Theme: Nuclear

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.

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.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Tuesday again called for discussions on reviewing the country’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles and expressed support for considering the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, Kyodo News reported. Speaking at a seminar in Tokyo, Koizumi said an environment should be created in which necessary security policies can be discussed openly and frankly without prejudice, and that as Japan revises its three key security documents by the end of the year, society as a whole should develop a shared understanding of nuclear threats. The Three Non-Nuclear Principles stipulate that the country will not possess, produce or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons, and the current National Security Strategy explicitly states that the policy will remain unchanged. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament in October that her government would “deepen concrete and realistic considerations” regarding the potential introduction of nuclear-powered submarines for the Self-Defense Forces.

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.

The public inquiry into the $368 billion nuclear submarine agreement called AUKUS the worst, riskiest and most costly defense decision ever made by an Australian government, recommending its immediate termination and the suspension of plans for new bases, and said Australia risks being dragged into military conflict with China, estimating an additional $180 billion to deal with the nuclear waste.

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.

The presidents Lee Jae Myung and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in Seoul to expand cooperation in nuclear energy and defense, signing a memorandum on financing for nuclear power projects to support the participation of South Korean companies. According to Lee, cooperation on Turkey’s Sinop nuclear power plant project “has been progressing smoothly.” On defense, the two countries agreed to expand joint production and technological cooperation and to explore opportunities for companies from both sides to enter third-country markets together. Bilateral trade reached a record $10.7 billion last year.

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.

The management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, under Russian control, said on Tuesday that a Ukrainian drone had killed two people in a car, including a female employee at the station, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Street Insider. The statement gave no indication where the attack occurred and said the employee was the third killed in the past two weeks and the 13th since April. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said last week that an employee at the plant had been killed, but gave no details. Ukraine did not comment on the accusation. Russian forces seized the plant, Europe's largest, with six reactors, in the first weeks of the invasion that began in February 2022. The facility is offline, and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has repeatedly called for military restraint around it.

Japan’s defense minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, again called for an open and frank discussion on nuclear weapons in the country, at a symposium in Tokyo, according to the Russian state agency TASS, which cites Kyodo News. “We must create conditions in which the security measures necessary for Japan can be discussed openly and frankly,” he said. The statement comes amid the review of the national security strategy, which also touches on Japan’s three non-nuclear principles: not to possess, produce or introduce nuclear weapons into its territory. Koizumi also once again left the door open to potentially equipping the country’s navy with nuclear submarines.

The presidents of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, and of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed in Seoul a memorandum on cooperation in financing nuclear projects to support the participation of South Korean companies in Turkey’s new nuclear power projects. Lee said cooperation on the Sinop plant project, including site assessments and the work of a joint working group, was “progressing smoothly” under the memorandum on nuclear energy cooperation signed in November 2025. The project aims to build Turkey’s second nuclear power plant, on its northern Black Sea coast, with the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation seeking to participate. The two countries also agreed to deepen defense cooperation by expanding joint production and technological cooperation and jointly exploring opportunities for companies from both countries in third-country markets. The governments also signed an agreement on natural resources and mining and plan an intergovernmental channel to diversify critical mineral supply chains. Bilateral trade reached a record US$ 10.7 billion last year, according to Lee, after surpassing US$ 10 billion for the first time in 2023, a decade after the free trade agreement took effect in 2013.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan drew up a cooperation blueprint in Seoul covering areas from nuclear energy, the defense industry and infrastructure to advanced technologies, biotechnology and energy. “Today, our two countries drew up a blueprint for mutual prosperity across diverse areas,” Lee said. Erdogan called the bilateral relationship a “blood alliance,” recalling Turkey's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. The two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations in 2027.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ukraine and Russia said their emergency alert apps had been hacked overnight, sending citizens false warnings about impending air raids and chemical and nuclear attacks. In Ukraine, one of the alarms said Russia had launched a hypersonic Oreshnik missile — one capable of carrying a nuclear warhead — and that a nuclear alert had been declared.

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.

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.

