• Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran has put forward a seven-day plan to end the conflict with Washington, and Tehran is ready to start carrying it out as soon as the US agrees.
• Araghchi also says the “choice now rests with the United States” to approve the proposed plan to reopen Hormuz, pointing out that Tehran does not accept coercion or threats and will not surrender its sovereign rights under pressure.
• During his UN speech, Pakistan’s Sharif also says the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb strait are “arteries of the global economy” that “must remain open”.
• US Central Command said it redirected 122 commercial vessels to “ensure strict compliance” with the US blockade against Iran.

UNGA Summit

Oman, Iran hold talks on Hormuz security, regional tensions

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi have discussed regional developments and efforts to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

The talks were held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and focused on diplomatic efforts to ease regional tensions, build trust and address outstanding issues, according to the Omani Foreign Ministry.

The two officials also discussed guaranteeing freedom of passage through the strait to support international trade and energy supplies.

Lavrov tells UNGA that situation in West Bank is deteriorating as Israel intensifies its settlement activities

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, has said that the situation in the West Bank is deteriorating further as Israel intensifies its settlement activities, and called for the establishment of a Palestinian state based on UN resolutions.

Lavrov said the UN Security Council approved a peace plan for Gaza about a year ago, but “peace has not been achieved to this day.” He said the failure to establish a Palestinian state will keep Israel’s security “vulnerable to continuous threats,” and said it is “time to ensure” Palestinian statehood moves forward.

Lavrov tells UNGA that killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and members of his family was ‘unacceptable’

Russia’s Foreign Minister has said at the UNGA that Russia had launched an initiative to establish peace in the Gulf region and resolve the crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, adding that waves of confrontation in the Gulf must be resolved.

Sergey Lavrov said repeated armed clashes in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz continue to harm global navigation and trade, and that resolving the crisis requires building trust between Gulf states, Arab countries and Iran. He said Russia, alongside other countries, is “ready to contribute constructively to stabilising the strategically important Middle East region”.

Lavrov also said targeting Iranian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards dealt “an irreparable blow” to the authority of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and that US and Israeli aggression had targeted civilian infrastructure as well as nuclear sites. He added that the use of force to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and members of his family was “unacceptable.”

Saudi Arabia’s FM tells UNGA that ensuring security in Gulf region is part of ensuring world’s security

In his address to the UNGA, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that the security of the Gulf region is an indivisible part of the security of the region and the world.

The minister also said that restoring global supply chains is a shared responsibility, adding that efforts to restore security in the region cannot be based on domination and imposing influence.

Saudi FM says supports mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar to resolve US-Israel war on Iran

In his address to the UNGA, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that the kingdom supports efforts to reduce escalation, and foremost among them the efforts of Qatar and Pakistan, in a way that contributes to restoring stability.

Saudi FM says Israel’s actions throughout Palestine violate international law

In his address to UNGA, Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister condemned Israel’s actions throughout Palestine, saying its illegal settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank is a serious violation of international and humanitarian law.

He also said that Saudi Arabia rejects any attempts at forced displacement or changing the status quo in the Palestinian territories.

The minister expressed his country’s support for a two-state solution, saying its implementation is the only way to ensure a just and lasting peace.

He also said that the continued suffering of Palestinians and the obstruction of aid in Gaza is also a violation of international law.

Iranian state media outlines Pezeshkian’s multiple meetings with heads of state at UNGA

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has returned to Tehran from his visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

According to Iran’s IRNA news agency, Pezeshkian met and held talks with the heads of state of Armenia, Bangladesh, Iraq, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan and Switzerland while in New York.

He also met European Council President Antonio Costa and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, it added.

Upon his arrival in the capital, he was welcomed by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and several government officials.

Omani foreign minister calls for restraint and political solutions to protect Hormuz navigation

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to continuing efforts to protect navigation in the Strait of Hormuz during a speech to the UN General Assembly.

Albusaidi said that Oman’s efforts were based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and called for parties to cooperate to “protect the interests of countries dependent on transit through the strait”.

“We call on the parties involved to resolve their differences through restraint, dialogue, and reaching political solutions,” he added.

Albusaidi noted that disruption in the strait affected energy security and price stability.

