the DON JONES INDEX… 

 

 

GAINS POSTED in GREEN

LOSSES POSTED in RED

 

10/2/26...   14,348.99

9/25/26...   14,331.75

9/18/26...   14,316.06

6/27/13...   15,000.00 Original

 

 

 (THE DOW JONES INDEX:  10/2/26... 50,926.56; 9/25/26... 51,349.98; 6/27/13… 15,000.00)

 

LESSON for FRIDAY, OCTOBER SECOND, 2026 – “DONKEYS for DICTATORS!”

 

The Nine Eleven lingers, ever conflated – ever contested even at the quarter centennial last month as the on-again, off-again Mideast war between America and Iran... purported to have ended on several occasions... continues, as does the Israeli campaign against Iranian surrogates who have now extended their jihad to direct attacks against rival Islamic factions in the Gulf, blowing up oil tankers and raising the prices of fuel and the concomitant supply chain expenses for alternately anxious or angry Americans who will be headed to the polls to vote up or down on the Democratic or Republican candidates. 

Presidents Trump of the United States and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel came to the United States to give tributes and level accusations regarding heroes and villains past and present... from the founding of America to the Nine Eleven and October 6th terrorist attacks to the present conflicts with Iran and its surrogates.

President Trump informed the globalists that America is back and “our country is stronger today than ever before. Our economy is the envy of the world. Our military is the most powerful on earth. Our technology is second to none, and we are leading in virtually everything.”

And more.  Happy, happy, happy!  (ATTACHMENT “A”)

But not for migrants escaping their miserable countries... “Nobody comes in unless they're invited, unless they have permission.”

And especially the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. “For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond. They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more. From the first day I entered the political arena, I've been unwavering. I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

He decries the climate change doomscrollers and globalist Artificial Intelligence but says under its new name Super Intelligence (faster than a speeding bullet) whomever wins SI wins.  “That’s the group that wins.”

He thanks friendly countries... not Canada nor cartel-controlled Mexico... and takes credit for ending wars – even Gaza, which some might dispute.  He reads letters from supporters including Venezuelans oppressed by the outlaw dictator Nicolás Maduro, has big plans for Cuba and boasts of his conquest of Greenland, cutting waste and fraud from the UN budget and protesting the persecution of Christians – as opposed to those bad, bad Muslims.

“In America, we just marked the 25th anniversary of the worst terror attack in history, September 11th, which killed 3000 people just a few miles from here. It was an unbelievably terrible time. In two weeks, we will mark the third anniversary of the October 7th attack in Israel where terrorists funded by Iran, tortured, mutilated, and killed 1,200 very innocent civilians, including dozens of Americans and many babies, babies, little, tiny, beautiful babies.” And concludes, blessing God, the future and the United States of America.

 

Prime Minister Netanyahu had a few words of his own for the assembled diplomats and fewer still were diplomatic– denying colonialism in the West Bank and Gaza (pointing a finger at the French and Brits, who “invented the term”) recapitulating the 1967 war, the Entebbe hijacking and rescue (on July 5, 1976 he offers a tip to Trump) and the ten seven terror attack.

“The Hamas terrorists committed the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

“They went house to house, shooting Israeli civilians point-blank. They did so with fiendish glee. With sadistic joy, they live-streamed as they murdered.

“And who did they murder? The very Israelis—their neighbors—who gave them jobs, who picked up Palestinian children at the Gaza border and drove them to Israeli hospitals for cancer treatment, and then brought them back.

“Can you imagine such monstrosity?”

In this battle against the barbarians, Netanyahu says we’ve had no greater partner than President Trump.

“I thank him for his bold leadership. He boldly confronted an enormous danger to America, Israel and the world.

“Decades ago, he understood that if left unchallenged, the fanatic ayatollahs who chant “Death to America! Death to Israel!” would eventually carry out their mad fantasies.

“So Israel and America acted together – not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilization.”

He reserves a special venom for Qatar... massively funding American universities “and toxic media outlets like Al Jazeera...” Turkey, whose Erdoğan is a tyrant who murders Kurds and also hosts the Hamas terror chiefs, for the cowardly Europeans who have chosen to succumb to the antisemitic mobs and vile, vile New York Mayor Mamdani... declaring “you tried to stop me from coming here; you tried to silence me. You can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth.”

He concludes, further with the good news.

Despite your silence, despite your hypocrisy, it’s only a matter of time that in Iran something incredible will happen. The power of the people will overcome the people in power.

I want you to listen to my words carefully: One day, and it may not be far away, the Iranian people will be free. Their murderous regime will be toppled by its lies, by its corruption, by its cruelty.

“This evil regime will fall, and we will all celebrate that day.”

And Jewish values have inspired humanity for millennia.

“The belief in one God.  The sanctity of life.  The rule of law.  Our eternal quest for peace.  Our eternal quest for justice.

“It is these sacred values that propelled us throughout the ages. It is these sacred values that helped us beat the odds of history.”

And he concludes by quoting the Bible... in Hebrew... “netzach Yisrael lo yeshaker, the eternity of Israel will not falter.

“And the reason is simple.

“We have no other choice.”

 

Reactions were not universally positive.  Some critics felt that Trump’s speech was self-serving.  Even more expressed their displeasure with Netanyahu (and, as some suggested, anti-Semitism) by walking out.  Nonetheless, both completed their addresses and then returned to their home addresses and the complications swirling around them – Donnie to the White House, economic malaise and the war with Iran; Bibi back to Tel Aviv and the ongoing war with Iranian surrogates in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

That some here and abroad still believe the score unsettled came forth in a recent survey commissioned by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) entitled “Twenty-Five Years After 9/11: Conspiracy Theories Challenge Historical Fact,” and conducted by JCFA senior researcher Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf and International Freedom Coalition president Dr. Charles Jacobs... finding that over one-quarter of Muslim Americans blame Israel, Zionists in staging a false flag attack for 9/11.

“There has been substantial acceptance of 9/11 conspiracy theories, and many people blame the CIA or Zionists for the terrorist attacks,” the JCFA concluded.  (Jerusalem Post, Sep. 27th, ATTACHMENT ONE)

The Post reported that the survey outlined key takeaways “from an analysis of 416 Muslim American respondents, 429 isolated non-Muslim respondents, and broader generational and partisan cohorts, which included a general population cohort of 513 respondents, among them 24 individuals who identified as Muslim.”

 

 

On the issue of Artificial Intelligence (AI)... or, as President Trump now prefers to call it, “Super Intelligence (SI)... President Donald Trump announced, a fortnite past, that he is creating an “AI Force” perhaps with an eye out to his upcoming meeting with Xi, given the Chinese development of AI/SI at an increasingly frantic pace.

Trump said he is “forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force…” and is appointing a new “AI czar.”  (Gray Media, Sept. 22, ATTACHMENT TWO)

“AI force is the right call,” Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., opined. “Help to steward and place guardrails in this transformative new technology. America must lead and lead we will.”

But critics like Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Legal Director Corynne McSherry have concerns about what the president’s task force might do and, further, with no or weak regulatory force echoed some of the warnings from some industry leaders that a near-future “Terminator” scenario might be in the offing.

But, McSherry said, “...(t)here’s a lot of focus on the killer robots and the apocalypse that’s coming and not enough attention on the sort of real harms that we already know are happening.”

Yahoo (Sep. 22, ATTACHMENT THREE) cited the warnings of UN Secretary General António Guterres to the effects that: "Life-and-death decisions must never be surrendered to machines," kicking off the high-level week of the UN General Assembly in New York as saw vital speeches by President Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu (below).

"Killer robots must have no place in our future," Guterres said – a view opposed by AFP, below)

"The danger is not technology," he clarified. "The danger is technology without accountability."

The conservative Americans for Progress (AFP: 9/22, ATTACHMENT FOUR) reported on President Trump’s latest name change – citing the negative connotations of Artifical Intelligence (AI) which could be eased by switching to Super Intelligence (as in faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive).

Trump stood by his firm opposition to regulating AI, while arguing the word "artificial" undersold the technology and voicing hope the rest of the world would adopt the new term.

Super Intelligence "sounds much better" and "it's much more accurate," he said.

AFP called the rebrand the latest in a series of renamings pursued by the Trump administration, which changed the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" via executive order last year and, in August, renamed Lake Ontario "Lake America" amid a trade dispute with Canada.  (After the AFP article appeared, he also changed the Straits of Hormuz to Straits of America.)

"The United States totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control... artificial intelligence," he said.

"Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception," he added, with a slap at the liberal doomscrollers.

"The very same people who said we'll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming... are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster."

POTUS also promised that oil prices would come back down after the midterms... provided Republicans hold Congress.

Trump expressed confidence that Americans may feel relief at the pump after the midterms.

"Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward. They're going to be tumbling down, and we'll get them down. I think for gasoline we'll get them below $2 a gallon," Trump said.

The war with Iran, which has lasted more than six months, is one factor behind rising gas prices. Trump predicted the conflict will end after the midterms if Republicans are re-elected, claiming Iran "can't hold out any longer."

"They're desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon," Trump (also) said – perhaps citing UN GenSec Guterres (above) saying “Enough is enough!”

 

Enough was the word of the day in Iraq where American troops are finally leaving after two decades of military presence (New York Times, ATTACHMENT SIX), “leaving behind a battered nation.”  There have been no reports as to whether, as with Afghanistan a decade earlier, they are leaving behind billions in scarce and valuable armaments – weaponry President Trump will need to enforce his vision, laid out  last week, of a militaristic US unbound by international rules in a UN speech contrasting starkly with pleas at the world body for cooperation and restraint.  (Yahoo, ATTACHMENT SEVEN)

Trump insisted the United States will not join global regulation of AI and urged countries to abandon the International Criminal Court which was set up to prosecute war crimes.

He also boasted about US control over Venezuelan oil, following the toppling of the government there by US forces, saying "to the victor belong the spoils."

His most jarring statement, however, addressed the nearly seven-month war in Iran. Trump said he had a "big decision" on whether to make a deal or "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly."

Trump's divisive turn at the UN lectern came after the organization's outgoing leader Antonio Guterres raised the alarm on AI and bluntly warned "killer robots must have no place in our future."

 

For his part, Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian said Tehran was willing to dilute its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent “and allow international verification of its nuclear program, while calling for Washington to return to a June memorandum of understanding (MOU).”

In an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier that aired on September 24, Pezeshkian rejected the possibility of Iran seeking a nuclear weapon, saying, "Not at all. Not at all."  (ATTACHMENT EIGHT), citing a religious decree by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against nuclear weapons and saying Iran was ready to "dilute" its enriched uranium and "submit ourselves to verification."

Nicholas Brossman, a professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, editor of Arc Digital, and the author of Drones and Terrorism, opined in Foreign Policy (Sept. 26, ATTACHMENT NINE) that a battered Saudi Arabia faces indifference or worse from the United States.

“Since World War II and especially since the end of the Cold War,” Grossman begins, “the Middle East has rested on a deal: U.S. military dominance provides relative stability, deterring and countering aggression, ensuring freedom of navigation, containing Iran, organizing air defense, and helping friendly governments to stay in power. In exchange, Saudi Arabia and the smaller Gulf Arab states—Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—host U.S. bases, cooperate on counterterrorism, and maintain the smooth flow of oil” (citing the 1990-91 campaign of a U.S.-led coalition preventing Iraq from taking any Saudi oil fields and pushing Iraqi forces out of Kuwait).

Forbes (Sept. 28, ATTACHMENT TEN) agreed that the Saudis faced their “gravest strategic challenge since 1990”, due to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen threatening Red Sea oil routes and escalating missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure, including Yanbu and Riyadh – even threatening Islam’s holiest city, Mecca.

This dire situation has prompted a multinational defensive response with France deploying troops and air defense systems like the Mistral to defend Yanbu against Houthi drones, along with additional radar to enhance Saudi monitoring of its vast airspace. It may even deploy a more advanced SAMP/T, the French acronym for “Surface-to-Air Medium-Range/Land-based,” system to help Riyadh with missile defense.

The UK is providing refueling support via Voyager refueling aircraft on a “purely defensive” mission to span for a “matter of weeks, rather than days.”

Pakistan and Turkey, under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, have pledged further technical and military aid, with Pakistan already having deployed jets and troops. Greece's Patriot system recently intercepted Houthi projectiles.” Athens deployed one of its Patriot missile systems to the kingdom in 2021 and the Greeks “intercepted a ballistic missile and a drone over the Yanbu region on September 24.”

The United States?  Absent without leave, either as a result of other pressing concerns like the Congress awaiting November’s midterms as they take a long, sunny vacation, mixed in with a little campaigning and a lot of fundraising... sometimes speechifying upon issues ranging from the Iranian and cultural wars to inflation at the gaspumps and groceries... to the ongoing protests by Nine Eleven families and survivors holding “forever hate” for the Saudis. The President, meanwhile, has been shuffling between threatening annihilation of Tehran with diplomatic overtures from Steve n’ Jared, fighting a tariff war with Canada, romancing Bad Vlad Putin, panda-ing to China and, it would appear, finally closing in on a deal to absorb Greenland.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman phoned President Donald Trump, urging renewed U.S. airstrikes against the group during their advance. Trump refused.

So, for the Saudis, Forbes has termed September a “tough month,”  Its ally, the embattled but at least somewhat “internationally recognized” Yemeni government, was routed from Yemen’s western Red Sea coast by the Iran-allied Houthis, officially known as Ansarullah, threatening the kingdom’s alternative oil export routes from the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and driving up gas and oil prices already impacting the American supply chain.  “Furthermore, the Houthis have continued drone and missile attacks targeting Saudi energy infrastructure and military bases.”

Islam, like Christianity is sectarian and largely duopolistic.  Mirroring the Catholics and Prods, a rupture in the faith between Shiite Iran and the Sunni gulf states have led to in fighting, not unlike that the donkeys of America are going through in advance of midterms.

 

Reuters, (ATTACHMENT ELEVEN) emphasized the division as the majority of Sunni states have followed the Saudis into joining the war on Iran and Islamic republics outside the MidEast like Pakistan and Turkey have signed up.  The diplomatic pressure has also extended to ​China, Iran's biggest trading partner and a ​key buyer of its oil.

US Ambassador to China David Perdue said on Friday that President Donald Trump had reiterated to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House that any Chinese assistance to Iran would be unacceptable.

"We made it very clear to them weeks ago that any help that they would give Iran, whether ​it be direct or indirect, whether it be intelligence or parts or military equipment, was totally unacceptable," Perdue told CNBC.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran would show “no flexibility over its nuclear programme” even if the United States accepted its proposal.

Which it did not.

 

Forbes differentiated the present from the 1991 Persian Gulf War between Kuwait and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, when 900,000 soldiers were deployed to Saudi Arabia.  Today, the country’s main crude hub, hosting numerous refineries and extraction equipment, is highly vulnerable to Iranian and Houthi drone attacks but is unlikely to face any conventional ground invasion from either Tehran or that group.

