TOP STORIES
US Is Prepared for Long Stand-off with Iran, Says Trump Envoy | Financial Times
“The US is preparing for a protracted conflict with Iran, even as the Trump administration hopes its bombing campaigns and economic sanctions will force major concessions from the Islamic republic. Mike Waltz, Donald Trump’s ambassador to the UN, acknowledged that a year from now the US could still be mired in a stalemate with Iran, without a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme or a return to prewar shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. ‘I’m not going to put out hypotheticals. One would hope that they’ll come to the table in a meaningful way before that,’ Waltz told the FT in an interview. But ‘the president and the US Navy can maintain this blockade [on Iranian ports] for the foreseeable future,’ he said, and the administration is ‘tightening’ its economic pressure campaign.”
Iran’s Trade Squeeze Spreads from Sea to Land | Iran International
“Border closures and transit disruptions involving Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey are raising fears that Iran’s remaining trade routes could be further restricted, deepening the impact of US maritime and air restrictions. Although Washington has not declared a land blockade of Iran, the closure of crossings with Pakistan and Iraq and continued disruption to freight traffic at the Turkish border have raised alarm in Tehran.”
Revealed: Pro-Palestine Rally Organiser’s Links to Iran | Telegraph
“The leader of an activist group behind pro-Palestine protests in the UK met with two individuals later sanctioned over their links to Iran, The Telegraph can reveal. In 2014, Medea Benjamin, the co-founder of anti-war organisation Code Pink, was in contact with men later identified by US officials as facilitators for the Islamic Republic’s foreign intelligence. They were sanctioned by the US treasury five years later. An intelligence source claimed Ms Benjamin had been viewed by Iran as an ‘asset’ to the regime by pushing ‘Iran’s influence and narratives’ in both the US and UK.”
UANI IN THE NEWS
Iran Threatens Wider Strikes on Economic and Civilian Targets if U.S. Attacks | Wall Street Journal
“Iran’s message is stark: If the U.S. and Israel restart their air campaign, Tehran will respond with strikes not only on American bases and warships but on airports, pipelines and other civilian targets in the neighboring countries of the Persian Gulf. . . . Iran runs the risk of overreaching if it tries to make good on all its threats, said [UANI Senior Advisor[ Saeid Golkar, an expert on the Revolutionary Guard at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The country needs to carefully manage its shrinking stockpile of missiles, he said."
Iran's Oil Reserves for China Run Dry as US Blockade Tightens | Newsmax
“United Against Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group, estimated that Iran’s oil exports fell to nearly zero in August and September, while floating reserves in Southeast Asia likely declined to 10 million barrels or less by early October. ‘They’ve got to be hurting,’ Charlie Brown, a researcher with United Against Nuclear Iran, told the Journal. Although he could not confirm that the reserves were exhausted, he said ‘it seems likely to be well on the way to close to zero.’”
Interview with UANI Director of IRGC Research Kasra Aarabi | From the Newsroom
“This expansion of the war didn’t really start with the Iran conflict. It started on October 8[, [2023], after the October 7 terrorist attacks . . . We saw that on October 8, Hezbollah, the Iranian regime’s proxy, entered the war; the Houthis entered the war. And over the past few years, in the Iranian regime’s own words, it mobilized the entire so-called ‘Axis of Resistance’—or what is left of it.”
“‘The U.S. is currently eroding Iran’s hold over the Strait of Hormuz,’ Jason M. Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told the DCNF. ‘This is triggering the regime to increase the tempo of attacks on commercial vessels. But the U.S. is still managing to enable safe passage for commercial vessels—with some reports suggesting more crude oil is now coming out of the Persian Gulf than before the war. That is a substantial American achievement. The key is to sustain it moving forward. The U.S. also holds an advantage in the air as Iran’s air defense systems are no match for U.S. and Israeli jets.’”
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Once US Blockaded Iran, China’s ‘Malaysian’ Oil Imports Dried Up | Iran International
“China's imports of oil recorded as Malaysian have plunged alongside the collapse of Iranian exports under the US naval blockade, suggesting how heavily Iran relied on relabeling its crude for its biggest customer. In September, China imported just 276,000 barrels per day of oil recorded as Malaysian, down from an average of nearly 1.3 million barrels per day in 2025. In some previous months, the figure had reached 2 million barrels per day. That is roughly four times Malaysia's total oil production.”
