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US State Department Approves $5B Sale Of Bombs, Equipment To Saudis
The US State Department announced the approval of a $5 billion sale of bombs, guidance kits, and other hardware to Persian Gulf ally Saudi Arabia, which has often been the target of attacks by Iran and Tehran-allied Houthi rebels during the US-Israeli war with Iran.
"The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia's airborne defense capability to counter current and future regional threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and improve interoperability with systems operated by US forces and other Gulf region partners," the State Department said in a statement.
It will also "support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a Major non-NATO Ally," the department said.
The State Department said it has notified the Congress of the proposed sale, which still must be approved by US lawmakers. Some supporters of Israel could oppose the deal, seeing it as strengthening a potential Arab enemy of Tel Aviv.
With reporting by AFP
Trump Calls Iran War 'Small Potatoes' And 'Not A Big Thing'
US President Donald Trump on September 4 said the war with Iran was "small potatoes" for the United States, in the second remark in two days by his administration appearing to play down the conflict.
A day earlier, Vice President JD Vance said that "I wouldn't call it a war" despite the recent upsurge in tit-for-tat attacks by Iran and the United States over the Strait of Hormuz.
"A lot of people don't call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, using a phrase generally referring to something that is insignificant or of little significance .
"It's not a big thing. We did Venezuela, and we did this," added Trump.
Asked by reporters how he could label the conflict "small potatoes" when 18 service members had died, Trump compared the Iran fight to the years-long US wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
"I don't think it matters what you call it. What matters is the fact we have had tremendous success. We've stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon," he said.
According to opinion polls, the war has become increasingly unpopular with Americans after six months of conflict and ahead of the November midterm elections.
With reporting by AFP
UN 'Appalled' by Iran's Draft Bill Restricting Contact With Foreigners
A UN fact-finding mission has called on Iran to immediately withdraw a draft bill that could criminalize or restrict interactions between Iranians and foreign individuals and organizations.
Known as the Countering Foreign Influence bill, UN experts say the draft law is meant to regulate interactions between Iranians and foreign actors.
The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran called on Tehran to "immediately withdraw" the draft that could criminalize or restrict contacts with foreign individuals or organizations, warning that its adoption could undermine fundamental freedoms.
The UN mission said it was "appalled" by the proposed legislation, adding that its adoption could represent a "dangerous escalation of the repression of fundamental freedoms and the isolation of Iranians from the international community."
The mission says the bill's provision would cover activities, including academic cooperation, publishing, contact with foreign media, participation in international conferences, and certain commercial and financial transactions.
If adopted into a law, the mission said, journalists, academics, activists, and others could face up to 30 years in prison for communicating with foreign entities. It also criticized the bill as "broad and vaguely worded," saying it would require Iranians to declare and register activities involving foreign agents or foreign nationals.
Sara Hossain, chair of the three-member mission, said: "We are appalled at the steps by the government of Iran to subject everyday Iranians to blanket criminalization for any contact with the outside world."
The UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, endorsed the mission's call to withdraw the bill. She noted that legislation enacted last year already criminalized certain contacts with foreign media, information sharing and use of satellite communications equipment, with penalties reaching the death penalty in some cases.
US Offers $10 Million Reward For Information On IRGC Cyber Operations Chief
The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of Amir Yaryab, a senior official in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Cyber-Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC) who leads its Cyber Operations Command.
According to the agency’s announcement, Yaryab also directs multiple components of the IRGC-CEC, including Shahid Hemmat and Shahid Shushtari. The State Department says these groups have conducted cyber and cyber-enabled information operations targeting critical infrastructure sectors in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, including defense, news, shipping, travel, energy, and financial and telecommunications systems.
The announcement says Yaryab also oversees and controls operations conducted by IRGC-CEC-affiliated groups including CyberAv3ngers, Dadeh Afzar Arman (DAA), and Mehrsam Andisheh Saz Nik (MASN). According to the State Department, these groups have used malware to target civilian infrastructure worldwide.
The Rewards for Justice program said it is offering up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, participates in malicious cyber activities against US critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Netanyahu Says Iran Regime Change Is 'Central Task' And 'Within Reach'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said overthrowing the Iranian leadership was "the central task" still facing his country six months after the start of the war and that the goal is "within reach."