Reuters (Sept. 24, ATTACHMENT TWELVE) also addressed meeting between Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani military chiefs “while restrictions on flights to and from Iran widened and a senior Iranian official threatened retaliation.”  Discussions centered upon support for the kingdom under a defence pact signed in August – elucidating that “an attack against one country is considered an attack on all”, justifying intelligence, logistical or ammunition support and “(m)ore advanced military support (that) could also be considered depending on the scale of the threat," Erdogan said in written responses to Newsweek.

Iranian airlines were barred from neighbouring countries including the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Oman (from whence came Wednesday’s suicide stabber aboard ​the FlyDubai) in response to new US “secondary sanctions” on foreign companies that do business with Iranian firms.

Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, accused regional countries of "alignment with America" for blocking flights – threatening more terror.

"If Iran does not have the possibility to fly and receive airport services, then no country in the region will have this possibility either," he said in a social media post.

A more conciliatory (or less faithful jihadist questioning their “death is better than life” premise) proposal from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated that Hormuz would be reopened “if Tehran's conditions were met.”

These included the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iranian ports, releasing Iran's frozen ​funds and waiving its oil sanctions, while Israel would stop its attacks on Lebanon.

Iran said the strait would open on the final day of that process, after weeks of disruption to a key route for global oil and gas shipments.

A U.S. defense official told NewsNation (below) that “approximately 60 commercial vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday,” contradicting the Reuters contention that Iran and its allies “have significantly squeezed oil exports from Saudi Arabia, a US ally.”  (Attachment Twelve, above)

Still, Iran has warned that continued U.S. pressure “could lead to further military escalation, as energy prices climb amid disruptions around both the strait and the Red Sea,” lending credence to the belief that the more sane Iranians are counting on a repudiation of Trump in November, resulting in an end to the war and victory for the Supreme Leader (be he dead or alive).

A senior Iranian official told Reuters a week ago that Tehran “will show no flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the United States accepts its proposal.”

Reuters also reported that Saudi Grand Mufti was telling troops “to be ready to sacrifice their lives fighting Houthis,” – also problematical given the comfortable lives lived by locals while imported (and many say exploited) migrants do the work of the Kingdom.  (Sep. 25, ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN)

"Protecting this great nation... and ​punishing anyone who seeks to lay a hand on even an inch of its territory are among the greatest duties and most virtuous acts of devotion, for which lives and souls may be sacrificed in seeking God's pleasure," said the Mufti, whose charge to martyrdom adds to a growing religiously centered narrative by authorities in the ​conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom aimed at discrediting the Houthis who, like Iranians “follow a different sect of ​Islam.”

State TV has in recent weeks aired footage of an alleged Houthi strike on a mosque in the kingdom's south, and authorities have also accused the Houthis of launching an attack on Mecca, Islam's holiest site.

"It is incumbent upon you, brothers serving on the front lines, to remain constantly ​prepared to perform your duty, to obey the rulers and your field commanders, ​and to carry out orders with the utmost precision, as God Almighty commanded the companions of his Prophet to do," the statement said.

"You are following in ​the footsteps of the Prophet's companions, defending the sacred sites of Muslims.”

 

News Nation’s Tatiana Carter then ventured a guess that Iranian leaders observing the looming possibility of an international armada and wary of the Prophet’s charge to martyrdom might be “distancing” themselves from the Houthis. (Sep. 25 ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN)

“The Houthis are responsible for their own actions,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Fox News, as fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis intensified.

And from the center of the cyclone, Al Jazeera reported that Yemen’s government forces have conducted multiple air and ground operations in the southwestern governorate of Taiz in 24 hours as they intensify attacks against the Iran-backed Houthi group.  (Sunday, ATTACHMENT FIFTEEN)

In recent weeks, the Qatari journal reported, “Houthis have made dramatic territorial gains against the government forces, seizing the strategic Red Sea coastal city of Mocha and expanding their control over the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a global maritime chokepoint connecting Europe to Asia.”

Consequently, as the commander of the US military’s Central Command, Brad Cooper, “met the de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in Jeddah in the wake of the Houthis’ seizure of Mocha, Rashad al-Alimi, the head of the Presidential Leadership Council, has called on citizens “to mobilise and join the fight against the Houthis as the government has stepped up its attacks against the Iran-backed group in an effort to stop their advance and regain lost territory.”

Ibrahim al-Huri, from the University of Saba in Marib governorate, said the Yemeni government’s call for a general “mobilisation” of the population will likely “receive more support in the government-controlled areas, especially in Taiz and Marib, where people have been suffering more,” as opposed to challenges in Houthi-controlled areas “like the fear of retaliation and facing the brutality [of the militia].”

“Government forces say they have made advances in the southern Taiz governorate, taking control of several areas and higher ground. Among them is Jabal Bazel, a mountaintop that places Houthi supply lines within target range,” Al Jazeera’s Maha Ali said on Saturday, reporting from Taiz.

Early on Saturday, a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said its air defence systems intercepted two ballistic missiles and two drones launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh and Khamis Mushait in Saudi Arabia.

A week ago, Iran delivered a ceasefire offer to the U.S., offering to open the Strait of Hormuz if the US fulfils its conditions (above).

 

WHAT’S THE STATE OF HUMANITARIAN CONDITIONS?

At least 146,000 people have been displaced in the Arab region’s most impoverished country over the past three weeks, most of whom were uprooted from or within Taiz governorate, Yemen’s UNICEF country representative, Akhil Iyer told Al Jazeera.

More than 3,000 people fled across the Red Sea to Djibouti over several days earlier this month, Djibouti state media have reported, with the UN warning that the number could rise

UNICEF has verified that at least 15 children have been killed and 14 injured in the conflict since early September, while three have been reported missing.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 22 million people in Yemen require humanitarian assistance and protection services; 18.3 million people face acute food shortages; and 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished.

Al-Huri, from the University of Saba, said millions of Yemenis have been suffering from war and “it’s high time for it to come to an end”.

“According to reports by UN organisations, more than five million Yemenis have left their homes for different places across Yemen, and those people are eager to return home. Their families want to live safely and with dignity,” he told Al Jazeera.

They will have to wait, according to the Times of Israel (Saturday, ATTACHMENT SIXTEEN) and President Trump who declared that he had rejected the proposal.

“They made a proposal, but I rejected it,” Trump told reporters when asked about it outside the White House. “They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” Trump added, before claiming the US has “total control” over the channel.

Citing US officials, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Trump had privately rejected the offer, and had told aides that he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections.

In an all-caps post on his Truth Social platform Saturday, Trump declared that “IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!!!” but an unnamed senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran will show no ​flexibility over its nuclear program even if the United States accepts its peace deal.

Iran would grant no concessions over its rights, including enriching uranium or shipping its highly enriched uranium out of the ​country, the official said.

Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, also told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Tehran’s demands.

The officials said that Trump was reluctant, however, to resume major combat operations, noting that his views could change and could be swayed by the results of the US midterm elections in November.

Trump also posted an image to his Truth Social platform of a map showing the Strait of Hormuz circled and labeled “Trump Strait.”

But Iran has a secret weapon in its war with America, according to Real Clear Investigations... (Sept. 23, ATTACHMENT SEVENTEEN)... and that is China.

Iranian customs data show Chinese entities have made thousands of shipments of components used in drones and missiles despite the Chinese touting their role in abetting the temporary truce over the summer but, on signing day, a plane from China landed in Tehran.  “It carried a shipment for Iran’s Ministry of Defense that included electronics components that can be used to make parts for drones and missile guidance systems.”

Axios (ATTACHMENT EIGHTEEN) reported that Trump had also asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to halt any assistance to Iran when the two spoke during his state visit, U.S. Ambassador to Beijing David Perdue said last Friday.

U.S. officials have been concerned since the start of the war that China is supplying Iran with air defense systems and parts to build drones.

But, according to Chinese state media, Xi urged Trump to de-escalate with Iran by returning to the June memorandum of understanding and reaching a nuclear deal as dozens of oil tankers are transiting the strait each day under U.S. protection, “moving millions of barrels of oil to global markets — still well below pre-war volumes but enough to ease pressure.”

At least, according to Reuters, the Chinese have attempted to keep on the right side of oil-exporting Gulf states by politely asking Tehran to help rein in Yemen's Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group's military blitz in the past week, according to three Iranian sources familiar with ​the matter.

The sources, who were briefed on the discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide details of how the message was delivered or whether it was conveyed during a visit to China ​on Wednesday by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.  (ATTACHMENT NINETEEN)

The sources said Tehran's response was that stability and peace in the region... and, of course, the free flow of China-bound oil tankers... depended on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Chinese purchases accounted for more than 80% of Iran's seaborne oil exports in 2025, averaging about 1.4 million barrels per day, according to commodities data and analytics firm Kpler.  Much of this is paid for by the weaponry which with the Revolutionary Guard continues to prosecute the war.

"Beijing is one of the few capitals that can still ​press Iran to rein in the Houthis," said a senior Western diplomat in the region.

"Iran can disrupt Hormuz. But at some point that leverage begins hurting the very power Tehran increasingly depends on," said Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

Analysts reached by Reuters said that the key test “will be whether China is prepared to attach consequences to its demands. Ultimately, they say, the clearest sign ​of Beijing's resolve would be evidence that it is willing to use its leverage over Tehran.”

Such was on the mind of Iranians, Americans, the Chinese and other oily producers and consumers as President Xi visited the U.S.A. last week.

Previously, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the members of the BRICS grouping to work jointly to bring peace and stability to the Gulf region. While he did not specifically offer to mediate between the US and Iran, many said he insinuated that Beijing “could act as an intermediary,” according to the Arab News of Japan. (September 21, ATTACHMENT TWENTY) which pointed out that China “has been able to shield itself from the conflict. To start with, it has a policy of buying huge amounts of oil when the price is low. Hence, when the conflict erupted and the price skyrocketed, Beijing decreased its imports.”

However, this cannot last forever. At some point, the conflict is going to affect China. “It needs closure and this is probably what has enticed it to take a more active role in efforts to end the war.”

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib opined that “China does not seek to replace the US in the Middle East. It does not want to have military bases across the region. However, it wants to make sure its interests are protected. It wants to make sure the region is stable and there is a secure and steady flow of oil. This is why it has a vested interest in ending the current conflict and preventing it from spreading.”

China, while not exactly friends nor allies to the rest of the world, has found its place as a broker between the Islamic states... the Shiite Iranians and Sunni Gulf nations from Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE to Saudi Arabia itself.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait have proven inconveniences for most of the developed and developing world... anybody who has need of petroleum. “Though Iran is showing defiance,” Dr. Dania wrote, “it is a totally different story when it comes to China. It is difficult for Tehran to butt heads with China because Beijing is its lifeline, especially amid the crisis it is currently facing.”

“While the US and Israel want to see Iran and the Arab Gulf states fighting each other,” she maintains that China wants to see them getting along. “If Iran and the Gulf states are on good terms, it will be more difficult for the war to resume.

“However, the main point of contention between the Gulf and Iran is the latter’s nonstate actors and sleeper cells. Iran has always called its proxies allies and has used them as leverage against countries in the region. Today we see the Houthis attacking Saudi Arabia from the south, while the pro-Iran militias in Iraq attack from the north. China can push the Kingdom and Iran to fully normalize by solving the issue of nonstate actors in the framework of a regional security architecture.”

President Trump knows this, and... despite past antagonisms over Taiwan and tariffs... has rolled out the red, white and blue carpets for the dictator and his entourage.

The Washington Post (Sept. 24, ATTACHMENT TWENTY ONE) previewed the President’s lavish dinner party, even though his Golden Ballrom remains in a state of disrepair.  In the smaller, “more intimate” and more crucial East Room, first lady Melania took responsibility for the feast of friends – acknowledging Xi and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan’s pescatorian predilections.

After traditional toasts with a Schramsberg blanc de noir from California winery as mirrors the sparkling wine President Richard M. Nixon brought to China in his history-making 1972 meeting with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.

The menu for Thursday’s dinner, which is expected to draw a slew of tech titans and business moguls, also leans into the formal French influences seen at many of the previous Trump-era state dinners seasoned with the traditional culinary nods to the guests’ homeland.  In this case, Chinese flavors and ingredients “show up in the form of a drizzle of scallion oil atop the soup course, in the sesame-seed crust of the main dish — a sea bass — as well as in the vegetables served alongside, bok choy and eggplant.”

Dessert, too, “looks to the country associated with haute cuisine, featuring a crémeux, a sweet sauce with a consistency somewhere between a mousse and custard,” similar to the fare offered King Charles III and Queen Camilla in April. “Why mess with a good (creamy) thing?” asked WashPostie Emily Heil.

In Xi’s last White House visit, the Obamas also served a menu that employed American ingredients “with other nods to Chinese cuisine, including a lychee sorbet.”  That was eleven years ago; this year’s menu, according to the White House, is...

First Course

Yellow Squash Velouté

Wild Mushroom Fricassée

Crispy Pancetta

Scallion Oil

The first course offers a refined and silky-smooth velouté made of sweet yellow squash. This course is gently blended to highlight its delicate seasonal flavors of earthy wild mushrooms, sautéed with fresh herbs. Together, these ingredients create a rich fricassee, complemented by crispy pancetta for a savory and smoky contrast. A finishing drizzle of scallion oil adds vibrance and a subtle allium brightness to the dish.

Second Course

Sesame Crusted Sea Bass

Braised Baby Bok Choy

Roasted Garden Eggplant

Sauce Verte

The second course is prepared delicately with fresh sea bass and coated in toasted sesame seeds. This combination creates a fragrant nutty crust while keeping the fish tender. The fish is served with crisp baby bok choy and roasted garden eggplant, creating lightly caramelized flavors. The dish is finished with a vibrant sauce verte of fresh herbs, which add brightness, acidity and a garden character.

Dessert

Vanilla Crémeux & White House Honey Ice Cream

Walnut Frangipane

Sour Cherry Confit

The dessert course is a smooth vanilla crémeux with a vibrant sour cherry confit center, set atop a rich walnut frangipane. The dessert’s fruit shaped form is complemented by a delicate ice cream made with harvested White House honey.

 

There was no peanut butter on the menu, but over 400 comments by the peanuts in the WashPost gallery... some laudatory, many scolding the two politicians for their luxurious repast “particularly in light of economic struggles faced by many Americans.”

“Many commenters are mad that Trump would hold such an event and yet never complained during Dem Administrations,” wrote “Commander” (presumably referencing neither Joe Biden’s dog nor the Washington Football Team) – acknowledging the optics and essences of diplomacy.

CharityB, however complained: “Meanwhile, I am trying to save money on food by emptying my freezer and pantry, while “Midwest Child” lamented: “Dinner last evening was grilled cheese and soup ... and we both work full-time.”

