September 29, 2026
Stephen Quillen, Tracy J. Jawad and Leila Minkara
Stephen Quillen, Tracy J. Jawad and Leila Minkara
- Ebrahim Azizi, head of the National Security Commission of the Iranian parliament, says the US and Israel will eventually be pushed out of the region, while Iran will remain.
- In an appeal to the American people, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson calls President Donald Trump a “big liar” and says the US has no choice but to leave the Middle East.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran has held indirect talks with the US through Qatari mediators in New York and expects Washington’s formal response to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
Trump
says Iran conflict to end ‘very soon’
The US
president has said the conflict with Iran will be over “very soon”, causing oil
prices to plummet.
Trump made the comments during a speech in Washington, DC, unveiling a new AI-powered federal platform.
Trump said Iran is “failing very badly” and reiterated his claim that the country will “not have a nuclear weapon”.
“That’ll be over with very soon,” said the US president, referring to the conflict with Iran. “They will not have a nuclear weapon, and oil prices are going to be tumbling down just like they were before I had to make that little excursion to the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Oil through Hormuz climbs closer to pre-war levels
Oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz averaged about 13.2 million barrels per day over the past week – roughly 77 percent of their pre-war level – even as Iran claims to have stepped up attacks on vessels trying to cross the waterway, according to Kpler.
Daily confirmed oil flows varied sharply from September 24-27, ranging from about 6.5 million to 12.6 million bpd. The figures for the most recent days are preliminary and may rise as more shipments are confirmed.
The increased movement of oil comes during ongoing talks to fully reopen the strait within seven days, a plan proposed by Iran.
Top Iranian official says US ‘will inevitably leave this region’
Iranian politician Ebrahim Azizi has said the US and Israel will eventually be pushed out of the region, while Iran will remain.
“The US will inevitably leave this region, and the Zionist [Israeli] regime’s days are numbered,” said Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission.
“Ultimately, it is we and our neighbours who remain here, face to face,” he added. “That day will be a day of regret.”
Qatar urges diplomacy to address Hormuz crisis
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari says diplomatic efforts to end the US-Iran war remain under way, but there were no tangible results to announce yet.
During his weekly media briefing, al-Ansari said the world cannot afford to ignore the consequences of the conflict, with disruptions affecting energy supplies, food security, industry and global supply chains.
“The officials in Iran need to make a decision to distance our countries from this war and take a clear path of non-aggression towards their neighbours,” al-Ansari said.
Al-Ansari added that Qatar was working towards a diplomatic resolution that restores full freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Vance says US believes Iran’s supreme leader is still alive, but not engaged in day-to-day affairs
Continuing his comments on Iran’s supreme leader, Vance said the US doesn’t know for sure if he’s alive, but that evidence suggests he is.
“We think that he’s alive. We don’t know, of course,” said Vance. “I’ve never seen him. I haven’t seen him on camera recently. The best evidence we have suggests that he is alive.”
‘They didn’t behave’: Vance blames Iranian leaders for failed MoU
Continuing in his interview with journalist Vince Coglianese, Vance blamed Iranian leaders for the failed memorandum of understanding, saying they “screwed up” by deciding to target commercial ships in regional waters.
“I think the Iranians recognise that they screwed up, that they signed a deal with us, we had a ceasefire, we had energy prices that had come down and we had the possibility … that if the Iranians behaved, they would get a lot out of a better relationship with the United States,” said the US vice president.
“But what happened? They didn’t behave. They started shooting at commercial shipping,” he added.
Vance says Iranian leadership system ‘confused’, supreme leader ‘detached’
More from JD Vance’s interview with journalist Vince Coglianese.
Asked who is in charge within Iran, the US vice president said, “It’s a very confused system.”
“I could give you an answer. It would be at best a guess because you have a number of different constituencies. You have the hardliners, you have the conservatives, you have the moderates, you have the clerics and all of these people are involved in the decision-making process,” said Vance.
“And then of course you have the new supreme leader, who is very detached,” added Vance. “He’s not involved day-to-day; he’s not going on American Sunday shows and talking about these negotiations.”
US Vice President Vance says ‘there is a universe where we can strike a deal with Iran’
US Vice President JD Vance has said there is still room for a deal with Iran if the country’s leaders honour their commitments to the US.