He also said that Oman rejects “the use of force and interference in the affairs of states”, and reiterated its support for finding a political solution to the crisis in Yemen.

Iran will not back down from 60 percent enrichment, says parliament committee chairman

Iran will not back down from enriching uranium to 60 percent, Mohammad Saleh Jokar, chairman of parliament’s Committee on Internal Affairs and Councils, has said.

The semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Jokar as saying that uranium enrichment at different levels is a “legitimate right of the Iranian people” and part of the country’s fundamental rights.

He stated that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons but should continue to benefit from nuclear science, pointing to its use in industry, medicine, agriculture, and fuel production.

“The claim that we do not need 60 percent enrichment is exactly what the enemies want,” Jokar said, adding that Iran must defend what he described as the Iranian people’s right to enrichment.

Iranian president says country will allow UN nuclear inspectors to return

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian tells US media that his country would allow UN nuclear inspectors into the country.

In an interview with CBS News, Pezeshkian said Iran would now allow UN nuclear inspectors back, affirming “that is absolutely correct” when asked if his country would permit access.

When further asked about previous restrictions on inspectors from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency and whether they would be allowed in now, he repeated that the statement was correct, adding: “If they wish to come in and have inspections, we can reach accords and agreements vis-a-vis that specific topic within the negotiations.”

UN’s Guterres says Iran not seeking nuclear weapons, Iranian media reports

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that, based on his assessment, Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency and the semi-official Fars news agency.

Pezeshkian, for his part, said claims that Iran was seeking a nuclear weapon were “illusions and fabrications”.

“Iran’s goal is to acquire peaceful nuclear knowledge and technology and benefit from it, not to produce nuclear weapons,” he said, according to IRNA.

He added that Tehran had not withdrawn from negotiations but no longer trusted the United States after what he described as repeated failures of diplomacy.

Guterres also said he planned to urge countries in the region to support the diplomatic process during an upcoming Middle East trip, IRNA reported.

US mulls diesel export ban that would affect global fuel prices

Washington has considered pushing US companies to slow or outright stop exporting diesel.

On Friday, the average price for a gallon (3.79 liters) of diesel in the US was $6.50, up from $5.61 a month earlier, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks fuel prices daily.

Iran’s Hormuz proposal

Iran has officially submitted to the US a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

• Araghchi said the plan was passed on through Qatar and that normal maritime passage could be restored within seven days “if the necessary conditions are met”.
• According to media reports, the plan calls for a seven-day halt to all hostilities in the region, including in Lebanon.
• It would also include the release of at least $12bn in frozen Iranian assets; the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil; and an end to the US naval blockade.
• Araghchi told reporters at the UN on Friday that initial steps would take four to five days, the Strait of Hormuz would reopen on the sixth day and “on day seven, the talks with the US will be started for the final deal on mutually agreed subjects,” referring to Iran’s nuclear program.
• “The choice now rests with the United States. Iran does not accept coercion, threats, or intimidation, and Iran will not surrender its sovereign rights under pressure,” Araghchi said.
• But The Wall Street Journal reported Trump had rejected the proposal, citing US officials familiar with the matter. The US president also posted an image to his Truth Social platform of a map showing the Strait of Hormuz circled and labeled “Trump Strait”.

Mistrust between US and Iran ‘not going to evaporate in an instant’

After Iran proposed a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said it could begin as soon as the US accepts.

Thomas Warrick, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, pointed out, though, that the proposal was unlikely to resolve longer-built mistrust between Washington and Tehran.

“The idea of the United States agreeing in advance to give up the leverage of frozen assets and economic sanctions, without any assurance that Iran has the same understanding of what this opening of the strait would mean, means that the mistrust between both parties is not going to evaporate in an instant,” Warrick said.

“Washington believes that after a deal back in June that was very favourable to the Iranians, … it was the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Generals who decided a few weeks later to start shooting at freighters and tankers trying to go through the strait. So there’s an enormous amount of skepticism in Washington that the two countries are on the same page,” he added.

“I think that the best we can hope for is that this offer from the Iranian foreign minister does lead to further discussions to try to clarify what preconditions Washington is willing to work with,” Warrick said.