And of course there were many references to the President’s preferential fare in the 461 Washpost comments (as of publication) plus more from Fox (also Sept. 24th, ATTACHMENT TWENTY TWO) calling the Thursday state dinner a far cry from the 47th president's notorious McDonald's order of two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and a large chocolate shake.

"The décor for the evening is an expression of warmth and celebration and draws on the color red’s longstanding cultural significance throughout Chinese history," the First Lady's memo to Fox said, and featured "urns overflowing with red blossoms and tables covered by red linen with dahlias and ranunculus."

“Famous American tenor Christopher Macchio,” featured at the Republican Sidereal Convention in Dallas a few weeks ago, entertained President, Dictator and wives, along with (hint... perhaps... on those sticky Taiwan/tariff issues) military musicians from the Army and the Marine Corps.

Not unlike POTUS, who sometimes dispatches Veep Vance to events as might prove awkward (such as the Nine Eleven anniversary at the WTC), Xi dispatched his Vice... Han Zheng... to the U.N. to scold, however gently, the President’s host about "unilateral military actions" (with or without music) as well as urging “a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue” which, as our sponsor and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell has warned, would be turning the West Bank and Gaza over to Hamas, Hezbollah and other bad actors.  (TRT World, ATTACHMENT TWENTY THREE)

Zheng also called for respecting “the sovereignty and security of Middle Eastern countries, including Gulf states”, for diplomacy, not force to be employed in Ukraine and Cuba and to develop AI policies that help, not hurt or replace, humanity.

 

In a more positive and tangible development, Xi... before leaving...  worked out some of his differences with the Americans, “including tariff reductions on $60 billion of trade, a new AI dialogue, investment board, coal import commitments,” and, of course, the pandas.  (USA Today, Sept. 28, ATTACHMENT TWENTY FOUR)

Although no substantial agreements were reached on the future of A.I., President Trump did notch a victory, of sorts, when Xi “agreed to use Trump's preferred phrase.

"The two countries established the U.S.-China Super Intelligence (SI) Dialogue to exchange views on risks and benefits related to SI," the White House said, adding the next exchange will take place before November.

A new Board of Investment will provide a channel for the two nations to discuss “investment opportunities and roadblocks” as relate to rare earth and other critical minerals and China’s agreement to import "at least" 10 million metric tons of coal from the United States in 2027 and in 2028.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer insisted that the deals would benefit American consumers “as the reductions affect household goods, toys and other products the United States typically does not import from other countries,” and animal and agricultural producers, who will be able to sell more goods to the Chinese.

WHICH CHINESE IMPORTS TO THE US ARE AFFECTED?

The White House released a list of 77 Chinese imports to the United States affected by the tariff reductions, which include several consumer products like small appliances, toys, holiday decorations and children's car seats.

Also impacted are:

·         Fireworks

·         Plates

·         Tableware

·         Curtains

·         High chairs

·         Pillows

·         Playing cards

·         Christmas ornaments

·         Magic tricks

·         Baseballs and other sporting equipment

·         Fishing lines

·         Artists’ brushes

 

WHICH AMERICAN EXPORTS TO CHINA ARE AFFECTED?

The White House also released a list of 1,619 American exports to China that will also be impacted by the tariff reductions. It includes a range of agricultural goods, fish and seafood, logs and wood products, cosmetics and medical devices.

Also affected are:

·         Donkeys (if only, POTUS dreams, we could send them some of our more assier opposition party asses!)

·         Mules

·         Horses

·         Cattle

·         Pigs

·         Tuna

·         Lobsters

·         Butter

·         Buttermilk

·         Eggs

·         Live flowers and plants

·         Select frozen food items

 

Andrew O’Hehir of the liberal Salon termed the deal’s pandering by Trump and panda-ing by Xi a bounty for Beijing – in that “the absolute nothingness of this summit reflect(ed) the fact that China is already winning across the board and Xi needed nothing from Trump beyond the legitimation provided by a diplotainment spectacle “to the highest order of perfection.” (Sept. 28, ATTACHMENT TWENTY FIVE)

O’Hehir cited China scholars Nicholas Bequelin and Yaqiu Wang, whose Foreign Policy analysis published before the summit, concluded that, over the first 19 months of Trump’s second term, the geopolitical balance of power has shifted in Beijing’s favor:

“China has weathered the trade war, narrowed the technology gap, tightened its leverage over critical supply chains, increased pressure on Taiwan, and deepened ties with Russia and much of the global south.”

Not to mention Iran.

Call it Trump Derangement Syndrome if you will, but O’Hehir opined that Xi “can afford to cosplay friendship with Trump because “the West,” or at least its greatest military and economic power, is doing a terrific job of declining all on its own. To borrow the nostrum attributed to Napoleon, the Chinese president is smart enough not to interrupt an opponent while he’s making a mistake.”

Even the climatologists and democracy defenders have to wonder at how Chinese solar panels and batteries, often offered at steeply discounted prices, are revolutionizing transit and energy issues in many poorer countries, beginning to break the expensive and damaging addiction to foreign oil while the U.S. has largely abandoned or dismantled its foreign aid programs aimed at fostering economic development, public health and education, while doing its level best to destroy its own reputation as a multiracial secular republic rooted in the rule of law.

Given that Djonald UnChained was anointed in two, but not three, legitimate popular elections in which, perhaps, “angry, vicious people accidentally elected an angry, vicious president who is pursuing a self-destructive and nihilistic agenda,” O’Hehir concludes that “who can blame people in the Global South for beginning to suspect that the tradeoff between ‘democracy’ and ‘authoritarianism’ was never as straightforward as they were led to believe?”

That may apply not only to the Global South but to the (allegedly) prosperous and liberal West – even some EU and NATO stalwarts like Hungary and, perhaps sooner than later, France, Germany and the U.K.

Daniel Johnson in the Telegraph U.K. lamented that “(w)hat’s left of Britain’s crumbling empire is up for grabs” after the Chagos surrender “signalled to other predators that British overseas territories might be up for grabs, even many thousands of miles away in the South Atlantic.”

“What is left of Britain’s withered empire looks about to fall apart and nationalist vultures are gathering over the UK itself with those running the country willing participants in its dismemberment.”

Johnson says that even their victory in the 1982 Falklands War is under attack from Argentina’s Javier Milei, who calculates that “stirring up revenge fantasies in the Malvinas would boost his flagging popularity.” (ATTACHMENT TWENTY SIX)

Who might be next?  England has lost America and India; their hold over Australia and Canada are tenuous and mostly linguistic and even the British Virgins are at risk. 

And, like Americans, ordinary Britons are being squeezed by inflation, particularly in gas and oil and President Trump promise that a Republican victory in the midterms will halve the prices is playing as poorly in Baltimore as in Blackpool.

 

KCRA (Sacramento, CA – ATTACHMENT TWENTY SEVEN) reported the President’s promise to voters... if, that is, they return Republican majorities to the House and Senate.

"Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward. They're going to be tumbling down, and we'll get them down. I think for gasoline we'll get them below $2 a gallon," Trump said.

"They're desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon," Trump (also) said.

Perhaps the Iranian closure of Hormuz is beginning to fail, even as the Yemenese Houthis take up the slack in the Baab-al-Mandabi.

“Riyadh is exporting 6 million barrels per day in September, the highest level since the Iran war began about seven months ago. The kingdom’s crude shipments have recovered to the monthly average of 2025.”  (CNBC, Sep. 25, ATTACHMENT TWENTY EIGHT)

The Saudis have managed to ramp up exports “even after they closed the critical East-West oil pipeline this month due to damage it sustained in a drone attack launched from Iraq. Shipments in September have surged nearly 80% over the 3.4 million bpd of crude exported in August.”

“The ramp-up from the Mideast Gulf is a consequence of the pipeline outage, but it likely also signals a greater confidence in using the Strait of Hormuz given rising traffic,” said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at the trade intelligence firm Kpler.

President Trump has taken credit for the slowdown (if not exactly reversal, yet) in gas and oil inflation and now blames Ukraine and President Zelenskyy for targeting Russian refineries and reducing the supply – little of which goes to the U.S. but is a critical component of European transit and industry.

The people also applaud the President’s latest ventures and Trump was greeted by a raucous, cheering crowd in Knoxville as he attended the Texas/Tennessee showdown Fox News reported.  (ATTACHMENT TWENTY NINE)

While Longhorn fans in liberal Austin booed Ted Cruz, a very pro-Trump crowd for today's ... SEC ... showdown. “Who would've thunk it?!” the Fox reported.  Forget the approval ratings. If Trump goes to an SEC game, he's gonna be cheered. Heavily.

US Weekly, on the other hand, attended the same game and reported that POTUS “received a not-so-warm welcome” being loudly booed shortly after he was introduced at the highly-anticipated Saturday, September 26, matchup between No. 1 Texas and No. 14 Tennessee.  (ATTACHMENT THIRTY)

Amid rising gas and diesel prices, rising inflation and an increase in the cost of living, the ongoing war in Iran and a historically low approval rating, US Weekly reported Trump had also been loudly booed while appearing at this year’s 2026 World Cup Final.

He watched the match — where defending champs Argentina faced off against Spain — beside Melania and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. (Spain emerged victorious, winning 1-0.) Trump was also met by a loud chorus of boos while appearing at Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (The Knicks lost 115-111, with many critics blaming the president’s appearance for the New York team’s only loss of the championship series.)

(Perhaps the hometowners were angered, Knox News reported, that Tennessee football did not use Dolly Parton's "My Tennessee Mountain Home" as its fourth quarter song during the No. 17 Vols' 20-17 loss to No. 1 Texas at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 26... blaming either Dolly’s dismissal or, like the Knicks fans, the President.)

There were more unhappy grimaces... if not audible booing... from some Republican senators watching Trump entertain President Xi “after China helped Iran” (The Hill, Sep. 25, ATTACHMENT TWENTY NINE) and hearing Trump’s announcement this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been invited to the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Miami in December.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the 21-gun salute and B-1 bomber flyover that greeted Xi’s arrival were “over the top.”

Sen.  John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he wasn’t happy to see Trump lavish Xi with honors given escalating tensions between the U.S. and China over the war in Iran, Taiwan’s independence and the artificial intelligence race.

Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it’s “pretty clear” that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea have formed an “axis” alliance opposing the U.S.

While the Republicans were grousing, the President was discussing an Iranian “seven-day plan” to reopen Hormez for certain concessions and warning Xi to cut off support for Iran, which US Ambassador David Perdue said they had agreed to do.  (Straits Times, ATTACHMENT THIRTY)

“Iran has conveyed to the United States through Qatar a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, a normal maritime passage restored within seven days. The choice now rests with the United States,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters at the United Nations on Sept 25.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “We are having positive and constructive discussions through the mediators, and we continue to discuss the nuclear issues.”

But a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran “will show no ​flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the US accepts its peace deal.

“Iran would grant no concessions over its rights, including ​enriching uranium or shipping its ​highly enriched uranium out of the country,” the official said.

 

WARNING TO CHINA

The US warning to China came amid reports that China had supplied Iran with shoulder-fired ​air-defence missile launchers and that Tehran had found ways to evade sanctions on its oil sales with Chinese ​help.

Ambassador Perdue, Trump’s ambassador to Beijing, said in a CNBC interview that Trump reiterated to Xi that direct or indirect support for Iran was “totally unacceptable”.

Asked separately on Fox News if that meant China would stop ​assisting Iran, Perdue said: “They assured us yesterday they’re not doing that.”

With the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government under assault from Iran-linked Houthi fighters, and Houthi missiles striking inside Saudi Arabia, allies of the kingdom have united to show support.

Defence officials of Turkey and Pakistan, both partners in a joint defence pact with Saudi Arabia, met in Riyadh on Sept 25 to review the security situation and discuss intelligence cooperation.

And Reuters reported that “the violence in Yemen has prompted a new humanitarian crisis,” the United Nations children’s agency said on Sept 25, reporting a rise in acute malnutrition among children.

The liberal GUK reported that, despite his rejection of the Iranian peace proposal he “expected talks to resume soon.”  (ATTACHMENT THIRTY ONE) Responsibility would devolve, again, to Jared and Witkoff as House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda, “with investigations of Trump, his family and his administration if the party sweeps control of the chamber from Republicans in the November elections.”

Which means no $5,000 bonus!

 

As the diplomats and donkeys gathered and Congressional Republicans enjoyed their paid vacations (some worried that it might be their last) President Trump decamped to Knoxville to watch the Texas-Tennessee football showdown.  Fox News (ATTACHMENT THIRTY TWO) reported that the crowd loved him; US Weekly that they hated and booed him.  (ATTACHMENT THIRTY THREE) and brought back from down the yellow bickering road some past instances of POTUS cold receptions at the 2026 World Cup Final and Game Three of the NBA finals (with New Yorkers blaming him for their loss to San Antonio).

(Knox News reported that Tennessee football did not use Dolly Parton's "My Tennessee Mountain Home" as its fourth quarter song during the No. 17 Vols' 20-17 loss to No. 1 Texas at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 26.  Time (ATTACHMENT THIRTY FOUR) wrote that what Dolly said in her last interview “should terrify us” – that being the disastrous consequences of the gumment hostility towards caregiving and caregivers.

“When Blue Cross Blue Shield went into its own claims database and identified 6.7 million members who were caregivers, it found that caregivers had 26% poorer overall health than a matched benchmark. They were 64% more likely to have high blood pressure, 37% more likely to have major depression, and 34% more likely to have anxiety. Among Millennials, the so-called “sandwich generation” raising their children while managing an aging parent’s illness, the rates of hypertension ran 82% higher and hospitalizations ran 59% higher. The health care system can already see clearly what caregiving does to someone’s own health. It simply has not adjusted the way it responds to help caregivers.”

Now is the critical time to talk about caregiving, before it totally breaks our society,” Time’s Neal K. Shah wrote.  “Parton’s death can be the wake-up call to change the societal narrative and bring about much-needed changes to support caregivers.”

Trump has had little to no interest in caregiving, in healthcare as a whole, on AI and on a world peace beyond the whirled peas not served at the White House

“Trump had the chance to address U.S.-China AI safety. He threw Xi a party instead,” penned Jeffrey Prescott of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  (Wednesday, ATTACHMENT THIRTY FIVE)

With China and the United States racing for global tech superiority, nothing is more important than to keep AI systems under human control, with guardrails to ensure safety. Some kind of U.S.-China understanding, even in parallel, could reduce the risk.

Sadly, Prescott reported, “that was not Trump’s agenda. On September 22, speaking before the United Nations General Assembly (See Attachment “A”), the president rejected efforts to regulate AI, comparing concerns about AI safety to his other favorite “hoaxes,” including climate change and election interference. “The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control” AI, Trump concluded, adding that “we’re going to encourage it, not rein it in.”

Team Trump did announce a new hotline between the United States and China which may be no more than an arrangement between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s vice premier “to pick up their phones in a crisis—the diplomatic equivalent of keeping DMs open” — or a more formal effort that, according to WIRED, lacks either approval by Trump or “explicit sign-on from China, which has been noncommittal.”

Citing recent incidents of “rogue” AI (including an arrangement between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s vice premier to pick up their phones in a crisis—the diplomatic equivalent of keeping DMs open—“or a more formal effort that, according to WIRED, lacks either approval by Trump” or an “explicit sign-on from China, which has been noncommittal.”

Trump’s decision to dismantle the Biden-era framework immediately upon taking office, flawed as it had been, “along with his rhetoric this week doubling down on that approach, now looks like something even industry itself—and indeed the world—would like to see reversed.”

So, said the Fox, the “real winner” over the past week of summits, sea bass and donkeys, was Xi.

"The summit went great — for Xi Jinping," Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.  (ATTACHMENT THIRTY SIX)

Trump, however, is betting “that a warmer relationship with Xi can produce results despite those enduring disputes. The question is how much Beijing's behavior has actually changed — and what Washington is willing to live with in pursuit of a more stable relationship.”

Kennedy explained that "the U.S. got a few small things — agreement to lower tariffs on $60B worth of goods, some purchases of specific items (such as agricultural and coal), the standing up of an AI dialogue, and alignment on major goals with regard to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz."

There also has been progress in arresting the spread of fentanyl as China arrested 21 drug dealers

"But Xi came away the winner because the current commercial ceasefire works mainly to Beijing’s advantage," he added. "It gives them time to continue unabated their drive for tech self-reliance, narrow the lead in various sectors, including AI, and maintain an imbalanced commercial relationship with its trading partners."

Foreign military affairs remain complicated.  "My sense is that Taiwan is nervous," said Gordon Chang, a China analyst and author who has long advocated a harder line toward Beijing, and David Perdue said Trump warned Xi against Chinese intelligence, components or military assistance reaching Tehran amid the war with Iran whereupon Beijing subsequently took action, saying, "They pulled some things down."

Perdue did not publicly specify what China curtailed.

The conservative Hudson Institute colluded with the Washington Times to upload an “iron reality”: the United States and communist China remain formidable strategic adversaries because their visions of world order remain fundamentally incompatible.

At Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, two B-1B bombers roared overhead as the national anthem played during Mr. Xi’s arrival ceremony. The next day at the White House, a B-2 Spirit — the same type of strategic bomber employed against Iran’s nuclear facilities — flew over, accompanied by four F-22 Raptors. Nearly 480 American military personnel participated in the welcome ceremony.

It was hospitality, certainly — but hospitality staged against an unmistakable backdrop of American military, economic and technological power.  (Monday, ATTACHMENT THIRTY SEVEN)

The cultural symbolism was equally remarkable.

The state dinner included music from “Les Miserables,” whose revolutionary anthem “Do You Hear the People Sing?” became the street anthem of Hong Kong’s 2019-2020 protest movement and also featured “The Moon Represents My Heart,” immortalized by Taiwan’s Teresa Teng.

Teng, explained Hudsonite Miles Yu, was far more than a pop singer. Her music, once condemned as “spiritual pollution” in communist China, was broadcast from Taiwan toward the mainland and became a Cold War cultural symbol of a Chinese world beyond Beijing’s rule. Teng rejected invitations to perform in communist China and publicly supported the 1989 Tiananmen protesters.

“Few musical choices could have carried more historical irony at a White House dinner honoring the CCP’s supreme leader.”

There was another important message that week, and it was directed toward Japan.

While U.S.-China relations provided the diplomatic theater, Mr. Trump conspicuously reinforced America’s treaty alliance with Tokyo. “Two days before meeting Mr. Xi, the American president held a highly visible meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the United Nations. They discussed China, cooperation on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and critical minerals, deterrence, the Quad and a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The lavish dinner honoring Xi was grist for the late nite comedians (GUK, ATTACHMENT THIRTY EIGHT) with Jon Stewart saying: There was another important message that week, and it was directed toward Japan.

While U.S.-China relations provided the diplomatic theater, Mr. Trump conspicuously reinforced America’s treaty alliance with Tokyo. Two days before meeting Mr. Xi, the American president held a highly visible meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the United Nations. They discussed China, cooperation on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and critical minerals, deterrence, the Quad and a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Seth Meyers compared the meal to the first scene “in a horror movie that takes place in an antique store.

“Also, isn’t this bullshit ballroom of yours supposed to include a bunch of top secret military facilities,” he said, so if it does, “maybe don’t do the tour with the heads of foreign governments?” he added.

Jimmy Kimmel said the dinner guests included “(a)ll the famous people who weren’t invited to Taylor Swift’s wedding were there.

“Trump says he and President Xi have never gotten along better, and they do seem to be quite close,” he added before showing a clip of Trump clasping hands with Xi while ascending the stairs to the White House.

Later in the show, Kimmel hosted “the president’s other man crush”, the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani who has been accused of having a “friendly relationship” with the President.

“Sorry brother,” Mamdani replied. “The president and I have many disagreements. One thing we do agree on is this city, how much we love this city, so from that first meeting in November of last year, I was just thinking of how we can make this meeting not about us, but about New Yorkers. How can we spend that time talking about the things that can make life in the city a little bit easier.”

And today, an AI Overview of Trump’s egotistic commercials (paid for by the American taxpayers, angering donkeys and several traitorous elephants) include remarks on his “Love Me!” blubbering and a reconstituted replay from the 2024 campaign in which a snarling, fat politician walks through an unknown corridor.

“This is the final battle with you at my side,” then candidate Trump declaimed. “We will demolish the deep state, expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media, and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.”

 

 

IN the NEWS: SEPTEMBER 25TH to OCTOBER 1ST, 2026

 

Friday, September 25, 2026

 Dow:  51,828.62

It’s Nine Two Five, Dolly Parton day.  She cheated death long enough to meet with U2 and Bono and cut another song on the “Carnival de Luz” album.

   In New York and Washington, President Trump has visited the UN, made a hostile speech, and then welcomed his new BFF, China’s Xi Ji Ping, to America.  Admitting that the 250th is a big deal, he takes note of China’s 6,000 year history as he shows off Yankee treasurers like the original Constitution or Declaration of Independent, things like that – he should, perhaps, have given the dictator a few Dolly albums instead of a bust of a bald eagle while Xi donated two more pandas... these headed for the Atlanta Zoo.

   Pandering partisans defend the President’s decision to ban CNN, MSNOW and Politico from his press conferences (which leads many of their center-right, center, center-left and far-left media competitors to boycott the lavish dinner he throws for the dictator  - (see attachments 21 and 22).

   Mother Nature, however, opens up her skies in a tribute, of sorts, with flooding in New Mexico and what the weatherpeople predict to be a “churning” Nor’easter in the Northeast... duh!... over the weekend as soon as Xi goes back to China.  The big island of Hawaii catches a break as powerful Hurricane Nolo veers south but, coming in tandem with Odalys and Polo and in the wake of Lala, it’ll be a bad year for the pineapples. 

   The heating up is inflation as the Mideast wars close Hormuz and, now, Bab-al-Mamdabi (sort of) – with gas starting the week at 4.49/gal. and diesel up to $6.50.  Heating oil prices are expected if polarization (hot summar, polar winters) bring a costly and perhaps early deep freeze to states like Maine – where heating oil is expected to be up 80% amidst one of America’s hotly contested midterms.

 

Saturday, September 26, 2026

Dow:  Closed

Weatherpeople upgrade the Nor’Easter to “massive” as it crawls up the coast from the Carolinas to Gotham – the surf is up, but dangerous, on the Jersey shore with 74 mph hour winds, that shut airports as roads flood, falling trees killing a New York public housing worker and leaving 100,000 Rhode Islanders powerless.

   Xi misses this and, while President Trump calls his meeting a howling success, the Communist media say that nothing substantial emerged except better relations, in and of themselves a positive development.  Not positive is Israeli PM Bibi’s angry UN speech, causing “massive” walkouts (see his and Trump’s rants as Attachments “A” and “B”).  He hints at a deal with Iran (which Iran denies) and then heads south to attend the Texas-Tennessee game in Knoxville (but opts to skip a visit to Dollywood).  He also proposes renaming the Straits of Hormuz the Straits of Trump – drawing barrages of missiles and drones in response.

   Techsters are engrossed in feuding over AI “guardrails” – “if”, “how many” and “who pays” – as well as increasingly unpopular data centers as cause Republicans to call for slowdowns... not showdowns...  at least until after the midterms.  Rogue AI bots hack gumment agencies; Bill Gates warns it’ll kill a billion people.

   Then again, Pope Leo visits rebuilding Notre Dame and holds weekend masses in Paris (600,000 attend) and then the smaller (180,000) but holier Lourdes.  Miracles are promised.

 

Sunday, September 27, 2026

 Dow:  Closed

Northeasterners cry out for miracle ending of their Nor’easter while, across the country, Hawaii faes not only storms, Nolo winds and flooding but something the Guv’nor calls tephra “volcanic rain” as Kilauea seems to be plotting to erupt and join the carnival of desolation and destruction already present.

   It’s Talkshow Sunday – and the desolation and destruction are also on display.

   On the ABC roundup, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az... and the DJI’s choice for donkey nominee in 2028) says that, for midterms, Americans are more angry over inflation, war and tariffs than what Dems are calling the distractions of the culture wars.  He wants a new administration of “professionals” to deal with Iran instead of Jared and his golfing buddy Witkoff; waffles on AI saying that we need “guardrails” but cannot afford to let China to get ahead of us.  “Make AI work for Americans,” he says.

   AyGee Todd Blanche agrees, saying it is vital that the U.S. leads the world on AI so as not to fall behind China, adding: “We have the tools to go after criminals and bad actors on AI.”  On the President’s banning of three mediums, he says that “it is a privilege for the press to be allowed into the White House” as well as Air Force One and insists that negative press hurts national security.

   The roundtablers tackle midterms: RINO Chris Christie says Trump’s unpopularity among independents is causing some Republicans to back off; the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser says that Dems want Trump to be the issue.  Liberal Donna Brazile says asses will be competitive in red states like Kansas, Iowa and Montana while conservative Ramesh Ponneru even admits that POTUS is going out of the way to create soundbites that show he “just doesn’t care.”  Christie says that Republicans hope a spending advantage will save their majority; Brazile says you have the money, but we have but we have “a lot of muscle.”  Ponneru says voters want the focus to be on “bread and butter issues” but Glasser says Trump promotes a “personality cult”.

    “Face the Nation” interviews Iranian President Masoud Pezeskian who accuses America of violating international law and must stop “attempts to overthrow our nation.”  Sen John Kennedy (R-La) is not “Bambi’s little brother” and will lead a Red Wave in November by opposing “spending porn”.  Jim Hims (D-Ct) predicts the House and, maybe, Senate will flip and Trump will cry fraud while News Nation predicts an Iranian attack in order to “foul up the midterms” and ensure Democratic victories.

 

Monday, September 28, 2026

 Dow:  51,481.51

A full Harvest Moon lifts tides already dangerous on both coasts – Pacific flooding caused by Hurricane Polo from Baja north to California. Atlantic surf washes away the iconic beaches of the Jersey Shore.  And in Nepal, more landslides kill more people/

   Also abroad, five presumed terrorists are arrested for trying to blow up American bases – SecState Marco blames “foreign actors”, British police blames an “unnamed power.”  As Iran says it is preparing to fight a “doomsday war”, a kind English judge lets the five malcontents post bail, enraging Trump who says they had been “looking to do big damage.”

   The actual damage is being done by “rogue” cyberhacking group Shiny Hunters (believed to be more foreign bad actors) who are stealing personal data from gumment employees.  The FBI (itself compromised) warns that they will extort money by threatening to reveal evil details.

   President Raymond King of Zoo Atlanta lauds the 25 years of collaborating with China as the gift pandas complete their 8,000 mile journey and will go into medical quarantine for a month until pronounced healthy and fit for the public.  Observers say that Ping Ping (the male) likes apples, female Fu Shuang likes honey.

 

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

 Dow:  51,349.92

It’s National Coffee Day.

   Drink up and worry if President Trump will be selling arms to China in a dispute with Ambassador David Perdue... confusing the ChiComs with Taiwan.  He will also roll out America.gov website with information and propaganda as his taxpayer funded commercials blanket the airwaves and then lowers fuel efficiency standards and bans Canadian alcohol, dairy and motorcycles. 

   The wild weather continues with a perhaps win for Colorado which gets its first rain in three years, but New Mexico, below, gets too much.  Flash floods batter Phoenix and Vegas with storms up to Kansas and hundred degree hat from Burbank to Bakersfield.  Eastwards, easterners say “the beaches at Atlantic City are just gone,” but a drying out process begins as the Nor’easter moves away northeast.

   Nvidia’s latest app is touted as a means of “controlling” rogue AI while Open AI delays its new apps out of the usual “abundance of caution.”  President Trump says tech will police itself without guardrails as Bill Gates and Amodei warn of human extinction; Djonald DisRegulated say it’s all a hoax, engineered to help the Democrats through the midterms and beyond; besides, he’s banking on the better Supreme Intelligence (SI) which is, well, Superior!

   Citing inflation, the Wall Street Journal pollsters say that the President’s popularity is down to 36%, tying George W. Bush for worst in 2006.

 

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Dow:  51,001.43

President Trump elicits promises from techsters that AI will self police.  Asked if their deal is binding, he says “morally binding” even as critics say it will “drive events that would cause a billion deaths” and one Aalud Mfer says it will leave power in the hands of the corporations.  So what!  AI may well do that but it is a hoax – SI is not, and it will bring us a Golden Age, so POTUS goes back to his Golden Ballroom, to diverting money from DHS to his ego commercials on the roob toob (see Attachment Thirty Nine) and campaigning for his midterm bros.

   On that, gambling site Kalshi says donkeys have a 62-38% chance of flipping the Senate including a likely upset in deep red Texas.  Another poll says 79% of Americans prefer safety to advancement, another says consumer confidence is the lowest since 2014.

 

   America finally pulls its last troops out of the Erbil base in Iraq, to be deployed elsewhere except for all of the Generals and Admirals that SecWar Hegseth is purging (below).  The Pentagon calls the twelve year Operation Inherent Resolve successful.  On to Greenland!... and then, if they don’t behave, Canada... while heroic passengers and a heroic stabbed pilot overwhelm a sneaky terrorist co-pilot from Oman – foiled in his ploy to crash a plane from Dubai to Israel with 150 aboard, four Americans.  Investigators begin pondering whether he was a jihadist or a nut – but the answer has to be both.

 

Thursday, October 1, 2026

 Dow:  50,926.56

   Breast Cancer awareness month begins and 20% pest cancel of useless overpaid military brass continues; WarSec Hegseth promising to rid the military of “fatties, weirdos, beardos, trannies, wimps” and done-but-not-voiced dark people and women.  Those who remain will have to take testosterone supplements to make them more angry and ready to kill... whomever... as Petie Pie commissions a Project Meridian tribunal consisting of the inevitable Elon Musk, Newt Gingrich (yes, still alive) and someone named Palmer Luckey.  Meanwhile, Ukraine is testing humanoid robots on the battlefield against increasingly gloomy conscripted Russians, even as President Trump now sides with Bad Vlad Putin against Zelenskyy.  (The Chinese just sip tea and wait, watching Americans watch their pandas while the Kristi gnomes and MWAAHAA munchers in Mulanistan make plans to devour those incoming donkeys.

