Pakistan Army Chief To Visit Tehran
Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir will visit Tehran on August 24, Reuters reported, citing a statement by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei.
Baqaei said the visit was a continuation of Pakistan’s efforts to strengthen peace and security in the region.
The visit follows an August 23 phone call between Munir and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Iranian media said the two discussed regional developments and security but gave no further details.
Pakistan has played a key role in mediating between Washington and Tehran. Islamabad is seeking to revive the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, which was intended to halt the fighting and provide a framework for further talks.
The 60-day deadline for reaching a final agreement expired on August 17 without a deal.
Chile Closes Embassy In Tehran Over 'Security Considerations'
Chile's Foreign Ministry announced that the country's embassy in Tehran will cease its functions and activities as of August 31 and that consular procedures related to Iran will be reassigned to the Chilean Consulate in Ankara, Turkey.
Announcing the decision on August 22, Santiago emphasized that the closure of the embassy does not imply the cessation of diplomatic relations with Iran.
According to its statement, the decision was made on the basis of “operational reorganization” aimed at directing available resources toward achieving the government's foreign-policy objectives, as well as preventive considerations arising from security factors in the Middle East.
The Chilean Foreign Ministry said the measure is intended to optimize resources allocated to Chile's missions abroad and “guarantee the due protection and safeguarding of the personnel of the mission in Tehran.”
Iranian Official Calls Any Country Cooperating With US An 'Enemy'
Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the Iranian government views any country that cooperates with the United States in creating further economic restrictions against Iran is considered an "enemy" and threatened that in such a case, these countries will be targeted for attack.
In a television interview broadcast on August 21, Rezaei also threatened that if the new US plan against Iran to impose further sanctions is implemented, Tehran will not allow "a single drop of oil to leave not only the Strait of Hormuz but the entire Persian Gulf."
These statements are the latest response from Tehran officials to the sanctions, the details of which the US government is set to announce on August 24 and which US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already called "the toughest sanctions in history" against Iran.
"We are telling all surrounding countries not to engage in an economic war against Iran, and whoever does, we consider that country an enemy. First, we will negotiate so that they do not do this, and if they continue, we will target that country," said Rezaei.
US Refueling Planes Leave Bulgaria After Nearly A Month
Two US Air Force refueling planes have left Bulgaria after a temporary deployment to Bezmer Air Base, nearly a month ago.
Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said on August 23 that two KC-135 aircraft left the country on August 21.
A month earlier, on July 22, the Bulgarian parliament approved the temporary deployment of the aircraft under an agreement governing the joint use of military facilities with the United States. The authorization allowed for up to eight KC-135 aircraft and up to 250 US military personnel.
The Iranian government had warned at the time that the US use of Bulgarian territory for military operations against Iran would make the country complicit in what Tehran called "aggression and war crimes." Bulgaria rejected the accusation.
Stoyanov said all flights by the two aircraft during their deployment were purely training missions over allied countries and that Bulgaria had "no information about direct threats to our national security."
He added: "We are working in full coordination with the US government and had prior information, which is why all our decisions were well-founded."
The departure of the aircraft comes amid heightened concern over possible Iranian retaliation against US interests and facilities in the region.
Iranian Olympic Runner Says Authorities Prevented Her From Attending World Championships
Olympic runner Farzaneh Fasihi says the Iranian authorities have prevented her from registering for the world championships and that she is also withdrawing from the Asian Games.
Fasihi posted a message on her Instagram page on August 22 saying she had been warned many times in recent months: "Be careful with your behavior! You know that the world championships and the Asian Games are coming up."
She added: "That's it. The world championship, which is the biggest dream and aspiration of every athlete, was taken from me; I will also present the Asian Games to you."
The Iranian runner says she was prevented from registering despite being the only Iranian athlete to qualify for the world championships and finish the season as the top runner in the Asian rankings.
Fasihi had previously expressed her anger and sadness over the killing of protesters following the government's violent crackdown on protesters in January.
She did not explicitly mention the issue in her new post, but she wrote that she had been pursuing her rights through legal means for months and that she would "never allow" her rights as an Iranian female athlete to be violated.
We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back at 9:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.
Egypt Stresses Need For Diplomacy In Call With Iran Foreign Minister
In a call with his Iranian counterpart, Egypt's foreign minister underlined the importance of diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the US-Iran conflict and the need to ensure freedom of navigation in the Gulf region, the ministry in Cairo said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed in the call with Iran's Abbas Araqchi the importance of de-escalating the current situation as part of efforts to reach "peaceful understandings" that would contribute to "restoring security and stability in the region."