Trump eager to show ‘he’s not in any hurry’ to respond to Iran proposal

US officials say they are in no hurry to respond to Iran’s seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“President Trump would, I’m sure, love to have oil and petrol prices come down, but he also wants to demonstrate that he’s not in any hurry,” Paul Musgrave, an associate professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera.

He said Trump did not want to end the war on terms that could offset those gains.

Musgrave added that electoral clocks in Israel were also at play. There, he said, the governing coalition is uncertain, and there is “actually more pressure to keep this war going” rather than put off resolving the nuclear issue, “and certainly not to get out of Lebanon”.

“If people believe that Iran is in fact trying to score a deal because of economic pressure, that must be telling Washington that it’s time to hit the accelerator and amp up those pressures even more,” he said.

France’s UN draft on Hormuz

• President Macron said on Monday that France is working on diplomatic solutions to increase the number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, following talks with President Trump in New York.
• “Several options were discussed,” Macron said after meeting Trump at Trump Tower. “We will be working on diplomatic solutions … which could make it possible, even without a comprehensive agreement, to find ways of allowing more container ships and oil tankers to transit.”
• Paris has since begun drafting a UN Security Council resolution, in coordination with the US, to set up an international mission to restore shipping through the strait, diplomats told Reuters on Tuesday.
• An unnamed UN diplomat told AP on Friday the draft would reaffirm freedom of navigation in the strait, citing its importance for food and energy security, and recall the need to respect the Law of the Sea.
• Previous French efforts at the UN have failed to win the support of China and Russia.

Hormuz crisis can be resolved through diplomacy, not force, Iran’s president says

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blames the United States for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, saying “it was America that blocked our paths.”

“Closing the Strait of Hormuz is a natural response when paths are blocked for Iran,” he added.

“Resolving the Strait of Hormuz crisis is possible through negotiations, not the use of force.”

He said the waterway “will remain open for trade if negotiations lead to resolving the dispute”.

It is the Israelis first to blame, as the blockade was a response to the Israeli bombardment of Tehran's oil depots on February 28th. Iran said after the bombardment: "If we can't have oil then no one can have oil." Trump threw oil on the fire by imposing a counter-blockade.

A ceasefire was agreed last April but Trump refused to lift his counter blockade prompting the ceasefire lasting only a few hours, and Iran resumed the blockade.

Countries condemning the blockade are only to be accused of distorting the facts.

Trump posts map labeling Hormuz ‘Trump Strait’

President Trump has posted an image on his Truth Social platform showing the Strait of Hormuz circled and labeled “Trump Strait”.

The post comes hours after Iran said it offered a seven-day plan to reopen the waterway, and after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump rejected the proposal, citing unnamed US officials.

The report said the US president was skeptical that Tehran would meet his demands and saw a renewed bombing campaign as likely.

Trump rejects Iran’s seven-day roadmap proposal

US President Donald Trump said, “I reject their proposal.”

Trump says Iran proposal ‘unacceptable’ and Tehran is ‘in a bind’

US President Donald Trump has said he doesn’t want the deal proposed by Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying it is “unacceptable”, and that Tehran wants it because “they are dying – the money isn’t coming in.”

Speaking outside the White House before a trip to Tennessee, he said, “They got themselves into a bind; we have established the greatest blockade in military history – it’s a wall of steel. And now they have no money because they wanted to close the strait.”

The president said that huge quantities of oil pass through the strait and that 29 ships crossed it last night.

US-Iran standoff

Donald Trump has reportedly ruled out an Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, just hours after Iran put forward a new roadmap and days after the US president threatened to “annihilate” Iran from the floor of the UN General Assembly.

Both sides appear to be locked in a standoff. Iran says it will not discuss its nuclear programme until the conditions it has laid down are met. A US official told Al Jazeera that Washington is in no hurry to respond to Iran’s proposal and sees itself in a strong position regarding the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the US officials cited in The Wall Street Journal, Trump told his aides he expects to carry out a new bombing campaign against Iran after the US midterm elections in November.

At the same time, Trump has said he believes a deal to end the conflict will come shortly after the midterms.

Omani and Iranian foreign ministers discuss ‘building trust’ and freedom of transit in Strait of Hormuz

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi has shared details of his talks with his Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He and Abbas Araghchi “discussed continuing efforts to create space for dialogue, de-escalation and regional cooperation, and the importance of building trust and reaching a consensus that supports security and stability,” Albusaidi said in a post on X.

