Talks, statements, sanctions, nuclear policy, and government decisions.
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In a written message on his Telegram channel for Islamic Unity Week and the Prophet's birthday, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei called the US and Israel enemies of all Islamic nations and told Muslim rulers to "know your real enemy, understand its plans and confront it". He has not appeared in public since the war began in February.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran and Oman had reached an understanding on transit through the Strait of Hormuz but it would "not automatically enter the implementation stage" until the US fulfils its commitments. He said the strait "remains closed" and any passage requires Iran's coordination and authorization.
In a statement posted by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in reply to a media inquiry, a State Department spokesperson said Hezbollah 'does not want to talk to the Lebanese state, nor talk to us, nor talk to Israel, because it is simply taking orders from Iran', said the group must disarm, and called Lebanon's government the 'sole legitimate interlocutor' on the country's future.
Six months into the war, the U.S. embassies in Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain said diplomats' family members may return, in Kuwait and Bahrain only those over 18, after similar steps earlier in the week for Israel and for family members over 21 in Lebanon, AP reported.
In a written statement released on Telegram, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei declared that 'committing anything that harms social cohesion is forbidden', told officials to avoid 'discouraging statements' and false choices such as 'war or negotiations', and pointed to domestic production and a smaller role for the dollar as answers to inflation and unemployment.
FinCEN proposed a Section 311 rule that would bar U.S. banks from keeping correspondent accounts for Banque Misr UAE, which Treasury says processed about $1.8 billion for 103 companies potentially tied to Iranian shadow banking between January 2024 and June 2026. OFAC also designated Reza Mohammad Taeedi, general manager of Bank Melli's Dubai branch, and Hong Kong-based Kameng Trading Limited.
Security Council members were scheduled to hold closed consultations on Friday morning, requested by France as penholder, on the deteriorating situation in southern Lebanon and on arrangements after UNIFIL's mandate ends on Dec. 31, 2026, with briefings from peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix and UN Special Coordinator's office head Jean Arnault.
A U.S. official denied an MTV report aired overnight that Ambassador Michel Issa had received a green light from Washington to meet a Hezbollah figure, and diplomatic sources told Al-Hadath the reports were baseless. Issa had said on Wednesday that he was holding no talks with Hezbollah but would engage if it had 'something to offer'.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media that putting diplomacy back on track is not impossible but hinges on the U.S. understanding that 'pressure doesn't work', urging Washington to 'build trust, speak respectfully, acknowledge our rights, and uphold commitments' after what he called 'creative' talks in Tehran with Qatar's prime minister.
"There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran," deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said, adding that the naval blockade remains in force; press secretary Karoline Leavitt said none would happen until Iran comes to the table "in a meaningful way." A diplomat from a mediating country told The Times of Israel that Trump is no longer interested in reviving the June memorandum.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, met Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, President Masoud Pezeshkian, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and security council secretary Mohsen Rezaei, urging a return to dialogue and discussing the Iran-Oman plan for a temporary Hormuz corridor and joint mine clearance. Ghalibaf's office said he told him "America must fulfill its obligations under the memorandum of understanding."
Iran's armed forces outlet Defa Press said Iran and Oman reached an understanding on a temporary two-way corridor about seven nautical miles wide, with inbound traffic passing entirely through Iranian waters and the Omani-side southern route formally closed, but said the strait would not reopen immediately. Security chief Mohsen Rezaei said ships would use the channel only if the U.S. meets Iran's conditions.
President Trump told Al Jazeera the U.S. was "achieving a very big victory" against Iran but the war "will continue for as long as necessary," with no timetable to resume talks, CBS reported. In a separate radio interview he called Hormuz "a very functioning strait" despite occasional drone or rocket fire.
