Iran war live: Tehran says it won’t be bullied, remains open for talks

US Senator Ruben Gallego says that he is co-leading a bill to impose sanctions on companies that help build Israeli settlements in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.

Senator Gallego said in a post on X that the legislation “sends a clear message to Netanyahu: the United States stands firmly behind a two-state solution as the only path to real peace and security for all.”

Gallego, who on August 28 led 29 senators in opposing Israel’s E1 plan for 1,234 new settlement homes, warned the construction of the Israeli settlements “would cut off East Jerusalem from the West Bank and threaten a viable Palestinian state.”

The Yemeni government’s armed forces have thwarted an attack and several infiltration attempts by the Houthis aiming to reach positions near the vital road linking the southern and southwestern provinces of Aden, Taiz, and Lahj, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

According to the official spokesperson of the Yemeni armed forces, “clashes ensued” which forced “the attackers to retreat” and inflicted heavy losses in lives and equipment.

“We affirm that our armed forces stationed on those fronts have regained the initiative, are highly prepared, and continue to repel attacks and infiltration attempts,” the spokesperson said.

Oil prices edged lower on Thursday, with Brent crude futures falling 94 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $102.13 a barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went down 59 cents, or 0.39 percent, to trade at $91.56 per barrel.

The losses came after oil climbed 4 percent in the previous session, as Iran said it remained open to diplomacy to end the US-Iran conflict, though the two countries remain far apart on ways to do so.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has outlined to US media the Trump administration’s strategy towards Iran.

In an interview with Fox News, Bessent said “external flights from Iran, probably more than 80 or 90% of them, got shut down. I’m not sure how the Iranian representatives at the UN are going to get home”.

On reports of tankers being targeted, Bessent said “most of them just sail along”.

He also issued a warning to financiers of Iran, saying “we are going to prosecute and execute your companies and your bank accounts every day and every week”.

Turning to broader objectives, Bessent said “the goal here can be one of three states of the world”.

The first, he said, is that “the regime turns on each other”.

The second, according to Bessent, is that “we get some kind of uprising from the Iranian people”.

The third is to “get the Iranians, if they want to make a deal, to stick to the deal”.

US Senator Chris Van Hollen says that instead of using taxpayer dollars to attack Iran and strangle the Cuban people, the United States should be investing them at home.

In a post on X, Senator Van Hollen questioned what happened to the “America First” agenda, arguing that funds should be redirected toward domestic priorities.

“Enough is enough,” he wrote.

US Special Envoy Jared Kushner says that the goals for Gaza’s reconstruction are “transparent: a fully demilitarised Gaza, governed responsibly by Palestinians, where people can live with dignity, opportunity, hope and peace.”

Kushner, the US President’s son-in-law, said in a statement on X that “much of what we presented today did not exist a year ago.” He referenced that “there is a ceasefire, the hostages are home, a Palestinian technocratic government is ready, a security and demilitarisation framework has been developed, and 66 projects are ready to begin rebuilding Gaza and improving people’s lives.”

“President Trump challenged us to break the old cycle and build something different,” he said.

“We have made real progress. Now we will move forward to the next phase.”

Donald Trump had threatened Iran with annihilation from this podium. Twenty-four hours later, Masoud Pezeshkian stood in the same spot and answered him.

During his speech, Iran’s president held up photographs of children he said were killed by American and Israeli weapons. As he did so, the one US diplomat sent to listen to his speech got up and left.

Pezeshkian restated much of Tehran’s position – that Iran had been attacked and not surrendered, and would not unless the US ended its offensive.
He said the US and Israel had imposed the war on his country, and that Iran had shown it was not afraid to defend itself.

In the audience – Iran’s foreign minister and his team, that a day earlier had exchanged conditions for ending the conflict with US envoys through Qatari mediators.

Trump called those talks productive. Pezeshkian set a different bar. He said the US had previously attacked Iran during negotiations, so trust was lacking.

Trump said the decision on Iran is his to make. Pezeshkian said his country also has a say, and offered both talks and defiance.

Two speeches a day apart in the same building, but neither man being able to explain exactly how this war will end.

European Council President Antonio Costa says he held a “frank and substantial discussion” with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

In a post on X, Costa said he stressed that “dialogue is the only way to resolve conflicts and to ensure lasting peace across the region”.

Costa also called for “an end to Iran’s strikes against its neighbours and the full restoration of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”.

He also urged Iran to “resume cooperation” with the International Atomic Energy Agency, adding that the European Union “stands ready to support all ongoing diplomatic efforts”.

A day after the US President Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly his choice on Iran was his alone, a deal or annihilation, Iran’s president took the same podium to answer him.

Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a defiant speech, insisting Iran would continue to defend itself against what he called “cowardly” attacks.

Watch Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo report from the UN headquarters in New York:

• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran rejects a US threat of annihilation in a defiant UN address, while leaving the door open for diplomacy to end the war.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says an Iran agreement requires extensive negotiations, warning that military options remain on the table for US President Donald Trump.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells his German counterpart that European nations are enabling regional Israeli crimes.
• Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei says Tehran has given the US a five-day deadline to meet conditions for opening the Strait of Hormuz.
• A Houthi military official says the group will not hesitate to attack US interests in the Middle East if Washington enters Yemen’s conflict in support of Saudi Arabia.
• At least seven Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza on Wednesday.
• Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter confirms his son is the soldier injured in an alleged West Bank car-ramming incident.

Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.

Stay with us for the latest news and analyses from across the Middle East and beyond.

You can find our updates from Wednesday, September 23, here.