US-Iran Conflict

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday for a three-day visit aimed at deepening bilateral ties and rallying what he called a "new regional order" free from foreign interference. The trip comes as Iraq faces pressure from Washington to disarm Tehran-backed armed factions, with Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi setting a September 30 deadline for the groups to lay down their weapons.

Qalibaf laid a wreath at a monument honouring Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, killed in a 2020 US strike, and called Iran-Iraq relations "fundamental and pivotal" to regional stability. He is scheduled to meet al-Zaidi, the president, and parliament speaker to discuss security, economic cooperation, and fallout from the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran that began in late February.

The visit will include stops in Karbala and Najaf, where Qalibaf will attend memorial ceremonies for Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed on February 28.

An unknown projectile struck a cargo vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, damaging its engine room and killing or wounding at least one crew member, after a US-Iran ceasefire framework expired without renewal.

The Omani coastguard assisted the remaining crew, with no environmental impact reported. The strike came a day after a 60-day memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran lapsed, ending a pause in hostilities that had envisioned the strait's reopening and the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf insisted Tehran will not reopen the waterway until the United States meets its commitments, while Donald Trump said Iran must raise a white flag of surrender.

Traffic through the strait remains in single digits, with just six commodity vessels passing on Monday, far below the pre-war daily average of more than 130. Separately, the UAE said Iran fired two ballistic missiles at its territory, one landing in Emirati waters, and a crewless cargo ship was destroyed by projectiles off Yemen's Mocha port.

Iranian military planners have evaluated options to strike American assets and military sites in Europe if President Donald Trump expands the confrontation or threatens Iranian infrastructure. Targets under review include U.S. interests in southeast European nations such as Bulgaria, which recently approved American use of the Bezmer air base for refueling operations, and Cyprus, where a British air base was hit by a drone in March. Iranian forces have also studied attacking underwater fiber-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz in an escalation scenario.

The assessments reflect a hardening mood in Tehran following the collapse last month of a June memorandum of understanding and stalled diplomacy. Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei elevated hardliner Mohsen Rezaei to head the Supreme National Security Council, a move analysts see as marginalizing pragmatist negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Defense analysts note that while Iran can deploy medium-range Shahab-type missiles toward southern Europe, their effectiveness diminishes significantly over distance.

The United Arab Emirates has suspended all commercial, trade, and financial transactions with Iran until further notice, citing regional escalation that undermines international peace and security. The foreign ministry announced the decision on Wednesday, with strategic communications director Afra Al Hameli reaffirming the UAE's commitment to safeguarding the integrity of the international financial system.

The move follows accusations that Iran fired two ballistic missiles at Emirati territory on Tuesday — one landing outside and one inside UAE territorial waters — prompting a brief public shelter-in-place alert, the first since July. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei dismissed the accusations as baseless. Tankers belonging to state oil company Adnoc have been repeatedly targeted in recent weeks.

Tensions have surged since the 60-day window under a US-Iran memorandum of understanding signed in June expired on Monday without a broader agreement. Top Emirati negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until Washington honours its commitments under that deal.

The United Arab Emirates detected a missile threat targeting the country on Tuesday, prompting authorities to urge residents to take immediate shelter in secure buildings away from windows and open areas. The Ministry of Defense said air defense systems tracked the threat and confirmed forces were on full readiness to protect national sovereignty.

Hours later, the interior ministry sent a follow-up mobile alert declaring the situation safe and calling on residents to resume normal activities. The alert coincided with the expiration of a 60-day U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.

Tuesday's warning was the first such alert since July, when a similar scare did not result in strikes reaching Emirati territory. ADNOC oil tankers have been targeted in recent weeks. Tehran launched roughly 3,000 attacks on the UAE during the early phase of the wider Middle East war that began on Feb. 28.

Qatar is pushing for an immediate ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as the only way to revive diplomacy between Washington and Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said, after a 60-day window for a broader US-Iran agreement expired Monday.