Speaking in an interview with journalist Vince Coglianese, Vance said Trump has been clear that “there is a universe where we can strike a deal with Iran, but that requires the Iranians to behave”.
“That requires the Iranians to honour their commitments to the United States, and that basic principle – negotiate, but only negotiate around actions and not words – is going to inform how we do this for the next couple of months,” he said.
Vessel struck by suspected projectile in Strait of Hormuz: UKMTO
A vessel has been struck by a projectile while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire, a maritime monitoring agency says.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said the fire on Monday evening was extinguished, the crew was safe and the vessel continued its journey.
No environmental impact was reported, and the extent of any damage has yet to be assessed.
Attacks in the strait continue, threatening global shipping and keeping oil prices elevated as the US-Israel war on Iran has entered its eighth month.
Imbalance in US-Iran negotiations favours Tehran to a degree
Talha Abdulrazaq, a Middle East strategy and security affairs specialist, has told Al Jazeera that the US and Iran are approaching diplomacy on different timelines.
“The Americans want some solid concessions on the nuclear component of negotiations, and the Iranians say, ‘Well, OK, we don’t have an issue with that necessarily, but first of all, we need to see some good faith from the American side, which is unfreezing of assets, sanctions relief and the lifting of the naval blockade,'” he said.
“This is a nonstarter for the US,” Abdulrazaq said, arguing that Washington, as the dominant power, would need to change the strategic picture significantly for any deal to be seen as a victory at home. Iran’s bar is lower, he said: “All the Iranians have to do is survive with their regime intact.”
Abdulrazaq said the imbalance favours Tehran to a degree but does not mean Iran is spared the pressure. “They’re feeling the severe economic pinch and the political isolation that the Americans have imposed upon them,” he said.
Abdulrazaq said the US midterm elections in November are also constraining Washington. Afterwards, he said, “the Americans are going to have more leeway to perhaps either escalate the conflict or maybe even de-escalate” and return to something similar to the MoU.
Iranian rial falls to record low against US dollar as war punishes economy
Iran’s currency has fallen to a new record low with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials for one US dollar in a stark reflection of how the US-Israel war has steadily eroded its economy.
The latest decline came just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on September 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.
Before the US and Israel launched their attacks on Iran, the rial traded at about 1.7 million to the greenback on the open market.
Unclear how long global economy can sustain Iran war impact: Qatar
Moscow does not want Tehran to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and expects it to remain a signatory, the Kremlin says.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was responding to comments by Iranian officials about a possible pullout of the global nuclear agreement. Under the treaty, Iran is committed to neither developing nor acquiring nuclear weapons.
Russia and Iran have close ties under a strategic cooperation treaty.
Qatar rejects Iranian threats to Middle East infrastructure if US strikes
Qatar has condemned any targeting of infrastructure “by any party” after being asked about Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s threat to hit Gulf neighbours if attacked again by the US.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said such strikes work against the interests of regional stability. “With respect to infrastructure and institutions, any threat is a violation of international law and good neighbourliness,” he said.
Al-Ansari said Qatar continues to work with other mediators to pass messages between Iran and the United States and to build common ground. “Every mediation is a herculean effort,” he said.
Gulf states did not choose to be part of the war, and Iran needs to stop aggression against regional countries. Qatar, he said, is “not giving up on peace” despite having been targeted.
Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s chief negotiator, said earlier if Iran’s security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure in the region is safe from attack. He added if Iran cannot freely sell its oil, no nation in the Gulf will be able to sell theirs.
US and Iran holding ‘really serious talks’ despite Trump ‘bluster’
Paul Musgrave of Georgetown University in Qatar says there were “really serious talks” during the UN General Assembly on ending the war on Iran despite public rhetoric from the US president.
“I think people need to discount bluster and Trumpian statements. Continually, through mediators in Pakistan and Qatar, we have seen a lot of engagement,” he told Al Jazeera.
Musgrave said discussions appeared to focus on “sanctions, lifting the freeze on Iran’s assets”, and “continuing to talk on the nuclear issue while reopening the Strait of Hormuz”.
Negotiations are taking place “in the shadow of the memorandum of understanding which collapsed”, however, there appears to be “some belief on both sides that a deal could be made”, he added.
The question really comes down to whether it will be before or after the midterms, said Musgrave.