   The other Kristi (Pike, not Gnome) is put to death in Tennessee... not... the executioners botching their injectable doom due to “difficult vein access” and raising an outcry and even sympathy for the woman who killed a romantic rival.  The Governor halts all executions for the rest of the year, even Christmas!

   The Agg and money gumment people celebrate the end of summer by cutting “fraud-ridden” SNAP food benefits for America’s 37M poorest – five million thrown out entirely, including a million children as the Senate kills a bill banning Congress from insider stock market speculation as the weird weather week ends as it began – only different tribulations in different places... flooding in Texas, tornadoes in Kansas and Hawaiian hurricanes.

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Wednesday's session lagging other major stock indexes, as cooler-than-expected inflation data lifted at least some of the market. Micron Technology (MU) came into focus ahead of earnings reported after the close, while medical stock Liquidia (LQDA) took a bludgeoning on the stock market today over a patent dispute.

All session long, the Dow twisted and turned around the break-even level before eventually dropping nearly 0.9% to end at 50,906. 

 

 

 

THE DON JONES INDEX

CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000

(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)

Gains in indices as improved are noted in GREEN.  Negative/harmful indices in RED as are their designation.  (Note – some of the indices where the total went up created a realm where their value went down... and vice versa.) See a further explanation of categories HERE

ECONOMIC INDICES         (60%)                                        THE WEEK’S CLOSING STATS...

 

 

 

 

 

CATEGORY

VALUE

BASE

LAST

CHANGE

NEXT

VALUE (ORIG.)**

CHANGE (to JAN –  JUNE 2026) from 100%

JULY 17

Reconfigured

SEP. 18th

LAST WEEK

THIS WEEK

OUR SOURCES and COMMENTS

 

INCOME

(24%)

  6/17/13*

% UP –  DOWN

 

 

 

Wages (hrly. Per cap)

9%

1350

9/18/26

  +0.346%

10/26

1,909.78

  70.89%

  1,353.92

  1,353.92

  1,357.88

  1,357.88

  1,357.88

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/average-hourly-earnings   37.62 37.75

 

Median Inc. (yearly)

4%

600

9/18/26

  +0.056%

10/9/26

1,474.31

40.75%

600.80

601.46

603.10

603.43

603.77

http://www.usdebtclock.org/   68,273 316 353 391

 

Unempl. (BLS – in mi)

4%

600

9/18/26

  +2.44%

10/26

555.52

 

614.28

614.28

629.26

629.26

629.26

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000/    4.1 nc

 

Official (DC – in mi)

2%

300

9/18/26

  +1.97%

10/9/26

216.73

 

299.92

309.27

318.99

319.27

312.98

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    6,881 873 867 7,005

 

Unofficl. (DC – in mi)

2%

300

9/18/26

   -6.29%

10/9/26

259.80

 

299.62

284.26

283.82

283.78

301.63

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    14,041 042 043 13,212

 

Workforce Participation

   Number

   Percent

2%

300

9/18/26

 +0.405%

 +0.075%

10/9/26

295.81

 

299.98

298.74

297.73

297.66

297.88

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    In 162,083 062 043 2,700 Out 106,465 526 580 813 Total: 268,548 588 623 583 9,513

60.355 338 323 368

 

WP %  (ycharts)*

1%

150

9/18/26

 -0.163%

10/26

149.25

 

149.27

149.27

149.03

149.03

149.03

https://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate  61.40

 

OUTGO

(15%)

 

 

 

Total Inflation

7%

1050

9/18/26

 +0.4%

8/26

901.77

 

1050

1052.10

 1046.85

 1046.85

 1046.85

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm      +.1 .4

 

Food

2%

300

9/18/26

 +0.1%

8/26

257.37

 

300

299.40

 298.89

 298.89

 298.89

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm      +.1 .1

 

Gasoline

2%

300

9/18/26

 +3.9%

8/26

181.96

 

300

320.10

 316.53

 316.53

 316.53

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm      -2.9 +3.9

 

Medical Costs

2%

300

9/18/26

  -0.2%

8/26

267.14

 

300

300.30

 299.10

 299.10

 299.10

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm      +0.6 -0.2

 

Shelter

2%

300

9/18/26

 +0.3%

8/26

238.38

 

300

299.70

 298.50

 298.50

 298.50

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm      +0.1 .3

 

WEALTH

    (6%)

 

 

 

Dow Jones Index

2%

300

9/18/26

 -0.75%

10/9/26

400.18

 

299.80

295.37

296.71

294.54

292.64

https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/index/   53,686.11 52,064.10 51,682.64  51,349.98  50,926.56

 

Home (Sales)

(Valuation)

1%

1%

150

150

9/18/26

 -1.97%

 -0.53%

10/9/26

137.08

 

155.60

154.17

152.61

158.23

147.42

150.88

147.42

150.88

147.42

150.88

https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics 

Sales (M):  4.06 3.98 Valuations (K):  431.4 429.1

 

Millionaires  (New Cat,)

1%

150

9/18/26

+0.057%

10/9/26

137.72

 

150.15

150.32

159.95

160.04

160.13

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    24,439 454 468 482

 

Paupers (New Category)

1%

150

9/18/26

 -0.049%

10/9/26

134.69

 

149.92

149.82

145.44

145.40

145.47

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    37,058 072 083 065

 

GOVERNMENT

(10%)

 

 

Revenue (trilns.)

2%

300

9/18/26

+0.143%

10/9/26

485.69

 

300.85

301.77

302.96

303.34

303.77

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    5,592 601 608 616

 

Expenditures (tr.)

2%

300

9/18/26

+0.108%

10/9/26

287.16

 

299.59

298.86

291.91

291.63

291.32

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    7,414 423 432 440

 

National Debt (tr.)

3%

450

9/18/26

+0.075%

10/9/26

344.44

 

448.90

446.23

440.22

439.90

439.57

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    40,111 144 173 203

 

Aggregate Debt (tr.)

3%

450

9/18/26

+0.165%

10/9/26

352.67

 

448.15

445.20

439.89

438.98

438.25

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    114,801 5,073 311 502

 

TRADE

(5%)

 

 

Foreign Debt (tr.)

2%

300

9/18/26

+2.909%

10/9/26

  252.18

 

295.57

293.90

293.04

292.83

301.35

http://www.usdebtclock.org/    9,609 616 623 351

 

Exports (in billions)

1%

150

9/18/26

 -1.27%

 8/26

    197.73

 

145.70

145.70

139.19

139.19

139.19

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html  314.7 310.7

 

Imports (in billions))

1%

150

9/18/26

 -2.83%

 8/26

    130.49

 

145.32

145.32

146.56

146.56

146.56

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html  388.0 399.3

 

Trade Surplus/Deficit (blns.)

1%

150

9/18/26

-17.27%

 8/26

    182.61

 

108.06

108.06

100.20

100.20

100.20

https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html    73.3  88.6

 

 

SOCIAL INDICES 

(40%)

 

Events of the Week

 

ACTS of MAN

(15%)

 

 

World Affairs

3%

450

9/18/26

   +0.1%

10/9/26

466.24

 

448.20

448.65

444.17

443.83

444.27

Pope Leo promises to fight pervy clergy, holds masses at rebuilding Notre Dame and Lourdes which “rekindles our flame of faith” – warns that AI causes us to “lose our humanity” and calls White Sox “great”.  Dutch police arrest a US gumment hacker, king of Morocco appoints the country’s first female prime minister.

 

War and terrorism

2%

300

9/18/26

   -0.1%

10/9/26

280.07

 

298.80

298.22

294.95

294.36

294.07

Putin escalates by bombing more Ukrainian civilian targets.  Iran talks collapse, death toll in Gaza reaches 74,000.  Mass shootings in South Africa kill 11, then 17 more.  ICE shoots a man in Texas, SCOTUS greenlights deportations to “third countries”.  TSA orders all agents to stand all day for optics, unions threaten strike.

 

Politics

3%

450

9/18/26

     -0.1%

10/9/26

450.15

 

448.20

447.75

444.18

444.18

443.74

As midterms near, Rachel Maddow calls Trump authoritarian while Congress investigates Jack Smith for investigating Trump.  In Jersey, Lt. Gov. Caldwell resigns for sex crimes.  Trump/Xi tariff deal will include fireworks and donkeys – see full list as Attachment 24.  US cattlemen say ICE raids and importing foreign beef will drive many out of business.

 

Economics

3%

450

9/18/26

  -0.1%

10/9/26

426.64

 

450.00

449.55

445.07

444.18

443.74

The week begins with gas prices up to $4.47/gal., oil to $107/barrel and air fares up 20 to 30%.  At the grocers’ Pepsi is raising prices but Aldi is cutting them.  Farmers hit with double whammy of fuel and fertilizer costs.  WalMart and Amazon increase drone deliveries as neighbors protest noise. World economic ministers meet in Milwaukee ahead of G20 summit scheduled for December at President Donald Trump's golf club in Miami.  SecTreas begins enrolling kids in “Trump Accounts” as critics say “show us the money!” 

 

Crime

1%

150

9/18/26

  -0.2%

10/9/26

201.34

 

149.55

149.40

148.50

148.35

148.05

Father attacks son’s killer in court and is himself arrested.  School shootings include an 18 year old blowing away a New Mexico teacher, two more in Houston and Kratom OD sparks arrests at Ole Miss.  77 year old couple shoot disobedient son in law, clever monster removes window air conditioner to crawl into house and rape 10 year old.  Two manhole mysterians arrested in Queens, NY say people throw gold down into sewers!  Football spy arrested for “theft of trade secrets”. 

 

ACTS of GOD

6%

 

 

 

Environment/Weather

3%

450

9/18/26

   -0.1%

10/9/26

275.85

 

447.30

446.85

  442.84

  442.40

  441.96

More Nepalese landslides blamed on climate change.  Mandatory drills for hours in 112° Arizona heat result in students collapsing in comas.  Summer crawls on, climate changers rage impotently and storms come and go.

 

Disasters

3%

450

9/18/26

  +0.3%

10/9/26

463.08

 

450.00

449.55

  449.55

  450.45

  451.80

Skydivers rescue passengers of plane that crashed in Wisconsin corn field.  Medical transport plane crashes off Santa Catalina – 2 dead, 2 rescued, the patient still missing.  Heroic passengers rise in hijacked plane and children’s bus.  Six Flags shuts down 12 killer roller coasters as caused 100 brain injuries and at least two deaths.  Hospital in Ohio amputates the wrong leg.  Construction crane falls over and crashes into home; substitute crane brought in falls over too!

 

LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX

15%

 

 

Science, Tech, Education

4%

600

9/18/26

  -0.1%

10/9/26

617.97

 

600.00

600.00

598.20

598.20

597.60

Google to test AI chips – In Space!  Space X Starship launches 23 satellites into orbit, then return to Earth and blows up – scientists say it was planned.  Opposition to data centers draw celebrities. After more 737 glitches, critics say Boeing suffers from “a bouquet of blunders”.  School year begins; private academy Alfa replaces teachers with robots and children’s test scores rise while Alabama votes on new laws requiring students to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and partisan religious recitations to start the school day.

 

Equality (econ/social)

     4%

600

9/18/26

   -0.1%

10/9/26

675.06

 

603.00

603.00

 600.61

 600.61

 600.01

Twenty-year-old gymnast Hengameh Hadiani becomes first Iranian woman to compete at the Asian Games since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.  Stanford promotion ad replaces Latino male with black female to claim diversity.  Superbowl 2/14/27 reveals theme song: “Blitzkrieg Bop”.  Hitler smiles.

 

Health

4%

600

9/18/26

     +0.1%

10/9/26

440.46

 

595.06

595.06

 593.84

 592.64

 593.23

New cures include Gallen blood test for cancer and new weight loss drug from Lilly.  New disease?  Cychlorphine ten times stronger than fentanyl creating ODs; old diseases like measles kill more and flu diseason is nigh. Costco to offer discount health insurance.  The week’s recalls include cinnamon powder (don’t let it in!) and 77,700 Seven-Up no sugar sodas for containing... wait a sec... sugar!

 

Freedom and Justice

3%

450

9/18/26

-0.2%

10/9/26

477.76

 

449.55

449.55

447.75

448.20

447.30

Three red states sue three blue states for mailing abortion pills.  Nolan Wells parents and activist atty. Crump reject coroner decision of no foul play.  In the courts, Clancy lawyers pivot; say she denies killing kids, AI killer Caleb guilty, Cornell authorities investigate fratrapes.  Predatory extortionist lawyers driving small businesses.  Execution oops on Kristi Pike (above).

 

CULTURAL and MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS

7%

 

 

Cultural and mortality incidents

      4%

600

9/18/26

        nc

10/9/26

595.85

 

450.45

450.45

 454.50

 454.95

 454.95

Texas remains #1 in NCAA.  NFL fines Kyle Juszczyk $1,500 for pretending to drink.  MLB wildcard playoffs, NBA and NHL seasons all begin. 

Taylor new album includes songs “Cleveland” and “Babylon”.  NY Times top 100 21st century TV shows #1 is “Breaking Bad”.  In book talk, ABC gets Evan Gershkowitz, CBS gets Lady Di’s brother. 

RIP: NBA MVP Bob Pettit, rassler  Benjamin “Pac” Slattery; “Saved by the Bell” actor Dennis Haskins, Chad Lowe’s daughter Fiona and, officially now, the Penny.

R(etire)IP: Rod Stewart, after his farewell tour

 

Miscellaneous incidents

       3%

450

9/18/26

      +0.2%

10/9/26

555.05

 

450.90

450.90

454.96

455.41

456.32

Also retiring Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander congratulated on the mount by his viral six year old daughter.  An abundance of sharks inspires word nerds to coin new daffynation of “depradation” –which is when they steal fish off anglers’ lines.  Births include snow leopard cub at the Bronx Zoo, two rare Sumatran tigers in Fort Worth.  The 2026 Fat Bear champion is “Backpack”; his mother, Holly, won in 2019. 

 

The Don Jones Index for the week of September 25th through October 1st, 2026 was UP 17.24 points 

The Don Jones Index is sponsored by the Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan, Administrator.  The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell, environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy and Renaissance” and “The Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere pawns in the web-serial “Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective legal action against parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders.

Comments, complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com.

 

ATTACHMENT ONE – FROM THE JERUSALEM POST

 OVER ONE-QUARTER OF MUSLIM AMERICANS BLAME ISRAEL, ZIONISTS FOR 9/11, SURVEY FINDS

A new JCFA survey found significant differences among Muslim and non-Muslim Americans in views of 9/11, national security threats, and US institutions.

