Iran Estimates War Damages To Property, Excluding Tehran, At $196 Billion
Iran's Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation says that the damage caused during the 40-day war with the United States and Israel to "residential units, commercial premises, and people's belongings throughout Iran except for the capital" is estimated at more than 37 trillion tomans (approximately $196 billion).
An official of the foundation, Majid Jodi, told the state-run IRNA news agency on August 19 that more than 140,000 damage assessment files had been filed so far, of which about 110,000 are related to homes and commercial units, and about 35,000 are related to damage to people's livelihoods and belongings.
Jodi said that 25 Iranian provinces suffered damage during the war, with provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah, and Kurdistan hit the hardest.
The foundation's statistics do not include damage to infrastructure, industrial and military facilities, or the complete statistics of damage in Tehran.
Global Oil Prices Hit Highest Level In 2 Weeks
The upward trend in global oil prices continued as the fate of negotiations regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz became more uncertain, and the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil increased by 1 percent to $92 on August 19 compared to the previous day.
US oil prices also reached $85 per barrel. These figures are the highest oil prices in the past two weeks.
On August 17, US President Donald Trump said, "There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran."
At the same time, tensions have increased in recent days in the Strait of Hormuz with the continued attacks on several ships and the UAE's announcement that it will counter new missile attacks from Iran.
NATO Responds To Reports Of Possible Iran Threats Against Bulgaria, Cyprus
NATO said it was prepared to respond to any threat and take the necessary action to defend its members after a report said Iran had considered targeting US military assets in Bulgaria and Cyprus if its conflict with the United States escalated further.
An unnamed NATO official, speaking to Reuters, also said that NATO's deterrence and defense posture was "strong and effective."
The comments came in response to a report published by the Financial Times, which cited sources inside the Iranian government as saying Tehran had considered possible strikes against targets in Europe, including Bulgaria and Cyprus, if Washington escalated the conflict. The report did not say that an Iranian attack was imminent.
Bulgaria last month allowed US military refueling aircraft to use Bezmer Air Base. Cyprus is also home to British military bases and has played a strategic role during regional tensions and military operations.
The Financial Times further reported, citing Iranian sources, that Tehran had separately considered the possibility of attacking undersea fiber-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz in the event of further escalation.
Responding to the report, the NATO official told Reuters that the alliance was "prepared to address any threat" and would "take necessary action to defend all its members," adding: "Our deterrence and defense posture is strong and effective."
The remarks underscore NATO's concern about the possibility that an escalation between Iran and the United States could expand beyond the Middle East and potentially affect NATO member states or military facilities used by Western forces.
With reporting by Reuters
Iran Cracks Down On Azad Platform
Iranian authorities have moved against the popular online platform Azad, accusing it of publishing “falsehoods” and signaling what an Iranian political activist and commentator says could be a broader crackdown on independent Persian-language YouTube channels.
Read more from Kian Sharifi
Iran Again Warns Gulf States Against Assisting US Military
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
UAE Halts All Commercial Transactions With Iran
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.
US Charges 17 Iranians With Conducting Massive Cyber Theft Campaign
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 To Expel 2 Iranian Diplomats After Tehran Bars French Officials
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."
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
UAE Says Iran Fired Two Ballistic Missiles Toward Its Territory
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
Trump Says No Iran Talks Under Way, Claims Strait Of Hormuz Is Open
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.