored an order to leave the country, the State Department said on Saturday, according to Middle East Eye. US media reported that the department had told Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation to leave the country on Monday and that it resorted to expelling the two members. The Iranian mission to the UN disputed Washington’s account of the delegation’s departure and said its members left in accordance with a schedule, according to RT News.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry congratulated the Iraqi government and people on Saturday on the exit of US and other foreign forces from Iraq, according to Middle East Eye. In a statement posted on its Telegram channel, the ministry said the withdrawal is “a very important and necessary step” towards consolidating Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. The ministry accused the United States of causing “irreparable consequences” for Iraq and the region since the 2003 invasion, which it said was launched under the false pretext of “weapons of mass destruction”, and called for the US government to be held accountable for crimes committed during the occupation.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Iranian broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) that Ukraine will need to embrace a neutral, non-nuclear status, reject its nationalist policy course and recognize the four new Russian regions for a lasting political settlement, according to TASS. Medvedev said Russia and Iran are developing joint activities in defense and attach great importance to this, and that Iran plays a key role in ensuring security in the Strait of Hormuz in terms of geography and international law.

The director of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said on Saturday that flights operated by Iranian and Iraqi airlines between the two countries will resume on Sunday, according to Mehr News. The Iraqi government had said on Friday that it reached an agreement allowing Iranian airlines, except Mahan Air, to operate 40 daily flights to and from Najaf, after Baghdad secured a US exemption, according to Mehr News.

Iran’s rial continued its decline on Saturday, as the central bank announced an injection of up to $2 billion to support the currency while the economy faces US sanctions and a naval blockade, according to Middle East Eye. The dollar was sold at around 2.688 million rials, up from 2.632 million on Friday, according to bon-bast.com.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution on international affairs, advised the United Arab Emirates (UAE) not to challenge Iran’s sovereignty over its three islands in the Persian Gulf, according to Mehr News. He dismissed recent UAE claims at the UN General Assembly regarding sovereignty over Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, saying the three islands will remain Iran’s forever.

Portugal’s public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into whether the government acted within the law when it authorised the use of the Lajes Base in the Azores by the United States during the conflict with Iran, according to Reuters, in a text republished by G1. Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said, on the other hand, that Portugal was not involved in the conflict and that the use of the base respected international law.

China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Sun Lei, told the General Assembly that Iran must honour its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and that its legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy must be respected, according to RT News. China and Russia blocked a resolution submitted by the United States to extend the mandate of a UN sanctions watchdog panel on Iran, according to RT News.

Iran said on October 3 that it executed Jamshidi, sentenced to death on charges of moharebeh through brandishing and firing a firearm and conspiracy and collusion against national security. The case is linked to anti-government protests, according to The Hindu.

A sixth man arrested in connection with the suspected terrorist plot at Fairford, a Royal Air Force (RAF) base, has been released on bail, the Guardian reported. The 25-year-old, a dual UK-Iranian national, was arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. Counter-terrorism police said a quantity of petrol, but no explosive devices, was found in the vans that sparked the alert near the airbase.

Two Iranian men accused of preparing a homemade bomb attack on Manchester’s Jewish community identified potential targets including the city’s Jewish museum and Heaton Park synagogue, the Guardian reported. Rahman Salehi, 34, from Salford, and Salam Ahmadyan, 36, from Liverpool were charged on Friday with preparing to commit an act of terrorism or assisting another to commit an act of terrorism. According to the prosecution, the pair were in contact with a third party, also assessed to be an Iranian national, who directed and coordinated the plot and sent instructions on how to assemble a homemade explosive device.

An official of Iran’s security council, Mohsen Rezaei, hit back on Saturday at the claim US President Donald Trump made in Denton, Texas, that Tehran was approaching surrender, according to the Hindustan Times. Rezaei said the United States can win every day in its own imagination, but that reality is shaped by Iran — by its people, its soldiers and its missiles.

Russia’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mikhail Ulyanov, dismissed the US call for Iran to abandon its nuclear program, according to Mehr News Agency. Ulyanov said Iran is not obliged to abandon the program, which is the country’s inalienable right.

President Trump's top cabinet members huddled for hours at Camp David on Friday to discuss next steps in the Iran war and the Saudi-Houthi conflict in Yemen, according to three U.S. officials who spoke to Axios. Vice President JD Vance chaired the meeting, which included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA director John Ratcliffe and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. The meeting was not announced by the Trump administration.

Iraq has cleared 40 daily flights by Iranian airlines, excluding Mahan Air, to and from Najaf international airport, after flights were suspended because of US sanctions, according to Reuters.

Two Iranian men have been charged in relation to an alleged terror plot targeting Manchester's Jewish community, according to The Guardian. The men, both in their 30s, were arrested on 20 September, on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Iran said, in a statement, that the era of cost-free threats against it has come to an end, according to the Tehran Times. The statement was issued on October 2 to mark the second anniversary of Operation True Promise 2, of October 1, 2024. The statement also says that a new threat would trigger an immediate and more destructive response than True Promise 2.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Friday that Israel would impose a very heavy price on any power behind the FlyDubai incident, according to France 24. The aircraft carrying 174 people was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after the co-pilot apparently stabbed the pilot, according to France 24. US President Donald Trump said he was hearing that Iran was involved and that the country will be hit very hard if so, without presenting evidence, according to France 24. Netanyahu admitted Thursday that there was a loophole in vetting pilots from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel, according to the Hindustan Times.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) delayed its production capacity review that will set members’ 2027 oil output quotas, after the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupted expansion projects in the Middle East, according to Reuters. Completion was due by the end of September 2026 and is now expected by mid-November, one of the sources said.

The third aircraft carrier the United States is deploying to the waters around Iran is the USS Theodore Roosevelt, whose strike group left its San Diego base on Sunday, followed a day later by the Makin Island Marine Expeditionary Force with more than 2,000 Marines. By the end of November, three aircraft carriers and two amphibious groups will be positioned around Iran, a US official told Al Jazeera. The Pentagon is adding Marine Corps ships, up to 10,000 troops, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A 25-year-old UK-Iranian dual national was arrested in Westminster, London, on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts in connection with the incident at RAF Fairford, counter-terror police said, according to the BBC. Five men in their twenties arrested near the airbase on Sunday remain on police bail, also according to the BBC. The RAF Fairford airbase hosts United States Air Force (USAF) personnel, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The US Department of the Treasury sanctioned the A7 Network as a significant transnational criminal organization, described as a shadow banking network with ties to Russia used by the Iranian regime to evade sanctions, according to the Treasury. The Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) also proposed a rule to prohibit fund transfers involving the network sub-agents, according to the statement.

US President Donald Trump said Iran would be struck “very hard” if it is behind the copilot who tried to crash an Israel-bound flight. Asked about the link, Trump said the answer, based on what he is hearing, is yes, without giving details. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News it is “too early to say” whether there was Iranian involvement.

Three tankers linked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) struck in the Strait of Hormuz were already on the waterway non-compliance list, according to Mehr News. The vessels were identified as Al Ruwais, Sinbad and Mersin Prosperity, according to Al Bawaba.

Iran called on Iraq to lift the remaining flight restrictions and fully restore normal air travel between the two countries, according to Al Jazeera, with the Iranian foreign minister condemning Washington efforts to disrupt the country trade and air transport as “illegal and inhumane”.

US President Donald Trump said Washington could resume large-scale strikes on Iran after the November midterm elections and rejected Tehran’s latest ceasefire proposal as insufficient, according to CGTN. Asked whether the US might intensify its bombing campaign against Iran after the midterms, Trump replied “possible” and declined to reveal potential targets. According to the Middle East Eye, he threatened severe consequences without a deal with Iran, saying Tehran “won’t be around very long”: “Either they’ll do something very proper and smart, or they won’t be around very long. Frankly, I hate to see that, but they won’t be around very long.”

A US official told Al Jazeera that three carriers and two landing groups are deploying around Iran, with the Roosevelt strike group and the Makin Island force carrying 2,000 Marines having left San Diego. The full buildup is due to finish by November, according to the same official.

US President Donald Trump said the US could ask European countries to release diesel reserves amid rising prices linked to the war on Iran. US diesel hit a record of $6.53 per gallon a week ago, while 12 EU member states recorded new all-time highs, according to European Commission data cited by Al Jazeera. France and Germany hold more than a third of the EU’s strategic diesel reserves, according to Reuters, as cited by Al Jazeera.

US President Donald Trump said it was “possible” voters could punish Republican candidates in the upcoming midterm elections over the war on Iran, according to Middle East Eye. Asked by reporters whether it was acceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, Trump said that “100 percent of the people say no, including worldwide”.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X that Iran loaded no crude oil onto tankers in September, according to Middle East Eye. The United States has blockaded Iranian ports since April to try to thwart Iranian exports, the most profitable of which is oil. Tanker-tracking data shows Iran loaded no new crude oil in September, according to Times Now.

Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said the flydubai co-pilot was transferred to the United Arab Emirates, according to The Hindu. In the same report, asked whether the United States would retaliate against Tehran if Iran was behind the attack, President Donald Trump said Iran would be hit hard: “Oh they'll be hit, very hard, don't worry.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the offer to transfer part of Iran's enriched uranium to Russia remains on the table and that everyone had initially agreed, according to TASS. Putin also said he hopes the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and sanctions on Iran will be lifted, according to the agency.

British counter-terrorism police arrested a 27-year-old man in Westminster on Thursday on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006, according to The Guardian. The detainee is a UK-Iranian dual national and the arrest was made in connection with the incident at RAF Fairford, according to Counter Terrorism Policing, quoted by the BBC. A second man, 26, a UK national, was questioned under caution.

