US Politics Live Updates: Iran on the verge of deploying ‘more destructive’ weapons

The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned US President Donald Trump’s “unlawful” threat of an elevated economic campaign against Tehran on Thursday.

Trump’s threat of heightened sanctions is “the other side of the coin of war and military aggression,” the ministry said in a statement, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

The statement warned that those who order or implement the levies “are liable to prosecution and punishment.”

“Responsibility for the consequences and repercussions of this unlawful act will rest with the US government and the perpetrators of this policy,” the statement said.

US Senator Mark Warner, vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has posted scathing criticism of the Iran conflict on social media.

“Every day the Iran War stretches on, our servicemembers are at risk, our prices increase, and our national security readiness diminishes,” he wrote on X.

“When will Trump walk away from this disastrous and deadly war?”

Here is some more from Donald Trump’s earlier radio appearance with his former fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen.

Cohen introduced the interview by explaining his decision to move on from his split with the president.

“Forgiveness does not mean amnesia. It does not mean that the past did not happen … It is about having the courage to decide that yesterday will no longer dictate tomorrow.“

Cohen in one part also sounded nostalgic about a time when he was one of Trump’s most trusted aides.

“Boss, remember when I was by your side,” he said.

In an interview with CNN shortly before the radio interview aired, Cohen said he had resubmitted a pardon application to the White House that had been denied by the previous Biden administration, but had yet to receive any response.

The US Navy is considering renaming an aircraft carrier currently under construction, with the USS Donald Trump one potential moniker, reports say.

The Ford-class carrier was set to honour an African-American sailor hailed for his heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, three sources familiar with internal discussions told CNN.

During Trump’s first term, the Navy announced the warship would be called the USS Doris Miller, recognising an enlisted sailor who helped defend US forces from Japan’s attack.

It’s unclear what the Navy is seeking to change the name of the carrier to, though two of the sources said there have been internal conversations about renaming it to honour Trump.

Trump has appeared on the radio show of his former fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen.

The interview, broadcast on Friday AEST, was a dramatic public reunion with the man who once called Trump a “Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain” and testified against him both in court and before Congress.

During the 15-minute friendly exchange, the president told his former lawyer that he respects “the fact that you recanted everything you said.”

“That’s a big thing that you did. That’s a very big thing,” Trump told him.

Much of their conversation focused on Trump’s second term and the Iran war, with Cohen at one point telling the president, “Maybe what we should do is then have a press conference and literally put out all of the accomplishments.”

- With Associated Press

Details of the US military’s secretive operation to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz have been revealed.

About 10 million barrels of oil have transited the waterway every day since May in tankers protected by US warships, fighter jets and helicopters, according to a report in The Telegraph.

Rather than sailing through the route which passes southern Iran, the ships instead hug the northern coast of Oman.

The Iranian military poses a lesser threat in the area, with just a few radars and spotters in small fast boats.

While the oil shipments are about half of pre-war levels, the covert operation, first revealed by US media site Axios, has been helping to keep the world’s lights on.

The stealth mission is overseen by the US army headquarters in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

“We have been controlling the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz for two months now. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) can be a nuisance, but they don’t control the strait. We do,” a US official said.

The FBI has charged a 35-year-old American woman over a plot to bomb the New York State Capitol and state senators, officials said overnight.

Jessica Bowie, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS, was arrested by agents on Wednesday after buying what she believed to be an explosive device.

FBI special agent Craig Tremaroli said Bowie swore her allegiance to ISIS through audio recordings and conducted surveillance at the Capitol at least five times, taking dozens of photos.

She allegedly “arranged to have an explosive device made out to carry this attack, even purchasing several of the required materials herself,” said Tremaroli.

Bowie has been charged with attempting to support a foreign terrorist organisation.

US Vice President JD Vance has also been touting the potential for a renewed economic offensive against Iran.

Speaking on a US radio programme, he also noted it’s a “delicate dance” for the United States.

“The most effective tool that we have is the economic pressure we can apply to them. And this is a delicate dance, because we apply economic pressure to them, they’re going to try to apply economic pressure to us,” Vance said on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.

Vance acknowledged that Americans are paying higher fuel prices due to Iran’s ability to limit the transit of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

“They are trying to close the Strait down, and if we can, you know, not even get it back to where it was before, but if we can get enough oil and gas out to give some Americans some, some ease at the pump, some ease on energy prices,” he said.

Bessent also signalled a large-scale economic offensive against Iran would lessen the need for major American military action.

“If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart,” the US Treasury Secretary told CNBC.

He said he will outline the administration’s new economic measures against Iran on Monday.

Global oil prices jumped by 2.4 per cent on Trump’s threat to unleash “economic warfare”.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, reached about $US94 a barrel, its highest level since late July.