War, latest news. UN: Pezeshkian shows photos of slain children and the US walks out of the chamber

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he will have some “surprises” in store for his speech tomorrow at the United Nations General Assembly. This is according to The Times of Israel. “I am leaving for New York tonight to defend, from the UN podium, Israel and the soldiers of the Israel Defence Forces,” the Prime Minister said in a video released by his office. “Listen to the terrible lies being spread there,” he added. “I will fight against the lies; I will fight for the truth, for our soldiers, for our country. There will also be some surprises.”

There is a subtle threat common to wars, diplomatic crises and climate change: habituation – making everything seem ‘normal’. Taking Trump’s speech at the UN as our starting point, we reflect with Vittorio Emanuele Parsi – lecturer in International Relations at the Catholic University – on the challenges facing Europe and the international community in an increasingly unstable world. We are aware that – as the King of Jordan pointed out at the 81st United Nations General Assembly – attention, today, is a precious, scarce and indeed geopolitical resource.

Italia has announced further funding for international cooperation to support programmes for Christian villages in southern Lebanon. This was stated by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani following his meeting with his Lebanese counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “We are supporting projects so that these villages can continue to be inhabited and not abandoned; this is another of our commitments, and we have funded other projects as well,” explained Tajani.

“My first day at the UN in New York went very well. I spoke with the Iranian Foreign Minister for about half an hour. We are working for peace. For us, a diplomatic solution is the best option; they will present a proposal to the Americans and we will see how Washington responds.” This was stated by the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani, in an interview given to CNN in Spanish from New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly. Yesterday, on the first day of the Assembly, Tajani met his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi. “We are in dialogue with Iran; we have good relations; our embassy is open. Of course, we do not share their position on the atomic bomb because we are opposed to it. Iran must respect the rules; a nuclear weapon is dangerous, but I think it is important to talk, because there are many issues,” said Tajani, citing the blockades of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. When asked by a journalist about Donald Trump’s threat to annihilate Iran, Tajani replied: “We hope an agreement can be reached; we are working towards that.”

“We have made a geopolitical choice: we have unequivocally sided with the West. We have done so alongside the United States and Israel, countries with which we share a deep affinity of values and strategic complementarity.” This was stated by the Argentine President Javier Milei whilst addressing the UN General Assembly. “For this reason, we condemn the Iranian regime’s attacks against the State of Israel. We have designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, just as we continue to seek justice for the two terrorist attacks carried out on Argentine soil in 1992 and 1994. We have decided to cooperate with the rest of the world, but to do so with our heads held high, aware that – as Milei added – only a politically significant, economically influential and militarily respected nation can truly be the master of its own destiny.”

“They have tested Iran’s strength and resolve and realised that it is impossible to force Iran to surrender.” So said the Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, from the podium at the United Nations, almost seven months after the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran. “We will defend our beloved Iran until our last breath,” he emphasised, speaking of dialogue and diplomacy, of negotiations, and reiterating that Iran does not accept “the language of force”.

First, the Suez Canal in 2021, with the container ship Ever Given running aground on a sandbank. In 2022, it was the turn of the Bosphorus, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Then it was the turn of the Panama Canal, which was forced, between 2023 and 2024, to restrict ship traffic due to low water levels in Gatún Lake, caused by climate change. And finally, today, the two straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb are holding global trade hostage. These five obstacles and disruptions to trade have brought around a third of international maritime traffic to a standstill.

Masoud Pezeshkian again from the UN podium: ‘The resilience of the Iranian people will only be strengthened in the face of sanctions, intensified pressure and increased bullying.’ He continued: “Iran has never started a war and has always demonstrated its commitment to negotiations,” he insisted. “They have forced war upon us. We have shown that we are not afraid to fight, provided it is a defensive war.”

“For our country , peaceful nuclear technology is part of our progress ,” said Pezeshkian, referring to applications in the energy, healthcare and agriculture sectors. “We will not bow our heads, nor will we give up a right that is clearly ours,” he continued. “Let us be clear: no nuclear weapons, no restrictions on peaceful nuclear technology.”

The American delegation left the UN General Assembly chamber after Iranian President Pezeshkian had criticised the United States.

Iran has “been the victim of terrorism. I come from an Iran where the Supreme Leader was assassinated, where a school was bombed, killing children who had committed no crime.” This was stated by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian whilst addressing the UN General Assembly and responding to Donald Trump.

At least six Palestinians have been killed today in attacks carried out by Israeli forces in various parts of the Gaza Strip. Al Jazeera reports this, having previously reported on the latest drone strike in the centre of the Palestinian enclave, which left at least one person dead and several injured.