Crude oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz have largely returned to levels seen before the Iran war, and about 40% of the region’s crude is now transported without transiting the strait, compared with 17% before the war, through Saudi and Emirati pipelines, according to The Guardian. At least 16.5 million barrels per day (bpd) left the region in September, equalling the pre-war average, excluding Iran, according to the global trade intelligence firm Kpler.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador in Tehran over accusations by the British prime minister that it considers baseless, according to the Iranian agency Mehr News. Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht-Ravanchi met Hugo Shorter at the ministry on Thursday to convey the protest, and Tehran rejected as “baseless and unfounded” the British claims linking the country to an alleged sabotage plot at Fairford military base, demanding an official explanation.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced it had captured a US Remus 600 unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) operating in the Strait of Hormuz for espionage. According to the Tehran Times, it is the second US underwater drone captured in less than a month, while Washington keeps its bid to reopen the passage. The IRGC warned that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and said it will continue confronting what it describes as dangerous movements.

Iran has received an official US response to its latest proposal to end the seven-month war, according to Iranian officials cited by the Hindustan Times. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented the response to President Masoud Pezeshkian at a Cabinet meeting, according to government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, who spoke to the state-run IRNA news agency. Araghchi proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz within a week if the US suspended its blockade of Iranian ports, released frozen Iranian assets and waived sanctions on Iranian oil sales.

Iran's ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, told TASS that Tehran is grateful to Moscow for the remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the UN General Assembly. Jalali called Lavrov's speech excellent and cited Russia's firm stance on Iran.

The Quds base of the ground forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it identified and struck a team planning an operation in southeastern Iran, with six members of a takfiri group killed and explosive packages discovered and seized, according to Mehr News Agency.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) congratulated Iraq on the full withdrawal of American forces, calling it a historic victory and the dawn of West Asia’s liberation from the yoke of the “Great Satan,” and said the expulsion resulted from the Iraqi people’s steadfastness for independence, according to Mehr News Agency.

Iran's mission to the United Nations said the Iranian delegation left New York on Monday evening, in accordance with a schedule communicated in advance to the US Department of State on September 17. The statement contrasts with the account of two US officials who said Secretary of State Marco Rubio lost patience and told the Iranians on Monday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation had to leave New York immediately.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded on Monday that the Iranian delegation to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly leave the country immediately after bilateral settlement negotiations stalled, according to Axios, in text republished by TASS — the delegation, including Araghchi, left for the airport hours later and boarded a flight from New York to Doha at 1:20 a.m. Tuesday, according to Axios.

US President Donald Trump told reporters that the country faces a choice to either make a deal with Iran or “blow them up”, according to Al Jazeera — Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told military leaders at the Quantico base that US forces “destroyed” Iran’s navy, air force, defences, leadership and military-industrial capacity, according to the outlet, citing Hegseth.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said it has redirected 125 commercial vessels since mid-July, when the country resumed its naval blockade against Iran, according to TASS. The command said its forces redirected the vessels “to ensure strict compliance,” in a tally dated September 30. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is operating in the Arabian Sea in support of the blockade, according to Iran International, citing CENTCOM. President Donald Trump said the United States has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, a situation he described as “always subject to change”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday rejected UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's claim that Iran played a role in a suspected attempted attack on the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Fairford, used by the United States in its war on Iran, according to Middle East Eye.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there are “strong indications” that Iran played a role in the events that led to the arrest of five men near the airbase at RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, as part of a terror investigation. The five men, all in their 20s and from London, were arrested in the Gloucestershire countryside near the airbase, after a local woman driving home saw a series of vans and men in masks and called police. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that Washington believed “a foreign actor” was involved in the events on Sunday night at the airbase, which has been used by US planes for missions against Iran.

The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, warned the United Arab Emirates against hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that doing so would not have positive consequences, according to the state-run Mehr News. In a post in Arabic on X, Rezaei said that just as hosting US military bases had not brought security to the UAE, hosting the “Gaza butcher” would not have positive consequences either.

Iran’s conditions for fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz [include an end to US military and economic pressure, the release of frozen or restricted assets and agreement on a safe shipping route], according to the Anadolu Agency. The proposal was conveyed to Washington through Qatar, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has received the US response, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani confirmed on Wednesday. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran is making every possible effort to ensure the success of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, and Iran says the Strait of Hormuz will not fully reopen until its conditions are met and US commitments implemented. According to the Hindustan Times, the government of Donald Trump had publicly rejected Tehran’s latest proposal to end the war, which the outlet describes as being in its seventh month.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi received in Doha, via Qatari mediators, the US feedback on the seven-day trust-building plan, according to Arab News. The main disagreement is over sequencing of the plan, which seeks a return to an enhanced version of a memorandum of understanding signed in June, according to Arab News. Iran’s Defence Ministry spokesperson says Tehran seeks peace while defending its rights, security and interests, according to Mehr News.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned on Tuesday the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Iran International. The UAE confirmed that Netanyahu was in the country on Sunday and met President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. According to Israel National News, Netanyahu and his wife visited the UAE on Sunday at the invitation of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, and the visit focused on strengthening bilateral relations and addressing regional challenges.

The departure of United States (US) forces from Iraq, celebrated by Tehran and its allies as a victory, raises fears of a security vacuum, emboldened Iranian-backed militias and a regrouping Islamic State, according to France 24. A commander of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq described the withdrawal as a “historic victory” and a “crushing defeat for the American project”, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu.

Qatar’s prime minister said, in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, that whoever is responsible for the situation in Gaza is a “war criminal” and that nothing justifies the acts, according to Al Jazeera. He said that more than 1,400 Gazans have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect. He further conditioned ending the war with Iran on agreement on Tehran’s right to peaceful nuclear power with removal of sanctions, freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz under international law and reform of regional security arrangements.

The United States (US) Treasury sanctioned ten individuals and companies accused of procuring weapons and parts for Iran’s military, with representatives and technology firms based in China, Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia among those accused. Three of the sanctioned entities were located in Iran. The Treasury said the action further degrades the Iranian regime’s ability to reconstitute its weapons programs and increases the costs for those who choose to aid Tehran’s military procurement efforts. The sanctions were undertaken as part of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury Department effort to further restrict Iran’s access to global markets.

The CEO of the Russian state corporation Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, said Russia is discussing with Iran the construction of new small-capacity or high-capacity nuclear power plants, according to TASS.

US President Donald Trump said the war with Iran will end “very soon”, that Iran “will not have a nuclear weapon” and is “failing very badly”, according to TASS. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) made a direct appeal to Americans, saying the US government under Trump “must be changed”, in a message released five weeks before the midterm elections, according to Al Jazeera.

Indirect talks between the United States and Iran aimed at ending the seven-month war continue with Qatar as mediator, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, and Iran's proposal makes the start of wider peace talks, including discussions of its nuclear programme, conditional on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera.

United States (US) Vice President JD Vance said there is still scope for a deal with Iran if its leaders honour their commitments to Washington, and described Tehran’s political decision-making system as “very confused”, according to Middle East Eye. In an interview with journalist Vince Coglianese, Vance said President Donald Trump had made clear that “there is a universe where we can strike a deal with Iran, but that requires the Iranians to behave”.

Yemen’s internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government alleged that the Houthis, backed by Tehran, have modified Iranian air defence weapons into loitering cruise missiles with the assistance of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Al Jazeera. Iranian authorities have not commented on details of the allegations but have broadly denied directing the Houthis, stressing the Yemeni group’s independence. President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected a connection between Iran and Houthi actions in an interview with Al Jazeera and urged Saudi Arabia and the Houthis to negotiate.

The spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Al-Ansari, said the prolongation of the armed conflict between the United States and Iran in the Middle East and regional instability carry grave consequences for the international economy, according to TASS. Al-Ansari added that the region provides the world with energy products and also with items important to international food security, such as urea, and to industry, such as helium, petrochemicals and aluminium.

The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, reportedly said in a public video conference on Tuesday, responding to recent comments by US President Donald Trump about the Strait of Hormuz, that in a region where Iran cannot sell oil no one else will sell oil either, and that if Iran’s security is not guaranteed no infrastructure will remain safe, according to AFP, in a report published by the Hindustan Times.

The Kremlin said it would not want Iran to leave the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and hopes the country remains an important and responsible party to the treaty, which it called the cornerstone of the non-proliferation regime, according to TASS. Ali Nikzad, vice speaker of Iran’s parliament, said Tehran is considering withdrawing from the NPT, the agency reported.

US President Donald Trump said he was surprised that British police released on bail five men arrested on suspicion of a plot to attack a UK airbase, according to France 24. Trump said the case might be linked to Iran, but declined to give details, the same outlet reported. Iran has denied involvement in any plot to target the base, according to the same report.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he expects a formal answer on Tuesday from the United States (US) to Tehran’s proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, according to France 24, citing Iranian state media. Araghchi said the current focus is solely on the Strait of Hormuz and the reopening depends on conditions communicated to the other side. US President Donald Trump called reports of an offer to Iran untrue and a hoax and said he offered nothing, according to the Hindustan Times.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to TASS, citing the UN chief’s press service. Guterres welcomed the diplomatic efforts undertaken during the High-level Week of the General Assembly aimed at bringing the conflict in the Middle East to an end, according to the same source. The UN chief called on the parties to continue negotiating to resolve the outstanding differences, also according to TASS.