By ALEX CARSON   SEPTEMBER 27, 2026 14:42 Updated: SEPTEMBER 27, 2026 20:33

 

There has been substantial acceptance of 9/11 conspiracy theories, and many people blame the CIA or Zionists for the terrorist attacks, according to a new survey released on Sunday by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA)

Titled “Twenty-Five Years After 9/11: Conspiracy Theories Challenge Historical Fact,” the study was conducted by JCFA senior researcher Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf and International Freedom Coalition president Dr. Charles Jacobs.

The research examined shifting public perceptions 25 years after the 2001 attacks. The data for the study was collected this September 10-16.

There were substantial differences across religious, generational, and partisan groups in beliefs about 9/11, national-security threats, and US institutions, the report said.

The survey outlined key takeaways from an analysis of 416 Muslim American respondents, 429 isolated non-Muslim respondents, and broader generational and partisan cohorts, which included a general population cohort of 513 respondents, among them 24 individuals who identified as Muslim.

 

 

ATTACHMENT TWO – FROM GRAY MEDIA

PRESIDENT TRUMP ANNOUNCES NEW ‘AI FORCE’

By Stetson Miller  Published: Sep. 22, 2026 at 12:01 PM EDT

 

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - President Donald Trump announced over the weekend that he is creating an “AI Force” without offering many details about its purpose.

In a social media post Saturday, Trump said he is “forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force…” and is appointing a new “AI czar.”

He did not specify what the “czar” position would entail and the White House also did not provide additional details

The president’s post also dismissed recent AI concerns and stated that he will not “stifle” the AI industry, writing “we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows!”

Discussion about the technology has roiled Washington this month, after researchers said that AI may lead to human extinction by the end of the decade.

“The evidence for the potential dangers of unchecked AI continue to grow and grow. But Donald Trump keeps brushing off America’s concerns about AI’s risks,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor last Thursday.

While Democrats continued to call for congressional action on AI regulation after the post, some Republicans praised the president’s move.

“AI force is the right call,” Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., wrote on X Sunday. “Help to steward and place guardrails in this transformative new technology. America must lead and lead we will.”

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Legal Director Corynne McSherry said she has concerns about what the president’s task force might do.

“My concern is that instead, what we’re going to see is some sort of AI force that will be focused on AI safety in sort of the abstract. And a lot of what needs to happen isn’t really rocket science,” she said. “We need companies to put in place proper guardrails to protect cybersecurity, which a lot of the recent AI safety incidents that we’ve all been hearing about, it came down to the [fact that] companies didn’t put those guardrails in place.”

The digital rights group has repeatedly stated that it believes lawmakers should address immediate concerns about A.I. use instead of focusing on doomsday rhetoric.

“There’s a lot of focus on the killer robots and the apocalypse that’s coming and not enough attention on the sort of real harms that we already know are happening,” McSherry said.

Algorithmic decision-making, artificially inflated personalized pricing and AI-powered surveillance systems are all areas of concern that EFF has highlighted in its recent public messaging.

“If we had an AI force, if we fill in this blank with a set of smart, well-qualified people who really understand cybersecurity, understand how AI is being used in government and elsewhere, that’s great. Let’s do that. I’m just not sure we’re going to get that,” McSherry said.

 

ATTACHMENT THREE – FROM YAHOO

UN CHIEF CALLS FOR GLOBAL AI RULES TO PREVENT RISE OF 'KILLER ROBOTS'

Tue, September 22, 2026 at 10:33 AM EDT

 

UN Secretary General António Guterres on Tuesday called for a more responsible approach to artificial intelligence, warning against the development of autonomous weapons.

"Life-and-death decisions must never be surrendered to machines," he warned in a speech that kicked off the high-level week of the UN General Assembly in New York, attended by leaders from around the world.

"Killer robots must have no place in our future," Guterres said.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to advance medicine and science, he said, while calling criticizing inadequate oversight and opaque decision-making.

"The danger is not technology," he said. "The danger is technology without accountability."

Guterres called on countries with the greatest AI capabilities to work together to develop safety standards, increase transparency around risks and establish independent oversight mechanisms.

He also called on countries to end the conflict in the Middle East.

"So-called ceasefires have amounted to little more than 'lesser fire' - with civilians continuing to pay the price," Guterres said. "Enough is enough."

 

ATTACHMENT FOUR – FROM AMERICANS FOR PROGRESS AFP

TRUMP RENAMES AI 'SUPER INTELLIGENCE' AS LEADERS JOSTLE OVER DANGERS

Tue, September 22, 2026 at 5:28 PM EDT

 

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that the US government would rename artificial intelligence "super intelligence" in official communications, as world leaders jostled over how to address the dangers of the fast-advancing technology.

AI has become a major topic at the UN General Assembly after incidents of the technology falling out of the control of humans and warnings by company insiders drew global alarm and calls for better government supervision of the industry.

Speaking to the assembly, Trump stood by his firm opposition to regulating AI, while arguing the word "artificial" undersold the technology and voicing hope the rest of the world would adopt the new term.

 

Super Intelligence "sounds much better" and "it's much more accurate," he said.

The rebrand is the latest in a series of renamings pursued by the Trump administration, which changed the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" via executive order last year and, in August, renamed Lake Ontario "Lake America" amid a trade dispute with Canada.

The US leader also compared the warnings of AI safety advocates to warnings about climate change, whose human causes are affirmed by the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community.

"The United States totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control... artificial intelligence," he said.

"Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception," he added.

"The very same people who said we'll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming... are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster."

Ahead of the UN assembly, leaders of more than 20 mostly European countries urged binding safety measures for advanced AI, warning that the technology's development could outpace the ability to control it.

AI superpowers China and the United States did not endorse the idea.

- 'VASSALS' -

Speaking on the sidelines of the UN meeting, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he planned to use Britain's role as host of the Group of 20 next year to push for a "single set of global principles and standards" around AI, according to Bloomberg.

French President Emmanuel Macron proposed building AI technology independent from the great powers.

"I don't want anyone to become the vassal of one of the great powers," Macron told the UN General Assembly, apparently in reference to China and the US.

"Our investment capabilities must be pooled to build a cutting-edge open-source AI model, which we will share. We should not depend on somebody else."

The US-based AI giants themselves are increasingly asking for global coordination on AI safety, with OpenAI's Sam Altman set to address the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

Anthropic chief Dario Amodei and Hugging Face co-founder Clement Delangue will also participate remotely, a French official said Tuesday.

France, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, initiated the meeting and believes AI's threat to international peace and security has not been sufficiently discussed at the UN.

UN chief Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, called for the US and China to start a dialogue on the technology's future akin to US-Soviet engagement at the height of the Cold War.

"Governments with the greatest AI capabilities have the greatest responsibilities to humanity, to establish channels for dialogue," Guterres said in his address to the assembly.

"At a pivotal moment during the Cold War, strategic rivals came to recognize the need to manage shared existential risks."

China and the US are currently discussing creating a communication channel for AI concerns in anticipation of a Washington summit meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

 

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY FIVE – FROM KCRA (SACRAMENTO)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SAID OIL PRICES WILL LIKELY FALL AFTER THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS, CITING THE ONGOING WAR WITH IRAN AS A FACTOR BEHIND RISING COSTS.

By Rachel Hirschheimer and Ben Miller Updated: 4:45 AM PDT Sep 10, 2026

 

WASHINGTON —

President Donald Trump said oil prices likely won't come down until after the midterm elections, suggesting gas prices will remain high until voters head to the polls.

Higher energy costs have already impacted consumers and businesses. Regular gas prices are rising, and diesel prices have reached record highs, according to AAA.

On Thursday (9/9), AAA reported that the price for a gallon of regular gas is $4.28. Diesel is $5.98 per gallon. 

Diesel, which powers much of the economy through trains and trucks that transport goods, could increase the cost of everyday items. Jet fuel prices have also surged, leading U.S. and international carriers to cut flights and raise fares.

On Wednesday, Brent crude oil, the international standard, surpassed $100 a barrel for the first time since July. The index remained above $100 on Thursday. Experts say the recent increase in oil prices could lead to prices exceeding $110 a barrel unless the war drastically changes.    The highest price they reached during the war with Iran was about $114 back in May.

Brent crude oil tops $100. Here's what that means for U.S. oil prices

Trump expressed confidence that Americans may feel relief at the pump after the midterms.

"Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward. They're going to be tumbling down, and we'll get them down. I think for gasoline we'll get them below $2 a gallon," Trump said.

The war with Iran, which has lasted more than six months, is one factor behind rising gas prices. Trump predicted the conflict will end after the midterms if Republicans are re-elected, claiming Iran "can't hold out any longer."

"They're desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon," Trump (also) said.

Analysts at Bank of America said this week additional refinery outages in Russia (i.e. Ukrainian bombings) have increased diesel and gas prices globally. This is causing a supply chain disruption. Refining activity in Russia decreased, causing a decline in inventories, ultimately pushing prices higher.

 

 

Sidebar: Good morning. American forces withdrew from Iraq today, after two decades of military presence. They are leaving behind a battered nation.

 

ATTACHMENT SIX – FROM DW.COM (GERMANY)

IRAQ: US WITHDRAWAL LEAVES SECURITY QUESTIONS

By Jennifer Holleis  09/29/2026 September 29, 2026

 

As the US completes its military withdrawal from Iraq, Baghdad declares a new era of sovereignty. But as US troops leave, questions remain over militias, foreign forces and the country's future security.

For Iraq's government in Baghdad, September 30, 2026, marks the end of an era. "October 1 will be a new day in the course of the Iraqi state, with the country free of any foreign military presence and the completion of national sovereignty over its territory," Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said in a statement.

The occasion will be celebrated as "Independence Day" with four official public holidays.

By Wednesday, the United States will have completed the withdrawal of its remaining 2,500 troops from Iraqi territory according to a 2024 agreement. Their departure concludes 12 years of the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve mission against the Islamic State group, or ISIS, which at the time was advancing across the country and in neighboring Syria.

The withdrawal also marks the end of more than two decades of US military involvement in Iraq. Following the US invasion in 2003, US forces withdrew in 2011 and returned in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group. The withdrawal also follows the broader US strategy of reducing its military presence in the Middle East.

However, the US withdrawal does not mean an end to all foreign military deployments in Iraq.  Turkey still has troops in Iraq, even though Ankara said earlier this week that it would gradually hand over a military base in northern Iraq to Baghdad.

"In 2024, Baghdad and Washington agreed to what they called a normalized relationship," Renad Mansour, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa program and director of the Iraq Initiative at the London-based think tank Chatham House, told DW. "For Baghdad, the political aim will be now to make clear that Iraq wants to remain an ally of the US," he said.

In his view, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is concerned that Washington could start viewing Iraq and its Iran-backed non-state militias as too close to Iran, given that the US and Israel are at war with Iran.

The Iraqi non-state militia Kata'ib Hezbollah has rejected Baghdad's plans for disarmament and integration into Iraq's national forces.

Baghdad extends disarmament deadline 

Initially, Baghdad had linked the end of the US military mission to the disarmament of Iraq's numerous armed groups and militias. The plan also included bringing these paramilitary groups under state control.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said last week that the new deadline was June 30, 2027. The revised plan includes a 90-day period during which armed groups would refrain from attacks in exchange for assurances that US forces would not target them, followed by a gradual handover of weapons that is due to be completed by June 30, 2027.

Yet not all armed groups are likely to follow this plan as several powerful armed groups have rejected disarmament or demanded conditions that could delay the process.

"The hardest-line armed groups — Kata'ib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada — have so far given no indication that they are prepared to surrender their weapons to the state and integrate into Iraq's armed forces," Alina L. Romanowski, distinguished fellow with the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council's Middle East program, said.

Renad Mansour told DW that he was not surprised by the extension of the deadline. Iraq's political landscape has been highly fragmented since the US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in April 2003. There have been more than eight years of war, the rise and fall of ISIS, and the US withdrawal in 2011 and return in 2014. "Many political movements are associated with armed organizations, so it is hard to see a revolution in the security sector happening any time soon," he told DW, predicting that "even next year, many armed groups will continue to remain free of the central government."

What does this mean for Iraq's minorities?

The withdrawal of US troops also includes the departure of military personnel and the removal of US air defense systems in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq. Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has already called on Baghdad for protection against missile and drone attacks from Iran. Since the beginning of the US-Israeli war with Iran in February, attacks by Iraq's Iran-backed armed groups on US-linked targets in Erbil have been on the rise, while Iranian attacks on infrastructure belonging to Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq have also increased.

On Monday, Kurdish officials in Erbil said that three drones targeted a camp affiliated with Iran's Kurdish opposition. Local officials said the drones were Iranian-made, but responsibility for the attack was not independently confirmed.

Yerevan Saeed, a nonresident senior fellow with the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council and the director of the Global Kurdish Initiative for Peace at American University, is concerned that Iraq's vulnerable ethnic and religious minorities, such as Christians and Yazidis, as well as Kurdish communities, could be left more exposed from October 1, 2026, onward. "The withdrawal signals the end of an era in which foreign boots provided a buffer against central and regional predation," he said.

Chatham House's Mansour, meanwhile, notes that US-Iraqi ties will not end on September 30, but rather shift toward "other arenas, including economic ties rather than having a security-focused relationship."

In July, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister al-Zaidi, that they had discussed how a sovereign, stable and strong Iraq would pave the way for mutually beneficial commercial and defense cooperation.

However, in the statement following the meeting, Hegseth added that "building a normal US-Iraq bilateral defense relationship requires a secure environment free from terrorist coercion."Edited by: Andreas Illmer

 

ATTACHMENT SEVEN – FROM YAHOO.COM

TRUMP BEATS 'AMERICA FIRST' DRUM AT UN AS ALLIES TREAD CAREFULLY

By Gregory Walton And Raphael Hermano With Danny Kemp In Washington

Tue, September 22, 2026 at 2:19 PM EDT

 

President Donald Trump laid out a vision on Tuesday of a militaristic US unbound by international rules in a UN speech contrasting starkly with pleas at the world body for cooperation and restraint.

Trump insisted the United States will not join global regulation of AI and urged countries to abandon the International Criminal Court which was set up to prosecute war crimes.

He also boasted about US control over Venezuelan oil, following the toppling of the government there by US forces, saying "to the victor belong the spoils."

His most jarring statement, however, addressed the nearly seven-month war in Iran. Trump said he had a "big decision" on whether to make a deal or "annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly."

Trump's divisive turn at the UN lectern came after the organization's outgoing leader Antonio Guterres raised the alarm on AI and bluntly warned "killer robots must have no place in our future."

Meanwhile, several leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani used speeches to warn that the future of the Palestinians was at a crossroads as Israel expands West Bank settlements.

Other countries whose leaders addressed the UN's flagship annual gathering sounded the alarm on widespread global unrest, while some criticized Washington's actions on the world scene.