"This regime is currently teetering. It is weaker than ever. It is fighting for its survival," Netanyahu said at an event with Israeli military chiefs on September 3.
"I am convinced that we can remove this threat once and for all -- that is, to overthrow this regime. That is the central task that still lies ahead of us, but it is close. It is not impossible. It is within reach," he said.
"We faced the threat of annihilation by a regime that aspires to eradicate us and wants to arm itself with nuclear bombs to destroy us. We have pushed back this threat and other threats as well," he said.
The prime minister added that the Tehran regime's weakness is the main reason Iran is no longer launching attacks on Israel.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed during the first day of US-Israel air strikes on Iran on February 28. Dozens of other regime and military leaders have been killed in attacks since then.
US President Donald Trump has said preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is the main goal of the war, although he has recently pointed to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as a key objective.
With reporting by AFP and dpa
Vance Says US Probing Iran's Claims Of Wedding Party Attack, But He's 'Skeptical'
US Vice President JD Vance said that the United States is investigating Iranian claims that an air strike hit a wedding party, but that he is "skeptical" of reports coming out of Tehran.
"We're investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know," Vance told reporters at the White House on September 3. "I know that we're investigating, I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what's happened in the conflict thus far. So I'm extremely skeptical of this."
"If we do make mistakes, again, this is a big difference between us and Iran, when our military makes mistakes, they learn from them to try to get better from them," he added.
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US Official Apologizes For Saying No Americans Killed In Iran War
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apologized for incorrectly stating that no Americans had been killed in the Iran war, acknowledging that 18 US service members had been killed.
"I misspoke. Eighteen members of our military have died, and to those families my heart breaks and I am so very sorry for their loss. I was thinking about the Venezuelan military operation where no service members died," Lutnick wrote in a post on X on September 3.
Lutnick made the erroneous comments during an interview with CNBC on September 2, in which Venezuela was not mentioned.
"I think the way the president is playing Iran…there haven't been American deaths. It's really just an economic choke-out, which the administration is now executing more broadly, and I think it'll be very effective," Lutnick told CNBC.
Moments before Lutnick's apology, US President Donald Trump defended the commerce secretary on social media.
"Sec. Lutnick had Venezuela on his mind when he said nobody was killed. 18 people were killed in Iran!" Trump wrote.
The United States has so far reported that 18 military personnel have been killed and more than 750 wounded in the Iran war, which began on February 28.
UN Special Rapporteur: Iranian People Caught Between Foreign Aggression And Internal Repression
Referring to the renewed US attacks on Iran, Mai Sato, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, called an end to "external attacks" and "internal repression" in the country.
In a post on X on September 3, Sato wrote: "The people of Iran are caught between foreign aggression and domestic repression; both foreign aggression and domestic repression must end, but above all, the war must end."
Citing figures from Iran's Health Ministry, which reported that 18 people had been killed and 108 others injured in US attacks on the evening of September 1, Sato said the strikes had targeted Kuhestak, a fishing town on the Strait of Hormuz. She added that "a house where a family was holding a wedding celebration was also targeted."
Sato said the new attacks had compounded the suffering of ordinary Iranians.
"In reflecting on this year, what stands out most is the scale of the violence and the number of lives lost," she wrote.
Sato's comments come amid renewed US-Iran hostilities and her continuing warnings about the human rights situation in Iran. She has also stressed that military action should not be viewed as a solution to Iran's problems.
IRGC Vows to Avenge 'Civilian Deaths'
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has vowed to avenge the killing of "civilians" in an air strike allegedly carried out by the United States earlier this week.
Iranian authorities say at least four people, including a child, were killed and 68 others injured in an strike that hit a wedding party in the country's south in the night of September 1-2.
The US Central Command said that its forces "never target civilians." Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for the US CENTCOM, told RFE/RL that "we are aware of reports, which originated from Iranian state media. The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC."
In a statement carried by Iran's state television, IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi said the "blood of these oppressed martyrs will not go unanswered."
The midnight strike was carried out in Kuhestak, a town along the coast of the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, Iranian officials labeled the attack a "war crime," alleging it was carried out by the Untied States.
Iran and the United States have resumed tit-for-tat attacks following a lull of several weeks since July.
On September 3, Iran launched missile and drone attacks against neighboring Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, calling them retaliation for US strikes on targets inside Iran.
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