US and Iranian officials spoke separately with mediators on Monday in a renewed effort to end seven months of war, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu. Iran’s seven-day plan envisages an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon and the unfreezing of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets, according to the same text. US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran’s proposal, saying Iran wanted a swift agreement because of the crippling economic pressure.

US President Donald Trump denied offering Iran sanctions relief and the release of frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions. On Truth Social, he said he offered nothing and called the Axios report a hoax, Middle East Eye reported. The account Trump is rebutting came from journalist Barak Ravid, who wrote on X that the president was ready to ease sanctions and unfreeze Iranian assets in exchange for Tehran meeting US demands on its nuclear program, citing an unnamed US official, according to TASS.

British police said the five men detained near the Fairford air base are UK nationals from London, and all of them were released on bail without immediate charge, according to The Guardian. For the newspaper, the absence of an immediate charge suggests they are not deemed to pose a serious and violent threat. Iran has said that bases used by the US to attack it, including Fairford, were “legitimate targets”. According to The Guardian, the question of whether Iran had a hand in the alleged plot remains open.

Iraqi Airways has resumed commercial flights between the central province of Najaf and Iranian airports, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency. The flights restarted on Monday after Najaf and three other Iraqi airports temporarily suspended flights over fears of secondary sanctions by the United States. Earlier in the day, Iran filed a formal complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over US aviation sanctions, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Iran filed a formal protest with the UN over the remarks by US President Donald Trump at the 81st General Assembly, the Tehran Times reported. The letter was addressed to Secretary-General António Guterres and the president of the Security Council, signed by Iran’s chargé d’affaires, Gholamhossein Darzi, according to the WANA news agency. At the Assembly, Trump said Iran faced a “big decision”: make a deal or be annihilated, ABC News reported.

Oil pushed higher as Iran and the US appeared far apart on a new ceasefire deal for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to Bloomberg, in a text republished by the Hindustan Times. Brent was near $108 a barrel, climbing more than 3%, after discussions between the two sides appeared to hit fresh snags.

Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said the United States would be forced to leave West Asia after suffering “painful blows”, in a statement carried by state television, according to AFP, in a text republished by The Hindu. In a written statement attributed to him, Khamenei said that “today, having suffered painful blows at the hands of valiant fighters and the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz, they [the enemies] do not venture beyond the Arabian Sea”, according to The Hindu. Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the start of the war in late February, made the remarks despite attempts to revive talks aimed at ending the fighting, Middle East Eye noted.

Qatari mediators are likely to hold talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York and separately with the US side on Monday or Tuesday, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters, in a text republished by The Business Standard. The semiofficial ISNA news agency later confirmed that Araghchi would meet the mediators on Monday morning, New York time, also in The Business Standard report. The talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, according to Reuters.

Five men arrested near the RAF Fairford base in the United Kingdom will be released on bail but remain under investigation, British police said, in an Associated Press (AP) report republished by The Boston Globe. All five are British nationals from London in their 20s, counter-terrorism police said. The head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing said the five were being released on bail “following extensive interviews and inquiries” and remain subject to strict conditions, according to Al Jazeera. Iran’s embassy in London condemned the “fabricated speculations” linking Tehran to the incident, in a statement cited by Al Jazeera.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) rejected the claim that Iran fully controls the Strait of Hormuz, saying in a post on X that such claims “are false” and that Iran “has no navy because American forces sank it”. According to CENTCOM, more than 1 billion barrels of oil have recently passed through the strait, demonstrating that Iran does not control the waterway, Middle East Eye reported.

Bessent said Iran’s oil shipments have been successfully blocked by the US and the West and that the country’s last batch, of about 15 million barrels, is on its way to China. He told Fox News that Iran will make its final oil deliveries to China and that, after that, it will have nothing to trade for anything, probably within the next two weeks.

Five men were arrested on suspicion of preparing a “terrorist act” and explosive-related offenses in the Whelford area, next to Fairford base, according to DW. British counter-terrorism police are investigating whether Iran was behind a suspected bomb plot targeting RAF Fairford, a British air base used by US forces in operations against Iran, according to The Jerusalem Post, and US President Donald Trump praised the arrests, calling it an “amazing job”.

Iran's UN delegation has no plans for negotiations, even as US President Donald Trump says he expects talks to resume soon, according to The Hindu. Trump told Axios on Sunday that he expected talks to resume soon, a day after he rejected Tehran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days.

The chief of Iran's Army Force for Coordination Affairs says that both sides of the strategic Strait of Hormuz are under the control of the country's Armed Forces, according to Mehr News.

US President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian offer of a seven-day truce and of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Middle East Eye, and Brent climbed back above $106 a barrel. Brent futures rose more than 1% to $105.64 a barrel, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $93.11, according to the Mehr News Agency. Despite the rejection, Trump said he expects negotiations to resume, but said Tehran “overplayed their hand,” still according to the Middle East Eye.

Eight US Marines were injured two weeks ago when an Iranian cruise missile struck the ship they were operating on in the Strait of Hormuz, according to three US officials. The Marines were not seriously injured, but they sustained smoke inhalation and possibly traumatic brain injuries, with concussion symptoms such as headaches, the officials said.

The spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, General Hossein Mohebbi, said the Strait of Hormuz is a hunting ground for the IRGC Navy against US underwater vehicles and described the latest capture as both a technological and intelligence trophy, according to the Mehr News Agency. According to Mohebbi, the second prey captured is an Mk 18 Mod 2 Kingfish, an advanced autonomous underwater vehicle with sonar and precise navigation, worth several million dollars.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said he and President Masoud Pezeshkian came to New York to forge peace, in a post on X. Araghchi also said that Iran remains steadfast in the face of any aggression, even if it comes to an apocalyptic war, according to the Mehr News Agency.

Tehran says it is fully prepared for the war to resume, while the US rejects the drone claim on social media, according to the Al Jazeera liveblog.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran is ready to help facilitate an agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, according to The Diplomatic Insight. In remarks to Al Jazeera, he denied Iranian involvement in the conflict and said that what is happening in Yemen is not linked to Iran, according to the Times of India.

A source close to Iran’s delegation to the United Nations (UN) said there is no plan for a new round of negotiations with the United States in New York, according to the Mehr News, citing IRNA. The source said Iran’s positions were conveyed to the United States last Tuesday through the Qatari mediator and that Tehran is awaiting the American side’s response. US President Donald Trump told Axios he expects more talks with Iran as soon as this week and that Tehran wants a deal, according to RT. Trump also confirmed that the resumption of full-scale hostilities with Iran remains on the table.

US President Donald Trump said he expected more talks with Iran this week, according to Business Upturn, citing Axios. Trump also said Iran “overplayed their hand”. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had received an initial US reaction and was still waiting for mediators to convey Washington’s definitive position.

Iran stood firm on Sunday on the conditions of its plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, despite US President Donald Trump's rejection of the proposal. The plan calls for a cessation of all hostilities in West Asia, including in Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and a return to the conditions of the ceasefire deal that fell apart a few months ago. Trump said in an interview with Axios that the United States will hold another round of talks with Iran next week. Araghchi said the country is fully prepared for the war to be resumed, including an apocalyptic war, and at the same time ready for diplomacy.

US Central Command denied the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claim to have captured an American underwater drone in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Middle East Eye. Spokesperson Tim Hawkins said the US maintains “positive control of all of our operational drone assets” and called the claim “clearly desperate”. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is prepared for a renewed conflict with the US while keeping the door open for diplomacy, after President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to Sputnik Globe. Araghchi wrote that “our conditions are clear, and any measure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz depends on their fulfilment” and that “only a negotiated solution can pull the parties out of this impasse”, according to G1. Trump told Axios he expects American negotiators to hold more talks with Iran this week, according to Middle East Eye. In Bandar Abbas, Basij forces and residents held a parade of the Janfada drill to show preparedness against potential enemy aggression, according to Mehr News.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced the capture of a Remus 600, a US-made unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) the force called “terrorist”, in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Mehr News Agency. According to the force, it is the second vehicle of its kind seized in September 2026: on September 8, 2026 it had announced the interception and capture of another advanced US unmanned underwater vehicle near the entrance to the strait. Xinhua also reported the IRGC announcement, made on Sunday, September 27, 2026, about the capture of another “advanced smart” unmanned underwater vehicle belonging to the US Army in the Strait of Hormuz.

On September 27, 2026, Gloucestershire police arrested several men on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and evacuated properties in the Whelford area, where a major incident was declared, according to The Guardian. The British Army's specialist explosive ordnance disposal team is examining a number of vehicles, France 24 reported. The broadcaster France 24 reported that the British government authorised the United States to use the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford base to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Army spokesperson, Brigadier General Akraminia, said the Army Force is fully prepared to confront the enemy with might and power in reaction to possible US attacks, according to the Mehr News Agency. Akraminia said air defenses prevented 25,000 enemy aerial operations and that the Air Force responded about two and a half hours after the aggression.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met and held talks in New York late on Saturday on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly, according to Mehr News. The two discussed bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments, the Iranian account says, and Araghchi told Fidan that the current situation, including insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz, is a direct result of US and Israeli aggression that began on February 28 and has continued in various forms.

