live US Vows 'Toughest Sanctions In History' Against Iran

Iran has issued a fresh warning to Persian Gulf states against providing assistance to the US military.

Iranian armed forces chief of staff Ali Abdollahi said in a message published by Iranian media on August 19 that “any assistance or facilitation" provided to the US military "amounts to participation in the US military operation.”

Abdollahi also questioned Gulf states’ assertions that they have not assisted US attacks on Iran.

“It seems unlikely that such a large number of military aircraft, particularly refueling aircraft, could be present at regional bases without knowledge of host countries,” he said, adding that “nothing escapes our notice.”

He provided no evidence that these states had assisted US attacks.

Several Gulf countries host US military installations, but Arab states in the region have denied allowing their territory to be used to launch attacks on Iran.

The latest warning comes a day after the United Arab Emirates announced it was suspending all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran until further notice.

Abu Dhabi said Iran had fired two ballistic missiles at maritime traffic off the UAE coast. Both fell into the sea, according to Emirati authorities, one within UAE territorial waters.

Iran has rejected the accusation.

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

The Foreign Ministry of the United Arab Emirates announced on August 18 that it was suspending all trade and financial ties with Iran.

“In light of regional escalations that undermine regional and international peace and security, all trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran have been halted until further notice,” said in a statement published on the ministry’s X account.

The statement came out after the UAE said two Iranian missiles had targeted maritime navigation, although they apparently had failed to breach the territorial waters of the Emirates.

Iran rejected the UAE claim. The statement by Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry said UAE's behavior went contrary to "the principle of good neighborliness" and disrupted efforts to prevent escalation in the region.

The US Justice Department unsealed an indictment on August 18 that charges a group of individuals it claims are part of the Mabna Institute, a Tehran-based private technology company and government contractor that operates as a “state-sponsored cyber espionage and hacking group on behalf of the Iranian government.

The department said in a statement that 17 people associated with the institute were charged with 14 counts for conducting a "coordinated campaign of cyber intrusions."

The intrusions affected computer systems at 144 U.S.-based universities, 178 foreign universities, at least 42 U.S.-based private sector companies, at least 11 foreign private sector companies, at least five U.S. federal and state government agencies, and at least two non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the statement said.

"The defendants conducted many of these intrusions on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), one of several entities within the government of Iran responsible for gathering intelligence, as well as other Iranian government and university clients," it said.

“At the behest of entities, including the IRGC, these defendants hacked into universities and other research institutions worldwide, including the United States, stealing at least 31 terabytes of information and intellectual property of untold value,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg.

Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Division noted that the defendants allegedly “built and profited from a sprawling hacking-for-hire operation that targeted the intellectual property of American and allied universities, companies, and government agencies for the benefit of the Iranian government.”

According to the US Justice Department, the Mabna Institute was founded in 2013.

It is said to have compromised approximately 8,000 professor email accounts at universities located in countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

The campaign continued through at least December 2017.

Among those charged is Amir Barati, who was arrested in June by police in Montenegro after a joint operation with the FBI.

Barati, who also holds Turkish citizenship, now faces extradition to the United States.

France will expel two Iranian diplomats in retaliation for Tehran's decision to bar two French diplomats from returning to Iran, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on August 18.

"Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the coming days," Barrot said in an X post, describing the move as a response to Iran's "intolerable" treatment of the French diplomats.

Iran said on August 17 that the two French officials would not be allowed to return after accusing them of interfering in the country's internal affairs.

Barrot said the diplomats, one of them France's cultural attache, were detained and questioned for several hours by Iranian officials on July 19 in "flagrant violation of diplomatic immunity." He said one was physically abused and described the incident as "an extremely serious act of intimidation."

Iran has denied mistreating the diplomats, saying they were briefly questioned because they had "interfered in Iran's internal affairs under the pretext of engaging with civil society."

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Two prominent Iranian graphic designers, Aria Kasaei and Elaheh Naghilou, were also detained on July 19 after a meeting with the two French Embassy officials. The Hambood Collective, an independent group of artists and activists, said the pair were arrested at the same time as the diplomats.

