TOP STORIES
“Russia and China vetoed a U.S. bid to renew the mandate of U.N. experts monitoring nuclear sanctions against Iran at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. The move deepened tensions between the geopolitical rivals over the Trump administration’s efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic”
“New satellite imagery shows Iran has added new defenses around tunnel entrances at Pickaxe Mountain, the deeply buried nuclear-linked site President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike, as Russia and China on Thursday vetoed a U.S.-drafted Security Council resolution aimed at preserving international monitoring of sanctions on Tehran.”
“A political adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said Tehran would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed until US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were out of power.”
UANI IN THE NEWS
USA Halts Luxury Shopping by Diplomats | T-Online (Translated from German)
“‘The Islamist regime in Iran is corrupt to the core.’ That’s how Kasra Aarabi, who heads IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization based in New York, sums it up. Interviewed by Fox News for a report, Aarabi explained: ‘While the regime’s clerics and IRGC commanders are forcibly Islamizing Iranian society and spreading anti-Americanism worldwide, their sons and daughters lead lavish lifestyles in Western capitals, financed by blood money.’”
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Iran’s Isolation Grows After U.S. Imposes Sweeping Sanctions on Airlines | New York Times
“A major Iranian airline suspended flights to neighboring countries, adding to the country’s isolation caused by sweeping U.S. sanctions and a naval blockade that have sought to cut off Iran from the global economy. Mahan Air, Iran’s most prominent commercial carrier, announced the measures on Wednesday, just over a week after the U.S. Treasury Department put restrictions on Iran’s aviation industry intended to severely limit its ability to operate abroad. The new U.S. measures also make it difficult for other countries and non-Iranian companies to work with the Iranian aviation industry, as doing so could be put them at risk of being punished by the U.S. government. The flight suspensions are likely to further strain many Iranians’ already fraying links with the outside world and add to their hardship, with much of the population feeling squeezed by an American economic pressure campaign.”
Iran Activates Land Routes to Bypass US Blockade | Financial Times
“Before the war, more than 80 per cent of Iran’s two-way trade of about 180mn tonnes a year moved by sea from its southern coast on the Gulf. But with the US naval blockade and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has now sought to shift that trade to overland routes. . . . Iran is drawing on decades of sanctions-evasion experience and its land borders with seven countries, particularly Turkey, to continue importing consumer goods, animal feed and ingredients for pharmaceuticals while exporting products such as aluminium, bitumen, building materials and detergents. To some extent, the strategy has worked: in the first half of the year, bilateral trade with Turkey increased by 19 per cent to $3.2bn, according to Turkish data. . . . However, poor infrastructure, lengthy customs checks and other bottlenecks have caused delays, raising costs for Iranian consumers who already face inflation of 90 per cent. Even if Iran doubles its imports and exports overland and across the Caspian Sea, it would not make up for the lost maritime trade, experts say.”
US Sanctions Bitcoin Exchange for Handling Iran’s Hormuz Transit Fees | Maritime Executive
“The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control has identified and sanctioned an Iranian bitcoin exchange linked to the ‘Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority,’ a front company that enables the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ fee-for-transit scheme for the Strait of Hormuz.”
MILITARY MATTERS & SHIPPING
Trump Tells Axios He’s Approaching Major Crossroads in Iran War | Axios
“President Trump told Axios Thursday that he’s approaching a critical juncture in the Iran war over whether to restart massive attacks in an effort to bring the conflict to a close. ‘I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them [the Iranian regime] or do I not? It’s a big decision. Anything could happen with me.’”
Iran Downed at Least 2 Unmanned American Aircraft in Recent Days, U.S. Officials Say | CBS News
“Iranian forces in recent days have brought down at least two American MQ-1 unmanned aircraft, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter . . .”
South Korea Will Not Send Military to Support US War on Iran, Defying Trump Pressure | Guardian
“South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung, has said he will not deploy the military to the Middle East in a way that could draw the country into conflict, resisting calls from Donald Trump to support his war in Iran. . . . However, Lee added that he was reviewing whether to play a greater role in safeguarding navigation in the region.”