All Iraqi airports enforced the US ban on Iranian airlines this week, causing major disruption at the airport serving the holy city of Najaf, the main destination for Iranian flights in Iraq, according to AFP, in a text published by Middle East Eye. The Iranian ambassador to Iraq said, according to ISNA, that there are roughly 25 daily flights from Iran to Najaf and about 15 to Baghdad, and that between 12,000 and 13,000 people travel between the two countries on Iranian airlines every day. The Iraqi government said on Saturday that it is holding direct talks with the United States to exempt some Iraqi airports from US Treasury measures against Iranian airlines flying to airports in the region, according to The National, seeking to free up flights on humanitarian grounds.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said all his meetings on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly focused on presenting Tehran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to Mehr News. He said the terms were presented in full to mediators, who conveyed them to the American side, prompting an initial reaction from the US president, though no further response has come back through the mediators.

The Strait of Hormuz now has only a handful of ships sailing each day, either at their own risk or escorted by the US Navy, a tiny fraction of the traffic that passed through the waterway before the first strikes on Iran earlier in 2026, according to El País. Qatar, the world’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been forced to cancel the bulk of its sales to the European Union (EU) and Asia citing “force majeure” over the closure of Hormuz. Continental reserves of LNG, key for industry and heating, are at their lowest in more than a decade and about 20 percentage points below where they usually stand at this time of year.

Turkey and Oman have halted incoming flights from private carrier Mahan Air, while the United Arab Emirates has stopped all flights by Iranian airlines, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a post on X cited by Hindustan Times. Bessent said teams were dispatched across the globe to engage with countries and demand action against the Iranian regime and that “these efforts are delivering results”. The Treasury has held discussions with more than 50 countries, according to the Wall Street Journal cited by Hindustan Times.

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations (UN), Gholamhossein Darzi, said in a letter that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) chief stated in an address on September 23, 2026, that roughly 5,000 aircraft had flown from European bases since February 28, 2026, in support of what was described as “Operation Epic Fury”, according to Mehr News Agency. Tehran says the use of European bases violates international law and calls for urgent Security Council examination. Iran says US and Israeli military actions killed more than 3,600 people, including at least 254 children and 251 women.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned it will attack US warships, even those in the Indian Ocean, if Washington launches a new war against Iran, according to Middle East Eye. The threat came after Donald Trump posted an image showing the Strait of Hormuz circled and labelled “Trump Strait”, hours after Iran said it had presented a seven-day plan to reopen the waterway.

Under the proposal Donald Trump rejected, Tehran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear negotiations in exchange for the end of the naval blockade, relief on restrictions to Iranian oil exports, the release of frozen assets and a ceasefire that includes an end to Israel’s combat operations in Lebanon, according to RT. Trump told reporters Tehran wants a deal because it is “losing so badly” under the American blockade.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent thanked the governments of the United Kingdom, Turkey, Oman and the United Arab Emirates for supporting “Operation Economic Outcast”, Washington’s economic campaign against Iran, according to Middle East Eye. Turkey and Oman halted incoming flights from private carrier Mahan Air, and the UAE stopped all flights by Iranian airlines. The UAE central bank blocked transactions to and from Iran by branches of Iran’s Bank Melli. The U.S. Department of the Treasury said it sanctioned 36 targets for supporting Iran’s aviation sector, which the regime uses to move weapons, personnel and illicit cargo.

Araghchi said Iran is waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive US position and will decide based on it, after Donald Trump rejected the Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. According to him, the strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days if the necessary conditions are met.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Muslim countries should “wake up” and not fight with each other, adding that the United States and Israel “are trying to pit us against each other,” according to the IRNA news agency, cited by Middle East Eye. Back in Tehran after the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, he said he had denounced at the UN the oppression of the Iranian people and the crimes of the United States and Israel.

Iran’s Strait of Hormuz Administration warned that ships using unauthorised routes through the strait would face serious restrictions, according to Al Jazeera Arabic, cited by Middle East Eye. The warning came after Donald Trump said on Saturday that he had rejected the Iranian proposal to reopen the strait and end the Iran war.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi called at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on all parties to the Middle East conflict to exercise restraint and pursue dialogue, hours after Donald Trump rejected Iran’s seven-day truce proposal. In the same address, Oman reaffirmed its commitment to continue efforts to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iraq has reached an understanding with the United States to continue dollar cash shipments to the country, with a new shipment expected in the coming days, according to Middle East Eye. The point runs parallel to Iraqi talks on an exemption to resume flights with Iran.

Saudi Arabia accused Iran at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) of flagrant attacks on civilian and economic targets across the region. Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan condemned “flagrant” Iranian and Houthi attacks on his country and called for the upholding of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s office asked the United States for an exemption to resume flights with Iran on humanitarian grounds related to medical treatment, education, religious visits and the interests of civilians, after four Iraqi airports suspended all flights to and from Iran on Friday, days after Washington announced new aviation sanctions on any global company doing business with Iranian airlines. On Saturday, demonstrators gathered in Baghdad against the suspensions, in a protest organised by Iran-allied militias, and the head of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Akram al-Kaabi, vowed to organize sit-ins at airports across the country unless normal air traffic resumes.

Donald Trump said on Saturday that he rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days. He said he “would also like to make a deal”, but that this one would not be acceptable, and said Iranians want the deal immediately because they are losing badly. Iran offered this week to reopen the strait and resume talks on its nuclear programme within seven days, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at the UN General Assembly that normal maritime passage can be restored within seven days if the necessary conditions are met, with the choice resting with the United States.

Iran’s Defense Ministry spokesman said part of the Armed Forces’ strategic capabilities have been relocated to secure environments and underground infrastructure as part of measures to protect the country’s defense capacities, according to Tasnim.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ruled out on Friday a meeting with Donald Trump before trust between Iran and the United States is restored, according to Sputnik Globe. He said it is difficult to trust while the United States does not cease what it imposes on the country every day.

Donald Trump rejected Iran’s offer of a seven-day ceasefire to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Guardian. The rejection was reported by The Wall Street Journal based on unnamed U.S. officials. The plan called for releasing $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets, lifting sanctions on Iranian oil and ending the naval blockade on the country’s ports, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters. By Saturday, the United States had still made no public response, though reports indicated Trump had rejected the proposal.

Iraq’s government is holding direct talks with the United States on an exemption for certain Iraqi airports from the U.S. ban on Iranian airlines. According to AFP, in a text republished by The Hindu, the exemption would allow flights to resume “for humanitarian reasons, including medical treatment, education, religious visits, and for the interest of civilians.” Four Iraqi airports had suspended all flights to and from Iran days after the United States announced new aviation sanctions on any global companies doing business with Iranian airlines; Iraqi state media said flights were no longer operating from Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah.

President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres advocated diplomacy at a meeting on the sidelines of the 81st General Assembly on Friday. According to Iran’s Mehr News Agency, Pezeshkian rejected as an illusion and slander the allegations that Tehran seeks nuclear weapons and said Iran seeks peaceful nuclear knowledge and technology and rejects nuclear weapons. Guterres said Iran had proposed solutions in recent weeks and expressed hope they would produce results soon. The meeting at UN headquarters on September 25 was captured in a photograph by AP.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met in New York with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on Friday, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly. According to Mehr News, Araghchi briefed his Saudi counterpart on the memorandum of understanding between Iran and Oman on the safe shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met in New York with Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Also according to the Iranian agency Mehr News, Araghchi met with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy, with Palestine and Israeli aggressions on the agenda, and called for stronger regional trust and dialogue between Iran and Arab countries.

A spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, said the country’s advanced missiles are capable of destroying the multilayered air defense systems of the United States, according to the Mehr news agency. Mohebbi also said that the United States, despite having the world’s largest navy, was unable to keep the Strait of Hormuz open even for a few hours. According to him, only oil tankers of Iran’s trading partners are permitted to pass through the strait, and only with Tehran’s permission.

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met in New York with his Russian and Iranian counterparts, Sergey Lavrov and Abbas Araghchi, on the margins of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. Jaishankar said he discussed bilateral issues and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) cooperation with Lavrov. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said, according to TASS, that the two discussed the Ukraine crisis and the situation in the Middle East. With Araghchi, the Indian minister said he discussed the latest developments in the Gulf conflict.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at the 27th informal meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), chaired by Pakistan on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, that the country fell victim, on 13 June 2025 and 28 February 2026, to unlawful and unjustified terrorist aggressions by the United States and Israel, according to the Mehr news agency.

The total number of U.S. troops wounded in the war against Iran reached 861, according to the Pentagon’s public casualty database (DCAS). The Pentagon added 37 names to the list — 29 sailors and eight Marines — and provided no public explanation of when or how those service members were wounded, according to Sputnik Globe, reporting on The Washington Post.

Iran treated the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as the implementation of a memorandum of understanding already signed with Washington. According to the Russian agency TASS, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS that the resumption of normal shipping through Hormuz should follow the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington and that Iran remains committed to the text and willing to implement it. According to Sputnik Globe, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran has sent Washington, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan to reopen the strait and restart negotiations if the United States fulfills the agreed conditions, and under the plan the strait would reopen on day six and talks on a final agreement would begin on day seven. Also according to TASS, Pezeshkian conditioned a meeting with Donald Trump on the United States showing that it does not intend to overthrow the Iranian government. On the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the foreign ministers of Oman and Iran discussed efforts to ensure safe navigation through Hormuz.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said the country will allow United Nations (UN) nuclear inspectors to return, according to Middle East Eye. The statement is part of Iran’s proposal on the Strait of Hormuz, according to CBS News.

The UN under-secretary-general and head of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Jorge Moreira da Silva, told Japanese broadcaster NHK that at least 45 million people in developing countries may face food shortages because of disruptions in fertilizer supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, according to TASS. He said the humanitarian crisis can be avoided if five to seven ships carrying fertilizer cross the strait each day.

Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear programme in seven days is conditioned on the United States lifting its naval blockade, waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observing a ceasefire that would include Lebanon, according to The Hindu. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi detailed the proposal on September 24 at a private gathering on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, according to one attendee. Pezeshkian hosted the prime minister of Qatar on September 25; Qatar has served as a mediator, including during hours of indirect Iranian-U.S. talks at the U.N. this week.

President Donald Trump is expected to reject the plan Iran presented to end the war and plans to resume bombing after November’s midterm elections, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a text republished by G1. In private conversations, Trump said he was skeptical that Iran would meet his demands and told his team he considers a new bombing campaign likely, according to officials. Reuters also reported the rejection of the ceasefire and the expectation of renewed bombing after the midterms.

Delegates left the hall of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Friday, September 25, 2026, before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the podium, in a walkout coordinated at the request of the Palestinian Mission to the 193 member states, according to India Today. Netanyahu rejected the genocide allegations over Gaza, calling them “the biggest lie of the century”, defended Israel’s actions against Iran and called those who had not left the hall “moral cowards”, asking them to leave.

The United States is holding positive, constructive discussions with Iran through mediators, including nuclear issues, according to a U.S. official cited by Middle East Eye. A White House official told CNN that the administration was holding “positive and constructive discussions through the mediators”, according to Al Jazeera. The statements respond to the seven-day plan Tehran presented, which foresees an end to hostilities on all fronts, including Gaza and Lebanon, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on the final day, according to Al Jazeera, citing The New York Times.

India told Washington that the new sanctions law against Russia and Iran could affect bilateral ties and the international energy market, according to Shafaqna India, citing a statement from the Indian government. The bill authorises President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries that keep buying Russian oil and gas, with India among those exposed, as reported by Streamline Feed from Al Jazeera and The Times of India. New Delhi says its energy policy will keep being guided by energy security for its 1.4 billion people, with diversified sourcing, according to the Economic Times.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that United States and Israeli aggression killed more than 5,000 Iranians, according to TASS, which reproduces his remarks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Middle East states that help an attack on Iran will bear direct responsibility, according to TASS.

Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at the United Nations (UN) on Friday: if the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days. The timeline starts only when the United States accepts the plan — “if they accept this plan tomorrow, the seven-day period will start from tomorrow,” he said. According to Tehran, the steps required of Washington are all already in the Memorandum of Understanding.

The official count of U.S. casualties in the Iran war has passed 850, after another 66 service members were wounded in action this month alone, according to The Intercept. The Pentagon added dozens of wounded troops to its online tally, reaching 794 wounded in action through 4 September, after fighting resumed, according to Task & Purpose.

The European Union (EU) is facing an energy price crisis tied to a supply crisis, the bloc’s energy commissioner, Dan Jorgensen, wrote in a letter to energy ministers, according to Reuters, via Al Arabiya. In the letter, Jorgensen urged countries to consider measures to curb energy demand. The European Commission presented the AccelerateEU package, with short-term and structural measures to reduce reliance on volatile fossil markets, answering a request from the March 19, 2026 European Council.

Erbil and Sulaimaniya airports in Iraq suspended flights with Iran starting Friday, September 25, 2026, Reuters reported. Together with Baghdad and Najaf, four Iraqi airports have halted operations with the country. The move responds to U.S. sanctions announced against any company doing business with Iranian airlines after September 23. In Najaf, flights were halted before dawn on Friday by a directive from the prime minister’s office, the airport director told Al Arabiya.

United States President Donald Trump said on Friday, 25 September 2026, that he discussed the Iran war with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their talks in Washington, according to the Hindustan Times. A U.S. official told CNBC that Trump made clear to Xi that it would be “unacceptable” for China to help Iran during the U.S. military campaign, according to The Guardian.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran will show no flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the United States accepts its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which calls for lifting the naval blockade on Iranian ports, in a report carried by Middle East Eye. The same official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the waterway would remain closed until “all of Iran’s conditions” are met by Washington.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian opened his address to the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York on Friday, 25 September 2026 with a direct rebuttal to U.S. President Donald Trump, who a day earlier had branded Iran the number one sponsor of terror, according to UN News. Pezeshkian argued that Iran’s nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes: “For our sick people it is cure and treatment, for the agricultural sector it is food security, for industries it is advancement and progress,” he said, according to UN News.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will take “the necessary measures” to safeguard its national interests in response to what it called Colombia’s unjustified and hostile approach, according to Sputnik. The reaction follows Bogotá’s severing of diplomatic relations with Tehran, in force since 19 September 2026, according to Sputnik, which cited Colombian national security concerns, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s obstruction of inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan, called on the kingdom’s soldiers to be ready to lay down their lives fighting the Iran-backed Houthis until the group is ousted from power, Al-Monitor reported, citing Reuters. The statement came after weeks of escalation, with Houthi missile and drone salvos against Saudi Arabia and Saudi retaliation with airstrikes.

U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue told CNBC that Donald Trump made clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping, in talks at the White House, that Chinese help for Iran is unacceptable, Middle East Eye reported.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the state of Iran’s negotiations and agreements with Oman to ensure safe navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, according to TASS. According to Moscow, the two agreed that only a diplomatic settlement can end tension in the Middle East, The Jerusalem Post reports, citing Reuters.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told Fox News that his country rejects the nuclear bomb on religious grounds, DW reports. Pezeshkian brought a diplomatic tone to New York during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and Tehran presented Washington with a proposal to resume negotiations, while the White House confirmed that positive and constructive talks were continuing through intermediaries, according to DW.

Ground-handling companies have stopped servicing Iraq-Iran flights at airports nationwide, bringing air travel between the two countries to a standstill, a source at Iraq’s Ministry of Transport told Shafaq News. Menzies Aviation and National Aviation Services (NAS) said they could no longer provide the services for fear of U.S. Treasury penalties — Washington sanctioned 36 entities in Iran’s aviation sector, including 27 airlines, on September 8. Erbil and Sulaimaniya airports, in Iraqi Kurdistan, also suspended flights with Iran, according to Middle East Eye.

Fuel prices in Lebanon have doubled since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, reaching $1.60 a litre, Middle East Eye reports. The country’s trade union federation urged the government to declare a state of economic emergency and threatened an open-ended general strike next week; the World Bank projects Lebanon’s economy will contract 6.4% in 2026, according to the same report. The head of the workers’ confederation said the rising cost of living could lead to a “social explosion,” he told dpa.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the U.N. General Assembly tribune on Thursday, September 24, 2026, to attack Iran, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, critics and allies such as the United Kingdom and France, and rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza, Al Jazeera reported. Dozens of delegations walked out as the speech began, some jeering and booing, while Netanyahu’s own team stood and applauded; SBS News put the number of delegations that walked out at 77.

Najaf International Airport suspended all flights to and from Iran from 7 p.m. EDT on Thursday, September 24, 2026 (2 a.m. Friday in Najaf), until further notice, on official instructions, Shafaq News reports. All inbound and outbound flights between Iran and Najaf were cancelled, leaving pilgrims stranded in Tehran, according to WANA.

Imagery and intelligence support from Chinese groups has helped Iran threaten ships in the Strait of Hormuz and launch precision strikes on U.S. military bases in the Middle East, CNN reports, citing sources the network does not identify. The imagery allowed Iran to hit a U.S. base in Jordan in July 2026, a strike that killed three American service members with a level of precision that U.S. officials believe was beyond Iran’s capabilities. In May 2026, the U.S. government sanctioned three Chinese satellite companies for providing imagery that, according to Washington, “enables Iran’s military strikes against U.S. forces in the Middle East.”

Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, called the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors’ resolution reporting Iran to the United Nations Security Council “disgraceful” and accused Western countries of “complete irresponsibility” within the body, at a news briefing on Thursday, September 24, 2026, according to TASS, cited by News-Pravda. The resolution, submitted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, was adopted on September 9, 2026 by 23 votes in favor, three against and eight abstentions, with Russia, China and Niger opposed, and asks IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to report Iran to the Security Council and the UN General Assembly, according to AFP, in a report published by the Khaleej Times. According to AFP, it is the first time in 20 years that Iran has been reported to the Security Council for failing to comply with its nuclear reporting obligations.

Iran’s seven-day roadmap to end the war with the United States provides for an end to hostilities on all fronts, the release of at least US$ 12 billion in frozen assets, relief from sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the naval blockade, with the Strait of Hormuz reopening on the seventh day, Al Jazeera reports. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the plan was delivered to Washington through intermediaries and that a deal should be sealed before the U.S. midterm elections, he told Al Jazeera.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and backed a diplomatic way out of the Gulf crisis, Sputnik Globe reports, citing a Russian Foreign Ministry statement. The statement blames the United States and Israel for the crisis and says there is no alternative to a diplomatic settlement, as the Jerusalem Post notes on the meeting.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband in New York on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly, Mehr News Agency reports. Miliband said the United Kingdom “will not tolerate intimidation, threats or hostile activity on UK soil” and urged de-escalation and diplomacy instead of prolonging the war, stressing the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to the BBC. Senior Iranian officials say Washington has four to five days to respond to Tehran’s conditions for reopening the strait, according to The Guardian.

Thousands of people marched in Tehran in the “Sacrifice for Iran” (Janfada-e-Iran, in Persian) campaign, from Imam Hossein Square to Enghelab Square, reports Mehr News Agency. The rally was a government-organised demonstration with hundreds of thousands of participants pledging readiness to take up arms, describes Al Jazeera. At the rally, the government unveiled a new volunteer force with limited military and emergency-response training to serve as an additional security layer for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij militia, according to the broadcaster. Iranian authorities said 313,000 people joined the event in the capital, a figure that could not be independently verified, the broadcaster notes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in New York on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), according to IRNA. Iran’s state news agency says Araghchi has held a series of bilaterals with counterparts on the session’s sidelines.

