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South Korea told the United States it was willing to make a substantive contribution to restoring free passage through the Strait of Hormuz, as Seoul weighs limited measures short of joining the war.
Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act into law Friday, extending existing US sanctions on Iran and expanding sanctions and tariff authorities targeting Russia.
CENTCOM said US forces have redirected 105 commercial vessels while enforcing the blockade against Iran, up from 104 a day earlier.
The US military nearly intercepted a Chinese ship during the Iran war after an AI-assisted intelligence report falsely identified its cargo as components of a nuclear weapons program, CNN reported.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rejected a Washington Post report that US military deaths in the Middle East since the Iran war began exceed the Pentagon’s public count, calling the report “fake” and “a complete lie.”
The Washington Post reported that at least 22 US service members have died in the Middle East since the Iran war began, four more than the 18 listed in the Pentagon’s public casualty database; another official put the toll at 23.
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Iran would not allow oil exports from any other country in the region if its own oil exports were halted, a senior IRGC commander said Friday, according to state news agency IRNA.
“If oil is not exported from Iran, oil will not be exported from any other country either,” said Aziz Ghazanfari, deputy political commander of the IRGC.
He said the Strait of Hormuz was under the “complete surveillance” of the Guards’ naval forces and that Iran should increase its control over the waterway to strengthen its security and deterrence.
“If Iran is to be insecure, there will be no secure point in the region, and if the people of Iran live in insecurity, the people of the region will not be spared insecurity,” Ghazanfari said.
Iranian investigative journalist and whistleblower Yashar Soltani says intermediary networks profit by about $4 million from each million-barrel Iranian oil shipment through commissions, currency conversions and unnecessary financial transfers, compared with roughly $500 if Iran had normal access to the SWIFT banking system.
Yemen is not an Iranian bargaining chip and its future must be decided by Yemenis through their state and national political process, Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba of Yemen’s internationally recognized government said in an interview published Friday by the Foreign Ministry.
“Yemen is not compensation for anyone’s losses in another arena, nor an arena for settling scores, nor a bargaining chip to improve the regional negotiating position of any regional power,” al-Zouba said.
She said restoring the Yemeni state’s authority over its coast, ports and islands was essential to regional security and freedom of navigation, particularly in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb, where Houthi advances along the western coast posed a serious threat to shipping.
“We reject Iranian support that strengthens Houthi capabilities and uses Yemen’s geography to threaten neighboring countries and maritime routes,” al-Zouba said.
She said Yemen’s crisis predated the US-Iran war but that the wider regional conflict had made the situation more complicated.
US President Donald Trump will use his address to the UN General Assembly next week to highlight his administration’s handling of major international conflicts, including Iran and Gaza, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told reporters on Friday.
Waltz said Trump would discuss the need to ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon and would point to what the administration describes as progress on its 20-point Gaza peace plan.
Trump is also expected to take part in a multilateral meeting with leaders of six Persian Gulf Arab states on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
Waltz said Trump would also meet British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and hold a brief meeting with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez.
Videos from a women’s road race in Tehran on Friday showed several participants running without headscarves, openly defying Iran’s compulsory hijab rules. At the Tehran 10K, women competed with their hair uncovered in their latest public display of resistance to rules that continue to require women to wear the hijab in public. The women’s race began Friday morning at Velayat Park in Tehran, with organizers holding separate competitions for women and men.
The course covered 10 kilometers over two laps. Iranian women have increasingly appeared without hijab in public in recent years despite the continuing legal requirement, particularly since the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests sparked by the death of Mahsa “Jina” Amini in morality police custody.
Iranian distance runner Parisa Arab, who holds the national women’s records in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and half marathon, finished first in Friday’s race. Arab later posted a video showing moments from the competition and her crossing the finish line, saying spectators’ encouragement had given her energy during the most difficult stretches of the race.
US Senator Bernie Sanders on Friday criticized President Donald Trump over rising gasoline prices and called for an immediate end to the war with Iran.
In a post on X, Sanders highlighted Trump’s campaign promises to bring gasoline below $2 a gallon and avoid new wars.
“President Trump this week: $4.44 a gallon gas ‘is a very inexpensive price’ to pay for the Iran War he started,” Sanders wrote.
“Enough. End the war NOW!” he added.
Yemen’s Human Rights Ministry, part of the internationally recognized government based in Aden, accused Iran-backed Houthis of attacking and looting Saudi-funded humanitarian and medical facilities in Al-Khawkhah and other western coastal areas, the government-run Saba news agency reported.
“These attacks represent a direct targeting of humanitarian and relief efforts,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
It warned that thousands of civilians and displaced people could lose access to healthcare, food, water and shelter.
The ministry called on the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other organizations operating in Yemen to condemn and document the alleged attacks and help protect humanitarian facilities and workers.
Iranian officials and media are increasingly looking to China as a possible diplomatic bridge to Washington, as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s second wartime visit to Beijing coincides with preparations for President Xi Jinping’s talks with Donald Trump next week.
Turkey’s banking regulator has revoked the operating license of Iranian lender Mellat Bank’s branch in Istanbul after more than four decades, according to a notice published in the Official Gazette.
“It has been decided to revoke the operating license of Bank Mellat, Head Office in Tehran, Istanbul Turkey Central Branch,” the notice said.
The decision was taken under a provision of Turkey’s banking law allowing authorities to revoke a bank’s license if its continued operation is deemed to pose a risk to depositors’ rights or the security and stability of the financial system, Reuters reported.
The notice did not cite US measures or any specific operational problems at the bank.
Earlier this month, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Turkish investment bank Golden Global and two subsidiaries over alleged links to Iran.
Washington also tightened measures against Iran’s aviation sector under Operation Economic Outcast, sanctioning 36 targets on Sept. 8, including 27 Iranian airlines.
Turkey and Oman later decided to halt Mahan Air flights following discussions with Washington over compliance with US measures against Iran.