North Korea condemned the bilateral Iron Mace exercise, which integrates United States (US) nuclear capabilities with South Korean conventional forces, and vowed to accelerate its nuclear arsenal as an “immutable” policy. In a statement signed by Kim Jong-sik, the country also took aim at the Hoguk, Freedom Flag and Keen Sword exercises, the last a joint US–Japan exercise.

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.

Russia and Ukraine have both reported cyberattacks targeting their emergency alert apps, with hackers sending fake warnings of nuclear, chemical and radiation threats to mobile phone users. In Russia, the emergency ministry's app was hit by a massive cyberattack that resulted in the spread of false information to the public, according to Reuters, which cited the state news agency TASS. The fake alert sent to Russia's app warned that nuclear warheads mounted on P1-Suns, a Ukrainian attack drone, had been launched against all regions of Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said South Korea could become a partner in developing the planned Sinop nuclear power station, according to Reuters, in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. Erdogan called South Korea an important potential partner in the project and called for broader bilateral cooperation in advanced technologies, defense, logistics and other sectors, according to Yonhap.

United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after a meeting with Group of Twenty (G20) foreign ministers in Atlanta that President Donald Trump remains open to talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but no meeting has been scheduled. North Korea denounced the combined South Korea–US Iron Mace exercise, which integrates South Korean conventional and US nuclear capabilities. The exercise was a tabletop simulation at the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters in Seoul, from September 29 to October 2, to deter North Korean threats. Pyongyang said its nuclear deterrence will grow stronger at an ever faster pace.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

The United States, South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete denuclearisation” of North Korea at a meeting on Friday on the sidelines of a Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers’ gathering in Atlanta. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi pledged full implementation of Security Council resolutions, according to the US State Department.

North Korea denounced a joint statement by a group of countries monitoring sanctions enforcement against Pyongyang as a “flagrant violation of its sovereignty,” saying it was born out of hostility by the US and the West, the state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. “Sanctions and pressure may work on the weak but never on us,” an unnamed foreign ministry spokesperson told KCNA, saying “the stereotyped sanctions racket of the US and the West” could not influence the position of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a nuclear weapons state.

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.

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.

The chief executive of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, said that employees of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant are being deliberately targeted by Ukrainian troops, according to TASS.

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.

Russia fired an RSM-56 Bulava ballistic missile on Wednesday, October 28, from the Generalissimo Suvorov nuclear submarine in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to G1. The missile can carry a multiple-warhead nuclear payload.

The Savannah River Site near Aiken declared a Site Area Emergency in the late afternoon of Wednesday the 28th, after a fire was reported at the Savannah River National Laboratory. The fire has since been extinguished and no contamination was reported outside the affected facility, according to the site’s own statement. Savannah River is a large Department of Energy nuclear site in South Carolina, in the United States.

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.

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.

The General Assembly’s First Committee backed Japan’s nuclear-disarmament resolution by 150 votes to 7, with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea among those voting against, according to the Japan Times. It was the 33rd straight year such a resolution was approved, according to the paper, and the text says North Korea cannot be recognized as a nuclear-weapon state, urging a return to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

The Pacific Fleet’s strategic nuclear-powered submarine Generalissimo Suvorov test-fired a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile from a submerged position in the Sea of Okhotsk toward the Chizha range in the Arkhangelsk Region, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry cited by TASS. The launch went ahead under the combat training plan, with the crew of the Project 955A Borei-A-class strategic submarine, according to the ministry.

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.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Monday that authorities in Kiev have intensified targeted strikes on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and its satellite town of Energodar, according to the Sputnik news agency. Asked about the situation around the plant, Zakharova described Energodar as home to the plant's employees, who “continue to perform their duties in the most difficult conditions”, and her statement did not detail dates, locations or targets of the strikes.

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”.

Japan is considering including in its revised three key security-related documents plans to study and research the possibility of introducing a nuclear-powered submarine, according to The Japan Times. The Japanese government is considering starting an investigation into whether to acquire nuclear-powered submarines as part of the upcoming regular update to its defense strategy, according to Nikkei Asia.

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

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 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.