President Joseph Aoun told Maronite Church officials that talks with Israel are "neither easy nor quick … but they remain far better than war," and the only way to free occupied land, deploy the army to the border, recover prisoners and let residents return.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV that if the Iran-Oman understanding becomes binding, "no military vessel will be permitted to pass" through the Strait of Hormuz, with inbound traffic routed entirely through Iranian waters. He said the strait will not reopen until the U.S. lifts its blockade and ends the war "on all fronts, including Lebanon"; the Revolutionary Guard said it will stay closed until Washington accepts Iran's conditions.
After talks in Tehran between Foreign Ministers Abbas Araghchi and Badr Albusaidi, Iran and Oman said they had discussed a phased framework including a temporary joint navigation corridor through the Strait of Hormuz and a joint mine-clearing project, with technical talks to continue on a permanent corridor. Albusaidi said he hoped they would "soon announce" the corridor.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China "firmly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions" and "will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its own rights and interests," adding that its cooperation with Iran is conducted within international law and "should not be disrupted or undermined."
Field Marshal Asim Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday morning to discuss preventing escalation, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and "the steps needed by both sides" to restore the June Islamabad memorandum; Naqvi called the talks "very positive and productive." Iran's Tasnim agency said Pakistan would relay Tehran's conditions to Washington.
Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh told state television that the government "has a two-year plan to manage these events" and predicted "another defeat" for the United States after Treasury launched its new sanctions campaign.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Channel 14 in a phone interview that "Iran tried to kill one of my sons," without saying which son or giving details. He spoke while defending an agreement to keep Shin Bet protection for his family after the Oct. 27 election.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast, adding Iran's digital asset, technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors to those exposed to U.S. secondary sanctions, designating nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels and suspending several general licenses. Bessent said any entity that launders money for Iran "will be removed from the U.S. dollar system."
Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey and envoy for Syria, said in a statement to AP on Sunday that "United States policy on the Golan was set by President Trump in 2019 and is unchanged," after saying in a podcast interview on Friday that Israel "still" occupies the Golan against U.N. resolutions.
In a Financial Times op-ed, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote that 'at dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary,' aimed at severing 'every economic lifeline' of the regime, and warned countries that buy and ship Iran's oil or let their banks be used. He gave no details ahead of a news conference set for Monday at 2 p.m. ET.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said the June memorandum with the U.S. was the best way out of a state of 'neither war nor peace,' that 'there is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,' and that 'the supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.' He also said Iran 'cannot continue with war forever.'
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi and Iran's Abbas Araghchi discussed by phone 'ways to create favorable conditions for resuming dialogue and negotiations' and navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, Oman's news agency said, after the Iran-Oman route talks had gone quiet. Iran's trade promotion body said it had finalized a preferential trade agreement with Oman, which Oman had not confirmed.
Treasury designated 10 people, including Turkish businessman Yunus Alper Yilmaz, in a network that uses couriers on commercial flights between Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE and Iran to move up to hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah outside the banking system. It also redesignated Hezbollah as acting for the Iranian regime under the command of the IRGC-Qods Force, which a State Department official said shows it is 'not a stand-alone operation.'
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote that 'the so-called Economic D-Day is a diversion from America's own crisis' of debt, and that 'doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat.' The foreign ministry called the threat 'the other side of the coin of war' and said those who order or implement the measures 'are liable to prosecution and punishment.'
Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. would begin 'the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY,' an 'economic D-Day,' and that any country letting its banks, businesses, airports or government entities give Iran 'any type of lifeline' would face 'TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences,' naming oil smuggling, swap lines, exchange houses, ship registries and front companies. He gave no details. Earlier that day he said the naval blockade had been 'extremely effective.'
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf began a three-day visit to Iraq with a parliamentary delegation, praising Iran-backed militias as 'the resistance in Iraq' and a 'key component of the country's national power.' Iraq's parliament speaker said Baghdad was asking Iran to give Iraqi oil exports special status through the Strait of Hormuz.
The UAE foreign ministry said 'all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran have been halted until further notice' in light of regional escalations, hours after it accused Iran of firing two ballistic missiles at Gulf shipping. Iran denied firing the missiles.