Trump made the comments during a speech in Washington, DC, unveiling a new AI-powered federal platform.
Trump said Iran is “failing very badly” and reiterated his claim that the country will “not have a nuclear weapon”.
“That’ll be over with very soon,” said the US president, referring to the conflict with Iran. “They will not have a nuclear weapon, and oil prices are going to be tumbling down just like they were before I had to make that little excursion to the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Oil through Hormuz climbs closer to pre-war levels
Oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz averaged about 13.2 million barrels per day over the past week – roughly 77 percent of their pre-war level – even as Iran claims to have stepped up attacks on vessels trying to cross the waterway, according to Kpler.
Daily confirmed oil flows varied sharply from September 24-27, ranging from about 6.5 million to 12.6 million bpd. The figures for the most recent days are preliminary and may rise as more shipments are confirmed.
The increased movement of oil comes during ongoing talks to fully reopen the strait within seven days, a plan proposed by Iran.
Top Iranian official says US ‘will inevitably leave this region’
Iranian politician Ebrahim Azizi has said the US and Israel will eventually be pushed out of the region, while Iran will remain.
“The US will inevitably leave this region, and the Zionist [Israeli] regime’s days are numbered,” said Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission.
“Ultimately, it is we and our neighbours who remain here, face to face,” he added. “That day will be a day of regret.”
Qatar urges diplomacy to address Hormuz crisis
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari says diplomatic efforts to end the US-Iran war remain under way, but there were no tangible results to announce yet.
During his weekly media briefing, al-Ansari said the world cannot afford to ignore the consequences of the conflict, with disruptions affecting energy supplies, food security, industry and global supply chains.
“The officials in Iran need to make a decision to distance our countries from this war and take a clear path of non-aggression towards their neighbours,” al-Ansari said.
Al-Ansari added that Qatar was working towards a diplomatic resolution that restores full freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Vance says US believes Iran’s supreme leader is still alive, but not engaged in day-to-day affairs
Continuing his comments on Iran’s supreme leader, Vance said the US doesn’t know for sure if he’s alive, but that evidence suggests he is.
“We think that he’s alive. We don’t know, of course,” said Vance. “I’ve never seen him. I haven’t seen him on camera recently. The best evidence we have suggests that he is alive.”
‘They didn’t behave’: Vance blames Iranian leaders for failed MoU
Continuing in his interview with journalist Vince Coglianese, Vance blamed Iranian leaders for the failed memorandum of understanding, saying they “screwed up” by deciding to target commercial ships in regional waters.
“I think the Iranians recognise that they screwed up, that they signed a deal with us, we had a ceasefire, we had energy prices that had come down and we had the possibility … that if the Iranians behaved, they would get a lot out of a better relationship with the United States,” said the US vice president.
“But what happened? They didn’t behave. They started shooting at commercial shipping,” he added.
Vance says Iranian leadership system ‘confused’, supreme leader ‘detached’
More from JD Vance’s interview with journalist Vince Coglianese.
Asked who is in charge within Iran, the US vice president said, “It’s a very confused system.”
“I could give you an answer. It would be at best a guess because you have a number of different constituencies. You have the hardliners, you have the conservatives, you have the moderates, you have the clerics and all of these people are involved in the decision-making process,” said Vance.
“And then of course you have the new supreme leader, who is very detached,” added Vance. “He’s not involved day-to-day; he’s not going on American Sunday shows and talking about these negotiations.”
US Vice President Vance says ‘there is a universe where we can strike a deal with Iran’
US Vice President JD Vance has said there is still room for a deal with Iran if the country’s leaders honour their commitments to the US.
Speaking in an interview with journalist Vince Coglianese, Vance said Trump has been clear that “there is a universe where we can strike a deal with Iran, but that requires the Iranians to behave”.
“That requires the Iranians to honour their commitments to the United States, and that basic principle – negotiate, but only negotiate around actions and not words – is going to inform how we do this for the next couple of months,” he said.
Vessel struck by suspected projectile in Strait of Hormuz: UKMTO
A vessel has been struck by a projectile while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire, a maritime monitoring agency says.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said the fire on Monday evening was extinguished, the crew was safe and the vessel continued its journey.
No environmental impact was reported, and the extent of any damage has yet to be assessed.