“The Golan will remain Syrian territory.” This was stated by the Syrian leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, in his address from the podium at the United Nations.

Iran’s main airlines were forced today to cancel international flights on the first day that new US sanctions came into force, the impact of which remains difficult to assess. However, not all aircraft were grounded. A Mahan Air aircraft – one of Iran’s two main airlines operating international routes – landed in China at around 08.40 GMT. Yesterday, Beijing had rejected US threats to impose sanctions on anyone maintaining ties with the Iranian aviation sector, describing these measures as “unilateral and illegal”. With these unprecedented new sanctions, the US intends to further increase economic pressure on Tehran. In early September, Washington had blacklisted the entire Iranian aviation sector, with the aim of paralysing Iranian airlines “worldwide”. The sanctions have already had some impact. Yesterday, Mahan Air announced the suspension of all its flights to neighbouring Turkey, at the request of the Turkish authorities. And today, a major travel agency in Tehran told AFP that flights to Baghdad (Iraq), Muscat (Oman), Qatar, Georgia and Azerbaijan had been suspended and that no tickets were being sold. “The situation is unstable and we are no longer selling tickets at the moment for fear of cancellations,” a travel agent told AFP. Iran has a total of 27 airlines, but most operate domestic routes only. The two main carriers, the national carrier Iran Air and the private airline Mahan Air, normally operate most of the international flights, mainly to neighbouring countries, but also to Russia and China. Iran Air stated in a press release issued before the sanctions came into force that it had not, for its part, received any official instructions from Turkey, Azerbaijan or Iraq prohibiting it from serving these countries bordering Iran.

Germany welcomes the talks that have begun in New York between representatives of the United States and Iran and hopes that they will pave the way for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. “Provided there are genuine and serious attempts to reach an agreement with Iran, they will also have our support,” said German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius at a press conference in Berlin. “It is clear that diplomatic solutions are now needed,” added Kornelius, emphasising that the war must “end as quickly as possible”. The spokesperson also highlighted the impact of the conflict on energy supplies and trade routes. Germany, explained the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, supports Iran’s return to the negotiating table and calls for an end to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and to the policy of regional escalation. “These talks offer us the opportunity to clearly reiterate our positions and expectations,” he said, noting, however, that the meeting between Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and his Iranian counterpart, scheduled to take place in New York, had not yet taken place at the time of the statements. Berlin, he added, is also in constant contact with partner states in the region, which are directly affected by the blockade of the Strait, both economically and, above all, in terms of security. The aim is to identify “solutions and viable paths for both sides”, without going into the details of any German proposals: “I would not wish to pre-empt the talks,” the spokesperson clarified.

Any US intervention in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would be regarded by the Houthis as a “red line”. This was stated by the Yemeni group’s military adviser, Abed Mohammed al-Thawr, to AFP. If the United States “dared to support Saudi Arabia with air strikes or air support, we would regard all American interests in the region as targets”, added al-Thawr, an adviser to the defence minister of the self-proclaimed Houthi government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have reported that an Israeli strike on Khan Younis killed Muhammad Abu Alwan, the alleged head of Hamas’s financial department. In a joint statement published on the Prime Minister’s X account, they praised the Israeli army and the internal intelligence agency for what they described as a “precision operation”.

The two most powerful men in the world, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, are meeting again just a few months on, in yet another attempt to mend fractured bilateral relations by untangling the web of conflicts and trade wars that are increasingly engulfing the whole of humanity. The two rivals are starting from very different positions at home, and it is the American president who is walking a tightrope as the outcome of the negotiations approaches.

Advisers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (the Pasdaran) were “on the ground”, helping to “direct the fighting”, in support of the recent advance by Houthi rebels in western Yemen, which enabled them to gain control of strategic areas along the coast at the expense of the pro-government forces backed by Riyadh: this is according to a report by the Associated Press on its website, citing ten senior officials and military sources from both sides as evidence to support the claim. This intervention, the AP adds, “demonstrates how Iran has turned the Houthis into a key regional partner, capable of opening a new front in the wider war with the United States”. For the pro-Tehran rebels, this month’s advance has been “the greatest territorial gain in recent years”, within the context of the devastating war that has ravaged Yemen since 2014. In their rapid offensive, the Houthis have also exploited internal divisions within the militias allied with the official Yemeni government backed by Saudi Arabia, the AP adds. The pro-Iranian fighters have also “managed to infiltrate the internal communications of one of the main opposing forces”, the National Resistance, thereby enabling them to “monitor its movements and sow confusion”. The hasty retreat of pro-government forces from key locations such as the coastal town of Mokha and strategic islands in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait area has further enhanced the effectiveness of the Houthis’ advance.