Here are the main developments:

- US and Denmark ink Greenland deal -

Washington signed a security deal with the leaders of Greenland and Denmark after threatening to take Copenhagen's strategically important Arctic Circle territory by force.

O’Reilly: ‘Republicans can’t survive the anger that people are feeling’ on spending

The Hill

Trump’s threat to annihilate Iran to UN general assembly is stunning, even for him

The Guardian

One section of the deal, which will be widely seen as seeking to bar Russian influence, prohibits non-NATO and non-EU countries, from "strategic sectors."

The United States will also build two military bases in southern and eastern Greenland under the deal.

- UN chief warns of W.Bank 'ethnic cleansing' -

Outgoing UN chief Guterres kicked off the week of speeches by warning of the "specter of ethnic cleansing" in Israel's settlements expansion in the occupied West Bank.

"Violence, displacement and settlement expansion by Israel in the Occupied West Bank are bulldozing the path to peace," he said.

Turkish president Erdogan called for immediate reconstruction of Gaza, urging world leaders to "exert greater pressure on Israel".

- Future of AI and climate change -

Guterres called for US-Chinese dialogue on the future of AI, akin to US-Soviet engagement at the height of the Cold War.

But Trump rejected international regulation of the technology calling such proposals a "globalist scheme."

On another issue central to the future of the planet -- climate change -- Guterres singled out global energy companies for treating the atmosphere "as an open sewer."

- Brazil no one's 'backyard' -

Brazilian President Lula Inacio Lula da Silva, running for reelection, said that his country did not fit in anyone's "backyard" -- a pointed reference to Trump's claims to rule the roost across the Americas.

Lula also warned both foreign and domestic players against interfering in Brazil's elections next month.

- Cuba slams 'falsehoods' after Trump claim -

Cuba's foreign minister reacted furiously to "falsehoods" spread by Trump, who told the UN the island "will fall."

Cuban delegates left the room during Trump's speech at a moment of exceptionally strained Washington-Havana relations.

"We are a country of peace and we deserve peace," said Bruno Rodriguez, who is heading the Cuban delegation to New York.

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ATTACHMENT EIGHT – FROM FOX NEWS

PEZESHKIAN OFFERS TO DILUTE URANIUM, CALLS FOR RETURN TO JUNE MOU

Fox News interview with Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian said Tehran is willing to dilute its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent and allow international verification of its nuclear program, while calling for Washington to return to a June memorandum of understanding (MOU).

In an interview with Fox News's Bret Baier that aired on September 24, Pezeshkian rejected the possibility of Iran seeking a nuclear weapon, saying, "Not at all. Not at all." He cited a religious decree by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against nuclear weapons and said Iran was ready to "dilute" its enriched uranium and "submit ourselves to verification."

Pezeshkian also said Tehran remained willing to move forward with the United States on the basis of the June MOU, which established a framework for ending hostilities and negotiating a broader agreement. The agreement provided for negotiations over a period of up to 60 days.

Speaking separately to NBC News on September 24, Pezeshkian said Tehran did not want negotiations to extend until the US midterm elections. "We wish Americans to return to the MOU before the midterms," he said.

 

 

ATTACHMENT NINE – FROM FOREIGN POLICY

SAUDI ARABIA BRIBED THE WRONG PEOPLE

Riyadh’s bet on Trumpism has failed.

By Nicholas Grossman, a professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, editor of Arc Digital, and the author of Drones and Terrorism.    September 24, 2026, 1:36 PM

 

Saudi Arabia is in serious trouble. Its global influence primarily comes from its leading position as an oil producer and the money resulting from that role, but now the Middle East is on fire. Today, Saudi tankers are blocked in the Persian Gulf and under threat in the Red Sea, and the country’s biggest oil pipeline had to shut down after a drone attack. Yet Saudi Arabia’s biggest long-term problem may be that its longtime security guarantor, the United States, is unable to put out the fire and doesn’t seem especially interested in trying.

Since World War II and especially since the end of the Cold War, the Middle East has rested on a deal: U.S. military dominance provides relative stability, deterring and countering aggression, ensuring freedom of navigation, containing Iran, organizing air defense, and helping friendly governments to stay in power. In exchange, Saudi Arabia and the smaller Gulf Arab states—Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—host U.S. bases, cooperate on counterterrorism, and maintain the smooth flow of oil. The clearest example of this working was in 1990-91, when a U.S.-led coalition prevented Iraq from taking any Saudi oil fields and pushed Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

 

 

ATTACHMENT TEN – FROM FORBES

CORNERED BY HOUTHIS AND IRAN, SAUDI ARABIA GARNERS ALLIED DEFENSE SUPPORT

By Paul Iddon  Sep 28, 2026, 09:44am EDT

 

Summary

Saudi Arabia faces its gravest strategic challenge since 1990, as Iran-backed Houthis threaten Red Sea oil routes and escalate missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure, including Yanbu and Riyadh. This dire situation has prompted a multinational defensive response.  France is deploying troops and air defense systems to protect Yanbu, while the UK provides refueling support. Pakistan and Turkey, under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, have pledged further technical and military aid, with Pakistan already having deployed jets and troops. Greece's Patriot system recently intercepted Houthi projectiles. Despite US intelligence support, direct offensive intervention is absent, leaving Saudi Arabia reliant on this defensive coalition to safeguard its vital assets without engaging in offensive operations against the Houthis.

September 2026 has been a tough month for Saudi Arabia. Its ally, the embattled internationally recognized Yemeni government, was routed from Yemen’s western Red Sea coast by the Iran-allied Houthis, officially known as Ansarullah, threatening the kingdom’s alternative oil export routes from the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Furthermore, the Houthis have continued drone and missile attacks targeting Saudi energy infrastructure and military bases. Saudi Arabia said the group has also attempted to attack its capital Riyadh with a ballistic missile and even the holiest Islamic city of Mecca with a drone. Arguably now in its most precarious strategic position since 1990, when Saddam Hussein’s Iraq infamously annexed Kuwait, Riyadh needs all the foreign military help it can get. And while several allies are contributing or have pledged defensive military support, the cavalry coming today is a mere shadow of the enormous multinational coalition assembled in the Saudi desert 36 years ago to confront Iraq.

“We are going to send military resources, that is to say, soldiers, radar systems and defense systems, to protect this site – not to get us involved in any conflicts, but to protect this site,” French President Emmanuel Macron declared on Thursday. The site in question is Yanbu, a major Saudi port city on the Red Sea that the Houthis have repeatedly targeted in recent weeks.

Macron did not specify exactly which systems France will deploy alongside the troops. It may deploy point-defense, ground-based, short-range air defense systems like the Mistral to defend against Houthi drones, along with additional radar to enhance Saudi monitoring of its vast airspace. It may even deploy a more advanced SAMP/T, the French acronym for “Surface-to-Air Medium-Range/Land-based,” system to help Riyadh with missile defense. At the height of the Iran war earlier this year, France sent Dassault Rafale fighter jets to bolster the United Arab Emirates’ air defenses, firing at least 80 pricey MICA air-to-air missiles to defend that country from comparatively inexpensive enemy drones. It’s not inconceivable that France may dispatch Rafales, a combat aircraft Paris hopes Riyadh might soon buy, to perform a similar defensive role over Saudi Arabia.

The United Kingdom is also helping Saudi Arabia through the deployment of a Voyager refueling aircraft on a “purely defensive” mission to span for a “matter of weeks, rather than days.”

Pakistan and Turkey, which are fellow members of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement pact signed in the holy city on August 7, have also pledged support. Islamabad has said it will defend its Saudi ally “to any extent” on September 17 while Ankara said it could provide technical military support. “There may be military needs, particularly in certain technical areas, and we would have no problem meeting them,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on September 19. The three countries announced urgent meetings of their chiefs of staff to determine how they can support Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan already deployed 16 JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, a Chinese-made HQ-9/P air defense missile system, and 8,000 troops in May. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had already signed a defense pact in September 2025 following Israel’s unprecedented airstrike targeting the Hamas political leadership in Qatar’s capital, Doha. It’s unclear whether these jets have helped Saudi Arabia intercept any Houthi drones or whether the HQ-9/P intercepted any Houthi missiles. Notably, the Pakistani military has dismissed rumors that a Houthi strike damaged one of its JF-17s at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Air Base.

What Turkey might ultimately deploy remains unclear. Ankara has based F-16s in other countries as far away as Somalia. It might deploy some, as it has done in neighboring Qatar, as a show of support to help Riyadh intercept drones but probably won’t participate in offensive operations in Yemen. Regarding air defenses, the only system Turkey presently has with anti-ballistic capabilities is the strategic S-400 it acquired from Russia in 2019 but never put into operation or service. It seems unlikely Ankara would deploy them, although it recently reportedly negotiated to sell them to the UAE. Turkey is presently developing a new version of its indigenous Siper system, the Siper Block-III, which will have anti-ballistic capabilities. Short-range Turkish-made air defenses like the Hisar-A surface-to-air missile system and the Korkut anti-aircraft gun could help bolster Saudi point defenses of critical infrastructure once again being targeted by the Houthis.

One country that has actively and visibly contributed to Saudi Arabia’s defense recently is Greece. Athens deployed one of its Patriot missile systems to the kingdom in 2021. The Greek system intercepted a ballistic missile and a drone over the Yanbu region on September 24.

Saudi Arabia needs such defensive support in light of the Houthis’ swift advance down Yemen’s Red Sea coast and their capture of the major Yemeni port of Mocha on September 10 and the strategic Perim island. That lightning advance positioned them to more effectively close the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait to commercial shipping in support of Iran’s concurrent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz entrance into the Persian Gulf. The Houthis have repeatedly declared that their blockade only applies to Saudi shipping. After Iran shut Hormuz, Saudi Arabia had depended on its alternative Red Sea exports to export much of its oil. In a demonstration that this alternative route is also vulnerable, Iran-backed militias in Iraq struck the vital Saudi East-West pipeline, which the kingdom was using to circumvent the Hormuz blockade, temporarily taking it out of operation.

The powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman phoned President Donald Trump, urging renewed U.S. airstrikes against the group during their advance. Trump refused. The U.S. has expanded intelligence and targeting support for Saudi operations against the Houthis through the deployment of advisors to the kingdom. Still, it is otherwise hesitant to get directly involved or launch another major air campaign for now. As a result, Saudi Arabia must rely on these other allies to help bolster its defense. But none of these countries have shown any intention of helping Riyadh go on the offensive and uproot the Houthis, with Saudi Arabia relying on airstrikes and, in at least one instance, one of its Chinese-made ballistic missiles, to hit the Houthis. In another blow to the kingdom, the group released footage in mid-September, subsequently verified by the BBC, showing the wreckage of a downed Saudi F-15SA, the most advanced fighter type in its current arsenal.

Bin Salman has a history with the Houthis. As a young defense minister in 2015, he assembled a regional military coalition intending to uproot the Iran-backed group, which overran Yemen’s capital Sanaa and the major Hodeidah port the year before. Far from pushing back the group, the war contributed to Yemen’s dire humanitarian crisis and was widely unpopular. By 2022, the crown prince accepted a ceasefire with the group that largely endured until recent months. In the meantime, he hoped the temporary peace could buy time for his ambitious domestic projects aimed at diversifying the Saudi economy and developing some of his overly ambitious megaprojects, such as Neom. The Iran war dashed these hopes. In July, after Tehran attempted to reestablish direct flights to Houthi-controlled Sanaa for the first time since 2015, Saudi Arabia intervened. The 2022 ceasefire promptly collapsed. Now, long-range Houthi missile and drone attacks on the kingdom are once again a regular occurrence.

Allied support certainly isn’t negligible. Advanced American-made Saudi air defenses were no doubt strained during the Iran war and will take years to replenish to pre-war levels. Saudi Arabia’s last war with the Houthis also saw its Patriot missile stockpiles nearing depletion. Consequently, defensive support from allies will at least partially ease the burden on its defense interceptors and air force.

And while its allies are unlikely and unable to assemble an armada like the one the U.S. put together for the 1991 Persian Gulf War, which saw 900,000 soldiers deployed to Saudi Arabia, today’s threat is markedly different. After Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait, Riyadh estimated that if his army continued advancing within the first week, it could’ve seized its entire Eastern Province within six hours, or maybe 12 if Saudi Arabia had extensive air cover. Today, the Eastern Province, the country’s main crude hub, is highly vulnerable to Iranian and Houthi drone attacks but is unlikely to face any conventional ground invasion from either Tehran or that group.

Still, Saudi Arabia today remains in an unenviable strategic position beyond its control and has little choice but to sit tight.

 

 

ATTACHMENT ELEVEN – FROM REUTERS

ALLIES UNITE BEHIND SAUDI ARABIA AS MORE IRANIAN FLIGHTS RESTRICTED

By Hatem Maher and Eman Abouhassira   September 24, 2026 9:54 PM EDT

 

·         Saudi, Turkey and Pakistan meet under pact signed in August

·         Iraq follows other states in curtailing Iranian flights

·         Iranian official threatens to retaliate

·         Oil prices slip

CAIRO/DUBAI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani military chiefs were due to discuss support for Saudi Arabia as it faces mounting attacks from ​Yemen's Houthis, while restrictions on flights to and from Iran widened and a senior Iranian official threatened retaliation.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have stepped up attacks on ‌the Saudi-backed government in Yemen and fired into Saudi Arabia, disrupting oil flows from the world's largest crude exporter as the wider Middle East war enters its eighth month.

With fighting escalating in Yemen, ceasefire efforts stalled and direct US-Iranian fire easing, Washington has shifted to tightening economic pressure through secondary sanctions on foreign companies that do business with Iranian firms.

Iranian airlines were barred from neighbouring countries including the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iraq ​in response to new US sanctions, marking the first major impact of the move.

A prolonged flight ban could deepen Iran's isolation and worsen an economic crisis already aggravated ​by a US blockade of its seaports.

Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, accused regional countries of "alignment with America" for blocking flights.

"If Iran does not have the possibility to fly and receive airport services, then no country in the region will have this possibility either," he said in a social media post.

 

OIL ​EXPORTS SQUEEZED

The war, triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has killed thousands of people and disrupted trade and energy supplies across the region.

While the fighting between the US ​and Iran has been stop-start, Iranian allies have mobilised, with Hezbollah attacks triggering an Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the Houthi advance in Yemen prompting a new humanitarian crisis.

Iran and its allies have significantly squeezed oil exports from Saudi Arabia, a US ally despite the MAGA denials.  The Houthis have disrupted ship traffic at the mouth of the Red Sea, while Iran has limited tanker traffic at the Strait of Hormuz, once the route for about ​a fifth of global oil exports.

The Houthis said on Thursday they had fired dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi targets, while Saudi authorities said they intercepted six ballistic missiles.

Rashid al-Alimi, ​the Riyadh-based president of Yemen's Saudi-backed government, called on Yemenis on Friday to mobilise and join the armed forces and offered an amnesty to Houthi fighters who leave the group.