“We also addressed efforts to ensure safety of navigation and freedom of transit in the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.

Iranian FM Araghchi says Tehran waiting for formal response to its Hormuz proposal

Iran’s ⁠Foreign ⁠Minister Abbas Araghchi has said ⁠that Tehran has seen US President Donald ‌Trump’s reaction to its proposal for a seven-day roadmap to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, but has yet to receive a formal response through ⁠mediators.

Trump on Saturday said he rejected the proposal, claiming Tehran wants a deal because “they are dying – the money isn’t coming in”.

Araghchi said “Iran was waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive US position” before making a final decision based on it, the Reuters news agency reported.

“Our conditions are clear, and any move towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” he was quoted as saying.

“Only a negotiated solution can get them [the US] out of this deadlock. That is our position.”

Iran is engaged in full-scale multidimensional war, says IRGC commander

Iran’s IRGC Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Mohammad Karami has said that the country is “engaged in a full-scale combined war that has economic, social, cultural, political, security, defence, and cognitive dimensions”.

“In cognitive warfare, the enemy also uses the media and cyberspace to influence public opinion and create psychological warfare,” he said, as quoted by the country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Karami also referred to the Israeli attacks on occupied Palestinian territory, noting that Tehran is “standing against oppression and injustice, and this resistance will continue”.

‘We no longer trust talks with Washington’: Iran’s Pezeshkian 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Iran “no longer trust[s] talks with Washington”, after its “repeated attacks and sanctions following every negotiation”.

He said Qatar and Pakistan are currently mediating between Iran and the US and conveying Tehran’s messages to Washington.

Pezeshkian also said the negotiations are based on the previous memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries, adding that the “Americans must state their position on it”.

Israel, US pitting Muslim countries against each other, Pezeshkian says

Pezeshkian says that Israel and the United States are “pitting Muslim countries against one another in order to control the region’s wealth”.

He said they have attacked Iran “from the airspace of Muslim countries”.

“Enemies” were trying to stir up internal disputes among Iranian officials, but “Iran is witnessing unprecedented unity and cohesion today”, he added.

Pezeshkian warns US and Israel are trying to pit countries against each other

Iranian President Pezeshkian has said that attending the UN General Assembly was “an opportunity to state that those who violate international law and talk about trust are the most destructive and untrustworthy in the world”, Iran’s IRNA news agency reports.

“We highlighted the oppression of the Iranian people and the crimes of the US and Zionists [Israel] at the United Nations,” the agency quoted him as saying upon his return to Tehran.

Pezeshkian described Iranians and the Middle East as “captives of their cowardice and bullying”.

He said that Islamic countries should “wake up” and not fight with each other, saying, “they are trying to pit us against each other.”

Pezeshkian says Iran ‘stands firm’ against US, Israel amid ‘miscalculated’ sanctions

Iran’s president says that those who “thought they could target the Iranian people with sanctions miscalculated”.

Pezeshkian said the US and Israel are seeking to “prevent Iran from relying on itself”, but Iran would invest in its people.

He also said the US and Israel “dragged” regional countries into war, thinking that the Iranian regime “would fall within days”.

Despite that, he said Iranians have “stood firm in the face of American and Israeli attacks, and we will continue to stand firm”.

He added that regional security can be achieved through “cooperation among its countries”, and that the region does not need a “policeman”.

Iran warns US bases in Middle East would be targeted if Washington ‘makes a mistake’

Iran’s military has warned that all US deployment centres and interests in the region will be targeted if Washington “makes a mistake” against the country, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

The warning, attributed to the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Iran’s top operational military command, comes as Tehran awaits a US response to its seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Mehr said the region was at “one of its most sensitive security junctures”, with US military movements raising the possibility of escalation while political channels and mediation remain active.

Summarising what it called Tehran’s message, the agency said, “Iran will not start the war, but if the enemy imposes it, Iran is ready to defend its security and territorial integrity”.

Iran moves defence assets underground to shield military capabilities, ministry says

Iran has relocated part of its army’s strategic capabilities to underground infrastructure to prevent a complete understanding of its defence capabilities and weapons production capacity, says Reza Talaei-Nik, the Defence Ministry’s spokesperson.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Talaei-Nik as saying that the US has failed to achieve any of its strategic goals from the war on Iran, including damaging Iran’s strategic position in the region. Instead, Iran “imposed costs on the enemy”.

