Latest war news. New US sanctions against Iran. Defence pact between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan

Iranian negotiators are awaiting final approval from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council regarding the agreement with Oman and the United States. A diplomatic source from one of the mediating countries told Axios this, adding that they expect “such approval to be granted shortly”.

The Senate has approved, by an overwhelming majority, a bill to impose new sanctions on Russia and Iran following a protracted process lasting several months. The decisive impetus came following the death of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. The 61-page bill, renamed the ‘Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act’, aims to sanction the major buyers of Russian oil and gas. It also provides for further sanctions against Russian leaders, their family members and oligarchs. Following a last-minute request from Donald Trump, the bill also extends sanctions to Iran’s arms and energy sectors.

Washington has taken steps to dismantle a network of currency exchange bureaux and front companies that were helping Iran to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars through the international financial system. This is according to a statement by US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott, published today.

According to a statement by the US spokesperson, “today the US Treasury Department has taken steps to dismantle a network” of currency exchange bureaux and front companies of this kind. Through these networks, Tehran gained access to the proceeds from oil sales and circumvented the sanctions introduced to curb its destabilising activities. Intermediary companies were used for money laundering, the US spokesperson explained.

The US Treasury Department has imposed new sanctions on a network of currency exchange bureaux and shell companies that were helping Iran to secretly transfer hundreds of millions of dollars through the international financial system. The State Department announced this in a statement, specifying that “through these networks, Tehran gained access to oil revenues and circumvented sanctions designed to curb its destabilising activities, by laundering funds through shell companies”.

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, stated that US President Donald Trump, before announcing “war booty”, should “actually win the war”. Criticising the US President’s remarks regarding the spoils of war obtained following the operation in Venezuela, the Iranian spokesperson stated that Trump “claims that the same will be done as, in his words, was done in Venezuela. There is, however, a small problem: before one can lay claim to spoils of war, one must actually win the war”, and “not get bogged down in a stalemate, fail to achieve the stated (and deemed harmful) objectives, run out of weapons and lose credibility along the way”, Baghaei specified.

“So far, Iran’s spoils are nothing more than a paper trophy for a victory that shows no sign of materialising,” added the spokesperson. Furthermore, comparing the US president to Milo Minderbinder, the protagonist of Joseph Heller’s novel *Catch-22*, he argues that “Milo, at least, knew how to profit from war; these people, on the other hand, are busy dividing up the spoils in front of the cameras even before they have secured them”.

“If peace were to be restored, it is likely that security talks would be held between the countries in the region.” The Foreign Ministry in Tehran announced this, explaining that it had provided the United Nations Security Council with “details of the attacks launched against us from the territories of neighbouring countries during the last war”. This was reported by Al Jazeera. Finally, Tehran is calling for “security issues in the region to be resolved without foreign interference”.

US President Donald Trump has admitted that he fears American voters may punish the Republican Party in November’s mid-term elections, but not him personally. “They’re angry with the Republicans. But they’re not angry with me. They’re not angry with me, but they’re angry with the Republicans,” Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News. The GOP fears heavy losses at the polls, with rising petrol and food prices and the war in Iran among the factors that could favour the Democrats and enable them to win the House and, potentially, the Senate as well.

Trump also played down his direct involvement in the election campaign, recalling his victory in the 2024 presidential election. “I said to someone: ‘Hold on a moment, you’ve got it wrong: I’m not campaigning’,” he said, whilst assuring that he would use the vast resources of his super PAC, MAGA Inc. – which had $400 million at its disposal in June – to “help the Republicans”. According to the president, the main problem for the GOP is precisely his absence from the ballot paper: “If I’m not standing, will those people go out and vote? And that’s the only thing I can’t know; I’ll ask them to do so.”

The Iranian parliament is examining a preliminary 11-article bill aimed at establishing a strategic framework for the management of security, navigation and economic activities in the Strait of Hormuz. The text – as explained by the Iranian broadcaster Press TV – is currently under review by Parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy. “This is an initial proposal that has been discussed in committee and does not yet represent the final report,” said Alireza Salimi, a member of the parliamentary presidium. According to Salimi, the draft bill would mandate the Iranian government, in collaboration with the Armed Forces, to ensure maritime security, the safety of navigation and environmental protection in the Persian Gulf. Iran would also provide services such as navigational assistance, inspection of maritime passages, environmental documentation, assessment of authorisation for the transit of vessels, and determination of the coordinates of designated vessels. For vessels owned by or flying the flag of the United States, Israel or other “hostile states” or “entities associated with them”, there would instead be a “blanket ban” on transit. “The bill also provides for Iran to charge fees for navigation, supervision, management and security services, giving priority to payments in Iranian national currency,” Salimi added.

Ankara, Riyadh and Islamabad are aiming to create a shield designed to reshape the Middle East’s security architecture, based on mutual defence, collective deterrence and military cooperation at all levels. The signing of the pact by the three Sunni countries in Islam’s holiest city also lends the ‘Mecca’ agreement significant symbolic importance in terms of solidarity amongst the Muslim population in the region. These are the main points of the agreement:

1) Mutual defence. “Any armed attack against any of the three States shall be regarded as an attack against them all”, reads the most explicit clause of the agreement, using wording similar to that set out in Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, of which Turkey is a member and for which it provides the second-largest military force after that of the United States.

