• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that Washington will impose the “toughest sanctions in history” to “collapse” the Iranian government, while warning of “tremendous consequences” for any nation that maintains economic ties with Tehran.
• Beijing has rebuked the US president’s “economic D-Day” pressure campaign on Iran, asserting that further sanctions will not settle existing conflicts.
  Iran’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the US threat of new economic sanctions, describing the proposed measures as “illegal and inhumane”.
• US Central Command reports that American forces enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports have redirected 67 commercial ships, disabled three and boarded two others.
• Oman says long-term security in the Strait of Hormuz depends on enduring regional peace, rejecting further escalation or conflict.

US Treasury secretary warns allies: Join coalition against Iran or face consequences

Details on the Trump administration’s next steps against Iran remain scarce, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promising further information at a news conference on Monday, though it is unclear whether Bessent, President Trump, or both will hold it.

There are a number of tools at the disposal of the White House. There could be the executive order issued in February that would allow for 25 percent tariffs on countries dealing directly or indirectly with Tehran.

There is also the possibility that Bessent could impose sanctions on entities, airports or anyone conducting business with Iran.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent strongly encouraged US allies to join Washington’s coalition against Iran in a not-so-thinly-veiled threat.

“You’re either with us, or you are against us,” Bessent said, addressing US allies in the region.

Bessent also pointed to what he called US success with past economic campaigns, comparisons Trump has likened to economic warfare against countries such as Cuba and Venezuela.

Asked how long the standoff with Iran could last, Bessent had no answer, implying that it could be open-ended. The only thing he was certain of was that the goal is to ensure “the economic collapse of the Iranian government”.

“You’re either with us, or you are against us,”

The phrase is originally "Either you with us, or you with the terrorists," and is from US President George W. Bush's State Of The Union in 2002.

So, he views Iran as a terrorist but leaves that word out, while the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the The Mossad resorted to state terrorism by assassinating the Iranian Supreme Leader.

Allies of the US should ask themselves whether the US under Trump is an ally to them. Because, this is blackmail.

Cuba

The sanctions on Cuba where imposed by the US in 1958, and a total trade ban in 1962.

Cuba could survive these sanctions for decades by relying on strong public education and healthcare systems, international partnerships for fuel and aid, and strict state control over the domestic economy.

So, sanctions on Cuba didn't work all these years.

Can Trump actually stop other countries from trading with Iran?

President Trump has threatened what he called the “most crushing economic operation” against Iran, warning that any country whose “financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities” aid Tehran will face “TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences”. Iran’s foreign minister dismissed the threat as a “diversion from America’s own crisis”.

But can Washington enforce this?

Legal experts say no country can impose a total embargo without UN Security Council authorization, leaving Trump limited to unilateral sanctions on US financial institutions.

Analysts noted past sanctions haven’t stopped Iran’s trade: China alone bought more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil last year, largely via tracking-evading “shadow fleets”, and has barred its own firms from complying with US sanctions. Turkiye, Pakistan and Iraq continue trading too.

One real shift came this week: the UAE, a longtime trade hub for Iran, announced an indefinite embargo after accusing Iran of firing missiles at its territory, a move analysts call significant given Iran’s reliance on Emirati financial access.

Can the US as a belligerent force other countries to impose a total ban on Iran as the attacked country?

The United States cannot legally or directly force other sovereign countries to impose a total economic ban on Iran.

It is a sovereign right to every independent country to choose its own trade partners under international law. This means Trump is violating the economical sovereignty of countries when they become affected.

The US cannot pass a direct law telling a foreign government what to do. It can impose secondary sanctions like banning from US financial institutions.

Can the US be accused of blackmail when it threatens with retaliation of sovereign countries when these countries continue trade with Iran?

In terms of international law, one speaks about 'unilateral coercive measures,' which means penalties applied by a single country without United Nations approval. But it plays out the way the popular term 'blackmail' does but on global scale.