He added that there is a “need to simultaneously strengthen defence power and the country’s domestic capacity”.

Midterm elections could push US towards escalation with Iran

Iran’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz has posed political problems for President Trump and his Republican Party before November’s midterm congressional elections.

Paul Musgrave, an associate professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, said the results would show how much room the White House has to maneuver in negotiating with Iran.

He said severe losses, including several Senate seats, “could push the White House more towards unilateral actions, including perhaps the resumption of warfare”.

That might lead to “escalation followed by negotiations, so that the White House doesn’t look like it’s just surrendering”, he said, or to the White House drawing Democrats into the peace process “so that everybody’s hands are dirty”.

Musgrave said Trump had made clear in his UN General Assembly speech that he did not expect a deal before the midterms, and that Iran’s civilian diplomats were choosing this moment “to make an offer the United States can’t accept”, referring to Iran’s proposal for a seven-day roadmap to end the war.

Midterms a temporary restraint on Trump taking military action against Iran

The upcoming US midterm elections have acted as a restraint on possible military action against Iran, though that restraint has limits, according to David Des Roches, a former Pentagon director of Arabian Peninsula affairs and professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies.

“I think they have to a certain extent. I mean, the midterm has been a restraint on possible military action, but it’s not an infinite restraint, and the value of it decreases,” Des Roches said, noting that only about 18 House seats are not firmly pro- or anti-Trump.

Des Roches noted early voting is already under way, and that early voters skew heavily Democratic – meaning any electoral hit from military action would fall disproportionately on voters unlikely to support Trump anyway. He said many Republicans want Trump “to finish the job”, suggesting the president may act before the election once he calculates that “the damage is a sunk cost”.

The professor pointed out that Trump isn’t on the ballot himself, which he said is a challenge for Republicans since the president drives turnout from both parties. “I think something right before the election would probably have an effect that he wants on the hardline elements of his base,” Des Roches said.

He said that assuming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in office, “it’s more likely than not that you’ll see military action before the midterm elections”, adding that if it doesn’t happen before, “it’s almost an inevitability after”, given how public Trump has been about the possibility.

Iran sees inflation decrease slightly: Central Bank governor

The governor of Iran’s Central Bank said inflation in the war-hit country has slightly decreased, the first such sign in the past 15 months.

“The point-to-point inflation rate decreased slightly in September, falling from 84.4 percent in August to 83.8 percent in September,” said Abdolnaser Hemmati, as quoted by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

“Although the decrease is small, the fact that the trend of point-to-point inflation is decreasing is very important,” he added.

The US has launched “Operation Economic Outcast” to impose new sanctions, in addition to its naval blockade against Iranian ports. The new squeeze on Tehran’s economy has added to the misery of Iranians already battered by decades of previous sanctions.

EU warns of energy ‘price crisis’ due to Iran war disruptions

The European Union is facing an energy price crisis as a result of the Iran war fallout in oil and gas markets, the bloc’s energy chief has said in a letter urging countries to consider measures to curb energy demand.

“We are facing a price crisis linking to a supply crisis,” EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said in a letter to EU countries’ energy ministers on Friday.

While the EU is better prepared now than it was in winter 2021 when Russia squeezed Europe’s gas supplies by reducing deliveries, governments must step up preparations for this winter, he said.

“I invite you to consider taking or continuing to take measures that can sustain [gas storage] injections or reduce gas and electricity demand for as long as necessary,” Jorgensen said.

Citizens of the European Union pay the brunt for politics by the European Commission that are distortion, collusion, and collaboration with two leaders who started the war.

They are a contribution to upholding the blockades, while the Israeli bombardment on Tehran's oil depots is the cause.

World ‘very close’ to resumption of full-scale war on Iran as diplomacy stalls

The world is “very close” to another round of full-scale war on Iran, according to Mohammad Eslami, a research fellow at Tehran University.

Eslami said the Trump administration believes it cannot achieve what it wants through negotiations, or is not ready to negotiate reopening the Strait of Hormuz – despite Iran’s president and foreign minister being in New York “with full authority” to pursue a diplomatic end to the war.

