Bessent says US likely to announce Iran bank sanctions this week
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday the United States is likely to announce sanctions on a bank this week as part of its economic campaign against Iran.
"We are probably going to announce a bank sanction this week, and we will announce one the week after. We are speaking to our allies here, who have all come forward, and we have had a great show of support," Bessent said.
UK to unveil 'comprehensive' response to Israeli settlements in West Bank in coming weeks
Britain will set out a "comprehensive" package of measures on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in the coming weeks, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Tuesday.
Iran's president thanks Russia for position on war, says Tehran and Moscow resist US 'unilateralism'
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for Moscow's position on the Iran war and resulting sanctions, and said together, Moscow and Tehran can resist what he called the US "unilateralism".
The two men spoke during a meeting in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.
Iran's Pezeshkian meets Putin on sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian held talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, the Iranian presidency said.
"During the meeting, the latest state of bilateral relations between Iran and Russia was reviewed and the two sides discussed ways to strengthen and expand cooperation in various fields," said the presidency in a statement accompanied by images of Putin and Pezeshkian shaking hands.
Two tankers hit by 'unknown projectiles' in Hormuz, security firm reports
"Unknown projectiles" struck two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, a Greek security firm said.
"Two crude oil tankers were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz late on August 31," Greek maritime risk management firm Marisks said.
One of the incidents had been publicised earlier by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, which added that no casualties or environmental effects had been reported.
Israeli strikes on Gaza came during operation to capture Hamas figure, officials say
Heavy Israeli bombardment killed three people in Gaza City, Palestinian health officials said, in what both sides described as an Israeli-backed ground operation to seize a senior Hamas figure.
Eyewitnesses reported around a dozen strikes on Tuesday morning in western Gaza City, where the territory's civil defence agency said three people were killed, including two children and a woman.
Speaking on the Israeli side of the Gaza border, Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that "a senior Hamas terrorist was arrested" without naming the person or giving further details.
Security sources in Gaza gave a different account, with one telling AFP the Israeli mission against a prominent Hamas figure was thwarted and that special forces withdrew "on motorcycles under Israeli cover".
The forces included an Israeli-allied militia inside Gaza.
Ismail al-Thawabta, head of Hamas's media office in Gaza, said an Israeli special forces operation was "exposed during the mission", prompting heavy air strikes in the area that he alleged also killed members of the special forces.
Americas continue to capture greater market share of global oil production
From Canada to Argentina, oil producers across the Americas have enjoyed a windfall during the Iran war by capturing market share lost by Middle Eastern exporters.
The renewed focus on energy security globally could transform this emergency response into a lasting structural change.
Oil production in the Americas has become a viable alternative to the Middle East's vast hydrocarbon resources since the outbreak of the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz six months ago, which disrupted roughly a fifth of global oil supplies.
The shift is one of the most striking changes in the global energy landscape in decades.
Crude exports from the region, stretching from Canada in the north to Argentina in the south, have risen to a record-high average of 11.7 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in 2026, up from 10.3 million bpd in 2025, and nearly double the volume a decade ago, according to Kpler data.
The U.S. leads the pack with exports averaging 4.4 million bpd this year, followed by Brazil at 2.5 million bpd.
Inflation leaps to three-year peak at 3.3% amid rising energy costs
Eurozone inflation jumped to 3.3 percent in August, the highest level in three years, as the war in the Middle East kept pushing up energy costs, official data showed Tuesday.
Well above the European Central Bank's two-percent target, the figure from the EU's statistical office was up sharply from 2.9 percent in July and in line with forecasts by analysts for Bloomberg.
"Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in August," Eurostat said, noting that energy prices were up 14.3 percent in August after rising 10.3 percent in July.
- Tanker hit by three 'unknown projectiles' in Hormuz, maritime agency reports
- Israeli forces kills four people, including three children, in Gaza, medics say
- Funding cuts force UN's WFP to halve West Bank aid recipients
- Oil prices extend gains as US-Iran tensions flare again
- Israeli strikes on Gaza came during operation to capture Hamas figure, officials say
Funding cuts force UN's WFP to halve West Bank aid recipients
The United Nations' food agency warned that funding cuts were forcing it to slash the number of aid recipients in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in half, warning of dire consequences.
The World Food Programme said that from this month it would be reducing the number of people it reaches with food aid in the Palestinian territory from 400,000 to 200,000.