With reporting by AFP

The United Arab Emirates accused Iran on August 18 of firing two ballistic missiles toward the country, the first such barrage detected by its Defense Ministry in months.

UAE air defenses "detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran," with one falling outside the country's territorial waters and the other landing within them, the ministry said on X.

The statement came nearly two hours after authorities issued a phone alert warning residents of a "potential missile threat" and urging them to seek shelter. The alert was lifted shortly afterward.

It was the first such warning since July, when an attack did not ultimately enter UAE territory. A warning issued in June was later determined to be a false alarm.

Tankers belonging to state-owned oil company ADNOC have also been repeatedly targeted in recent weeks.

The UAE was heavily targeted after the war began in the Middle East in late February, with nearly 3,000 Iranian missiles and drones directed at the country.

The UAE reported no attacks after the United States and Iran reached an interim agreement in June aimed at ending the war, though that subsequently unraveled.

With reporting by AFP

US President Donald Trump has said there are no negotiations under way or scheduled with Iran, a day after his son-in-law Jared Kushner said contacts between Washington and Tehran remained robust.

"There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Trump wrote on Truth Social on August 18, after a 60-day deadline for the two sides to reach a final peace agreement expired the previous day.

Trump also said the Strait of Hormuz was "open and operating" and that mines had been cleared, while Tehran said the strategic waterway would remain closed until Washington met conditions set out in an interim June agreement.

Iran said its conditions include lifting a US naval blockade and oil sanctions, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and ending military operations.

Trump separately posted a map on Truth Social showing the Strait of Hormuz labelled "NEW U.S. Territory," further pushing an idea he first floated on August 14, when he said he would soon declare the waterway US territory. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded the following day, saying that the strait "will remain Iranian."

Trump returned to the idea on August 17, telling reporters at the Oval Office that it would be a good idea, before posting the map the following day. Gharibabadi reposted the map on X, dismissing Trump's claim as a "delusion" that would be corrected.

The strait, through which about a fifth of global oil supplies passed before the war, has been disrupted since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.

With reporting by Reuters

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has reiterated Tehran's position that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States "fulfills its commitments" under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran.

In remarks that came a day after the pact's 60-day deadline expired without a breakthrough, Qalibaf, who serves as Iran's chief negotiator, said Iran would deliver a clear message to what he called "the deluded America."

He listed conditions he said Washington had committed to under the MOU, including lifting the blockade of Iranian ports, releasing Iran's frozen assets, ending oil sanctions, and halting military threats and operations "on all fronts."

Until those obligations are implemented, Qalibaf said, "the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened."

Iran has denied involvement in a drone attack targeting the office of Iraqi Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the home of the region's intelligence chief, as Iraqi and US officials condemned the incident and called for an investigation.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei rejected allegations that Tehran was responsible for the attacks, describing the incident as suspicious and urging all parties to exercise greater vigilance.

Iranian media also reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, that there was no information indicating the drones had been launched from Iranian territory.

The Kurdistan Region's Counterterrorism Department said two drones launched from Iranian territory struck targets in Erbil on the evening of August 16. One reportedly targeted Barzani's office, while another struck the residence of the head of the autonomous region's intelligence service.

Officials said no casualties were reported.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into the attack.

The US special envoy for Iraq and Syria, Tom Barrack, strongly condemned the incident, calling it an aggression against a Kurdish partner and a direct threat to regional stability.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced that a ship was targeted by an "unidentified projectile" while leaving the Strait of Hormuz, damaging the ship's engine room and injuring one of the crew members.

The UKMTO also announced on August 18 that the rest of the ship's crew are receiving assistance with the help of the Omani Coast Guard, adding that authorities are investigating its details.

The incident comes as shipping traffic through the vital waterway remains severely disrupted. According to shipping data, the number of cargo ships that passed through the waterway on August 17 rose to six, up from just two the day before.

However, the volume of ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains far below the war began in late February. Before that point, more than 130 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz daily.

We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.