Secondary sanctions on Iran won’t work because US has ‘lost credibility,’ analyst says

Alex Alfirraz Scheers, an independent political analyst, said about Trump’s latest warnings against trading with Tehran, that the US’s latest push to put maximum economic pressure on Tehran is a replay of what the first Trump administration tried – and failed to do.

The administration’s unpredictability at the time meant countries were indeed more wary of Trump’s threats, he said.

However, it’s clear in his second term that Trump is “not credible”, Scheers pointed out, and that has reduced the influence the US has on the international community, meaning secondary sanctions on Iran are unlikely to work.

The US, the analyst noted, has committed a series of strategic blunders during its campaign against Iran. The “original sin”, he said, was that the US showed it didn’t know how to use its military might or how to exercise effective statecraft, obvious in the way it has shifted between different approaches to handling Iran.

Trump has similarly treated its allies in the same way, picking on allies like Denmark and threatening to annex Canada, Scheers said.

“All this points to a broader reality that this administration doesn’t really know how to play the geo-strategic game,” he concluded.

“not credible”

His call on US allies for sending warships to Hormuz is the clearest example of Trump's military failure. However, none of these allies dared to say that the war on Iran violates all core rules of the UN Charter.

China unlikely to cut Iranian oil imports to zero despite sanctions risk

US President Donald Trump has threatened severe economic consequences for countries that continue doing business with Iran, including China, which was the biggest buyer of Iranian crude oil last year, according to Erica Downs, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

“If the Trump administration wanted to impose additional sanctions on Chinese entities for handling Iranian oil, it really comes back to a calculation: how the Trump administration weighs the benefits of sanctioning those Chinese entities versus the costs involved,” Downs said, noting China has the ability to hit back, including by restricting exports of rare earth elements.

She said China’s Iranian oil imports appear to have fallen somewhat, though this is difficult to confirm because those barrels seem to be recorded in Chinese customs data as imports from other countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

China continued importing Iranian crude even after joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, she said, only slowing after the US imposed a naval blockade on Iran in mid-April. Downs said Iranian barrels remain in the water outside the Strait of Hormuz that could still be supplied to China.

“I don’t see right now China reducing its imports of Iranian oil down to zero,” she said, “in part because, if we look at all the different entities involved in getting oil from Iran to China, every time there is a new sanction announced, they tend to find a workaround.”

China unlikely to bow to US pressure over Iranian oil

There is no indication that Beijing intends to comply with US pressure to stop buying Iranian oil, with China maintaining that it rejects unilateral US sanctions and that trade between two countries is strictly their own business.

China is Iran’s biggest crude customer, buying about 80 percent of its shipments, much of it going to smaller “teapot” refineries through tanker networks that can obscure the oil’s origin.

China is not extremely reliant on Iranian oil and could theoretically stop buying it if Washington applied enough pressure. But doing so would carry a major political cost for President Xi Jinping, because Beijing does not want to send a message that it is willing to “kowtow or comply under US pressure”, which could set a dangerous precedent domestically and internationally.

The dispute comes before Xi’s planned visit to Washington on September 24. Other tensions, including US restrictions on Chinese technology firms and pressure on countries to choose sides in the AI race, are already casting a shadow over the meeting.

So far, however, there is no indication the tensions will derail the visit. For Washington, a key goal is keeping critical rare-earth minerals flowing from China, while Beijing wants to maintain the trade truce and keep tariffs down.

Iran Parliament Speaker says Tehran must ‘plan for cruel sanctions’

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said ⁠Iran must plan to overcome the “cruel ‌sanctions”, after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced what ⁠he described ⁠as the ‘toughest’ sanctions ⁠ever imposed on ⁠Iran, ⁠according to Ghalibaf’s Telegram channel.

“If you look at the resources and raw materials of Muslim countries, you will realise that our enemies are coming to plunder them, so we must plan for cruel sanctions in this situation so that we can overcome it,” he said.