Attacks in the strait continue, threatening global shipping and keeping oil prices elevated as the US-Israel war on Iran has entered its eighth month.
Imbalance in US-Iran negotiations favours Tehran to a degree
Talha Abdulrazaq, a Middle East strategy and security affairs specialist, has told Al Jazeera that the US and Iran are approaching diplomacy on different timelines.
“The Americans want some solid concessions on the nuclear component of negotiations, and the Iranians say, ‘Well, OK, we don’t have an issue with that necessarily, but first of all, we need to see some good faith from the American side, which is unfreezing of assets, sanctions relief and the lifting of the naval blockade,'” he said.
“This is a nonstarter for the US,” Abdulrazaq said, arguing that Washington, as the dominant power, would need to change the strategic picture significantly for any deal to be seen as a victory at home. Iran’s bar is lower, he said: “All the Iranians have to do is survive with their regime intact.”
Abdulrazaq said the imbalance favours Tehran to a degree but does not mean Iran is spared the pressure. “They’re feeling the severe economic pinch and the political isolation that the Americans have imposed upon them,” he said.
Abdulrazaq said the US midterm elections in November are also constraining Washington. Afterwards, he said, “the Americans are going to have more leeway to perhaps either escalate the conflict or maybe even de-escalate” and return to something similar to the MoU.
Iranian rial falls to record low against US dollar as war punishes economy
Iran’s currency has fallen to a new record low with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials for one US dollar in a stark reflection of how the US-Israel war has steadily eroded its economy.
The latest decline came just 27 days after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on September 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.
Before the US and Israel launched their attacks on Iran, the rial traded at about 1.7 million to the greenback on the open market.
Unclear how long global economy can sustain Iran war impact: Qatar
- More from Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari:
- Qatar and other mediators are still delivering messages between Iran and the United States, and Doha will continue these efforts.
- Mediators are holding meetings and exchanging possible solutions between the two sides to end the seven-month conflict.
- The US-Israeli war on Iran has inflicted a heavy toll on the global economy, and the upcoming winter season will make the situation worse with energy shipments largely blocked.
- Qatar condemns Israeli comments on taking over territory in Lebanon and Gaza and demands unimpeded aid to reach the beleaguered Palestinians.
- The Israeli government is trying to force “a new reality” in the occupied West Bank that contradicts the Oslo Accords.
- Qatar welcomes actions by the European Union and other countries against illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.
Moscow does not want Tehran to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and expects it to remain a signatory, the Kremlin says.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was responding to comments by Iranian officials about a possible pullout of the global nuclear agreement. Under the treaty, Iran is committed to neither developing nor acquiring nuclear weapons.
Russia and Iran have close ties under a strategic cooperation treaty.
Qatar rejects Iranian threats to Middle East infrastructure if US strikes
Qatar has condemned any targeting of infrastructure “by any party” after being asked about Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s threat to hit Gulf neighbours if attacked again by the US.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said such strikes work against the interests of regional stability. “With respect to infrastructure and institutions, any threat is a violation of international law and good neighbourliness,” he said.
Al-Ansari said Qatar continues to work with other mediators to pass messages between Iran and the United States and to build common ground. “Every mediation is a herculean effort,” he said.
Gulf states did not choose to be part of the war, and Iran needs to stop aggression against regional countries. Qatar, he said, is “not giving up on peace” despite having been targeted.
Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s chief negotiator, said earlier if Iran’s security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure in the region is safe from attack. He added if Iran cannot freely sell its oil, no nation in the Gulf will be able to sell theirs.
US and Iran holding ‘really serious talks’ despite Trump ‘bluster’
Paul Musgrave of Georgetown University in Qatar says there were “really serious talks” during the UN General Assembly on ending the war on Iran despite public rhetoric from the US president.
“I think people need to discount bluster and Trumpian statements. Continually, through mediators in Pakistan and Qatar, we have seen a lot of engagement,” he told Al Jazeera.
Musgrave said discussions appeared to focus on “sanctions, lifting the freeze on Iran’s assets”, and “continuing to talk on the nuclear issue while reopening the Strait of Hormuz”.
Negotiations are taking place “in the shadow of the memorandum of understanding which collapsed”, however, there appears to be “some belief on both sides that a deal could be made”, he added.
The question really comes down to whether it will be before or after the midterms, said Musgrave.
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