TOP STORIES
Iran-Backed Houthis Take Effective Control of Bab al-Mandeb Chokepoint | Wall Street Journal
“Iran-backed Houthi militants seized a strategic island in the Bab al-Mandeb strait and a town along its mainland coast on Friday, taking effective control of one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints after a rapid offensive.”
UN Nuclear Watchdog Confirms Activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain | Bloomberg
“The United Nations atomic watchdog said it’s observed construction activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily-fortified site suspected of housing nuclear-related activities.”
Iran Is Producing Ballistic Missiles Again | Wall Street Journal
“Iran has resumed its production of ballistic missiles using stockpiled components and working in underground facilities, officials from the U.S. and Middle East familiar with the matter said, eroding what the U.S. and Israel have touted as a major achievement of the war.”
UANI IN THE NEWS
Houthis Capture Key Red Sea Port as They March Toward Aden, Spiking Oil Prices | New York Sun
“‘This is a more dangerous, more risky world, where the new normal is that sea lanes that you depend on are not secure,’ a Singapore-based senior shipping adviser at United Against Nuclear Iran, Charlie Brown, tells the Sun. ‘Costs will go up because in the long term, the assumption of an open sea lane, at the most efficient way, is just no longer valid.’”
Iran’s Financial Collapse Could Trigger Attack on Israel | IDF Club
“Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), argues that the danger should be taken seriously. Speaking to JNS, Brodsky said Israeli and American assessments already anticipate an Iranian response to the mounting economic pressure. He described the campaign as ‘economic strangulation’ and said Iran could ‘flail’ through rockets, drones and missiles as its options narrow.”
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
UN Security Council Votes to Enforce Iran Sanctions | IranWire
“The United Nations Security Council convened on Thursday, September 10, to review the periodic report on Committee 1737 activities and oversee the enforcement of sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program. Following discussions, the Security Council voted to implement sanctions against the Islamic Republic, overriding objections from Beijing and Moscow. While Russia and China disputed the legitimacy of snapback sanctions, the Council approved the enforcement measure with 11 votes in favor, 2 against, and 2 abstentions.”
US Slaps New Sanctions on Networks Aiding Iran’s Proxies in Middle East | Reuters
“The U.S. government announced new sanctions on Thursday against firms and individuals that it says are aiding Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies in the Middle East as it intensified its campaign to isolate Iran economically. . . . Thursday’s actions by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control hit entities and individuals in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Turkey that Washington said supported Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shia paramilitary group under the command of the IRGC, and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia party, Treasury said in a statement. Treasury also announced a settlement with a U.S. citizen who agreed to pay $1.43 million to settle their potential civil liability for 39 apparent violations of sanctions on Iran, and issued a broad whistleblower appeal for tips on any sanctions evasion or money laundering by Iran.”
Meat, Cream, Rice: Food Becomes Loot as Prices Soar in Iran | Iran International
“Soaring food prices in Iran are increasingly reflected in reports of theft, with groceries appearing in cases ranging from first-time shoplifting to warehouse raids and armed robbery.”
Iranian Telecom Company Raises Select Service Rates by 45% | IranWire
“Iranian media outlets have reported a 45% price increase across select services offered by the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI), with new tariffs scheduled to take effect on Friday, September 11.”
MILITARY MATTERS & SHIPPING
Trump Is Preparing for a Long War | Nancy Youssef and Jonathan Lemire in the Atlantic
“To hear the Trump administration tell it, the war with Iran is all but over. U.S. military posture tells a different story: Naval forces are being positioned for a sustained presence at least through the end of the year, keeping open the option of escalation.”
Acting Navy Secretary Says Iran ‘Blew the Hell Out of’ US Base in Bahrain: Report | The Hill
“The acting U.S. Navy secretary Hung Cao said that the Iranian military severely damaged a major Navy installation in Bahrain, acknowledging the extent of damage sustained by the base during the conflict. . . . Cao said the Navy is weighing what to do with NASB, including whether to repair the base.”
