Talks, statements, sanctions, nuclear policy, and government decisions.
440 entries, newest first; showing 91–120. Show all updates
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Colombia: 'Iran continues to try to hit U.S. naval ships, and for every time they do that or try to do that, they're going to lose tankers.' He repeated on Sep 9 that Iran 'pays a price in tankers' and said Washington aimed to squeeze Tehran economically.
The Treasury sanctioned 36 entities, including 27 Iranian airlines, saying Tehran uses the aviation sector to 'move weapons, personnel and illicit cargo.' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned anyone doing business with Iran's remaining airlines, 'all of which we sanctioned today,' risked being cut off from the global financial system.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari told CNN that reopening the Strait of Hormuz is Doha's top priority, warning the world faces 'an industrial catastrophe if this continues' and that closing waterways must not become 'the new normal in war.'
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei warned of 'consequences' if South Korea takes part in maritime operations in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, saying any country that does so would be regarded as directly supporting the US attacks on Iran. Seoul had said it was weighing 'contributions' to freedom of navigation.
Investigators gave polygraph tests in August to roughly 50 officers and civilian employees of the Joint Staff over leaks to journalists, including reports on depleted stocks of long-range missiles and Patriot interceptors used in the Iran war, The New York Times reported. A Pentagon spokesman said the department does not comment on investigations but takes leaks of classified information extremely seriously.
The State Department approved a possible $5bn sale of bombs, guidance kits and related equipment to Saudi Arabia, saying it would improve the kingdom's 'airborne defense capability to counter current and future regional threats' and its interoperability with U.S. forces.
The Treasury sanctioned Turkey-based Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi and two subsidiaries, accusing the bank of facilitating 'tens of millions of dollars' worth of transactions' for the IRGC-Qods Force and of being set up to move Iranian oil revenue from China to Turkey for conversion into cash and gold. The bank denied the allegations and said it would take legal action.
The United States, Britain, France and Germany are lobbying members of the IAEA's 35-nation board to pass a resolution next week reporting Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in 20 years, diplomats told Reuters on Sept. 4. Iran's mission in Vienna called the move 'desperate' and said it would bring its authors no benefit.
Israel released four more detainees held from Lebanon, two Lebanese citizens and two Syrians captured in Lebanon, to the ICRC at the Naqoura crossing on Sept. 4; they were handed to the Lebanese army in Tyre. In return Lebanon agreed to search for the remains of Jewish Lebanese citizens missing since the civil war.
South Korea's presidential office said on Sept. 4 it was reviewing practical options, including military ones, to support freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz within limits that do not compromise readiness, but that no decision had been made. It said reports that Seoul had finalized a deployment were inaccurate.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted that the European Union had 'officially joined Operation Economic Outcast,' the U.S. economic pressure campaign against Iran. The EU statement of Aug. 31 welcomed additional pressure 'including through the US led Operation Economic Outcast' but did not clearly say the bloc had joined, Al Jazeera reported.
At a White House briefing, Vice President JD Vance said 'we are not going to talk to them unless they stop shooting at commercial shipping,' said major combat operations were not ongoing, and claimed about 15 million barrels of oil left the strait the previous night. He said the U.S. was investigating the reported strike on a wedding in southern Iran but was 'extremely skeptical' of Iranian state media.
At a Rosh Hashanah toast with the IDF General Staff Forum in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran's regime is 'faltering' and that toppling it is 'the central mission that still lies ahead of us, but it is close... It is within reach.' He added that Iran is 'attacking everyone except us.'
Iran warned the United States through Oman in mid-August that a full Israeli offensive on Hezbollah's Ali al-Taher ridge in south Lebanon would breach the June U.S.-Iran ceasefire and trigger a 'large-scale Iranian attack,' three regional officials and a foreign official told Reuters. Two officials said more than a dozen IRGC members, including at least two senior officers, were with Hezbollah fighters at the site.
Israel handed Lebanese civilian Malek Ghazi to the International Committee of the Red Cross at the Naqoura crossing on Sept. 3, and he was passed to the Lebanese army, the first of five civilian detainees Israel agreed to free. Netanyahu's office said Lebanon had helped search for the remains of Lebanese Jewish leaders killed in the 1980s; the other four handovers were pushed to the next morning.
In a phone interview with Israel's Kan broadcaster, Trump said 'Israel should not worry... because I'm the president and I will take care of Israel,' as Iran struck US-linked targets across the region but not Israel. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF was ready to strike Iran 'with great force' if attacked, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel had no plans to join the war for now.
In a Truth Social post, President Trump wrote: 'Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???' Asked later in the Oval Office, he did not say how serious he was.
Traders in Tehran exchanged 2.20 million rials for one US dollar on Sept. 2, a record nearly 10% weaker than the previous low set on Aug. 25, as US-Iran strikes resumed. The currency has lost about half its value in a year of tightening sanctions and war.
Peru's Foreign Ministry said it was breaking diplomatic relations with Iran, citing Tehran's 'incitement' of conflict in the Middle East, its obstruction of IAEA inspectors, repression at home and the disruption of trade through the Strait of Hormuz; consular relations will continue.
In a quarterly report seen by news agencies on Sept. 1, the IAEA said its 'lack of information about this nuclear material and access to facilities to verify it is a matter of proliferation concern' and called for 'utmost urgency' in resolving it, singling out the bombed Isfahan site.
Asked by Fox News whether he wanted an agreement with Iran, Trump said 'an agreement with them isn't worth the paper it's written on. We gave them a lot of chances,' and warned that if Iran retaliated for the day's strikes 'they'll be hit much harder.' Later on Truth Social he denied trying to force Iran to the bargaining table and asked, 'When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?'
Parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said 'we need to save gasoline in our consumption' as Iran struggles to import fuel under the US naval blockade. He also warned that if the US tries to stop Iran exporting oil from the Persian Gulf, 'no one else will be able to export oil from this region either.'
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business that Washington would 'economically asphyxiate this regime' and would probably announce a bank sanction that week and another the next. He said a UAE branch of an Egyptian bank that funneled over $1.8 billion to Iran was being shut down.
Meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that Russia admired Iran's 'courage and resilience' and was 'trying to provide you with the assistance you need.' Pezeshkian thanked Moscow for its stance 'at every stage' of the war.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said the escalation around the Strait of Hormuz 'will not benefit anyone' and urged both sides to return to negotiations, adding that Qatar is continuing contacts with mediation partners Pakistan and Oman.
Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said Iran has enough foreign currency despite US sanctions and is ready to inject up to $2 billion into the foreign exchange market to calm volatility, Tasnim reported.
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would 'immediately take reciprocal action' if the United States returned to its commitments under the June memorandum of understanding. He accused Washington of reneging on the deal within two weeks and warned that a return to 'pressure and threats' risked derailing diplomacy.
At G20 finance meetings in Asheville, North Carolina, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the sanctions campaign aims "to create the conditions that they will want to come to the table", citing US demands on Iran's nuclear program, enriched uranium, proxies and an open strait. He said Iran was "lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically".
Qatar's foreign ministry condemned Iran's renewed attacks on Jordan with missiles and the UAE with a drone as a serious violation of the two countries' sovereignty and of international law, warning they could complicate de-escalation efforts. It called for an immediate halt to military action and a serious return to negotiations.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters the US would issue new secondary sanctions on Iran every week, "starting with the banks", and told AP he planned to sanction another bank this week, warning of "financial violence if we have to". Treasury's first formal step, a proposed rule on Aug 28, would cut the UAE branches of Egypt's Banque Misr off from the US financial system.