UKMTO Reports Security Incident in Strait of Hormuz off Oman | Iran International
“The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Thursday that it received a report of a security incident in the Strait of Hormuz, 16 nautical miles northeast of Oman's Khasab. UKMTO added that the crew were safe and no environmental impact had been confirmed at the time of the report.”
Israel Still Has Goals to Achieve Against Iran, Defense Minister Says | Iran International
“Israel still has ‘important goals’ to achieve against Iran and in other arenas, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday, adding that the broader military campaign was not over. . . . Katz also said Israel would not allow Tehran to rearm Hamas.”
Fox News Poll: 71% Think Trump Administration Lacks Plan to End Iran War | Fox News
“Nearly seven months into the war with Iran, a new Fox News national survey finds views souring as voters feel the Trump administration lacks a clear strategy for ending the war, a growing number think the conflict will make the U.S. less safe and a majority believes the decision to take military action was wrong. Seven in 10 voters think the Trump administration lacks a clear strategy for ending the conflict, including 95% of Democrats, 83% of independents and 43% of Republicans.”
Basij Chief Says ‘Jan-Fada’ Volunteers Being Integrated Into Iran Defense Units | IranWire
“Hossein Taeb, Head of the Basij Organization, announced that hundreds of thousands of enrollees in the state-sponsored ‘Jan-Fada’ (Life Sacrifice) campaign have been organized in Tehran, with the process of integrating them into defense battalions and military units of the Islamic Republic officially underway. . . . The Basij commander described the ‘Jan-Fada’ initiative as part of what he termed the ‘popularization of defense and security,’ claiming that it demonstrates broad civilian readiness for war and a willingness to ‘sacrifice life and property.’”
How Trump Can Solve His Yemen Problem | Matthew Continetti in the Wall Street Journal
“By taking the offensive, President Trump can shift the focus of attention from America’s perceived vulnerabilities to Iran’s actual deterioration. The first step is to bring the Saudis, Israelis and Emiratis together to prevent the Houthis from consolidating their position. Then, lend rhetorical and material support to Iranians willing to fight their government. Send the Iranian leadership back to the bunkers by taking out communications networks, transportation hubs, state institutions and symbols of the regime. Direct military and intelligence officials to form a plan for Iran’s next popular uprising. . . . ‘I think the war is going to end immediately after the election,’ Mr. Trump said last week. ‘They can’t hold out any longer.’ But there’s no need to guess. It’s within the president’s power to take the fight to the Iranian regime. His actions will determine whether Iran remains a threat to the U.S., Israel and the world. Don’t let Tehran decide, Mr. Trump. The choice is yours.”
REGIME CHANGE
Netanyahu Says Israel Will Topple Iran’s Regime | Iran International
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would topple Iran’s establishment and still had work to complete against Tehran and its regional allies, according to remarks published on Thursday by his official account. . . . Netanyahu added: ‘We will eliminate Hamas, and first and foremost we will defeat the regime in Iran. We will bring it down. It will fall. We will also deal with Hezbollah, and it too will fall.’”
DIPLOMACY
“The Trump administration has approved visas for top Iranian officials, including the president and foreign minister, to attend next week’s U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting in New York even as the two countries are locked in a stalemated war. . . . ‘Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend UN General Assembly High Level week,’ the State Department said. ‘The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our policy. The delegation is smaller than last year.’”
Pakistan Urges Iran to Rein in Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia | Financial Times
“Pakistan’s army chief has urged Iran to try to rein in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, referencing their mutual defence agreement with Riyadh, people familiar with the conversations said.”
Iran Summons German Ambassador in Tehran | IranWire
“Iranian state media reported that Axel Wilhelm Dittmann, the German Ambassador to Tehran, was summoned to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Quoting Alireza Yousefi, Director of the West Europe Department at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, the ILNA news agency reported that the action was taken following ‘inappropriate stances by senior German officials against Iran and certain interventionist actions by the German Embassy in Tehran.’”