“Right now, Americans aren’t ready to come back to the negotiating table,” Eslami said, adding that Iran used the UN General Assembly to explain to other world leaders that it is the US, not Iran, that doesn’t want the strait reopened.

Eslami also said the 2015 nuclear deal was agreed to by Iran not because of economic pressure, but because Tehran believed a diplomatic solution could prevent war.

He said Iran remains open to further negotiations beyond the memorandum of understanding, with talks able to resume from that existing text. “If Americans come back to the table, the Iranians are ready,” he said.

Iran has ‘overplayed’ its hand in Hormuz, says former Pentagon director

Iran’s ability to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been damaged by preparation and resilience on the part of other actors, and its actual impact has declined significantly, according to David Des Roches, a former Pentagon director of Arabian Peninsula affairs and professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies.

“When the US wants to escort large groups of tankers through, Iran can’t do anything about it,” Des Roches said, noting that recent attacks have mostly targeted individual civilian merchant ships from third countries rather than disrupting broader oil markets.

“I think the Iranians have overplayed their hand on the Strait of Hormuz, quite frankly,” he said, noting oil remains around $92 a barrel in the US – far below the $250 he predicted – while US stock markets have hit records and US oil production has reached new highs. “A lot of the economic doomsday that I thought, and almost every analyst thought, would happen – Trump has somehow managed to sidestep it.”

On strategy, Des Roches said any resumed US military operations would likely be “on a wider scale”, with an expanded target list including dual-use infrastructure, compounded by sanctions degrading Iran’s ability to reconstitute its military capability “further and further every time this conflict resumes”.

He pointed to a key divergence between Washington and Israel on Iran policy: “Israel does want to see regime change. Israel does view Iran as an existential threat. The United States views Iran as a serious regional threat, but not an existential threat.”

Des Roches said that once tactical objectives, like denying Iran a nuclear weapon and degrading its proxy and missile capabilities, are achieved, US and Israeli strategies will likely diverge, similar to what occurred in Syria, with Israel seeking to permanently strip Iran’s capability to threaten it, while the US “will probably step back [and] rely on economic sanctions” to pursue change from within.

Iran may be more worried about ‘underplaying’ its hand than ‘overplaying’ it

It’s hard to know whether Iran or the United States has overplayed its hand until a strategic outcome emerges, according to Ross Harrison, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and author of, Decoding Iran’s Foreign Policy.

Harrison said that there are two kinds of logic at play: political and strategic. He said Iran believes it “had a good hand coming out of” the memorandum of understanding, reached in June, and that its current offer – under a different name, the “seven-day proposal” – is an attempt to bring back the strategic reality of that MoU, offering to work towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz, alongside simultaneous developments in Lebanon, before moving to further negotiation.

“What we see is the Iranians are less worried about overplaying their hand than they are underplaying their hand,” Harrison said, explaining that Tehran now sees the risk of escalation as less costly than agreeing to something prematurely, or appearing willing to compromise, particularly after Washington’s response to the proposal.

Harrison said mediators are concerned that further escalation could create risks for the global community that would become “unmanageable,” which is why multiple diplomatic tracks remain open. He said the UN General Assembly, where the US president and Iranian officials were present simultaneously, offered “very little hope” for negotiations, adding that Iran, at this juncture, shares that pessimism.

Iranian army spokesperson says US will be ‘slapped’ if it intervenes in Hormuz strait

Sardar Shekarchi, chief spokesman of Iran’s armed forces, says that if the US intervenes in the Strait of Hormuz, it will be “slapped”.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a world power, will never allow America to return to its previous position in the new world order,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency quoted Shekarchi as saying.

“Americans dream of interfering in the Strait of Hormuz, and if they interfere in the Strait of Hormuz, they will be slapped.”

Body set up by Iran to manage Strait of Hormuz warns ships over unauthorised routes

The body set up by Iran to manage the Strait of Hormuz has said that ships sailing through unauthorized routes in the waterway will face serious restrictions.

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said on X that it has received reports of some charterers forcing vessels to transit through “invalid routes”.

“This action, in addition to creating the risk of financial and human losses for the vessel, owner, captain, and crew, also seriously restricts the vessel’s future passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” the PGSA said.