He pointed out the "great importance of ensuring the movement and freedom of international navigation, and respecting the security and stability of the Gulf countries, in order to achieve the interests of all the peoples of the region."
Egypt has so far not played an official mediating role between Washington and Tehran, as Pakistan and Qatar have undertaken those efforts. But the disruptions to shipping and the widening violence have caused concerns among countries in the region.
The leaders of Sunni Muslim nations Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey came together on August 7 to sign a joint defense agreement in order to "strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression," although they stated it was not aimed at Shi'ite majority Iran.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Egypt and other countries could eventually join the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, which stipulates that "any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all."
Talks between the US and Iran have largely collapsed, with US President Donald Trump and other administration leaders threatening major new economic measures against Tehran.
A key issue facing all sides is the effort to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked since the outbreak of war at the end of February. Trump has said US forces now control the waterway, although Tehran disputes the claim.
Tehran Warns Countries Against Participating In US Economic Actions Against Iran
Tehran warned countries against participating in the "economic war" vowed by US leaders against the Islamic republic, saying they would be considered enemies.
"We declare to all countries...do not join the economic war waged by the United States. Any country participating in the imposition of economic restrictions against us is considered an enemy," Mohsen Rezai, head of Iran's supreme national security council, said on state TV late on August 22.
US President Donald Trump this week announced Washington's intentions to levy an "unprecedented" level of economic sanctions against the regime to force it to end its nuclear program and fully re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
With nearly 20 percent of the global oil supply passing through vital waterway, the closure of the strait has adversely affected the world supply and shot up the oil prices in the international market to record high levels.
On August 20, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told US news network CNBC that Washington's plan to intensify economic sanctions on Iran was going to "collapse" the Islamic republic.
"It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade [on Iranian ports], and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history," he said.
Details were not provided, but experts who spoke to RFE/RL said truly unprecedented action could mean moving beyond another round of sanctions against Iranian companies and targeting the international financial and commercial networks that have helped Tehran keep selling oil despite decades of US pressure.
That could include Chinese banks, yuan-denominated payments for Iranian oil, alternative payment systems, and the shipping, insurance, refining, and financial intermediaries behind the trade.
The United Arab Emirates, one of Iran's major trading partners, announced it was suspending all trade and financial transactions with Tehran until further notice.
Iranian Olympic Runner Prevented From Registering For World Championship
Iranian authorities have prevented the country's Olympic runner Farzaneh Fasihi from registering for the world championship, the athlete said on social media.
“That's it. The world championship, which is the biggest dream and aspiration of every athlete, was taken from me," Fasihi wrote in an Instagram post on August 22.
She added that in recent months she had been receiving threatening messages warning her to "be careful with [her] behavior" ahead of the upcoming world championship and the Asian Games.
Fasihi said she was prevented from registering despite being the only Iranian runner to qualify for the world championship and finishing the season at the top of the Asian rankings.
In her post, she did not explicitly say why she had been prevented from competing, but wrote that she had been pursuing her rights through legal means for months and that she would “never allow” her rights as an Iranian female athlete to be violated.
Earlier this year, Fasihi wrote another Instagram post expressing sadness over the deadly government crackdown on Iranian protesters in January.
Iran Seeks Red Cross Help Returning Pilots From Qatar
Iran has requested help from the International Committee in facilitating the return of three "injured" Iranian pilots that it says are being held in Qatari waters.
Quoting a senior Iranian military official, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on August 22 that the Qatari government should transfer the three Iranian pilots -- who initially went missing when Qatar reportedly shot down two Iranian jet bombers in March -- to "an adequately equipped hospital” on land.
Mohammad Bagherzadeh, commander of Iran’s Missing-in-Action Search Committee, said the pilots are in poor health and holding them at sea is untenable.
Last week, Doha denied that it was holding the Iranian pilots. Qatari officials said they had violated their country's airspace earlier this year.
Last week, the Qatar Foreign Ministry had said that its invitation for an Iranian delegation to visit and discuss the pilots' situation remained open.
The Iranian military welcomed the move and requested the necessary cooperation.
Four more Iranians are also being held in Kuwait, and Bagherzadeh said Kuwait’s agreement to let the Iranian ambassador meet with the "four Iranian prisoners" held in that country had created "a glimmer of hope."
Iran says those four were affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and had entered Kuwait's territorial waters after their navigation was disrupted. Kuwait, however, says they are suspected of planning hostile actions against the country.