live UN 'Appalled' by Iran's Draft Bill Restricting Contact With Foreigners

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that Washington would continue to seek to sever Iran's economic ties with the outside world, saying that airlines, the maritime industry, and digital assets could be potential targets of new US sanctions.

"My message to everyone is, stay away. We all want this conflict to end, and the fastest way for the conflict to end is for no one to provide any support to this regime," Bessent told Fox News on September 2 when asked about Russia's possible support for Iran.

He added that Washington was in talks with those supporting Tehran, saying the economic pressure on Iran, including potential new US sanctions, would need to be an "all-hands-on-deck" effort.

Bessent further warned countries and companies against continuing to do business with Iran: "We are telling friends and foes, DO NOT deal with this evil regime. We know who you are -- you know who you are. If we have to, we'll put you out of business."

"We are going to sever every tie that they have to the outside world," he added.

The Iranian rial hit new lows against major foreign currencies on September 2, with the euro exceeding 2.55 million rials for the first time.

Websites tracking exchange rates reported the US dollar at more than 2.2 million rials, while the UAE dirham surpassed 600,000 rials.

The rial's decline has accelerated amid mounting economic pressure on Iran, including the US campaign known as Operation Economic Outcast, launched by the Treasury Department on August 24. The campaign is aimed at cutting Iran's economic lifelines and pressuring foreign governments and businesses to reduce their dealings with Tehran.

The price of the Imami gold coin, a widely traded store of value in Iran, reached about 2.26 billion rials on September 2, according to market reports, despite a decline in international gold prices.

A day earlier, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati rejected claims that Iran was facing a shortage of foreign-exchange resources or that its economy was on the verge of collapse. He said the Central Bank was prepared to inject up to $2 billion into the foreign-exchange market to stabilize the rial.

The Iranian currency had lost nearly 10 percent of its value over the two weeks preceding August 24, according to AFP, and has continued to fall since then.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says there has been no progress from Iran allowing its inspectors to verify its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Citing confidential IAEA documents, Reuters news agency reported on September 2 that the UN nuclear inspectors are still not been able to return to the nuclear sites bombed by Israel and the United States in June last year.

"The Agency's lack of information about this nuclear material and access to facilities to verify it is a matter of proliferation concern...and needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency," says the report, which was shared with member states.

The IAEA findings suggest Iran had accumulated 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent U-235 before the June 2025 attacks.

It remains unclear how much of the stockpile remains and where it is located, it said.

A Pakistani official says his country would continue to strive for dialogue and diplomacy despite recent escalations in the Middle East.

Speaking at a weekly press briefing on September 2, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said Pakistani Prime Minster Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian discussed the US-Iran conflict was between on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Bishkek earlier this week.

Andrabi said the Pakistani prime minister asked for restraint, dialogue, and diplomacy during his meeting with the Iranian president.

Andrabi also cited the Pakistani Army chief’s last week visit to Tehran and his meetings with top Iranian officials.

Andrabi said the purpose of the visit was to seek "regional de-escalation and break the military stalemate," which he added was followed by visits of leadership of the neighboring states of Oman and Qatar to Tehran.

In April, Islamabad hosted face-to-face talks between US and Iranian officials, the first ever in several decades, which led to the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Last week, Pakistan army chief Asim Munir visited Tehran and held talks with the Iranian officials. That was Munir’s third Tehran visit since the beginning of the US-Israel-Iran conflict in late February.

Saudi Arabia's national shipping company, Bahri, reported that two Filipino sailors from the crew of the supertanker Sidr, which was targeted in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, were killed.

The company said in a statement on September 2 that the Saudi-flagged vessel was involved in a "security incident" while transiting the Strait of Hormuz late on August 31, resulting in the deaths of two Filipino seafarers.

Bahri said the incident occurred at about 11:40 p.m. local time on August 31. The company did not provide details about the nature or cause of the incident, saying it remained in contact with the vessel, was coordinating with relevant authorities and maritime-industry stakeholders, and was monitoring developments.

Maritime security and intelligence companies had previously reported that the supertanker Sidr and another supertanker, the Liberian-flagged Senegal Prosperity, were struck by unidentified projectiles within minutes of each other as they were leaving the Strait of Hormuz.

