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Donald Trump said he expects negotiations with Iran to resume in the coming week, while saying Tehran wants a deal that does not meet his terms. He also said further US strikes on Iran remain possible.
Ali Mohammadi, the IRGC Navy's deputy for political affairs, told Fars that if another war breaks out Iran would "undoubtedly attack and hit their ships and destroyers even in the Indian Ocean," mocking Trump's claim to control the strait by asking why U.S. ships were not there.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a Telegram statement that Iran had seen President Trump's public rejection of its seven-day Hormuz plan but was waiting for mediators to convey the definitive U.S. position before deciding its next step, adding that any reopening of the strait depends on Iran's conditions and "we will not back down from them."
Iran's Supreme National Security Council, whose secretary is Mohsen Rezaei, said in a statement carried by ISNA that Iran would not retaliate militarily against U.S. sanctions on its airlines, calling reports of such plans inaccurate interpretations of Rezaei's remarks, and said talks with the countries concerned to lift some restrictions were being pursued seriously. It said unspecified non-military countermeasures could be applied to some airports if needed.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera that Iran no longer trusts talks with Washington because each round of negotiations was followed by attacks and sanctions, but said Qatar and Pakistan are relaying Tehran's messages and that negotiations rest on the June memorandum, on which "Americans must state their position."
The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that President Trump had rejected Iran's seven-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, was sceptical Tehran would meet his demands on its nuclear programme, and had told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections. The officials said his views could change in the coming weeks.
A U.S. official said discussions with Iran after Tehran's seven-day proposal were positive and constructive, but that Washington was in no rush because nearly 40 million barrels of oil had transited the Strait of Hormuz under U.S. escort in the previous 48 hours.
Brent crude traded at about $103 a barrel at midday Friday, down about 2.5% from Thursday, after Iran's foreign minister said Tehran had submitted an offer that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz to tankers within seven days if an agreement is reached.
Najaf airport, the main gateway for Shiite pilgrims, halted all flights between Iran and Najaf after a directive from the Iraqi prime minister's office, its director told AFP, and sources told Reuters that Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports also suspended Iranian flights. With Baghdad already closed to them, Iranian carriers lost access to all four Iraqi airports they served.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, wrote on X that flights in the region would be open to everyone or to no one, and that no country in the region would have airport services if Iran is denied them, after the UAE and Iraq closed their airports to Iranian carriers under U.S. sanctions.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told journalists in New York, "We wish Americans to return to the MoU before the midterms," referring to the June memorandum whose ceasefire collapsed within weeks. He also said Iran was open to inspections of its nuclear facilities and denied that Tehran seeks to assassinate Trump or his family.
Brent crude surged about 5% to a session high of $108.23 after the Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia, then pared gains on a report of talks on a phased Hormuz reopening to settle up 3.4% at $106.60 a barrel. U.S. crude rose 2.7% to $94.61.
Brent crude rose 3.9% to settle at $103.08 a barrel on Wednesday and U.S. crude gained 1.8% to $92.16, ending five straight losing sessions after Iran's president told the UN General Assembly that Iran would not surrender. Earlier in Asian trading Brent had slipped to about $98 on hopes for the New York talks.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New York for the UN General Assembly despite hardline calls to cancel the trip. Yahya Rahim Safavi, military adviser to the supreme leader and a former IRGC chief, said that if the leader had left the government open to negotiations, "that is a very important act of prudence."
French President Emmanuel Macron told the UN General Assembly that "Hamas has never been active in the West Bank," drawing a response from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that Macron was "lying" and a statement from Netanyahu's office calling it a "grotesque absurdity." A French source said Macron meant that Hamas has never governed the territory.
Meeting leaders and officials from Gulf Cooperation Council and other regional states at the UN, Trump said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had a "very productive" meeting with mediators and "I think there's a lot of momentum for them to make a deal." He also said the US "may have to blow up" Iran's suspected Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site if it sees activity there.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met US envoy Steve Witkoff at the US side's request and restated Iran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz: immediately lifting the naval blockade, immediately releasing frozen Iranian assets and ending the war on all "resistance" fronts, including Lebanon. Witkoff later said the talks were held through mediators who shuttled between the delegations.
An Iranian civil aviation spokesman told Tasnim that Baghdad and Muscat airports "will no longer accept Iranian flights" from midnight and that Iran was working to divert Baghdad flights to Najaf; two sources told Reuters Iraq had ordered its civil aviation authority to suspend Iranian flights to Baghdad from Wednesday. Other routes, including Istanbul, were operating normally; Iraqi government sources had told AFP on Monday that Baghdad would comply with the US ban.
Khaleej Times live updates (AFP, Reuters), Times of Israel +3 more
Trump told reporters that members of his administration met the Iranian delegation for about three hours, calling it "a very good meeting, a very productive meeting" with another "scheduled in the very near future"; earlier, after meeting UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, he said Iran had been talking to the US "even today" and "a settlement is going to be reached."
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss de-escalation efforts and conditions for dialogue, Qatar News Agency reported.
UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch told a Geneva briefing that fighting across multiple Yemeni front lines has driven more than 130,000 people from their homes since the start of September, with more expected to flee within Yemen and to Djibouti and Somalia. The agency has received $34 million of the $194 million it needs in Yemen this year.
Iran Air said in a statement carried by IRNA that it had received no notification from the aviation authorities of Turkey, Azerbaijan or Iraq to halt its flights to Istanbul, Baku and Najaf, a day before tighter US sanctions on Iranian aviation were due.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC's Today show the US is "certainly open" to speaking with Iranian officials at the UN General Assembly but "I don't think anything is scheduled at this point," adding that the goal is that Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon."
Saudi Arabia restarted its East-West Pipeline at a low rate and could resume crude exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later Tuesday, three sources told Reuters; drone attacks had forced it shut on Sept. 13. Brent fell more than $2 to about $97.81 a barrel, its lowest since Sept. 8.
Sasan Zare, spokesperson for Iran's Janfada (self-sacrifice) campaign, told the ILNA news agency that boys under 15 would receive "special training appropriate for younger ages," with those 15 and older already training; girls may enlist only from 18. He said the campaign's slogan is "We have one life, and we give it for Iran."
Commodity vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz fell to two on Monday from 10 a day earlier, according to preliminary shipping data reported by Reuters; the count excludes ships sailing with transponders off. Before the war the strait handled about 125 large commercial vessels a day.
President Masoud Pezeshkian left Tehran on Tuesday morning for the UN General Assembly, telling state television Iran would "firmly defend our positions in international forums" and convey "Iran's plight" to the world. He was set to be the highest-ranking Iranian official to enter the US since the war began.
France wants to work with the US and partners on a Security Council resolution guaranteeing freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, and is ready to help secure Saudi energy infrastructure in Yanbu and along the East-West Pipeline in a "strictly defensive" role, a French diplomatic source told AFP. Russia and China vetoed a US-backed Hormuz draft in April.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the US eases military pressure and lifts its blockade of Iranian ports, saying Washington must first officially announce it wants a diplomatic solution and agree a timeline; the proposal had gone to the US through mediators on Sept. 16. Another senior Iranian official told MS NOW the reports were not true.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi told The New York Times that Iran has not allowed Iraqi tankers through the Strait of Hormuz to push up oil prices, and that Iraq has lost about $60 billion and some 60% of monthly export revenue since the war began. He also set June 2027 for Iran-aligned armed groups to disarm and fold into the Popular Mobilization Forces.