United States President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping met at the White House in Washington on Thursday, September 24, 2026, on the second day of Xi’s three-day state visit — his first to Washington in 11 years, according to Al Jazeera, with Reuters and the Associated Press (AP). China’s state news agency Xinhua, cited by the broadcaster, reported that Xi urged Washington to handle Taiwan prudently and oppose the island’s independence; the White House published no readout of its own. On the war with Iran there was no breakthrough: Xi backed a return by Washington and Tehran to the interim agreement meant to pave the way for a larger deal.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York and vowed to deepen bilateral cooperation with Dhaka and Tehran, according to the Hindustan Times, citing the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency. With Pezeshkian, Sharif said he had reaffirmed ties with Iran and urged restraint, de-escalation and sustained diplomacy in the face of the prolonged conflict, according to a post by the premier himself cited by the paper.

Colombia severed diplomatic relations with Iran effective 19 September 2026, according to The Rio Times, which cited Colombian radio station Caracol and the country’s Foreign Ministry statement. The government cited human rights violations, alleged Iranian links to terrorist and narcoterrorist groups, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and obstruction of the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and kept consular relations, according to the Venezuelan state outlet teleSUR, which also cited the ministry’s statement.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country did not choose the war and that it was forced upon it, and said an agreement with the United States had already been reached and signed before the escalation, according to Sputnik Globe, which carried an interview with Fox News. “We did not choose war. The war was imposed on us. We do not seek war,” he said, warning in the same interview that Iran will respond “strongly” if attacks continue, according to The Hill.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Danny Danon, approached an Iranian diplomat at the General Assembly to offer the Starlink terminal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had displayed in his speech as a tool for Iranians to bypass censorship, according to Middle East Eye; the Iranian representative ignored Danon, looked away and did not engage, the outlet reports; India Today recorded the on-stage display.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is ready for agreements with the United States within the framework of international law, in a Fox News interview in New York, according to TASS. According to the report, Pezeshkian added that Tehran does not base decisions on American elections and would accept a deal before or after the vote.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said it is up to the United States to decide when the war between the two countries ends and denied that Tehran seeks a nuclear bomb, in an interview with Fox News aired on September 24, 2026 and covered by The Hindu. He said Iran is willing to dilute uranium under external verification — and Brent crude prices fell on hopes of a truce, according to Middle East Eye.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is in good health and in full control of the country, in a Fox News interview reported by Russia’s TASS news agency, in which he said he met Khamenei face to face for seven hours about a month to a month and a half ago. In the same interview, Pezeshkian denied that Tehran directs the battle plans of Yemen’s Houthis, saying “the Houthis are responsible for their own actions” and take no orders from Tehran, according to the Middle East Eye. On the June memorandum of understanding (MoU), Pezeshkian said the text outlined a temporary ceasefire before talks collapsed, according to News18.

The United Arab Emirates barred Iranian airlines under pressure from United States (US) sanctions on Iran's aviation sector, according to Al Jazeera. The move follows Operation Economic Outcast, in which the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 36 targets tied to the sector on September 8.

Iran has conveyed to mediators its conditions for returning to negotiations to end the war, and Tehran is pressing for the United States to return to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) before November’s midterm elections. Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said he sent the conditions through Qatar, including an end to the war on all fronts and an end to the naval blockade. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran wants the Americans back in the memorandum before the midterms. The New York Times reported that Iran proposed a seven-day plan to end the war.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Thursday, 24 September 2026, that Tehran had given the United States a proposal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks on ending the war within seven days. The text has not been released. Regional sources cited by The National describe a regionwide ceasefire of up to 60 days, a phased reopening of the Strait and an end to the US blockade. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a Fox News interview that the choice rests with Washington: “It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not.”

During the address that opened the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, US President Donald Trump said he would decide between a deal with Iran and ‘annihilating the Islamic Republic’; as he began speaking about US military operations, Iran’s delegation walked out of the hall, leaving a single lower-level staff member behind, according to Al Jazeera. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei confirmed the partial walkout and told the Iranian state news agency IRNA that one diplomat from Iran’s mission stayed in the room because the delegation attended at foreign minister level, according to ANI. Baghaei said the US administration turns the Assembly into a stage for military threats that are ‘absolutely illegal, contrary to international law and diplomatic custom’, and called the threat of a military attack ‘an admission of committing international crimes’. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, cited by Al Jazeera, reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accepted a meeting requested by US envoy Steve Witkoff to restate Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz: an immediate end to the naval blockade, the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war. Al Jazeera notes that accounts differ over whether the two delegations met directly.

Iran’s Oil Ministry said about 50% of the damaged capacity at the South Pars gas field has returned to service, after the Israeli strike of 18 March 2026 that halted output at two refineries in the Asaluyeh complex and cut Iranian gas flows to Iraq, as The National reported at the time. The deputy oil minister for planning said production in that section resumed by 22 September 2026 and that the recovery program will be completed before winter begins, according to Mehr News. The field supplies about 75% of the country’s gas consumption and underpins nearly 80% of its electricity generation, according to a report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty carried by GlobalSecurity.org.

Envoys of US President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi for about three hours on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York — the first round of talks since the June ceasefire collapsed, according to the BBC. The meeting was mediated by Qatar and no breakthrough was announced; Witkoff said a round of discussions had been completed “that we hope will prove constructive and promising,” and Tehran repeated its demand that Washington end its “acts of aggression.” Hours earlier, in the address that opened the Assembly, Trump said he would decide between a deal with Iran and “annihilating the Islamic Republic,” and said he believed a deal would come right after November’s congressional elections. Oil prices fell after the talks were announced, according to Gulf News, which carries the Associated Press coverage.

United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that his administration “strongly supports” the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) as a way to move the region’s energy infrastructure away from chokepoints under Iranian control. Speaking to Gulf Cooperation Council leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Trump said: “Iran’s terrorist attacks on commercial shipping in neighboring countries have shown the need to shift Middle East energy infrastructure away from the Iranian checkpoints. That’s why my administration strongly supports the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and other places in the form of getting oil out, whether it’s pipelines or anything else,” according to the Hindustan Times and ANI. Launched on September 9, 2023 at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in New Delhi, the corridor is meant to connect India to the Gulf and the Gulf to Europe by sea, rail and road.

Three commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, below the 10-day moving average of about 15, according to preliminary Kpler data cited by Reuters and carried by Middle East Eye. All three were exiting the waterway, and the figure may change because some ships switch off their transponders on the crossing; the ballast liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Al Mafyar reappeared inside the strait on Tuesday, after last being seen outside it on 19 September 2026, according to Kpler and LSEG data. At Bab el-Mandeb, 22 commodity vessels crossed on the same day, against an average of about 26 over the previous 10 days. Before the US–Iran war that began on 28 February 2026, the strait handled about 125 large commercial vessels a day — the equivalent of a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Maritime risk consultancy Marisks said on Tuesday that the Isle of Man-flagged crude oil tanker LR Stephanie was struck by an unidentified projectile while entering the waterway on Monday, 21 September 2026, injuring two crew members, and that the Liberia-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier Al Maryah, managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), was struck while outbound on Sunday, 20 September 2026; neither incident has been claimed, according to the Reuters dispatch.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the contact with the United States on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was carried out through a Qatari mediator, and that its purpose was to convey Iran’s conditions: an end to the war on all fronts, a halt to US military actions and the naval blockade, an end to the economic war and the release of the country’s frozen assets, according to Mehr News. According to The Guardian, the three-hour meeting between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff was mediated by Qatari diplomats and was attended for most of its duration by Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani; Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the General Assembly on Wednesday, 23 September 2026.

US federal prosecutors are investigating whether Binance violated sanctions on Iran by failing to stop certain trading on its platform, according to Bloomberg Law, which cited people familiar with the matter, and Reuters, which confirmed the account with its own source. The inquiry is led by the Manhattan US attorney’s office, with the Justice Department’s criminal division in Washington also involved, and it examines whether the crypto exchange knowingly allowed the trading. Both offices declined to comment; Binance said it has a “zero-tolerance” approach to sanctions violations and that it cooperates with law enforcement. On September 14, 2026, the same office sought the forfeiture of about US$ 61 million in crypto that, according to prosecutors, came from black-market Iranian oil sales, in an action filed against the assets, with no accusation against the exchange. Binance paid a US$ 4.3 billion penalty in 2023 over money-laundering and sanctions controls, when the Justice Department calculated that more than US$ 898 million in trades had flowed between US users and users ordinarily resident in Iran from January 2018 through May 2022.

Iran’s state news agency, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), said an explosion was heard near Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on the night of Tuesday, 22 September 2026, and that the cause and the impact were not immediately clear, according to Middle East Eye, which is covering the case in a live blog. No other source has confirmed the explosion so far.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on expectations that Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline is back in service, then erased much of the drop after US President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly he believes a deal with Iran is possible after November’s midterm elections. Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, fell 2.64 per cent to $97.69 a barrel at 3.09pm UAE time, while West Texas Intermediate dropped 3.20 per cent, according to The National, of Abu Dhabi. Earlier, Brent had fallen 3 per cent to $97.43 and US crude as much as 3.5 per cent to $92.40, according to NBC News. After Trump’s speech, US crude was back around $96 and Brent briefly rose above $100 again, NBC News reported. “I believe we will make a deal right after the election because it does not make sense for them not to,” Trump told the assembly. “Oil prices will come plummeting down, even lower than they were at the start of the conflict.” Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency called the reports about the reopening of Hormuz “unreliable and untrue”, according to NBC News, which says it has not confirmed them. Only two visible commercial vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, 21 September 2026, against about 125 a day before the war began on 28 February 2026, according to preliminary shipping data cited by The National. The US national average diesel price hit a record on Tuesday at $6.52 a gallon, up 82 per cent since the start of the year, according to NBC News.