France and the United Kingdom carried out their first joint nuclear air strike simulation, with French Rafale jets in a mock mission called “Rummy” escorted by British Royal Air Force Typhoons, according to The Times of Israel. The exercise comes as Paris and London deepen nuclear coordination amid rising tensions with Russia.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was open to a three-way meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to China next month, with nuclear weapons on the agenda. “We would have it to talk about nuclear weapons and denuclearisation,” he told reporters outside the White House. “If President Xi wants to have it, I’d have it.”

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”.

The situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and in the city of Energodar remains tense, with Ukrainian drone activity despite the local ceasefire around the Zaporozhye thermal power plant, according to TASS. The local ceasefire, mediated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was announced on October 15 by Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev.

The director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Oleg Postnikov, said ideas of a shortcut to “nuclear zero” are counterproductive, as they imply an immediate abandonment of nuclear weapons and declaring them illegal, according to TASS. According to the diplomat, real progress may be achieved only through carefully balanced, step-by-step measures that do not jeopardize anyone’s security and help reinforce global stability.

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.

The United States is in talks with Russia and China on a path to denuclearisation, President Donald Trump said. Trump said the US and Russia each have more than 4,000 warheads and that China, with about 620, could catch up within five years.

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.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Washington is holding talks with Moscow and Beijing aimed at denuclearizing the countries with the biggest stockpiles of nuclear weapons, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Jerusalem Post. In an interview with Newsmax, Trump said he expects China to catch up with the US within the next five years.

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.

Russia is in discussions with Bangladesh to build a new phase of high-capacity units at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev said, according to RT. Its first unit is on track to be connected to the national power grid by the end of November. The plant comprises two Russian-designed reactors with a combined capacity of 2,400 megawatts, and Moscow is financing $11.9 billion in state loans for the project.

North Korean analyst Pak Ju Won wrote to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that the US is abetting Japan’s drive toward nuclear armament by supporting Tokyo’s intention to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, with the ultimate goal of creating the conditions to acquire nuclear weapons, according to TASS.

The nuclear-powered submarine Novosibirsk, of the Pacific Fleet, fired Oniks and Kalibr cruise missiles at maritime and coastal targets off Kamchatka, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. The missiles struck a target 1,200km away, according to Moscow.

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.

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”.

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.

Kim Jong Un visited a defense industry museum displaying an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), according to the KCNA, in a text cited by the Jerusalem Post. The report came a day after Trump said he might meet Kim on a planned trip to Asia, with an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China in mid-November, and North Korea said it test-fired a tactical ballistic missile on Monday to confirm the upgrade of an unspecified key component, according to the KCNA, in a text cited by the Jerusalem Post.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

The government of Nikol Pashinyan suspended a nuclear cooperation deal with the US and committed to having Rosatom build Armenia’s next-generation reactor, according to Eurasianet, in a text published by OilPrice. According to Eurasianet, a Rosatom contract would complicate TRIPP, the US-backed transit route at the center of Armenia’s peace process with Azerbaijan, which both Russia and Iran oppose.

NATO will host its annual nuclear deterrence exercise Steadfast Noon beginning on Tuesday 13 October 2026, in Italy, with 17 nations and no live weapons, according to the alliance itself. The drills run from October 13 to 23, with 17 member states, according to RT.

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.

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.

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.

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.

France test-fired its new M51.3 nuclear-capable ballistic missile for the first time on Tuesday, a variant of the M51, launched from the Le Vigilant nuclear submarine off Brittany, according to the French defence ministry. The missile carried no warhead and impacted in the North Atlantic, hundreds of kilometres from any coastline. President Emmanuel Macron made an unexpected appearance at the launch, according to Le Monde.

Lithuania's parliament voted Tuesday, in a first reading, to advance a constitutional amendment that would remove the ban on weapons of mass destruction from the constitution, LRT reported. The vote passed with 106 lawmakers in favour, 18 against and six abstaining. A final vote cannot be held until at least three months later. TASS described the vote as a removal of the ban on nuclear weapons deployment.

