live Iran Hangs Another January Protester As Surge In Executions Continue

A tanker traveling through the Gulf of Aden was seized by six armed people and diverted toward Somalia, according to the shipping security monitor United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

The vessel had been heading west when it reported being approached by an unauthorized craft about 136 nautical miles east of Mukalla, Yemen, UKMTO said on August 20.

The armed group subsequently boarded the tanker and took control of it.

UKMTO gave no further details and the safety of the crew remains unclear.

Iranian authorities have executed another defendant in connection with the deadly unrest in Isfahan in January, marking the fifth execution linked to a single high-profile case arising from widespread protests against the Islamic republic's leadership.

The Iranian judiciary announced on August 20 that Qaem Hosseini, who went by the alias "Arian," was executed in the early hours of the morning.

Authorities identified Hosseini as a foreign national. Earlier reports noted that his cousin and co-defendant, Gol-Mohammad Mohammadi, was an Afghan citizen.

Hosseini was convicted of “corruption on earth,” the most serious offense under Iran’s Islamic jurisprudence; moharebeh (waging war against God); acting against national security; and destruction of public property.

State prosecutors alleged that Hosseini played an active role during the January 8 unrest at Isfahan's Alikhani Square, where four special forces officers were killed.

Hosseini's execution brings the total number of people put to death in the Alikhani Square case to five. At least eight other defendants in the same case currently face potential execution.

Since the start of the war with the United States and Israel on February 28, Iran has witnessed a surge in executions of people human rights groups consider political prisoners -- from demonstrators to alleged members of banned groups and those convicted of spying.

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Iranian authorities executed at least 56 people on security-related and political charges between March 19 and August 5. This total includes at least 27 protesters convicted over their involvement in antiestablishment unrest.

According to Amnesty International, Iran conducts the second most executions of any country in the world behind China.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States will impose "the toughest sanctions in history" on Tehran and suggested plans to turn up the economic pressure mean major US military attacks on Iran are unlikely to resume soon.

"It is a one-two punch. ⁠We have the blockade [on Iranian ports], and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history," Bessent told US network CNBC on August 20. "It is going to work in Iran and we are going to collapse this regime."

Bessent's comments came a day after President Donald Trump threatened Iran with “Economic Warfare and Isolation on a tremendous scale” and warned that any country providing support to Iran will face severe economic fallout.

In addition to pressure on Tehran, "ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on August 19.

"This is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world," Bessent said. "And we are going to [allies] and saying you are either with us or against us."

Neither Trump nor Bessent offered much detail.

Bessent told CNBC he would hold a press conference on August 20 "to talk about exactly what we're going to do."

As oil prices rose on August 20, Bessent said he believed oil markets were "misinterpreting what this economic pressure means. If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart."

"Kinetic" in this context refers to military action.

Trump's warnings came in a social media post in which he said Tehran had failed to agree to a deal with United States.

That post came hours after Trump said that negotiations with Iran could possibly resume "at some point" but expressed satisfaction with the current state of affairs, saying, “Right now, I think the situation is so good."

A 60-day negotiating period established under a US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in June expired earlier this week. The MOU was intended to establish a framework for ending the conflict, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States says Iran violated the June understanding by attacking neutral commercial vessels in the strait in July, prompting renewed US military action. The US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28.

This blog entry has been updated to include Scott Bessent's comments. With reporting by AFP and Reuters.

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaidi on August 19, the first day of his visit to Iraq.

Qalibaf described the purpose of his visit as "to strengthen the new order in the region and accelerate the strengthening of cooperation between all countries in the region without foreign interference."

However, efforts to disarm Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups have become a prominent issue in relations between Baghdad and Washington in recent months.

The Iraqi government, under pressure from the United States, has given these groups until September 30 to hand over their weapons. This date coincides with the end of the US-led international coalition mission against Islamic State.

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.

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 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

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 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.