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she discussed with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York the diplomatic prospects for ending the war between the United States and Iran and for fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz. “There were no tolls or fees for passage before the war, and there should be none after the war,” she wrote on X, according to LaPresse and ANI. “Navigation must be free and unimpeded, both in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.” Kallas also said she raised with Araghchi domestic repression inside Iran, including the sharp rise in executions and death sentences.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that he backs banning US diesel exports, a step farm-state lawmakers have demanded as fuel costs soar: “I’ve said let’s not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel. I’ve called for it. I’ve called for it within my people,” he told reporters at United Nations headquarters in New York, ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Reuters, in a dispatch carried by The Sacramento Bee. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the same meeting that the administration is examining whether a ban is feasible and whether a full or partial ban would work. Diesel prices have hit records in the United States and Europe because the wars in Iran and Ukraine have cut exports from some of the largest producers, such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; the average US pump price rose above $6.50 a gallon, a record, according to AAA as cited by Bloomberg. Trump’s backing puts him at odds with his own energy and interior secretaries. Chris Wright said a ban would create a glut of diesel on the Gulf Coast and push refiners to cut production, which would also reduce petrol supply, and argued for more supply. Doug Burgum said a ban would be unlikely to lower petroleum prices and could trigger retaliation from energy-exporting countries. A ban could ease prices on the Gulf Coast while tightening supplies further in Europe, which is structurally short of diesel and relies on US exports: “that would seem pretty damaging to some key U.S. allies,” said Jim Mitchell, director of oil trading analytics at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, according to Reuters.

Iran handed the United States its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz in a meeting between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. According to Iran’s state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), in an account carried by The Tribune, the demands are the immediate lifting of the naval blockade, the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. The meeting was requested by Witkoff, the broadcaster said. Witkoff wrote on X, in a post carried by The Tribune, that the two sides held “lengthy talks” through mediators who “shuttled between the two sides throughout the day”: “They successfully completed a round of discussions that we hope will prove constructive and promising. The mediators will continue their work.” Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, told the Vedomosti newspaper that Washington will have to accept the new legal status of the Strait of Hormuz, which he said will be defined by Iran and Oman, according to TASS.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that Washington and Tehran are moving toward a settlement, hours after repeating at the UN General Assembly his threat to annihilate Iran if no deal is reached: “They want to talk to us. They have been talking to us, even today they’ve been talking to us, and the relationship is developing. But we can’t let them — and they understand that — we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said after meeting British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, according to Reuters, in a dispatch carried by Al-Monitor. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf shipping within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade of Iranian ports, and that Tehran’s latest proposal was conveyed to Washington through mediators last week. “The UN General Assembly is a golden opportunity for the US to return to diplomacy,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who headed the negotiating team in earlier talks, warned that “Trump must understand that he cannot impose his power on the Iranian people and its armed forces”. Trump also hosted the leaders of the six Arab Gulf states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) on the same day, telling the meeting there is “a lot of momentum” for a deal, according to TASS: “We’ve been mediating for a while, but I think there’s a lot of momentum for them to make a deal.” According to sources cited by Reuters, Saudi Arabia restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu within hours, at reduced volumes; the pipeline had been shut after attacks this month that Riyadh blamed on Iran-backed groups in Iraq.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that European countries hosting US military bases or helping to prepare or execute US attacks could be “complicit in aggression”. He made the remark to his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to Middle East Eye, which cites an Iranian statement. Araghchi said rising fuel and commodity prices in global markets are a direct result of the US-Israeli war on Iran and warned of “the dangerous consequences that the normalisation of law-breaking and aggressive US unilateralism poses to the rule of law”.

US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, in his address to the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly that he has “a big decision to make” on Iran: whether to reach a deal that lets the country “rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before”, or to “annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again”. He called on “all nations” to help enforce the “complete economic isolation of Iran” and said a deal is likely to come after the US midterm elections of 3 November 2026, according to The Guardian and Quartz. Trump said Iran is “waiting to see how I do in the midterm election” and dismissed the idea that the vote would shape his decision: “What they don’t realize is that I’m not running. I did that already, and won in a landslide.” He also said the United States has “more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using”, and defended the war on Iran as a way to keep Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that his administration is studying whether to apply the law expanding sanctions on Russia and Iran, which he signed on 18 September 2026 and which is known as the “hell sanctions” bill: “That’s something we’re certainly studying. It’s a very severe bill,” he told reporters before his meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, according to TASS. Asked whether he intended to raise secondary sanctions on Russia’s trading partners in his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, set for this week in Washington, Trump replied: “Probably.” The law, chiefly authored by senator Lindsey Graham, who died on 11 July 2026, provides for tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas and secondary sanctions on countries that help Moscow evade the measures, as well as restrictions on Russia’s political and military leadership, state banks and the “shadow fleet” of oil tankers.

Airports in Baghdad, Iraq, and Muscat, Oman, stopped accepting flights by Iranian carriers from midnight on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, when United States sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector took effect. The information comes from Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, cited by Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse (AFP). Iraq’s government ordered its civil aviation authority to suspend Iranian flights to Baghdad, according to two sources heard by Reuters, and is considering rerouting those services to Najaf, a pilgrimage destination. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization is negotiating with Oman and says other international flights, including those to Istanbul, are operating as scheduled, according to the ISNA agency. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, 21 September, that Iranian airlines would be barred from operating worldwide from 23 September under the threat of secondary sanctions on service providers: “you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he told CNBC. Iran has 27 airlines, most of them domestic, and international routes are concentrated in Iran Air and Mahan Air. Analysts told Al Jazeera that Washington has no authority to close other countries’ airspace, and that cutting off fuel and ground handling achieves an equivalent effect.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York and conveyed Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state television IRIB, cited by Middle East Eye: the immediate lifting of the naval blockade, the return of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war on all resistance fronts. The meeting confirms the direct contact that US president Donald Trump described earlier as a roughly three-hour meeting that was “very good” and “very productive”. The same day, the European Union (EU) high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Kaja Kallas, also met Araghchi to discuss free maritime passage in the strait and in Bab al-Mandab: “There were no tolls or fees for passage before the war, and there should be none after the war,” she wrote on X, according to Middle East Eye. Kallas said she also raised “domestic repression inside Iran, including the sharp rise in executions and death sentences”.

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly that the Gulf is going through “one of the most dangerous phases” because of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and argued the crisis can be resolved through diplomacy, with the Strait of Hormuz reopened to navigation, according to Al Jazeera. He said the war is the “cumulative result of years” of postponing diplomatic solutions and called for a “regional system of collective security”, saying that without one “it has become possible for a war to erupt”. Sheikh Tamim called Israel’s expansion in the occupied West Bank “aggression” and said “what has transpired in Gaza is genocide in every sense of the word”.

Donald Trump told reporters at United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that US officials held a roughly three-hour meeting with the Iranian delegation on the sidelines of the 81st General Assembly, which he described as “very good” and “very productive”, and that “they have another one scheduled in the very near future,” according to Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye. The announcement came hours after the president threatened at the Assembly’s opening session to “annihilate the Islamic Republic” if Tehran does not strike a deal to end the war. Neither outlet reported who took part in the meeting or where it was held.

Iranian lawmaker Hossein-Ali Haji Deligani said in parliament on Sunday, September 20, 2026, that a triple-urgency bill, a mechanism that allows fast-track consideration, to withdraw the country from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has been submitted to the presiding board and is awaiting the approval of Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf to be put to debate, according to Press TV, Mehr News and Türkiye Today. “Given the circumstances facing the country and the aggression that the enemy has launched against us on two occasions, remaining in the NPT brings us nothing but losses,” he said, citing the referral of Iran’s case to the United Nations (UN) Security Council by the 35-member Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over alleged non-compliance with the inspections regime, a decision Russia and China opposed. The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, said on Saturday, September 19, 2026, that the country remains committed to not producing nuclear weapons, but that leaving the treaty is a possibility in the face of threats from the United States and Israel. Iran International reported that similar proposals have circulated for months and that parliament’s leadership has kept them off the floor, and that neither Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei nor the Supreme National Security Council has said anything about pursuing a nuclear weapon, an option endorsed in separate remarks by hardline lawmakers.

Delegations from Iran and Cuba walked out of the hall of the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York during Donald Trump’s speech on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, according to The Independent and The Hill. The Iranian delegation began to leave as the US president described the past six months of on-and-off military strikes against Iran, with only one person remaining seated; Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi are in New York but did not enter the hall for the speech. Cuba’s delegation walked out after Trump called the country an “absolutely failed state”, said it “is failing like never before, and it will fall” and that “freedom will be coming to Cuba”. The president also accused the Cuban government of fomenting opposition in the United States; Washington has maintained an effective oil blockade since January 2026, cutting the island off from Venezuelan oil, and talks between the two countries have stalled.