Russia's state nuclear company (Rosatom) says two buildings at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant — the laboratory and the radioactive waste facility — were attacked overnight, with roof damage, according to TASS. Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev said there is no threat to nuclear safety, according to TASS.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

The UN human rights office urged Washington on Thursday (October 1, 2026) to ensure full reparations for people affected by U.S. nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, according to The Hindu. The archipelago hosted 67 U.S. nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958, whose environmental and health impacts persist, and the local Nuclear Claims Tribunal set the total compensation to be paid at more than $2.3 billion.

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, September 30, $200 billion in South Korean energy investments in the United States, including $54 billion toward a long-discussed liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, according to Le Monde, in a report with Agence France-Presse (AFP). The package includes eight new nuclear plants and a large natural gas-fired plant in Texas supported by the South Korean government, the newspaper said. The investments follow a July 2025 trade deal under which Seoul had agreed to invest $350 billion in the United States and boost its purchases of American energy; the deal set 15 percent tariffs on South Korean goods.

The Russian Embassy in Ireland said in a statement on Wednesday that Moscow would be ready to use its entire arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend Kaliningrad if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) tries to isolate the territory, according to the Kyiv Independent. The embassy said NATO is preparing an air and naval blockade of the region, without providing evidence or identifying the source of the claim. A Russian document sent to the alliance and obtained by Reuters says Moscow would use “its entire arsenal” to defend Kaliningrad, according to G1. NATO confirmed it had received an “informal document” from the Russian Embassy in Belgium with the warning about Kaliningrad, according to RTE.

US President Donald Trump called Kim Jong-un a friend and played down North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, according to Al Jazeera. The remarks came in Washington on Tuesday in reply to a question about why North Korea could have nuclear weapons but Iran could not, according to Al Jazeera.

The Russian Embassy in Ireland said, according to the TASS news agency, that Russia is ready to use its entire arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend its territory if countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) try to isolate the Kaliningrad Region from the rest of the country. The diplomatic mission said there has been information that NATO is preparing an air and naval blockade of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad Region.

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.

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.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the US approval for South Korea to build its first nuclear submarine is “a dangerous development” that adds new instability to the region, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Straits Times. According to the ministry, the move is another demonstration of US nuclear proliferation through the AUKUS pact (Australia, United Kingdom and United States). The statement was published by state media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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.

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.

Bangladesh and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic civil nuclear cooperation, to deepen cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The document was signed in New York on Friday, September 25, 2026, by Rehan Asad, adviser for science and technology to Bangladesh’s prime minister, and Jacob Helberg, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, according to The Hindu. The memorandum records the shared position that all civil nuclear cooperation should follow the highest standards of nuclear safety, security, safeguards and non-proliferation.

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 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.

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.

A classified United States intelligence assessment concluded that Saudi Arabia has not ruled out developing nuclear weapons, according to The Washington Post, in a text republished by RT. The nuclear agreement signed in July, known as Section 123, lays the legal groundwork for American companies and initially caps enrichment below 5 percent, which could later rise to as much as 20 percent after additional studies. The State Department said the United States does not and will not support a Saudi nuclear weapon program.

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.

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.

U.S. intelligence assesses that Saudi Arabia has not ruled out developing nuclear weapons, according to the Washington Post.

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).

Pope Leo XIV opened a four-day visit to France in Paris on Friday, September 25, 2026, with a warning that a “paradise of machines” risks undermining what it means to be human. At the Élysée Palace, before President Emmanuel Macron and diplomats, the pope raised existential questions about the meaning of the human in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and reaffirmed the Vatican’s opposition to nuclear weapons, according to the Associated Press, via The Hindu. The schedule includes a vigil with young people, vespers at Notre-Dame and a Mass on the Place de la Concorde under Olympics-level security, with as many as a million people expected, the Associated Press reports.

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.

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.

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 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.

Marine Le Pen said she does not want France to go to war with any nuclear power, recalling that Russia is a nuclear power, according to TASS; in an interview, she stated that under her presidency France would not contribute financial aid to Ukraine.

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.

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.

Lithuania’s Parliament voted on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, to lift the ban on stationing nuclear weapons on the country’s territory, with 99 votes in favour, five abstentions and 13 against. The amendment to Article 137 of the Constitution still needs two votes three months apart, on 6 October and 12 January, each requiring at least 94 of the 141 lawmakers.