The memorandum of understanding collapsed after Iran targeted ships transiting the strait, a chokepoint for roughly a fifth of global oil and gas. The White House has said it does not seek to extend the arrangement, while President Donald Trump called preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon the primary US objective. Iran's parliament speaker set preconditions for reopening the strait, including lifting sanctions and releasing frozen assets.

Al-Ansari also denied Iranian accusations that Qatar is holding three military pilots prisoner, calling the claims baseless, and said Doha condemned the targeting of the Iraqi Kurdistan prime minister's office.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressed U.S. President Donald Trump to maximize diplomatic efforts to ease tensions with Iran, during a telephone conversation on Tuesday, after the expiry of a 60-day framework agreement between Washington and Tehran.

Erdogan underscored the importance of exhausting diplomatic channels as Iran signaled a shift to a "fully offensive" military posture. The Turkish leader also highlighted a joint defense pact agreed in August between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, saying Ankara and its partners are determined to ensure regional stability and security.

The two presidents discussed bilateral relations and the war in Gaza, with Erdogan reaffirming Ankara's commitment to supporting long-term peace in the region. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei had earlier dismissed the deadline as "irrelevant", maintaining that substantive negotiations had not begun.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday the United States will not seek to extend the 60-day framework agreement with Iran, arguing Tehran is unwilling to make the deal he believes is necessary to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Speaking in the Oval Office as the deadline expired on Monday, Trump insisted the US must maintain its military posture in the Middle East, warning that Iran "cannot have a nuclear weapon." He also threatened to bomb Oman "without mercy" if the sultanate interferes with negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz, where Muscat and Tehran have been conducting separate talks on navigation routes. Iranian officials warned that Tehran would not negotiate unless Washington fully complies with the memorandum's terms, including lifting its naval blockade.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Trump in a phone call to continue negotiations with Iran, emphasizing diplomacy and offering to help broker peace. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said the 60-day expiry was "irrelevant" because substantive negotiations never began.

The United States will not seek to extend a temporary agreement with Iran that gave the two countries 60 days to negotiate a broader deal, President Donald Trump said Monday.

The memorandum of understanding, signed on June 17, called for a cessation of all military operations while the sides pursued a wider agreement covering Iran's nuclear program and US sanctions. The 60-day window is set to expire Monday. Trump said in July that he considered the document non-binding, and on Monday he expressed doubt that Iran was willing to accept terms he deemed necessary.

Despite the ceasefire provision, both countries carried out attacks during the period. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei called the deadline "irrelevant," saying negotiations never began. A central point of contention has been the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil trade.

Houthi rebels claimed on Monday to have sunk a Saudi military landing ship and several escort patrol boats off the coast of Mocha using multiple ballistic missiles, after last week's deadly barrage on the port city.

The vessel, identified by state television as the Amir Khan, had been moored for maintenance for over a year and carried no cargo at the time of impact. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group maintains strict surveillance of Saudi force movements and announced a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia.

In response, the internationally recognized Yemeni government said its forces executed 181 military operations using drones, artillery, and rocket launchers against Houthi positions across five provinces in the past 24 hours. The Mocha port suspended all commercial and navigational activity, with direct material losses estimated at $16 million, while renewed clashes continue to span multiple governorates including Marib, Taiz, and Al Dhale.

US President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman if the Gulf state interferes with efforts to reach an agreement with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, speaking in a Fox News interview on Monday as a 60-day diplomatic window for a US-Iran settlement expired without a breakthrough.

Trump said Iran should "raise the white flag of surrender" and confirmed for the first time that Washington had opened a direct backchannel to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding at the Palace of Versailles on 17 June, committing both sides to negotiate a comprehensive deal within two months following a spring war and subsequent ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz has been largely closed since the US and Israel launched their campaign against Iran in February.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that talks with Oman on a joint transit management plan for the strait were continuing, with a spokesperson saying an understanding had been reached on the transit route map. Trump also said Israel should stop attacking Gaza because Hamas had agreed to lay down its weapons, adding that the US had a separate communication channel with Hamas.