“The Saudis must realise that a paper agreement with Turkey and Pakistan will not guarantee their security, just as years of unilateral reliance on the United States have not guaranteed it. ‘Revise your policies so that you no longer have to depend on others for your security.’ This was written on X by Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the National Security Committee of the Iranian Parliament, commenting on the defence agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.”

epa13046115 Un uomo iraniano passa davanti a un manifesto raffigurante il leader supremo iraniano, l’ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in una strada di Teheran, in Iran, il 18 giugno 2026. L’Iran e gli Stati Uniti hanno firmato un accordo di pace per porre fine alla guerra tra i due Paesi. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey have today signed a defence pact, uniting the three countries against the backdrop of attacks on the Saudi kingdom and the ongoing war in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, where the agreement was signed, intends to strengthen its alliances after being targeted by Iran – like other US allies in the region – and finding itself facing renewed hostilities with the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The announcement sends a message to Tehran, but also to Washington, which experts say is increasingly viewed as an unreliable partner. “The agreement aims to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that any armed attack against one of the three states will be considered an attack against all three,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated.

The agreement was signed in Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif. “The matter had been under discussion for some time, but recent developments in the region have accelerated the process,” a source close to the Saudi military told AFP. At the start of the year, Turkey’s participation still seemed out of the question, according to Riyadh. The three predominantly Sunni countries share the common goal of participating in efforts to resolve the conflict between Iran and the United States, which was triggered at the end of February by Israeli-American air strikes against Tehran, which have shaken the global economy.

Donald Trump reiterated that Iran wants to reach an agreement with Washington and hinted that further attacks by the United States remain a possibility should diplomacy fail. “It’s clear that they don’t want to be hit. They want to reach an agreement. We’ll have to wait and see,” Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News. Trump also spoke about energy prices, stating that the cost of petrol would only rise if he were forced to launch “another strike” against Iran. (

A source close to the Saudi military has stated that the Saudi-led coalition, which has been supporting the Yemeni government since 2015, will not “stand idly by” whilst the Houthi rebels step up their attacks on Yemeni troops. “The coalition is not seeking an escalation, but we will not allow the current balance of power on the ground to be altered,” added the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A Lebanese soldier was injured today in the village of Mansouri, in the district of Tyre, after an Israeli drone fired a stun grenade at an army bulldozer that was attempting to reopen a road in the village. This has been reported by the Lebanese media, which state that the Lebanese army entered Mansouri overnight to clear the roads following Israeli bombardments and attacks over the past few days.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The news was reported by the Saudi media. The visit will provide the occasion for a summit of the region’s three major Sunni-majority powers – Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan – the latter represented by Prime Minister Mohammed Shehbaz Sharif. The meeting will focus on the Iranian crisis, including threats from Shia militias in Yemen and Iraq against Riyadh, and the signing of a defence agreement.

Israeli artillery struck the village of Mansouri, in the Tyre district, this morning. This was reported by the Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Le Jour, which noted that Mansouri had already been hit by Israeli air strikes yesterday following an evacuation order issued by the army – the first since mid-June.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey are set to sign a mutual defence agreement today in Jeddah, according to sources close to the Saudi Arabian military and government who spoke to AFP. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are to meet in the Saudi city for a summit between the three Sunni Muslim countries. “The matter has been under discussion for a long time, but recent developments in the region have accelerated the process,” a source close to the military, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP.

US President Donald Trump has ordered a new investigation into the leak of information regarding the Pentagon’s ammunition stocks. This was reported to the Wall Street Journal by administration officials.

According to officials, Trump ordered the investigations after weeks of media reports about a shortage of interceptors due to the war against Iran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has never met any member of the Iranian government since the joint US-Israeli attacks that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei. This was reported to IranWire, a website close to the opposition, by two anonymous sources close to President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration, who stated that “rumours are circulating in the highest echelons of the regime that he is in an extremely critical condition and could die at any moment”. One of the sources is reported to have said: “We would not be surprised if we were soon to hear the news of his martyrdom.” Since becoming Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei has made no public appearances and no recordings of his speeches have been broadcast; only written statements attributed to him by state media have been published. According to some sources, he was injured and possibly disfigured during the attack in which his father lost his life, and has been in hiding ever since, communicating with other senior regime officials through a slow network of intermediaries to avoid being targeted. Pezeshkian himself stated in an interview broadcast on Wednesday on state television that interaction with Khamenei is currently “very diffi

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), as reported by Al-Jazeera, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman discussed the situation in the Middle East and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea with French President Emmanuel Macron during a telephone call. The agency also reported that the two leaders discussed joint efforts to strengthen stability in the region and ensure security following attacks on Saudi targets by the Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi group.

A “large-scale” Israeli raid on the Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank has left at least 51 Palestinians injured, according to a report by the Jerusalem Governorate to Al Jazeera.

On Thursday, Al Jazeera also reports, Israeli forces demolished shops near the Qalandiya checkpoint, before imposing a curfew in the nearby town of Kafr Aqab and blocking the roads linking the area to Jerusalem.