Ghalibaf, who is on a trip to Iraq, called on Baghdad to cooperate with Tehran amid the war.

Iranian crude offers to Chinese buyers decline

Offers of Iranian crude to Chinese buyers have fallen, while prices have jumped this week, Reuters is reporting.

The number of planned deliveries for September and October declined from July and August cargoes as barrels shipped earlier have been sold, Reuters reported, quoting trade sources.

Crude usually offered more cheaply is also now being sold at premiums, the agency reported.

The development comes amid the US blockade on Iranian oil shipments, which has seen Iranian exports fall since mid-July.

It also comes as Trump threatened secondary sanctions on countries trading with Iran on Thursday.

Iran shifting to offensive strategy against US pressure: Analyst

Iran is facing mounting economic pressure from US sanctions and a naval blockade, with concerns growing over the impact on ordinary Iranians as food prices rise and access to foreign currency becomes more difficult.

Ali Akbar Dareini, a researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies in Tehran, says the measures are hurting Iran but are unlikely to force Tehran to surrender, arguing that the country has adapted to decades of economic pressure.

Dareini said that Washington’s strategy rests on the assumption that increasing economic costs will eventually compel Iran to concede. He said Tehran was instead responding through a combination of military and non-military measures, including pressure around the Strait of Hormuz and support from allied groups elsewhere in the region.

“Iran’s strategy is based on asymmetric warfare,” he said, arguing that Tehran cannot confront the United States on conventional military terms and must instead continuously introduce new tactics and expand the geographical scope of the confrontation.

Dareini said the conflict had already spread beyond Iran and the Gulf into the Levant and Red Sea, and could expand further.

He characterized Iran’s current posture as an “offensive military strategy, not defensive”, saying Tehran was developing plans aimed at raising the costs of continued US pressure and preventing Washington’s blockade strategy from succeeding.

You can't reverse a defense in response to an offensive into an offensive.

A preparation for a plan to raise the cost of continued US pressure and preventing Washington’s blockade strategy from succeeding, is a defense to Trump's preparation for a plan to escalate the economical situation in Iran.

Iran military chief warns of ‘crushing’ response to new threats

Iran’s armed forces will respond to any “miscalculation” or conventional and emerging threats with a “crushing, regrettable and devastating” response, Chief of Staff Major-General Ali Abdollahi has said, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

In a message marking Iran’s Defense Industry Day, Abdollahi said the country’s armed forces were maintaining readiness across land, sea, air, air defense, space and cyber domains.

He described developments at Iran’s Defense Ministry in recent years as going beyond the production of military equipment, calling them a “deterrent defense industrial revolution” encompassing technology management, the defense economy, knowledge-based industries and advanced production.

Abdollahi said the changes were intended to strengthen Iran’s ability to confront what he described as increasingly complex forms of warfare.

China says US economic pressure will not resolve Middle East conflict

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian says a new round of US economic pressure will not help resolve the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Friday, Lin said “sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue”, and called on all sides to address tensions through political and diplomatic means.

China has repeatedly rejected unilateral US sanctions, arguing that measures not authorised by the UN Security Council lack a basis in international law.

Lin’s comments came as Washington steps up economic pressure on Iran and urges Beijing to curb its economic ties with Tehran.

China calls for US-Iran dialogue

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian has reiterated calls for dialogue between the US and Iran amid threats of looming sanctions from Washington.

China “opposes unilateral sanctions that lack basis in international law and UN Security Council mandate,” Jian said in a statement on X.

“Military force and pressure tactics will only lead to escalation that serves no one’s interests. We call on parties to act responsibly and solve disputes through dialogue and negotiation,” he said.
 

Pezeshkian: ‘We will under no circumstances bow to bullying’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says it would be better to end the war now while Iran is “in a position of strength and dignity”, while warning that Tehran would respond forcefully to any renewed attack.