"This is happening as the food needs in the West Bank are more than double what they were two years ago," Shaun Hughes, the agency's representative in the Palestinian territories, told reporters.
He pointed out that food insecurity had not traditionally been a major problem in the West Bank.
But he argued that since the Gaza war began in October 2023, "intensified settler violence, prolonged and escalating Israeli military operations, severe movement restrictions, demolitions and widespread displacement in the West Bank have eroded Palestinian livelihoods and contributed to increased food insecurity".
The WFP said that its latest quarterly food security analysis found that 76 percent of households in the West Bank had experienced a significant decline in income, with many families forced to sell assets and reduce the number and quality of their meals to survive.
Israeli forces kills four people, including three children, in Gaza, medics say
Israel's military killed at least four people, including three children, with gunfire and air strikes in the Gaza Strip, health officials said.
Witnesses said Israeli warplanes fired at least 12 missiles near the Katiba area in the west of Gaza City, an area crowded with displaced families.
At least three people – two children and a woman – were killed and several others wounded in the unusually heavy bombardment, medics said. Two vehicles were hit and reduced to twisted wreckage.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it struck several targets in the Gaza Strip in order to remove threats to Israeli security forces.
In a separate incident, medics said Israeli forces operating east of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza shot dead a girl, Israa Al-Hissi, and wounded two other people.
Israeli military says it struck several targets in Gaza
The Israeli military said it struck several targets in the Gaza Strip, claiming the strikes were aimed at removing threats to its forces.
Tanker hit by three 'unknown projectiles' in Hormuz, maritime agency reports
Three "unknown projectiles" struck a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, a British maritime agency said Tuesday following a fresh flare-up in the US-Iran war.
"A tanker has reported being struck by 3 unknown projectiles whilst completing an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on X early Tuesday.
The incident occurred 17 nautical miles (31 kilometres) east of the Oman city of Khasab, it added.
No casualties or environmental impact were reported, the agency said.
Maritime security company Vanguard Tech later identified the ship as the Liberia-flagged Senegal Prosperity.
"The rockets impacted the vessel's port side, engine room and ballast tank, resulting in a loss of communications," Vanguard said, adding that the crew were safe.
Iran says it has enough foreign currency despite US sanctions
Iran has sufficient foreign currency reserves despite US sanctions, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said, after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Tehran of lashing out because it was losing the economic war.
The central bank was ready to inject up to $2 billion into the foreign exchange market to calm recent volatility, Hemmati said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
“I am telling the President of the United States: Iran has (foreign) currency and it has enough,” he added.
Hemmati said the central bank was continuing to collect foreign currency receivables and had domestic reserves as well as other resources, though he added details of those could not be disclosed.
"I tell the people with complete honesty that economic conditions and livelihood management have become difficult, but collapse has never happened and will never happen. These claims are just psychological warfare and the dust will settle soon," Hemmati said.
Iran’s currency plunged to a record low in August, crossing the threshold of 2 million rials to the US dollar, while annual inflation reached 66 percent in July.
Iran's President Pezeshkian says Tehran will reciprocate if US honours interim deal commitments
Iran will immediately reciprocate if the US returns to its commitments under an interim deal signed in June, President Masoud Pezeshkian said at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek, the Iranian Student News Agency reported.
Strait of Hormuz shipping remains sharply below normal levels
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained subdued on Monday, with around five vessels making the passage compared with a 10-day average of about 14, preliminary tracking data showed. No liquid tankers transited the key waterway, although the figures exclude vessels sailing with their transponders switched off.
Oil prices extend gains as US-Iran tensions flare again
Oil prices extended their gains Tuesday after a fresh exchange of strikes between the United States and Iran raised fears of renewed escalation. Washington struck Iranian rocket launchers on the island of Larak on Sunday, prompting Tehran to target US forces in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. US President Donald Trump vowed the US would respond and “hit them hard", despite his administration’s recent shift toward an economic pressure campaign.
The renewed tensions come after six months of war, with Iran still blocking the Strait of Hormuz and the US maintaining a blockade of Iranian ports. Higher oil prices are adding to inflation concerns and expectations of higher interest rates, weighing on global stock markets. Trump is due to meet US oil refining executives Tuesday as soaring gasoline prices become a political liability ahead of November’s midterm elections.
(the broadcaster with AFP, AP and Reuters)
