live Trump Says US 'Open' To Deal With Iran

US President Donald Trump has said Washington is open to making a deal with Iran to end the six-month-long war.

In a Truth Social post on September 14, Trump said Tehran “wants to make ‌a deal, quickly and badly.”

“I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to ‌engage -- The concept of which ‌we are open to,” Trump added.

In June, Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending hostilities, but the agreement unraveled within weeks.

Since then, the sides have sporadically traded strikes.

There have been no official negotiations between US and Iranian officials since a meeting in Switzerland in late June.

Iran has rejected suggestions that Tehran had prior knowledge of or played any role in the attack on Saudi Arabia's strategic East-West oil pipeline, calling the accusation a "lie."

Addressing his weekly press briefing on September 14, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei responded to comments from US officials about the attack on the pipeline, saying, "the Americans are producing fake news at no cost whatsoever."

Baqei added that, in Tehran’s view, actors from outside the Middle East are "seeking to increase tensions" among regional states by spreading this kind of news, and said Tehran "categorically" denies the allegations.

The pipeline was struck by drones on September 10, forcing Saudi Arabia to announced the next day that it had temporarily shut down the route.

US President Donald Trump named Iran on September 12 as the likely party responsible for the attack.

Speaking to reporters in Dublin when asked whether Iran was responsible, Trump said, "I think they are, probably they are."

Saudi Arabia has said the attack was carried out by a drone launched from Iraqi territory. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

The East-West pipeline is one of Saudi Arabia's most important routes for transporting oil to the Red Sea without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's nuclear chief was barred from attending the UN atomic watchdog's annual conference in Vienna, Iranian state television said on September 14, prompting Tehran to protest to Austria.

Mohammad Eslami and his delegation flew to Vienna on September 12 but were prevented from attending the International Atomic Energy Agency gathering and returned to Tehran, state TV reported.

A diplomatic source in Vienna, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AFP news agency that Eslami had been refused entry to Austria due to US pressure.

Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Austria's charge d'affaires over the decision. Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei accused Washington of pressuring Vienna, an allegation the United States has not publicly addressed.

Senior Iranian atomic official Behruz Kamalvandi told AFP that denying the delegation access set a precedent that could affect other countries, accusing Washington of "bullying political pressure."

Western powers have long suspected Iran of seeking a nuclear weapons capability, which Tehran denies.

With reporting by AFP and RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Commodity vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil trade usually passes, fell to single-digit levels per day over the weekend, according to preliminary ship-tracking data as of September 14.

The figures were well below the 10-day average of 14 vessels per day. The data showed that four vessels exited the Gulf through the strait over the weekend, while 10 entered.

The figures may understate actual traffic, as they exclude vessels that may have transited the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders switched off to avoid detection.

Before the Iran war began on February 28, the strait typically handled about 125 large commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulk carriers, and container vessels.

Shortly after the outbreak of the war, Iran largely blocked traffic through the strait by threatening and attacking ships.

The US Navy, for its part, has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa

US President Donald Trump brushed aside a report ⁠that Tehran ⁠acquired satellite ‌images of a base in Jordan from Chinese entities before an attack that killed three US ⁠troops in July.

The report came from The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed US officials regarding the attack.

The WSJ report, which has not been confirmed by other news outlets, said the ‌US officials declined to identify the Chinese entities that supplied the imagery to Tehran and did not allege direct involvement by the Chinese government.

When asked on September 13 if he would bring up the matter at an upcoming meeting with ⁠Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump ‌did not directly answer.

However, he suggested the United States conducted the same type of surveillance activities that China does.

"They basically do what we do. When they say China spies on us, I say you're right and we spy on them too," he told reporters on Air Force One.

Trump and Xi are expected to meet in the United States on September 24, although Beijing has yet to confirm the date and place.

With reporting by the WSJ and Reuters

Oil prices surged early on September 14 amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and renewed fears of disruptions to global energy supplies.

Brent crude for November delivery rose 2.8 percent to $107.54 a barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October gained 2.3 percent to $102.34.

Both contracts extended gains from last week after rising above the $100 level.

Saudi Arabia temporarily shut its East-West pipeline following drone attacks, most likely from Houthi rebels in Yemen, while a merchant ship was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on September 13, killing one person and injuring three others, Iranian authorities said.

Talks that were scheduled in Oman for September 14 between Iran and the Gulf Arab states were postponed pending more conducive conditions for dialogue, officials said.

With reporting by AFP

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian has again said Tehran is not seeking nuclear weapons, even as a lawmaker said parliamentarians were preparing a bill for Iran to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and called for the country to conduct the tests needed to develop a nuclear weapon.

Speaking to India Today during a visit to India in comments published on September 14, Pezeshkian said Iran would not have joined the NPT if it had intended to develop nuclear weapons.

“If we were seeking nuclear weapons, we would not have joined the NPT,” Pezeshkian said, according to the report.