Speaking at the 31st General Assembly of the Islamic Association of the Iranian Medical Society on Friday, Pezeshkian described the recent agreement reached through negotiations as a “major achievement” approved unanimously by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

“They cannot find even one clause in this agreement that indicates surrender; all the commitments are on the other side,” he said, according to Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).

Pezeshkian said Iran should not reject peace but must remain alert to possible deception. “We will under no circumstances bow to bullying,” he said. “We will stand against them until our last breath and give them a crushing response.”

“War has to end at some point. It is better to end the war today, while we are in a position of strength and dignity,” he added.

The president also acknowledged inflation and economic pressures caused by the conflict and naval blockade, saying those advocating confrontation must also accept its costs.

“When we raise slogans, we must accept the hardship that comes with them,” he said.

Trump’s ‘economic D-Day’ claims first victim: Not Iran, but US markets

US President Donald Trump has promised “economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale” for Iran, but so far, it is the US markets that are feeling the pain.

The US stock market made its worst losses in three weeks, and US crude oil closed at $86.70 per barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the US announced its total debt has surpassed a record $40 trillion this week.

Both the US and Iran are feeling economic pressure as a result of the war.

Overall impact of new US sanctions may not be what US hopes: Analyst

The US announcement about further sanctions on Iran comes after its naval blockade, which shows it “is not working”, an analyst says.

“The Americans are trying to announce that, in other words, this blockade is not working,” said Mohammad Eslami, a research fellow in Middle East and North Africa studies at the University of Tehran.

He does not think the new sanctions are likely to have the desired effect, given how long Iran has already been under US sanctions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled the pro-Western Shah.

“If the so-called maximum pressure [campaign] had worked, there would have been no need for this bloody war,” he said, referring to the sanctions imposed by Donald Trump during his first term after pulling out of the nuclear deal in 2018. “When they started this war, it was a kind of admission of the failure of these kinds of sanctions policies.”

Iran’s private and public sectors have maintained mechanisms to continue their trade relations with European countries and partners, he explained.

“Money talks, at the end of the day, the Iranian economy is working after three decades of maximum pressure and the so-called secondary sanctions,” he added.

FM Araghchi: US economic pressure campaign is doomed to fail

In response to President Trump’s threat to impose the “most crushing economic operation ever” against Iran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “This repetitive film is also doomed to failure”.

He went on to cite examples from Iran’s long history of confrontation with the US, saying that 14 years ago it threatened the most crippling sanctions in history. “It failed”.

Araghchi added: “We’ve seen this movie before; the same old story, just with different bullies”.

Iran parliament to review preferential trade deal with Oman

Iran has finalized a preferential trade agreement with Oman as Tehran seeks to insulate the country from increasing US economic pressure.

The agreement is expected to be reviewed by parliament next month, Abdolamir Rabihavi, head of the West Asia Office of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI), told state news agency IRNA.

Significant progress has been made in developing border and port infrastructure to increase trade with neighboring countries, he added.

“With the actions taken over the past two years, the organisation is determined to facilitate and increase trade exchanges with regional countries.”

Trump has called his financial campaign against Iran “economic D-Day”, warning that any country that deals with Tehran will face severe economic consequences.

Senior Iranian official warns US will be forced into making concessions

The head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission says Tehran will force Washington to apologize to the country and leave the region.

“Americans have proven that they do not understand the language of diplomacy, hence they will neither lift a sanction, nor release resources, nor put an end to piracy,” Ebrahim Azizi said in a post on X.

“But history will show that with the language of power, they will not only be forced into these actions but will also leave the region with an apology to the great nation of Iran.”

Some senior Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, have suggested that Washington’s increasing economic campaign against Tehran will fail.

Iranian business figure suggests Trump’s threats are meaningless

The president of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Majidreza Hariri, has mocked Washington’s threats to wage economic warfare against Tehran.

In a post on X, Hariri suggested the threats carried as much weight as previous warnings that Iran would be returned to the Stone Age.

“Remember when their program was the destruction of Iran and a return to the Stone Age—do you recall what a taunt Pete Hegseth was singing about American weapons!” he said.

“Now, too, don’t put too much stock in the taunts of Scott Bennett that are repeated by their Persian-speaking media megaphones.”

Former Trump administration official tells president to capitalize on current opportunity for peace

Staunch critic of the Iran war and former top US counterterrorism official Joe Kent says Trump’s economic campaign against Tehran may be working.

In a post on X, Kent referenced comments by Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Friday, in which they expressed concerns about the consequences of increasing US economic pressure on the country.

“We should seize this opportunity immediately—before a missile or drone hits our troops & restarts the escalation cycle. We have to be lucky every time,” Kent said.

“Our enemy only has to be lucky once. Once our troops are out of harm’s way, we have the upper hand. We can then use sanctions relief & the unfreezing of Iranian assets as leverage to get the SOH open.”

Some Iranian analysts have said that the comments by Pezeshkian and Ghalibaf were intended to show the public that they were serious about ending the siege, rather than desperate.

Kent resigned from his position in March in opposition to the war, calling on Trump to “reverse course”.

"... about the consequences of increasing US economic pressure on the country."

See the latest comment by Pezeshkian and Ghalibaf, and views by analysts on this page

US Senator condemns ‘disastrous’ Iran war

US Senator Mark Warner, vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has criticised ongoing US involvement in the conflict with Iran in a post on X.

“Every day the Iran War stretches on, our service members are at risk, our prices increase, and our national security readiness diminishes,” Warner said.

“When will Trump walk away from this disastrous and deadly war?” he added.

Oil prices stay elevated amid ongoing US-Iran conflict

Oil prices held largely steady on Friday, with Brent crude futures gaining 4 cents, or 0.04 percent, to reach $93.82 a barrel as of 01:42 GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slipped 6 cents, or 0.06 percent, to trade at $86.78.

The market remains on track for a second straight weekly gain as the stalemated US-Iran conflict continues to disrupt Middle East oil supplies.

Over the past five sessions, Brent has gained more than 7 percent and WTI has risen more than 8 percent, hitting their highest levels since July 24 following gains of more than 2 percent for both benchmarks in the previous session.

Japan’s Nikkei slips as Middle East tension pushes oil prices higher

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average (Nikkei 225) slipped on Friday, putting it on course for its worst week in more than a month as uncertainty around the Iran war pushes oil prices higher, Reuters reports.

As of the midday recess, Tokyo’s Nikkei index eased 0.3 percent, setting up a 4 percent weekly loss, its biggest drop since the week ending July 17.

The broader Topix index declined 0.1 percent, on track for a 3.4 percent weekly slide.

“Profit-taking is likely heading into the weekend with oil prices and bond yields elevated amid the uncertain situation in the Middle East,” Maki Sawada, a strategist at Nomura Securities, told Reuters.

Shipping stocks were the top performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s 33 industry groups, rallying 2.8 percent amid expectations for higher freight rates as the Strait of Hormuz shipping route remains closed.

Ship traffic through Strait of Hormuz slides as peace talks remain in limbo

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz dropped on Thursday compared with the previous day amid growing safety concerns in the Middle East, as US-Iran peace talks remain stalled, Reuters reports.

Citing preliminary data from ship-tracking company Kpler, Reuters reported that seven commodity vessels transited the waterway on Thursday, down from 14 ships on Wednesday. Of Thursday’s total, four vessels were entering the Gulf and three were exiting.

No supertankers or liquefied natural gas carriers were recorded passing through the narrow chokepoint, according to the data.

However, one very large gas carrier transporting propane and butane did transit out of the waterway along the Iranian route, Kpler data showed, according to Reuters.

Why the US misleadingly says that Hormuz is open.