Trump’s Board of Peace is set to present a plan today, during a meeting of member states, for the initial reconstruction of Gaza, worth $2.45 billion and spanning six months. This is reported by Barak Ravid on Axios and the Israeli channel N12. The proposal, which comprises 66 projects, is one of the most comprehensive roadmaps drawn up to date for the reconstruction of post-war Gaza. According to a copy of the plan obtained by News 12, the document includes provisions for temporary accommodation, rubble clearance, hospital rehabilitation, economic recovery and the deployment of a multinational security force.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, held talks with his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, during which he criticised France’s “interventionist” stance towards Iran and urged the French embassy to comply with national laws and regulations.

Araghchi also described France’s stance on regional developments as “unacceptable”, particularly with regard to the US and Israeli military aggression against Iran.

NAIROBI – From a geographical advantage to a political, economic and military threat. With dangers looming over a region already unsettled by internal and external turmoil: the Horn of Africa. Djibouti, with just over a million inhabitants in an area similar in size to that of Slovenia, finds itself facing a crisis fuelled by what is, or was, its main resource: its access to Bab el-Mandeb, the strait separating the Horn of Africa from the Arabian Peninsula and channelling energy and trade flows between the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Djibouti owes an estimated 76 per cent of its GDP to its port; it handles almost 97 per cent of trade bound for Ethiopia under Abiy Ahmed and is home to five permanent US military bases, France, China, Japan and Italia, in addition to troops from other countries and the base for the EU Aspides mission. The incursions in March and April by the Houthis, the pro-Iranian rebels in Yemen, had already sparked fears about the sustainability of this model. The scenario is now repeating itself, on an even larger scale. The Houthis have captured Perim, an island at the heart of the chokepoint that allows them to threaten or completely block transit.

France is prepared to take part in an international operation in the Strait of Hormuz, provided it has a clear mandate and is exclusively defensive in nature, but it has no intention of entering into a confrontation with Iran. This was stated by French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview with ABC News in New York.

“We are ready to take part in an international operation with a clear and purely defensive mandate. I do not wish to engage in a confrontation with any country, but we are ready to play a greater role in order to safeguard certain capabilities and facilitate transit,” Macron said.

A security and military operation carried out at dawn last Friday in the heart of Sana’a is reported to have targeted a secret communications network linked to the Houthis’ command and control system, with the aim of foiling an attack on Saudi Arabia planned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards from Yemeni territory. This was reported by Al Arabiya, citing a report by Sheba Intelligence, though without specifying which force was responsible for the drones and the team deployed in the operation. According to the report, the operation, codenamed ‘In the Heart of the Enemy’, combined air and ground operations. The drones reportedly identified and tracked the nodes of a fibre-optic communications network, enabling a ground team to strike a main communications centre connected to the network within the Yemeni capital. According to Al Arabiya, four Iranian experts involved in the network were also killed in the operation.

The number of US military personnel killed in the conflict between the United States and Iran has risen to 19. This is according to the latest official figures released by the Pentagon, which has revised the death toll among US forces involved in the operation against Tehran upwards by one.

The identity of the latest victim has not yet been officially disclosed.

Oil prices have opened lower: Brent crude futures have fallen by 0.92 per cent to $98.34 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is also down by $1.37 (-1.51%), falling to $89.15 per barrel.

Iran has conveyed its conditions for an agreement to the United States, via Qatar in New York, calling, amongst other things, for an end to the war “on all fronts”, a halt to US military actions and the naval blockade, and the release of Iranian assets. This was stated by the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, to the IRNA news agency.

Baghaei clarified that contacts with the US side had taken place via the Qatari mediator and had served to convey the conditions set by Tehran.

The United States and Iran have concluded a new round of talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, conducted through mediators who shuttled between the two delegations. This was announced by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

“Today, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, we held lengthy talks with the Iranian delegation through mediators, who shuttled between the two sides throughout the day,” Witkoff wrote on X.

Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly. “Whilst others spoke of peace, I made it a reality; America is stronger than ever,” he began, before warning Tehran: “I am convinced it will strike a deal after the mid-term elections or I will destroy it,” he says, revealing US-Iran talks on the sidelines of the General Assembly. But the Iranian military retorts: “We are ready to inflict devastating and unpredictable blows.”