Pezeshkian also dismissed allegations that Iran was seeking to build nuclear weapons as a “pretext” for attacks on Iranian territory.

His comments came as hard-line MP Hossein-Ali Haji-Deligani said on September 12 that a group of lawmakers had prepared an emergency bill calling for Iran to withdraw from the NPT.

“It is better to conduct the necessary tests for a nuclear weapon as soon as possible, because today the country needs nuclear deterrence,” he said, charging that possession of nuclear weapons is an “unavoidable necessity” for Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors voted on September 9 to refer Iran’s nuclear issue to the UN Security Council, escalating international pressure on Tehran over its nuclear activities and its cooperation with inspectors.

The following day, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said that the IAEA’s “political” actions could push countries toward withdrawing from the NPT.

A planned meeting in Oman between Iran and Gulf Arab states regarding the Strait of Hormuz has been postponed until conditions are more “conducive” to dialogue, Omani and Iranian state media reported.

"It has been decided to postpone to a later date the regional meeting that was to be held on [September 14] in Salalah, in order to create conditions conducive to a constructive dialogue [and] sustainable understandings," the Oman News Agency said.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said the meeting had been postponed "in the interest of consensus." "We remain committed to fostering dialogue that supports stability and lasting cooperation in our region," he wrote on X.

Iran’s Fars news agency, citing the Foreign Ministry in Tehran, said the ⁠meeting was postponed at the ‌request of some regional countries and that the decision was made jointly by Tehran and Muscat.

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Details about the proposed gathering remained murky. No country in the region had confirmed that it was planning to participate. No new date was announced.

US President Donald Trump said he did not mind if Iran and the US-allied Gulf states met.

"I don't care. That's up to them," Trump said during his trip to Ireland.

The discussion over talks in the Omani port city come as the Washington and Tehran continue to clash over the crucial waterway and a US blockade of Iranian ports.

The mostly Sunni Muslim Arab states have often been the target of retaliatory Iranian missiles and drones since the start of the US-Israeli war with Shi'ite-led Iran.

Iran has attempted to formalize its control of the strait and has suggested it has the right to charge fees for passage -- an idea vehemently opposed by the US and most other nations, who say Hormuz is an international waterway and not under the control of any particular country.

Iran and Oman border the strait and have been in negotiations over policies regarding the waterway.

Iranian reports said Tehran and Muscat finalized an understanding this month and that Persian Gulf states would be briefed on its details at the proposed meeting rather than participate in actual negotiations.

The arrangement has already drawn opposition from Bahrain, which said it would boycott the meeting until diplomatic ties with Iran were restored. Manama said any deal on Hormuz must guarantee free passage for all ships without discrimination, fees, or requirements for permits.

Before the war, the strait -- through which some 20 percent of the global crude oil and natural gas supplies flowed -- was free to transit for all vessels.

(This item as been updated)

An Iranian commercial vessel was hit in waters near the southern island of Qeshm early on September 13, killing one person and injuring three others, according to a senior local official.

Qeshm Governor Amir Teymouri told state broadcaster IRIB that the vessel was struck at around 5 a.m. local time in waters between Hengam Island and the village of Shib Deraz, south of Qeshm.

Teymouri did not identify the vessel or say what type of projectile struck it. He also gave no details about the condition of those injured.

IRIB described the incident as an "attack by the terrorist enemy" but did not identify the alleged attacker. No Iranian official has publicly assigned responsibility for the strike.

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on September 13 that an “unknown projectile” had struck a vessel while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz. In a later update, it said a fire had broken out onboard.

No country or group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and US officials have not publicly commented on the incident.

The reported strike comes amid escalating attacks on commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Over the past couple of weeks, the US military has targeted several Iranian oil tankers in the strait in response to missile attacks by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) against US warships.

Iran, in turn, has attacked several oil tankers and commercial vessels in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have reached the strategic island of Perim, also known as Mayyun, in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, potentially strengthening their grip on one of the world's most important shipping routes, according to Yemeni government sources.

Four government sources told Reuters on September 11 that Houthi forces had reached the island, while the German dpa news agency cited a Yemeni government source as saying the group had taken control of it.

Reuters reported that forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized government had withdrawn from Perim. AFP cited an unnamed Yemeni military official as saying the Houthis now control the country's entire Red Sea coast.

All territory that had been under government control "on the western coast has fallen" following the Houthis' seizure of Perim and the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands, AFP quoted the military official as saying.

Perim, or Mayyun, sits at the southern entrance to the Bab al-Mandab, the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a crucial route for trade and energy shipments between Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal.

The waterway's strategic importance has grown sharply since the Iran war disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, another of the world's key energy chokepoints.

The Houthi advance follows the group's reported capture of the Red Sea port of Mocha on September 10. Government sources also reported Houthi advances on the mainland and other islands in the strait.

The developments raise the prospect of disruptions to shipping through the Red Sea at a time when Saudi Arabia has become increasingly reliant on the route for oil exports because of conflict-related restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz.