Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi held separate meetings with counterparts from Germany, Iraq, South Korea and the Netherlands on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s speech at the United Nations projected “power, pride, national dignity and hope.” “Today, at the heart of the system of arrogance, the president reaffirmed the message of strength, pride, dignity and hope of a nation that for seven months has stood like a mountain, displaying its power to the world even in the face of oppression,” he said, according to state media.

The chances of reaching an agreement between Iran and the US remain limited, with major differences and obstacles persisting, Al Arabiya reported Tuesday, citing a US source who attended a meeting with the Iranian delegation. The source also said Washington rejected Tehran’s request to lift the blockade.

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Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao said Iranian forces caused extensive damage to Naval Support Activity Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, in what the Epoch Times described as a high-level acknowledgment of damage sustained during the Iran conflict. “They blew the hell out of Bahrain,” Cao said in an interview with the Epoch Times. Discussing the recent deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln and the logistical demands of sustained operations, Cao said the damage at the Bahrain base left the carrier’s crew with “no place for them to pull in.” Asked whether US forces would need to return to and repair the Bahrain base after the conflict, Cao said, “I have a task force that’s looking at that.” President Donald Trump has nominated Cao to serve as secretary of the Navy on a permanent basis, and his nomination awaits Senate consideration.

Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to seven transits on Wednesday from 12 a day earlier, Reuters reported, citing preliminary ship-tracking data. The figure was also below the 10-day average of 14 vessels, according to the report. Reuters reported that some vessels may be sailing through the waterway with their transponders switched off and would therefore not be included in the figures

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Washington had received a “clear warning” from Iran’s new missiles in recent days and warned that economic warfare would be met with a maritime exclusion zone in the Persian Gulf. “The operational posture toward US warships and bases has been fundamentally recalibrated,” Rezaei wrote on X.

US Central Command said Thursday that internationally recognized shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz had been cleared of Iranian sea mines and that Iran had exported no oil since Washington resumed its naval blockade in mid-July. “Today international shipping lanes are open and momentum is building,” he said. “While American forces have supported 750 million barrels of crude oil leaving the Gulf, Iran has exported zero oil from its shores since we resumed the naval blockade in mid-July.” Cooper said the blockade had prevented ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports without US permission, with exceptions only on humanitarian grounds. Since the blockade resumed, US forces have turned back 75 vessels attempting to breach it and disabled three others that failed to comply with US directions, Cooper said.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow this week to warn Russia against attacking a NATO member, following new US intelligence assessments that Russian President Vladimir Putin could seek to test the alliance’s resolve with a limited assault, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The assessments indicated that Putin could consider a limited attack on a NATO ally in the coming years, potentially ranging from a cyberattack to a small-scale land incursion, likely involving a Baltic country, according to the Journal. US officials also believe shortages of critical Western munitions, partly driven by spending on the Iran war, could factor into Putin’s calculations, the report added.

Iran’s currency crisis and triple-digit inflation were caused by flawed exchange-rate policies and a lack of fiscal discipline rather than the war, the hardline Kayhan newspaper argued on Tuesday. “The claim that the war caused triple-digit inflation is a big lie and an attempt to evade responsibility,” wrote Kayhan, which is published under the supervision of Iran’s supreme leader’s representative. The newspaper said the currency market was driven more by government policy than by fears of war. It accused what it called the “pro-surrender faction” of trying to link the dollar’s rise beyond 2 million rials to the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It also accused the government of using the war and the strait to conceal serious policy failures. Kayhan defended closing Hormuz as the best strategy for squeezing a key global energy chokepoint and imposing costs on the United States and its regional allies.

Telecommunications retirees rallied in Tehran on Monday, chanting that no nation had ever seen such injustice and demanding the implementation of pension regulations they say are their legitimate right, videos sent to Iran International showed. Protesters warned they would return the following Monday if their demands went unanswered.

A 46-year-old Baha’í who devoted more than a decade to helping some of Iran’s most vulnerable children has been handed prison sentences totaling 31 years after a trial in which his family says he was denied a lawyer.