Before the war started, the Strait of Hormuz was largely considered a single waterway, without distinctions between “Iranian” or “Omani” routes, and ships entered and exited along well‑established traffic separation schemes, mostly along the central part of the strait.

Decisions on how ships navigated the strait were determined by port calls, charter terms and safety rather than fear of military consequences.

Since the war has spiked tensions between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway has been fractured into two main routes. Tehran insists on the northern, Iranian route, hugging Iran’s coast near Larak Island and Qeshm Island, and feeding directly into Iranian ports and offshore terminals.

The other route is the southern, Omani route, closer to Oman and further from Iran’s shoreline. This is the route that Washington insists on, and is the one used by commercial carriers under US Naval protection.

We never started war but will not allow military aggression: Iran’s acting defence minister

Iran’s acting Defense Minister Seyed Majid Ebn al-Reza says the country’s armed forces have never started a war but will not allow military aggression against Iran’s independence or security.

Speaking before Friday prayers at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Mosalla, Ebn al-Reza said Iran entered what Iran calls the “Ramadan War” significantly stronger than it had entered the earlier 12-day conflict, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

He described the latest war as a “harsh test” for Iran, saying the country suffered deaths and heavy losses but that it also demonstrated what he called the strength of “national self-confidence”.

“This war showed that the Iranian nation can withstand all threats if it stands on its own feet, trusts its youth, puts science and technology at the forefront, and remains united,” he said.

He also claimed Iran had improved its ability to penetrate “enemy bases, monitor regional movements and inflict heavier losses” during the later conflict, adding that Iran’s “surprises” in tactics and technology had become more advanced.

“Iran’s defense power today is not for warmongering, but to prevent war and aggression,” he said.

“We have never initiated aggression against any country, and we never will,” Ebn al-Reza added, saying Iran would not allow military aggression against its territory, independence or security.

True. Iran did not start the war. It's Netanyahu but in June 2025, then vowed in December 2025 by presenting to Trump attack plans to attack Iran in 2026 again, and did on February 28, 2026.

Speaking about attacks on Iran, not war, the Israelis started targeting Iran 16 years ago with cyber attacks, sabotage and assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.

Iranian hardliner says agreeing to peace with US now would amount to surrender

“What those who talk about peace in these circumstances mean is surrender,” says Iranian MP Mahmoud Nabavian.

His post on X added that it was Washington and Israel that started the war during negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme. The member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission argued that Iran was merely defending itself.

Concerns grow in Asia as US scales back military assets

US allies in Asia are watching warily as Washington scales back some military assets in the region to meet demands in the Middle East, where the US-Israel war on Iran is into its sixth month.

The latest point of tension came this week as the Pentagon moved its only aircraft carrier in Asia – the USS George Washington – from Japan to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln.

It is on its way home after being continuously deployed for nine months. Media reports highlighted food shortages, with broken toilets and showers contributing to unsanitary conditions. Some relatives of the 5,000 crew reported concerns about mental stress with some sailors attempting to jump overboard.

US allies in Asia wary as Trump moves military assets for Iran war

Asian allies of the United States are watching as it scales back its military assets in the region due to the ongoing war with Iran.

The USS George Washington aircraft carrier left Japan and arrived in the Middle East this week to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln. Other reports said that US forces have moved parts of their Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system out of South Korea, as well as other missiles and munitions from the region.

That raises questions about Washington’s ability to counter China and project power in Asia.

Iranian Navy commander warns that Iran is ready to defend its straits and waterways

Shahram Irani, the commander of the Navy in the Iranian Army, has said that Tehran is prepared to defend its waterways.

“Today, the country’s strategic straits and waterways are of particular importance to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Navy, with its powerful presence in these areas, pursues the mission of defending national interests and the country’s security,” he was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

“The armed forces are also standing with all their might against the enemy and will not allow the enemy to take a single step back,” he added.

