Iran warns of a harsh response to anticipated US sanctions
Iran has warned that US sanctions set to be announced on Monday (Tuesday AEST) will not bring peace to the region, and threatened to retaliate.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned that Tehran would respond harshly to expanded US sanctions, including measures against countries it sees as cooperating with Washington.
Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump underwater amid explosions, with the words “Great Victory! Strait of Hormuz,” in Tehran, Iran. AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
“Any escalation of this situation will undoubtedly bring about consequences,” Esmail Baghaei said. “Our hands are not tied.”
The new head of Iran’s top security body warned on Sunday that Tehran will see any country’s support for the sanctions as an “act of war”.
The expanded sanctions come after weeks of impasse. The United States has not dislodged Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passed before the war started nearly six months ago.
Iran’s demands for reopening the strait include lifting the US naval blockade, withdrawing US forces from the region and reparations for damages sustained in the war. It has held separate talks with Oman, on the other side of the strait, on jointly managing the waterway regardless of whether a new deal is brokered with the US.
Sanctions have historically raised prices of basic goods in Iran, but after decades of withstanding them, Iran’s economy has adapted through finding new trading partners and building domestic industries.
Ahead of the expected US announcement, the country’s currency hit a record low on Monday.
Israeli and Syrian officials meet following an Israeli airstrike
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met over the weekend with a high-level Israeli delegation in Jordan to try to defuse tensions after Israel last week struck an air base in northern Syria, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.
The US-mediated discussions on Sunday focused on restarting negotiations for a future security agreement, SANA said.
Israel struck the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib province, saying it aimed to stop Turkey — which has supported the new Syrian government’s efforts to rebuild its armed forces after 14 years of civil war — from establishing a presence there.
Syrian officials during the talks asserted the right to develop an army and freely forge alliances with any country, SANA said.
They also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from a buffer zone in southern Syria they have occupied since December 2024, and reiterated Syria’s stance that the Golan Heights — which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed — is Syrian territory.
Israeli officials didn’t immediately comment on the meeting.
Israel says it killed another Hamas militant
Israel’s military said it killed a militant affiliated with Hamas’ special forces unit in an overnight airstrike, the latest targeted killing announced since US officials met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week hoping to push last year’s ceasefire deal forward.
Israel says it targets and kills Palestinian militants it says participated in the October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war.
Israel has announced targeted strikes on six of the seven days since US negotiator Jared Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu.
At least 1,288 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect last October, according to Gaza’s health ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. Its numbers are generally considered reliable by the international community.
Palestinian American says he can’t freely leave West Bank home
The Palestinian American homeowner whose residence was besieged this month by Israeli settlers said he remained unable to move freely in the village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank. Loui Ridi traveled from Ohio to join his relatives defending his home a week ago.
Oil residue lines the shore near fishing boats on Qeshm Island, Iran. AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi
The Israeli military declared the area a closed zone to restore order in Qusra. Ridi said settlers returned throughout the week to the hill above his house.
Since Israeli settlers surrounded the house more than two weeks ago, preventing occupants from leaving, Israeli soldiers have encouraged them to leave but Israel’s police have not announced arrests.
The siege and Israel’s response have sparked condemnation from Israeli rights groups and foreign officials, including US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who called the violence terrorism.
Palestinians consider the West Bank, home to some 3 million Palestinians and 560,000 Israeli settlers, the heart of any future state and have condemned Israel’s expansion there. This year has seen a dramatic spike in violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
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