Iran Mandates Two-Day Remote Work to Save Fuel | IranWire
“The 14th administration of the Islamic Republic has issued a directive, published in the media onThursday, October 22, 2026, requiring executive bodies to allow employees whose duties can be performed remotely to work from home at least two days a week. According to published reports, the objective of this decision is to reduce fuel consumption, traffic congestion, and private vehicle usage. The measure comes amid fuel shortages and mounting concerns over an escalating energy crisis onthe eve of winter.”
“Yashar Soltani, a journalist and researcher focusing on economic corruption, claimed in his latest exposé regarding the Islamic Republic’s oil sales network that Hossein Shamkhani, son of Ali Shamkhani, sold more than $30 billion worth of Iranian oil over the past four to five years and remained one of the country’s primary oil intermediaries despite having hundreds of millions of dollars in outstanding debts.”
MILITARY MATTERS & SHIPPING
Iran’s Guards Threaten US Bases in Retaliation for Hormuz Escorts | Arab News
“Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Thursday threatened to strike American bases across the Middle East if the US military continues to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iranian Army Commander Claims Preparation for Asymmetric Warfare with US | Iran International
“In his latest remarks regarding a potential confrontation with the United States, the Iranian Army Commander claimed that the military forces of the Islamic Republic are prepared for ‘asymmetric warfare and the equipment it requires.’”
DIPLOMACY
Istanbul Meeting: A New Division of Labor in the Iran War? | Iran International
“Turkey will host the foreign ministers of seven countries on Friday for talks on the Iran-US war, security in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, developments in Yemen and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
Iran Plot Suspect Says He Was Told to Break Journalist’s Arms and Legs | Iran International
“A man accused of plotting attacks on Iran International journalists told a London court on Thursday that his Iranian handlers had instructed him to break one journalist’s arms and legs and assault another to stop him from criticizing the Islamic Republic. Mostafa Sepahvand told Woolwich Crown Court that he had been asked to attack Iran International journalists Kambiz Hosseini and Mojtaba Pourmohsen, as well as two other people, Alon Farago and Jonathan Turner.”
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Freedom House: Iran Ranks at Bottom of Global Internet Freedom | IranWire
“The non-governmental organization Freedom House, in its annual ‘Freedom on the Net 2026’ report, announced that Iran had dropped four points, joining the ranks of countries with the absolute lowest levels of internet freedom globally. The organization described Iran’s 88-day internet shutdown during the war as the longest nationwide blackout in the history of its reports.”
CYBER WARFARE
“An Iranian state-sponsored hacking group used command-and-control infrastructure hosted in the United States this year after a months-long pause in operations, according to cybersecurity firm Semperis. The group, known as Prince of Persia and also tracked as Infy, has operated for nearly two decades and has primarily targeted Iranian dissidents, along with government and private-sector organizations in the US, Europe and the Middle East.”
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran’s Healthcare Inflation Hits 94% as Country Battles Severe Medicine Shortages | IranWire
“In 2024, the former head of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration claimed that 99 percent of the country’s required pharmaceuticals were produced domestically. Two years later, amid an unprecedented drug crisis in Iran, the same government official states that only 60 percent of the nation’s pharmaceutical market by volume is locally manufactured. This contradiction offers just a glimpse into the chaotic and degraded conditions Iranian citizens face regarding medicine. When the regime seeks to minimize the impact of sanctions, it presents an unrealistic image of ‘self-sufficiency’; however, when crises intensify, it shifts the blame to the ‘enemy,’ ‘blockades,’ and ‘sanctions’ to evade accountability.”
EUROPE & IRAN
“Nigel Farage’s newest billionaire donor was in business with a powerful Iranian religious foundationunder the authority of the country’s supreme leader, raising questions about his past dealings with the hardline republic. Hossein Ghandehari, also called Sasan, was little known in the UK until he pledged to give millions to Reform UK this summer and donated £50,000 to Farage to cover the cost of two passes for the Davos World Economic Forum.”