Donald Trump told the opening session of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that he has “a big decision to make” on Iran: a deal that lets Tehran rebuild, or to “annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly,” according to Reuters and IANS. The US president said he expects a deal “right after the election” — the US midterms on November 3, 2026 — and called on other countries to enforce the “complete economic isolation” of Iran until it abandons its nuclear program, stops attacking commercial shipping and ends support for armed groups. He said Iran’s missile and drone manufacturing capacity is “almost gone” and that inflation in the country is “well over 300 percent,” a figure he attributed to no source.

Saudi Arabia restarted its East-West Pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu, three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters; two of them say the line was pumping at a low rate, and state oil firm Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Drone attacks forced the kingdom to shut the pipeline on September 13, 2026, halting crude loadings at Yanbu. Since oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted, the pipeline had been rerouting around 4 million barrels per day to the port, roughly 4% of global supply, according to the agency.

Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, according to a senior Iranian government official cited by Kyodo News and Reuters. The proposal, already conveyed to Washington through mediators, was approved by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council, Kyodo says; the official says Presidents Masoud Pezeshkian and Donald Trump will not meet in New York and that Washington must make its willingness to negotiate official before any step. Both agencies describe the same source, not independently verified.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that Iran can reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports. The official said the proposal was delivered to Washington through mediators on 16 September and that the Iranian delegation in New York has authority to revive diplomacy during the United Nations General Assembly; President Masoud Pezeshkian will not meet Donald Trump. The account comes from a single source speaking on condition of anonymity, and the US government had not confirmed the proposal at the time of publication.

Saudi air strikes on the Red Sea port of Mokha killed at least six people as Iran-backed Houthis press their offensive in Yemen, according to France 24, citing Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP. The episode comes the same day the spokesperson for the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Babar Baloch, said in Geneva that more than 130,000 people have already been displaced in Yemen and about 3,000 have fled to Djibouti since fighting resumed in early September, figures that could rise to 230,000 and 10,000 over the coming months, according to Middle East Eye.

Saudi Arabia restarted its East–West pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, according to Reuters, which spoke to three sources briefed on the matter; the line is pumping at a low rate. The 1,200-kilometre pipeline runs from Abqaiq to Yanbu and lets the kingdom move crude without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. It had been shut after drone attacks launched from Iraq. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said on 11 September that the conduit was halted “as a precautionary measure” after “multiple attacks” and that there were injuries, according to the state Saudi Press Agency; the following day the Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks and said the kingdom chose not to respond immediately, at the request of the Iraqi prime minister, according to the agency. Baghdad dismissed a military commander and opened an investigation after admitting the drones came from one of its provinces bordering Iran, according to BBC News.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that international flights by Iranian airlines are operating as scheduled and that no foreign service has been cancelled, according to the ISNA agency, cited by Middle East Eye. The body said no instruction has been issued to halt foreign flights and that passengers would be informed in advance of any schedule change. The statement answers the US Treasury Department’s announcement, which on Monday, September 21, sanctioned 36 targets tied to Iran’s aviation sector and suspended three authorisations that allowed overflights and the entry into Iran of foreign-operated aircraft of US origin or control, according to the Treasury’s release. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that “on September 23, all Iranian airlines will be grounded globally”, and that the threat also covers airports, fuel suppliers and ticketing agencies, according to the The Jerusalem Post.

China rejected on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, United States sanctions on Iranian airlines and threatened to fly through US airspace, the The Guardian reports. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a CNBC interview that “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world” within days, according to Mehr News. “China consistently opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law or authorization from the UN Security Council,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said. Mehr News is an Iranian state-linked agency, and China’s threats appear in the British newspaper’s live coverage.

Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Alexander Alimov, was denied a visa to enter the United States and is not attending the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, calling it “another unfriendly act”, according to G1. Peskov said the refusal contradicts US obligations as the UN host country and that Moscow will raise the case with Washington. Iran reported a similar case: its diplomacy, cited by TASS, said the United States denied visas to journalists in President Masoud Pezeshkian’s press pool. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov travelled to New York and holds a bilateral meeting on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, September 21, 2026, that his talks with Donald Trump in New York were “very constructive” and that there was a willingness to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded during the war, according to the Hindustan Times. In the account he gave to reporters, “several solutions” were discussed that would allow, without a comprehensive deal, more container ships and tankers to move through the strait, along with the situation in the Red Sea, a route that has gained weight for oil shipments with Hormuz closed and where the seizure of a strategic strait by the Iran-backed Houthis has complicated navigation. On Ukraine, Macron said he pressed Trump to speed up the delivery of missile interceptors to Kyiv, “a defensive measure”, and said in a post on X that the two discussed the prospect of an “energy truce and a moratorium in the Black Sea”. Before the meeting, Trump had blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for part of the surge in diesel prices because of attacks on Russian refineries and called on him to stop hitting Russian diesel, according to Le Monde. Macron also met Zelensky on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it is ready for a “counteroffensive” and warned it will “change the geography of the war” if the United States attacks the country again, in the words of the force’s spokesperson, Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi, in an interview with the semi-official Tasnim news agency published on Monday, September 21, 2026, and reproduced by ABC News. “If a new aggression takes place, there will definitely be significant changes in our defense and our counteroffensive,” Mohebbi said, adding that Iran will bring “new weapons with new capabilities” into the battlefield and that the world will be surprised. On the same day, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the country has reached a stage where its missiles can hit any target Tehran chooses and that it is answering a “hybrid conflict” of economic, military and diplomatic pressure, according to Middle East Eye, citing the state broadcaster Press TV. The statements answer the threats Donald Trump made in a Fox News interview on Sunday, September 20, when he said the options under consideration were “wiping [Iran] out, letting them rot economically or making a deal”, according to The Guardian. The two countries remain deadlocked over the Strait of Hormuz, closed by Iran, with commercial traffic disrupted and a US counter-blockade on Iranian ports, according to The Guardian.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that it opposes the “illegal unilateral sanctions” the United States has imposed on Iran and on Tehran’s trading partners and that it will take “all necessary measures” to protect Chinese interests, according to BBC News and Middle East Eye. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the package on Monday, September 21, branding it “Operation Economic Outcast” and describing it as the “single greatest financial offensive ever” against Iran, and said “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world” on September 23 under threat of secondary sanctions on anyone servicing them, according to Middle East Eye. The Treasury mapped financial channels and evasion networks and sanctioned almost 60 entities, individuals and vessels. China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, and David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, told BBC News the package will have “only a limited direct impact” on Iran’s energy flows. The announcement comes before Donald Trump’s scheduled meeting with Xi Jinping on Thursday, September 24, and Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh told state television that Tehran is “fully prepared” for the sanctions.

Donald Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News on Sunday, September 20, 2026, that he is in “deciding mode” on the war with Iran and that the options on the table are “wiping Iran out, letting them rot economically or making a deal.” “My question is, if and when do I blow the entire nation up? They better behave,” the US president said, according to correspondent Trey Yingst’s account quoted by The Guardian. The spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Mohebbi, responded on Sunday that “if a new aggression occurs, we will certainly change the weaponry and the geography of the war” and that “our targets will no longer necessarily be the same as before,” in remarks to the semi-official Fars news agency and Iranian state television. Mohebbi said Iran has targets that have not yet been struck and that the Guard has prepared itself for a long war. CBS News reported on Sunday that Tehran has conveyed to Washington through mediators its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, blockaded since the start of the conflict. Trump speaks on Tuesday at the opening of the general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks on Wednesday, September 23; Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is already in the city.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met in Tehran on Monday, September 21, 2026, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and with his Iranian counterpart, Eskandar Momeni, in a visit during which Tehran thanked Pakistan for its regional mediation efforts. According to Pakistan’s interior ministry, the two discussed “Pakistan-Iran bilateral relations and the latest situation in the region,” and Momeni thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the chief of army staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, for their efforts toward regional peace. Iranian state television Press TV reported that Pezeshkian said the two countries can meet much of their needs by tapping “domestic and regional capacities” and that US pressure has produced greater convergence among Muslim countries; in the account published by The Express Tribune and UrduPoint, Naqvi said bilateral relations “will become even stronger.” It is the minister’s sixth trip to Tehran since the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February 2026, and it comes as Islamabad tries to keep alive the memorandum of understanding signed in July between the United States and Iran to end the conflict. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on September 19, 2026, that the visit would focus on bilateral relations and that there was no plan to exchange messages on mediation, according to Pakistan’s Dawn. Al Jazeera reported that the meeting takes place amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington, and Pakistani government sources told Anadolu that the agenda included Houthi attacks on Saudi oil facilities.

In an interview with The New York Times published on Monday, Iraq’s prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, again promised to disarm Iran-backed militias, on the day he travelled to New York for the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, where he is expected to meet Donald Trump on the sidelines, according to government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi. The September 30 deadline is the same for the end of the US-led coalition mission in the country and for the handover of weapons held outside state control, a commitment al-Zaidi made to Trump in July. The government itself sends mixed signals: national security adviser Qasim al-Araji said in August that the date marks the coalition’s departure, not the deadline for handing over weapons, and the committee in charge of disarmament has no fixed deadline, according to The National. The commander-in-chief’s spokesperson, Sabah al-Numan, told state news agency Iraqi News Agency that September 30 is “a strategic turning point” and that from then on “any justification” for armed action outside state authority “disappears”. Among the factions the picture is equally split: Saraya al-Salam, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Imam Ali have announced compliance and handed over part of their weapons, while Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada reject the deadline, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Iraqi outlet 964media. Iraq tried once before to concentrate weapons in state hands, after the 2011 US withdrawal, and the country slid into sectarian violence until Islamic State gained ground in 2014.