Trump threatens Iran with ‘hell’ while revealing ‘very good’ talks at UN
Oil prices retreat as markets weigh the prospect of renewed US-Iran diplomacy
The US-Iran conflict faces a potentially pivotal moment at the UN General Assembly, with President Donald Trump saying he faces a 'big decision' between pursuing a deal with Tehran or further military action. His warning came as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held three hours of talks in New York with Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with Trump later saying there was “a lot of momentum” towards a deal. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is due to address the UN on Wednesday, as tighter US sanctions targeting Iran’s aviation sector also take effect. Oil prices have fallen as markets weigh the prospect of renewed US-Iran diplomacy. Follow this blog for live updates as the situation develops.
Three commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, compared with four the previous day and well below the 10-day average of about 15, according to Reuters, citing preliminary shipping data.
The figures may be revised because some vessels switch off their transponders while sailing through the waterway.
Hours after US President Donald Trump made a public threat of annihilating Iran, the Islamic Republic's Armed forces has responded with its own warning to the American forces in the region.
The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces and Khatam Al-Anbya Central Headquarters announced that the hostile statements and repeated threats against Iran by the US president, serve merely as a tool for domestic propaganda rather than being grounded in the realities on the ground, reported IRNA.
They said in a statement such remarks reflect the strategic impasse facing the United States in its aggression against the Iranian nation. The statement emphasized that the repetition of baseless claims and threats, given the state of exhaustion of the US military, signals not strength, but rather strategic desperation.
The statement added that the US president's rhetoric does not alter the power calculus, nor will it ever compensate for the country's diminished standing in the new world order or its humiliating defeats in the war against Iran and the Resistance Front.
The statement further said that the Iranian President would in his address to the UNGA convey the message of the nation as well as the might of a strong and invincible Iran to the world.
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US Senator Bernie Sanders criticised President Donald Trump’s remarks about “annihilating” Iran in a post on X, saying the US should not target the Iranian people.
Sanders described such action as a “war crime” and “barbarism” and said Trump’s war in Iran was 'illegal and unconstitutional'. He called on Congress to end the conflict.
No, Mr. President. We should not 'annihilate' the people of Iran. That is a war crime. That is barbarism. And it is something the United States must never be associated with.Bernie Sanders | US Senator
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in New York where he is expected to speak at the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.
State broadcaster IRIB posted a video clip of Pezeshkian exiting a plane with a caption saying that the Iranian president has arrived at a New York airport. This is the first time that a leader whose country is at war with the United States sets foot on American soil to address a UN gathering, analysts say.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said US and Iranian representatives had met for "very good" talks at the United Nations.
The international benchmark, Brent crude, and main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, dipped to $98.91 and $89.93 per barrel respectively in early Asian trade - well below the symbolic $100 mark they have smashed repeatedly since the Middle Eat war broke out in February.
Saudi Arabia’s main Gulf export terminals recorded their busiest crude-loading day since before the war, with six supertankers taking on nearly 12 million barrels at Ras Tanura and Juaymah on Sept. 21, according to shipping-data provider MarineTraffic.
The surge indicates that Saudi Aramco is restoring export capacity through the Gulf after attacks disrupted the kingdom’s East-West pipeline to the Red Sea.
Oil prices have retreated from their recent highs as traders respond to improving crude oil flows and hopes for US-Iran diplomacy.
Read more here.
Ever tighter US sanctions intended to cripple Iranian aviation come into force on Wednesday, after Washington vowed to "shut down" Tehran's carriers and punish anyone doing business with them.
In their first acknowledgement of disruption, Iranian media reported late Tuesday that flights to the Iraqi and Omani capitals would be cancelled the following day, but other routes would be unaffected.
The new measures, announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday, follow earlier aviation sanctions as well as his threat of an "economic D-Day" meant to force the Islamic republic into submission, after military means of ending the Middle East war stall.
It remained unclear what their full impact would be, as the Iranian aviation sector has already been targeted for years by various sanctions.
The Tasnim news agency cited a civil aviation spokesman as saying that "Baghdad and Muscat airports will no longer accept Iranian flights" starting Wednesday.
"Other international flights, including Istanbul, will operate as scheduled and as usual, and at present there are no problems with these flights," Tasnim reported.
According to Tasnim, Iran's aviation authorities are in talks to reroute Baghdad flights to Najaf, a major destination for Iranian pilgrims.
US President Donald Trump said he believes he can “do business” with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham after their first face-to-face meeting at the United Nations, but immediately highlighted a major point of disagreement: Britain’s plan to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Trump called the agreement a “terrible deal” and said the remote Indian Ocean archipelago — particularly the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia — is “very, very strategic”.
Diego Garcia’s role in the Iran war
The disagreement takes on added significance because Diego Garcia has been central to US military power in the Indian Ocean.
Trump specifically linked the base to the Iran conflict, saying US bombers had to make longer flights because they could not use the facility for the initial strikes.
Britain has said it remains committed to securing the long-term operation of the base.
US President Donald Trump used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to portray Iran as the central security threat in the Middle East, calling Tehran the region’s former “bully” and defending his decision to confront it militarily.
“There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world’s peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said in New York.
“For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond.”
“They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more,” he said.
President Donald Trump revealed that US and Iranian officials held talks Tuesday for the first time in months, even as he told the United Nations he was still deciding whether to "annihilate" Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Trump's roving envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Oil prices fell again Tuesday as markets focused on the potential upside of renewed US-Iran diplomatic engagement while shrugging off a bellicose address by President Trump at the United Nations.
Global stocks were mixed, with the Nasdaq rising to a second straight record while the Dow retreated following a muted performance on European bourses.
Trump told the UN that he faced a "big decision" on whether to make a deal with Iran or "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly."
But just hours later, Trump revealed that Iranian and US representatives had met for "very good" talks on the sidelines of the UN gathering.
The meeting lasted three hours and included Trump's business friend-turned roving global negotiator Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, he said.
Oil prices spent parts of the session sharply lower before cutting losses after Trump's UN speech. The major contracts finished the day down a little more than one percent after Trump disclosed the direct talks.
Stocks had risen in Asia as enthusiasm poured back into the technology sector after Facebook owner Meta's free AI agent Muse topped the download charts following its release this month.
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