Iran and Oman’s foreign ministers discuss resuming talks on Hormuz Strait

The foreign ministers of Oman and Iran have discussed the means for creating conditions for resuming negotiations on the Strait of Hormuz, the Oman News Agency reports.

Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi and Abbas Araghchi spoke on the phone and reaffirmed the importance of continuing talks to support the resumption of freedom of navigation, and security and stability in the region.

Senior Iranian defence official says country’s military remains intact in defiant speech

Iran’s acting deputy defence minister says that the US has not disrupted the country’s military supply chains, adding that weapons production has rapidly increased since the start of the war.

“The enemy thought that by targeting a few points related to the Ministry of Defence, he could cut off our military supply chain and achieve results – unaware that we enjoy national participation in our military industry,” Brigadier-General Shahrokh Shahram said in comments reported by state broadcaster IRIB.

“The outbreak of the imposed war has created a special incentive in Iran’s defense and military industries; if production was carried out regularly and uniformly before, now it has increased incredibly and exponentially,” he added.

Recent reports suggest Tehran is rapidly rebuilding its missile sites and other key military infrastructure, a development that has reportedly shocked Israeli defence and intelligence officials.

NATO hosts talks on securing Hormuz waterway without deploying forces

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, US General Alexus Grynkewich, met allied defense chiefs this week to discuss member support for protecting ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Officials stressed that the initiative does not constitute a formal NATO deployment. Instead, the alliance is helping individual member states coordinate their own efforts while keeping NATO itself out of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

The United Kingdom and France are leading a separate group of about 12 countries planning to protect merchant ships once tensions ease.

The narrow waterway handled a fifth of the world’s traded oil before shipments stopped in February. Any permanent fix to keep the route open will still need Iran’s agreement.

IRGC chief says Iran has created ‘solid defensive shield’ against threats

The commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ahmad Vahidi, has said that continuing Iran’s current “Strategy of Defensive and Offensive Empowerment” is the only “intelligent and efficient solution”.

Noting that “the battlefield is faced with new forms of combined and military aggression”, he said that the country had established a “solid defensive shield against the threats of the enemies and ill-wishers of Iran”.

He praised the country’s defence industry for producing Iran’s “defensive and offensive capabilities and deterrent power” in the “era of oppressive and arrogant sanctions”.

His remarks were issued in a message to the head of the Ministry of Defence to mark Iran’s National Defence Industry Day.

Trump says Iran ‘not ready to make the right deal’

US President Donald Trump has reiterated his belief that Iran wants to reach an agreement despite unresolved differences.

“They would love to make a deal, but they’re not ready to make the right deal in my opinion,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing for Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

“They have no money, they have no navy, they have no air force, they’re not paying their soldiers, they’re not paying their police, they have 350 percent inflation, so we’re just going to sort of see what happens,” he said.

“If you look at the blockade, we have total control of that entire region having to do with the Strait of Hormuz, and that means well into it, the land areas,” he added.

US military redirects 68 commercial vessels so far in Iran blockade

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said its forces redirected 68 commercial vessels, disabled three and boarded two others to ensure compliance as of August 21.

In a post on X, the military command said that more than 20 warships were supporting the naval blockade against Iran.

US Democrat Jeffries slams Iran war as ‘disaster for the American people’

US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has criticised the US military campaign in Iran, calling “Operation Epic Failure” a disaster for the American public.

Posting on X, Jeffries wrote: “Taxpayer dollars should be spent to make life more affordable for the American people.”

“Not continue another endless war in the Middle East,” he added.

Trump says he views Strait of Hormuz as ‘American territory’

US President Donald Trump says that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon, characterizing the Strait of Hormuz as American territory.

Addressing a rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Trump said: “We cannot let them have a nuclear weapon; we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, or you will see some very bad things.”

“We went down and we stopped them. They will never have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

“They want to make a deal so badly, we don’t even know if we want [a deal] because I view the Strait of Hormuz as an American territory right now. It’s an American territory,” Trump said.