Marisks reported that Sidr was struck about 16.6 nautical miles northeast of Khasab, Oman. The Senegal Prosperity was reportedly struck minutes later by three unidentified projectiles about 17 nautical miles east of Khasab. UK Maritime Trade Operations also reported that a tanker was struck by three unidentified projectiles in the same area.

Both vessels had loaded about 2 million barrels of Saudi crude oil at the Juaymah terminal the previous week, according to Reuters. The crew of the Senegal Prosperity was reported safe.

No party has claimed responsibility for the attacks, and Bahri has not publicly identified the cause of the incident involving Sidr.

The deaths announced by Bahri on September 2 are the first reported fatalities from the two closely timed tanker incidents.

WASHINGTON -- Iran remains the Houthis' main foreign backer, but Russia and China are increasingly drawing scrutiny in Washington over their ties to the Yemeni militant group.

At a September 1 hearing of the US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, lawmakers and experts focused on the Houthis' expanding operational, intelligence, and procurement ties with Moscow and Beijing.

The hearing, coming as Congress returned from its summer recess, put renewed focus on Tehran's regional network and the growing role of other powers in aiding the Yemen rebel group.

The Houthis control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, after more than a decade of civil war against forces aligned with the internationally recognized government. Saudi Arabia intervened against the group in 2015, but large-scale fighting eased after a UN-brokered truce in 2022 without a lasting political settlement.

To read the full report, click here.

Iranian state and state-linked media said at least 15 people were killed in the latest US strikes on Iran on September 1, including civilians and military personnel.

State news agency IRNA, citing a local official, reported seven people killed and eight wounded in Khuzestan province after strikes around Ahvaz and Aghachari.

The IRGC said four air force personnel were killed in Kermanshah Province, according to the Tasnim news agency. Iranian media earlier reported four people killed at a wedding in Hormozgan Province.

The reported casualty figures could not be independently verified.

The US military did not immediately address the alleged wedding strike. US Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins said "the US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC," referring to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda and dpa

US President Donald Trump has said he was not seeking to force Iran back to negotiations, dismissing suggestions that renewed US strikes were aimed at bringing Tehran to the bargaining table.

"I couldn't care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement," Trump said in a post on Truth Social late on September 1.

Trump said the United States had "almost total control" of the Strait of Hormuz and described Iran's economy as collapsing, before asking: "When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?"

His comments came after the most significant exchange of attacks between the two countries in weeks. US forces struck IRGC targets in southern Iran, while Tehran retaliated with missile and drone attacks targeting US military facilities across the Middle East.

Iran launched missiles and drones against US military targets across the Middle East on September 2, vowing "severe" consequences for renewed American attacks on the Islamic republic.

Iranian state media said Tehran targeted US facilities in Jordan with ballistic missiles. Jordan's military said 13 Iranian missiles entered its airspace, 10 of which were intercepted, while three fell in remote areas. No casualties were reported.

Iranian missile and drone attacks were also reported in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait's military said its air defenses were responding to hostile missiles and drones, while Bahrain said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed Iranian drones.

The IRGC said it also targeted US bases with missiles and drones in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, claiming to have destroyed a maintenance center, warehouses and equipment. The claim, reported by Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, was not independently confirmed.

The latest round of fighting began when Washington struck Iranian targets on August 30, the first known US strikes in several weeks. Tehran subsequently targeted US forces in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, while projectiles hit two oil tankers in unclaimed attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has vowed to retaliate after US strikes hit targets in the country on September 1, following what Washington says were attempts by Tehran to attack commercial shipping and US forces in the region.

According to Iran's state broadcaster, IRIB, the country's military warned that it would “deliver crushing and devastating blows” against the United States.

It added that “the more the US military persists in its aggression in the region, the greater and heavier the losses it will have to endure.”

The statement came after a social media post by US President Donald Trump, in which he said the US military had launched the strikes in response to an attempt by Iran to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz and target a US military base in Jordan.

Trump threatened Iran with much heavier attacks if it retaliated.

Meanwhile, air-raid sirens have been activated in Jordan and Kuwait, the countries' militaries reported. The Jordanian military said that its air defenses engaged the missiles and shot down 10 of the 13 that were launched. It added that the other three fell in remote areas.

With reporting by Reuters and CNN