Trump on Iran War Regrets: “You Can Always Question Yourself a Little Bit” | Axios
“President Trump said in a new interview with ‘The Ingraham Angle’ on Thursday that he would make the same decisions on the Iran war, despite acknowledging that he sometimes questions himself.”
DIPLOMACY
“For much of the past year, Pakistan has played a dual role as Riyadh's defence partner and Washington's backchannel to Tehran but this week's fighting between Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement and Saudi forces is increasingly testing how long Islamabad can hold both positions at once. The fighting represents the first major test of the mutual defence alliance that was signed between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey last month, adding to a pre-existing pact between Islamabad and Riyadh. Under the arrangement, an armed attack on any one of the three countries is to be regarded as an attack on all.”
Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Arrive in India for BRICS Summit | ABC News (Australia)
“Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are gathering in India for the 2026 BRICS summit set to put war and trade at the fore. . . . Experts expect the gulf conflict will be the central fault line in coming days, with Iran, Saudi Arabia and The UAE set to attend.”
South Korean, Iranian Foreign Ministers Discuss Strait of Hormuz, Seoul Says | Reuters
“South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun discussed the situation in the Middle East, including freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, in a telephone call on Friday with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi, Seoul’s foreign ministry said. Cho expressed deep concern over the situation and voiced his hope for the restoration of lasting peace and stability in the region, the ministry said in a statement.”
PROXY WARS
Iranian Arms and Advice Helped Yemen’s Houthis Seize Key Red Sea City, Sources Say | Reuters
“The lightning Houthi advance down Yemen’s Red Sea coast this week came with direct guidance from Iran's Revolutionary Guards seeking to open a new front in Iran’s war with the U.S., according to Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources. . . . Iran told the Houthis last week to escalate their attacks on Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally, and promised more funding, weapons and senior officers to help them do so, two Iranian sources said.”
US Expands Intel, Targeting Support for Saudi Campaign Against Iranian Ally | CNN
“More than 100 US military advisers are on the ground in Saudi Arabia providing intelligence and targeting support to the Kingdom in its military campaign against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, multiple sources familiar with the effort say. . . . The US military personnel are working as part of a newly-established joint forces command, which was formed in recent weeks amid signs Iran was ramping up its own efforts to aid Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, one of the sources, a US official, said.”
INTEL
Two Arrested in London on Suspicion of Aiding Iran’s Foreign Intelligence | Guardian
“A man and a woman have been arrested by counter-terrorism police in London on suspicion of assisting Iran’s foreign intelligence service. The arrests of the 42-year-old woman and 60-year-old man were made after searches at addresses in north and north-west London on 24 June, the Metropolitan police said. . . . The investigation is not linked to attacks at buildings and venues linked to Jewish and Iranian communities in London, the force added. It is also not thought to be linked to any activity or events linked to the Jewish high holy days period.”
Inside the IDF Military Intelligence’s Crusade to Block Iran from Getting Nukes | Jerusalem Post
“From the mid-1990s until August 2024, a running line of top Mossad and IDF officials made it their mission to block Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. When Shlomi Binder was sworn in as the Military Intelligence chief in August 2024, he took up the baton and he and his team of top intelligence officials have pursued the crusade with tremendous tenacity.”
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran’s Total Blackout | Bloomberg
“Since the turn of the millennium, the Iranian internet has evolved through cycles of repression. Each time the state feels threatened—by protests, cyberattacks or conflict—they tighten their control with new censorship tools and tactics, or by pulling the plug entirely. In response, Iranians find or invent new workarounds to reclaim online spaces and build their businesses. Then the cycle repeats.”
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran Cabinet, Parliament Clash over Sweeping ‘Infiltration’ Measures | Iran International
“A dispute over Iran’s proposed measures to combat foreign infiltration escalated Thursday, with a senior lawmaker accusing President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government of acting illegally after the cabinet opposed a parliamentary committee report on the controversial legislation.”