Iran and Oman have agreed on a transit route map for the Strait of Hormuz that would reopen the waterway with ships entering near Iran and exiting close to Oman, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday, though a final agreement with a joint statement has yet to be concluded.

Baghaei said the complex negotiations continue in earnest but are hindered by the issue's intricacy, the number of parties involved, and efforts by certain countries to disrupt the process. Both sides have expressed determination to craft a mechanism that serves their mutual interests while safeguarding international navigation, he said.

The talks follow a sharp escalation since July 8, when President Donald Trump declared a June 18 ceasefire with Iran void. The U.S. military has since struck Iran in response to Tehran's actions against commercial vessels transiting the strait, according to U.S. Central Command. Iran retaliated by attacking American bases across the Middle East.

Iran's army commander-in-chief Amir Hatami has announced a $30,000 reward for any Iranian who captures or kills a US service member, with the payout doubled for women who carry out such acts. Hatami said the scheme was drawn up in response to a large volume of public requests to participate, and that the weapon used in a successful attack would be purchased at twice its value and displayed in a dedicated museum. He did not specify where or how such operations would take place.

Hatami reiterated demands that the United States withdraw from the Middle East, declaring that US forces are no longer permitted in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, or Strait of Hormuz. Iran's armed forces general staff vowed not to retreat until achieving what it called the complete defeat of American and Zionist enemies in the region.

No US ground troops are known to have been deployed inside Iran during the war that began on 28 February, apart from a single April rescue mission for a downed pilot. The announcement follows a May proposal by a senior Iranian lawmaker for a €50 million bounty on Donald Trump. President Masoud Pezeshkian has meanwhile defended a recent Islamabad memorandum of understanding with Washington while describing the country as navigating a difficult phase.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday expressed strong satisfaction with the Mecca Mutual Defense Agreement signed earlier this month by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. The pact, concluded on August 7 in Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, stipulates that an armed attack on any one of the three nations constitutes an attack on all. Riyadh has sought to reinforce security alliances following Iranian threats and Houthi hostility in Yemen.

Separately, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to significantly scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, though Seoul's defense ministry stated the drills would proceed as scheduled. The moves come as a June memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran reaches its deadline on August 17.

The 60-day US-Iran framework agreement expired at midnight without a concrete deal, ending the diplomatic window established when Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian signed the 14-point memorandum on June 17 after earlier ceasefire extensions.

While direct US-Iran strikes paused, violence by Iranian-backed groups has intensified. Israel carried out its heaviest day of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since the June truce, and Houthi forces in Yemen renewed threats and attacks against Saudi Arabia. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that no decision has been made on resuming negotiations, accusing Washington of violating the agreement by reversing oil-sector sanctions waivers after just two weeks and failing to release frozen Iranian assets.

Pakistan and Qatar continue mediation efforts. Trump, who declared the ceasefire over in July and threatened a heavier strike wave, had pledged a $300 billion reconstruction programme that remains unfulfilled.

Iran's economy is approaching collapse under a reimposed US naval blockade that has severed oil exports and driven inflation to roughly 88 percent year-on-year, with food prices surging past 128 percent.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said state revenues have fallen sharply after wartime strikes destroyed factories, eliminating tax income and forcing the government to subsidise damaged industries instead. Oil sales have stopped entirely, and shipping costs on the China route have quadrupled to $12,000 per container via land detours, adding an estimated $18 billion in annual transport costs. The administration is considering significant petrol price increases as fiscal pressure mounts.

US President Donald Trump vowed to strike Iran's economy hard, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Qatar and Pakistan are relaying messages but insisted no negotiations are underway. The blockade follows the US-Israeli military campaign that began on 28 February.