Al Jazeera

By Mohammed R Mhawish and Noor Kareem

    In a defiant UN address, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rebuked a US threat of annihilation, stating that anyone attempting to bully the nation must understand that it is “ready for dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiations without accepting the language of force.”

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that an Iran deal requires prolonged effort, noting that military options remain available.

    Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei threatens countries enforcing US airline sanctions, warning that their airports could face disruption.

    Jorge Moreira Da Silva is the Executive Director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), that’s a UN body that focuses on implementing humanitarian aid through infrastructure and project management.

    He’s also been recently appointed as the head of a UN task force to mitigate the impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on humanitarian needs.

    He explains why political will is crucial to ease the Strait of Hormuz crisis.

Share WATCH: ‘Political will’ can prevent Strait of Hormuz crisis, UNOPS chief says on social media

Iran sharply criticises Canadian PM for calling ‘annihilation’ threat ‘language of war’

    Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has criticised Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for “reframing a threat to annihilate Iran as merely speaking the language of war.”

    In a post on X, Baghaei said that “Mark Carney must understand that time is too ruthless to let the shelter of illusion and hypocrisy endure forever.” He added that “those who sought refuge in the long shadow of American bullying” would eventually learn that “averting their eyes from reality and bartering away their dignity and self-respect buys no salvation.”

    The spokesperson also stated that “they will see that the nation they once conspired with empires to crush was the solitary guardian of a sacred flame” which kept a torch burning against coercion.

Israeli filmmakers face citizenship threats over Venice Film Festival documentary NAZA

Why does this documentary scare Israel so much

    Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor took the Venice Film Festival by storm with their new film NAZA. Now leaders in their own government want to strip them of citizenship.

US aviation sanctions disrupt Iran flights, push travellers overland

    Travel for Iranians is growing harder as new US sanctions push airlines and neighbouring countries to cut off Iranian carriers entirely. Wednesday marked the end of a brief wind-down period allowing countries to keep servicing Iranian airlines, leading to the cancellation of nearly all Iranian flights to Turkiye, the UAE and China.

    Oman, Azerbaijan and Georgia have also stopped providing airspace and airport services to Iranian carriers, while Baghdad’s airport is now off-limits to them, though flights to Najaf continue.

    The disruption has pushed thousands of travellers towards land crossings, with heavy congestion reported at Iran’s borders with Turkiye and along routes to Armenia. Bus tickets to Turkiye have reportedly sold for four times their normal price.

    Aviation expert Mohammadreza Ebrahimpour called the coordinated refusal by neighbouring countries “a new level of sanctions in action”, warning it could have longer-lasting consequences than previous measures, which had already cost Iran more than $300m a year in lost overflight payments.

‘Annihilate’ vs ‘crushing’ attacks: Why Iran, US up rhetoric amid talks

By Usaid Siddiqui and AFP, AP

    Speaking on the first day of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran. Hours later, he told reporters that US officials held a “very good” meeting with Iranian leaders.

    Iran’s military did not hold back. Dismissing Trump’s remarks, the Armed Forces General Staff – Iran’s highest military body – warned that it is ready to respond with “crushing”, severer attacks than earlier in the war.

    Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, though not in direct response to Trump, used similarly combative imagery in a message marking the start of Iran’s academic year, describing knowledge combined with faith and morality as a “sharp sword” capable of cutting off the hands of aggressors.

    Amid the rhetoric, the two sides held their first in-person meeting in months on the sidelines of the UNGA, reviving a diplomatic channel that had almost collapsed in the wake of repeated violations of the June memorandum of understanding.

So, why are Washington and Tehran engaging in diplomacy aimed at finding a way out of the war while also issuing fiery and violent threats

US senator co-leads bill to sanction firms backing Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank

    US Senator Ruben Gallego says that he is co-leading a bill to impose sanctions on companies that help build Israeli settlements in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.

    Gallego said in a post on X that the legislation “sends a clear message to Netanyahu: the United States stands firmly behind a two-state solution as the only path to real peace and security for all”.

    Gallego, who on August 28 led 29 senators in opposing Israel’s E1 plan for 1,234 new settlement homes, warned the construction of the Israeli settlements “would cut off East Jerusalem from the West Bank and threaten a viable Palestinian state”.

Yemeni government forces thwart Houthi attack near key southern provinces

    The Yemeni government’s armed forces have thwarted an attack and several infiltration attempts by the Houthis aiming to reach positions near the vital road linking the southern and southwestern provinces of Aden, Taiz and Lahj, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

    According to the official spokesperson of the Yemeni armed forces, “clashes ensued”, which forced “the attackers to retreat” and inflicted heavy losses in lives and equipment.

    “We affirm that our armed forces stationed on those fronts have regained the initiative, are highly prepared, and continue to repel attacks and infiltration attempts,” the spokesperson said.

Oil prices edge lower as Iran signals openness to diplomacy

    Oil prices edged lower on Thursday, with Brent crude futures falling 94 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $102.13 a barrel.

    US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went down 59 cents, or 0.7 percent, to trade at $91.56 per barrel.

    The losses came after oil climbed 4 percent in the previous session, as Iran said it remained open to diplomacy to end the US-Iran conflict, though the two countries remain far apart on how to do so.

Share Oil prices edge lower as Iran signals openness to diplomacy on social media

    But after nearly a year of Israeli “ceasefire” violations, critics say there’s no sign it can be implemented successfully.

    Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey has more from outside the hotel in New York, where the announcement took place.

    Omar Shaban, director of the Gaza-based think tank PalThink for Strategic Studies and founder of Palestinian branches for Amnesty International, tells Al Jazeera reconstruction cannot begin without funding, stability and clear governance.

US Treasury secretary outlines three goals of US pressure on Iran

    US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has outlined to US media the Trump administration’s strategy towards Iran.

    In an interview with Fox News, Bessent said: “External flights from Iran, probably more than 80 or 90 percent of them, got shut down. I’m not sure how the Iranian representatives at the UN are going to get home.”

    On reports of tankers being targeted, Bessent said “most of them just sail along”.

    He also issued a warning to financiers of Iran, saying “we are going to prosecute and execute your companies and your bank accounts every day and every week”.

    Turning to broader objectives, Bessent said that “the goal here can be one of three states of the world”.

    The first, he said, is that “the regime turns on each other”.

    The second, according to Bessent, is that “we get some kind of uprising from the Iranian people”.