PROXY WARS
Saudi Arabia Offers Houthis Two-Week Truce, Lebanese Paper Reports | Iran International
“Saudi Arabia has proposed a two-week truce with Yemen's Houthis, to be followed by direct talks between the kingdom and the group’s leaders, the Lebanese daily al-Akhbar reported on Thursday, citing informed sources. . . . The Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, were cool to the offer, according to al-Akhbar, which is close to Hezbollah. They want a ‘final and comprehensive solution to the conflict,’ which they frame as a war with Saudi Arabia rather than an internal Yemeni matter, and they demanded that the Saudi blockade of Yemen be lifted in ‘all its forms.’”
Why the Houthi Capture of Mocha Matters Far Beyond Yemen | Fatima Abo Alasrar for the Stimson Center
“This is not an isolated problem or just a bilateral Saudi-Houthi or Saudi-Iranian conflict, and treating it as such gives Tehran the upper hand. This is an international problem, with a non-state actor seizing a port on the Red Sea to advance Iran’s — and its own — strategic goals. The same week Mocha fell, drones launched from Iraq knocked out Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, the route that carries its crude to the Red Sea. It will take weeks to repair the damage. This means that Washington cannot pretend that it is doing Riyadh a favor in facing proxies that have been instrumentalized to increase costs for the U.S. and the international community. Washington should start bearing some responsibility for the fallout that has continued to plague Yemeni waters after Operation Rough Rider. The Trump administration continues to impose strategic costs on Iran at Hormuz while ignoring Bab al-Mandab. The Islamic Republic has been eager to exploit the gap created by decoupling the Houthis from the war with Iran. Tehran understood long before Mocha fell that the two fronts cannot be separated, but Washington is running out of time to catch up.”
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Video of Iran’s Police Sexually Abusing Teenager Draws Fury | Iran International
“A video showing Iranian police beating and sexually humiliating a teenager while officers laugh, insult him and film the abuse has unleashed fury across Iranian social media, with users asking what may happen beyond public view.”
Iranian Actor Laheh Marzban Faces Severe Threats After Venice Film Festival Speech | Guardian
“An Iranian actress who won the best newcomer award at the Venice film festival has come under severe attack from the country’s authorities and state media after highlighting the plight of women in Iran in her acceptance speech. Laleh Marzban last Saturday won the best actress award in the Orizzonti sidebar competition for emerging talent . . . At the awards gala, Marzban dedicated her prize to ‘the women of my country who have paid the highest price for even the smallest measure of freedom.’ . . . On Thursday, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, a conservative-dominated government body appointed by Iran’s supreme leader, issued a statement condemning Marzban’s speech as ‘presenting a one-sided narrative of Iran’s proud society.’”
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iranians Rally by the Hundreds of Thousands in Biggest Show of Defiance Since War Began | NBC News
“Hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied Friday in a government-organized show of defiance after months of war, pledging their readiness to take up arms in the biggest such demonstration since the United States and Israel attacked in February. . . . For days, state media have encouraged Iranians to join the campaign, saying training with assault rifles would begin soon. The volunteers would be an additional layer of security to the powerful Revolutionary Guard paramilitary and its all-volunteer arm, the Basij.”
Iran State Media Publishes Old Mojtaba Khamenei Photos amid Continued Absence | Iran International
“Iran’s state news agency IRNA on Thursday published photographs from two years ago showing Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei visiting people wounded in Hezbollah’s pager explosions in Lebanon, as his continued absence from public view fuels questions about his condition.”
CONGRESS & IRAN
Senate Democrats Press Hegseth for Iran War Price Tag | Politico
“Forty-six members of the Senate Democratic caucus are demanding that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provide a detailed accounting of the Iran war’s costs, arguing that the Pentagon has failed to explain how it has spent, and plans to spend, tens of billions of taxpayer dollars.”
“Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike emerged Thursday from a closed-door briefing frustrated by what they said was a lack of clear answers from Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby on the Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy and the ongoing Iran war. . . . Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), likewise, said she was ‘very disappointed’ by the briefing. ‘I did not stay to ask questions because he was not giving any clear responses,’ Ernst told The Hill.”