Amid the fighting, the Saudi, Pakistani ‌and Turkish foreign ministers met on Thursday for discussions on support for the kingdom under a defence pact signed in August.

Turkey's defence ministry said Chief of General Staff General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu was travelling to Saudi Arabia on Friday to meet his Saudi and Pakistani counterparts.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the pact, under which an attack against one country is considered an attack on all, could lead to intelligence, logistical or ammunition support.

"More advanced military support could also be considered depending on the scale of the threat," Erdogan said in written responses to Newsweek.

The diplomatic pressure has also extended to ​China, Iran's biggest trading partner and a ​key buyer of its oil.

US Ambassador to China David Perdue said on Friday that President Donald Trump had reiterated to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House that any Chinese assistance to Iran would be unacceptable.

"We made it very clear to them weeks ago that any help that they would give Iran, whether ​it be direct or indirect, whether it be intelligence or parts or military equipment, was totally unacceptable," Perdue told CNBC.

 

SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY IN ​NEW YORK

In New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told reporters on Thursday that Tehran had conveyed a proposal to the US via intermediaries under which the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened if Tehran's conditions were met.

Oil prices were more than 2.5% lower on Friday as hopes for a US-Iran truce outweighed concerns that escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia could further disrupt supplies.

Under Iran’s proposal, hostilities would end on all ​fronts, including Lebanon, within seven days. The US would lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release Iran's frozen ​funds and waive its oil sanctions, he said.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday that Tehran will show no flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the United States accepts its proposal.

 

 

ATTACHMENT TWELVE – FROM REUTERS

SAUDI GRAND MUFTI TELLS TROOPS TO BE READY TO SACRIFICE THEIR LIVES FIGHTING HOUTHIS

By Timour Azhari and Hatem Maher

September 24, 20268:17 PM EDTUpdated September 25, 2026

 

·         Mufti says Saudi-backed Yemeni government must assert authority over entire country

·         Statement follows weeks of missile, drone and airstrike escalation between Saudi Arabia and Houthis

·         Yemeni forces lost control of Bab el-Mendeb waterway to Houthis two weeks ago

RIYADH, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's top religious authority called on soldiers in the kingdom to be ready to lay ‌down their lives to fight the Iran-backed Houthis until the group is ousted from power, a statement posted on the Saudi state news agency said.

The rare and strongly worded message by Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan was addressed to soldiers stationed at the country's borders and ​drew heavily on Quranic verses and recorded sayings of the Prophet Mohammad related to sacrifice and struggle in defence ​of God.

It comes after weeks of escalating violence between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis which has seen the Iran-backed group attack the kingdom with salvos of missiles and drones and Saudi Arabia respond with airstrikes.

Observers have ​been questioning whether Saudi Arabia will launch a broader military operation along with Yemeni government forces it backs.

"Protecting this great nation... and ​punishing anyone who seeks to lay a hand on even an inch of its territory are among the greatest duties and most virtuous acts of devotion, for which lives and souls may be sacrificed in seeking God's pleasure," said the statement, issued late Thursday.

Asserting the authority of the ​Saudi-backed internationally recognized Yemeni government over the entire country was "among the most pressing obligations," it added.

Those government forces lost control of ​the vital Bab el-Mandeb waterway to the Houthis two weeks back, a blow to the kingdom, which has been mired in the conflict since ‌2015 after it launched an unsuccessful operation to oust the Houthis from the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The recent fighting is the latest episode in 12 years of civil war in Yemen which had largely been frozen since a 2022 but has escalated again and has become linked to the wider Iran war.

"We ask God Almighty to grant you all his support, and to protect our countries and ​beloved Yemen from all harm. ​We also ask him to bring about the complete defeat of the Houthi group and those who assist and support them," the statement said.

The Mufti's letter adds to a growing religiously centered narrative by authorities in the ​conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom aimed at discrediting the Houthis, who follow a different sect of ​Islam.

State TV has in recent weeks aired footage of an alleged Houthi strike on a mosque in the kingdom's south, and authorities have also accused the Houthis of launching an attack on Mecca, Islam's holiest site.

"It is incumbent upon you, brothers serving on the front lines, to remain constantly ​prepared to perform your duty, to obey the rulers and your field commanders, ​and to carry out orders with the utmost precision, as God Almighty commanded the companions of his Prophet to do," the statement said.

"You are following in ​the footsteps of the Prophet's companions, defending the sacred sites of Muslims."

Reporting by Timour Azhari and Hatem Maher; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN – FROM REUTERS

SAUDI-LED COALITION SAYS HOUTHIS ATTACKED POWER STATION IN MEDINA

By Reuters: October 1, 2026  12:58 PM EDT

 

Medina attack this week puts one transformer out of service without affecting electricity network

Coalition says drone wreckage confirms Houthi role in ​planning Tuesday's Medina attack

Houthi media report Saudi strikes on Sanaa, Saada, Taiz and Amran without immediate ‌Saudi confirmation

 

Oct 1 (Reuters) - The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said on Thursday the group had attacked a power distribution station in Medina, one of Islam's holiest sites, this week, putting one transformer out of service but without affecting the electricity network.

Hours after the coalition's accusation, the Houthis ​reported Saudi strikes on the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and other parts of Yemen, with no immediate Saudi ​confirmation of the reports.

The recent escalation is the most serious fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis since a UN-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022. Hostilities resumed this year after the Houthis declared ​a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in July and began attacking Saudi territory and shipping, while Houthi forces also made ​major territorial gains along Yemen's Red Sea coast.

Saudi Arabia has responded with airstrikes in Yemen and backed government forces fighting to repel the Houthis.

The Saudi-led coalition said an investigation and examination of drone wreckage confirmed Houthi involvement in planning and carrying out Tuesday's attack on the Medina power station. ​It said the station supplies electricity to the Prophet's Mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites.

A Houthi military source, quoted by ​the Houthi-run Saba news agency, denied the accusation, calling it a "lie" and saying it was intended to cover up what he described ‌as Saudi Arabia's failure to substantiate its earlier accusation that the Houthis targeted the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

Saudi Arabia said two weeks ago it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered restricted airspace over the city. The coalition described that incident as the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca since 2017, while the Houthis ​denied targeting Mecca or any ​other Islamic holy site.

The coalition said the Medina attack was part of what it described as repeated Houthi attempts to target the Two Holy Mosques and "provoke" Muslims worldwide. It said it would continue taking ​measures to protect the holy sites and pilgrims.

The Houthis said later in the day ​that Saudi Arabia had carried out strikes on Sanaa and the provinces of Saada, Taiz and Amran, according to their news agency. While there was no Saudi confirmation, the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces said on X they had carried out more than two dozen airstrikes against Houthi positions ​in Taiz, targeting missile storage, command centres and other military sites.

The ​reported strike on Sanaa would be the first since July, when Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces struck the runway at Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian ​plane from landing.

 

 

ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN – FROM NEWS NATION

IRAN DISTANCES ITSELF FROM HOUTHIS AS SAUDI ARABIA BUILDS NEW ALLIANCE

By Tatiana Carter   Updated: Sep 25, 2026 / 01:25 PM CDT

: 0:17

Israel’s Netanyahu: Attacking Iran was ‘one of the easiest decisions’ he’s ever made | NewsNation Live

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is seeking to distance Tehran from Yemen’s Houthis as Saudi Arabia prepares a joint military response to the group’s attacks.

“The Houthis are responsible for their own actions,” Pezeshkian told Fox News, as fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis intensifies.

Netanyahu speaks at UN as Senate votes down Iran war powers resolution

Saudi, Turkish, and Pakistani military chiefs are preparing to meet under a defense pact that treats an attack on one member as an attack on all three. Saudi Arabia says it intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis.

IRAN OFFERS DETAILED 7-DAY PATH TO REOPEN STRAIT OF HORMUZ

Iran is offering an updated path to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran has proposed ending hostilities on all fronts within seven days if the United States lifts it blockade of Iranian ports, releases frozen Iran funds and waives oil sanctions.

Iran reviewing US response to its proposal to end war

Iran said the strait would open on the final day of that process, after weeks of disruption to a key route for global oil and gas shipments.

A U.S. defense official tells NewsNation that approximately 60 commercial vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.

 

US-IRAN DIPLOMACY REMAINS STALLED

The proposal follows recent indirect U.S.-Iran talks in New York, though the two sides remain far apart on ending the war.

Trump tells NewsNation ‘we’ll see’ on whether to ‘annihilate’ Iran

Washington has continued expanding sanctions against Iran, including measures that have disrupted Iranian airline service in neighboring countries.

Iran has warned that continued U.S. pressure could lead to further military escalation, as energy prices climb amid disruptions around both the strait and the Red Sea.

 

 

ATTACHMENT FIFTEEN – FROM AL JAZEERA

YEMEN GOVERNMENT FORCES WIDEN ATTACKS AGAINST HOUTHIS: WHAT WE KNOW

Yemeni government forces claim to have carried out multiple air and ground operations across the southwestern governorate of Taiz in 24 hours.

By Al Jazeera Staff  Published On 27 Sep 2026

 

Yemen’s government forces have conducted multiple air and ground operations in the southwestern governorate of Taiz in 24 hours as they intensify attacks against the Iran-backed Houthi group.

The government’s military media centre on Sunday claimed several operations against the rebels, including air raids on Houthi positions in five locations across the governorate.

Yemeni leader urges public to enlist, offers amnesty to Houthi defectors

Yemen’s government offers amnesty to Houthi defectors

The intelligence war is turning against the Houthis

Why has the Yemen government called for a general mobilisation?

More than 146,000 people have been displaced since the fighting erupted in July, following a period of relative calm after a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in 2022.

In recent weeks, the Houthis have made dramatic territorial gains against the government forces, seizing the strategic Red Sea coastal city of Mocha and expanding their control over the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a global maritime chokepoint connecting Europe to Asia.

Rashad al-Alimi, the head of the Presidential Leadership Council, has called on citizens to mobilise and join the fight against the Houthis as the government has stepped up its attacks against the Iran-backed group in an effort to stop their advance and regain lost territory.

Ibrahim al-Huri, from the University of Saba in Marib governorate, said the Yemeni government’s call for a general “mobilisation” of the population will likely receive more support in the government-controlled areas, especially in Taiz and Marib, where people have been suffering more.

“Even in the Houthi-controlled areas, there would be many people who would like to answer the call for mobilisation, but there will be some obstacles and challenges like the fear of retaliation and facing the brutality [of the militia].”

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, which has faced Houthi attacks on its soil since fighting escalated this month, has been turning to its allies, including Pakistan and Turkiye, for support.

Saudi Arabia backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Here’s what we know about the latest fighting and the humanitarian conditions the impoverished country faces:

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE LATEST FIGHTING

The military media centre said on Sunday dozens of Houthi fighters, including field commanders, were killed or wounded in the last 24 hours of fighting near Taiz’s capital, which is also named Taiz.

Government forces have carried out operations in several areas of the governorate, including the al-Waziiya district in the west, weapons sites and ammunition depots at Mafraq Mawiya and al-Dhukrah in the east, a Houthi gathering in the Hayfan district in the south and against military vehicles in the Gurab area in the northwest.

Government forces also thwarted infiltration attempts on the al-Ahtoub front and in Hadran as they carried out shelling of Houthi gatherings on the al-Kadha and al-Aqroud fronts, the media centre said.

It added that several Houthi military vehicles were damaged in the attacks.

Al Jazeera could not verify the battlefield claims.

“Government forces say they have made advances in the southern Taiz governorate, taking control of several areas and higher ground. Among them is Jabal Bazel, a mountaintop that places Houthi supply lines within target range,” Al Jazeera’s Maha Ali said on Saturday, reporting from Taiz.

“These developments point to significant and potentially decisive ground operations in recent hours.”

Ali said al-Alimi expressed confidence that government forces were capable of restoring control over the whole country. Houthis currently control vast swaths of northern and western Yemen while the government controls the south and east.

Since the current fighting erupted, the Houthis have accused the Saudis of carrying out attacks in Yemen and promised to prevent Saudi tankers from passing through Bab al-Mandeb, which Riyadh has been using as an alternative shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Tehran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz since the United States and Israel began the war in February. Before the conflict, a fifth of the world’s oil supplies had passed through Hormuz.

Government forces, meanwhile, accused the Houthis of using Iranian air defence weapons and said they pose a danger to aircraft.

“These Houthi weapons pose a serious threat to international flight paths over the Red Sea and operate using a heat-tracking system,” Brigadier-General Majed al-Nazili, the Yemeni government forces’ spokesperson, said on social media.

“The weapons employed are capable of attacking military or civilian targets without the ability to distinguish between them, thereby endangering the safety of civil aviation and the lives of passengers.”

Early on Saturday, a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said its air defence systems intercepted two ballistic missiles and two drones launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh and Khamis Mushait in Saudi Arabia.

What has been the regional response to the conflict?

On Saturday, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud addressed the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and called on the international community to condemn Houthi actions against the kingdom and in Yemen.

At the same forum, Yemeni Vice President Abdullah Abdulkader al-Alimi-Bawzer warned that the Houthis were using shipping security “as a tool for blackmail”.

“It is taking hostage the entire global economy,” he said.

The secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jassim Mohammed al-Budaiwi, on Saturday strongly condemned the recent Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia.

“This dangerous escalation constitutes a flagrant violation of the Kingdom’s sovereignty and poses a direct threat to the security and safety of civilians and the stability of the region,” al-Budaiwi said in a statement.

Iran has denied it has any role in the Yemen conflict. President Masoud Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera that the actions of the Houthis were not connected to Iran and that it stands in solidarity with “everyone subjected to injustice”.

He urged the Houthis and Saudi Arabia to resolve their differences through dialogue, saying “a brother should not fight his brother” and offered Iran’s help in ending the dispute. “We will not be warmongers,” he said.

On Friday, Iran delivered a ceasefire offer, which US President Donald Trump has rejected. It included Yemen and Lebanon. Tehran offered to open the Strait of Hormuz if the US fulfils its conditions, which include the lifting of Washington’s naval blockade on Iranian ports, a sanctions waiver and the release of Iran’s frozen assets.

Could Saudi allies join the conflict?

Saudi Arabia’s allies have rallied behind it amid intense fighting between Yemeni government forces and the Houthis.

Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud said on Saturday joint efforts with Pakistan would continue to confront attacks against the kingdom in accordance with the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement signed last month.

He held talks with Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Thursday. A day earlier, the military chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkiye jointly reviewed Houthi threats at a meeting in Riyadh.

Multiple Saudi cities, including Riyadh, have been hit by drones and missiles attributed to the Houthis.

Meanwhile, France confirmed on Friday that it was sending troops to guard the major oil terminal at Yanbu, a Saudi port city on the Red Sea, but added that it was not joining the conflict. Yanbu has major oil storage and refining facilities and is connected by the East-West Pipeline, which can carry up to seven million barrels a day. The pipeline was damaged in a drone attack carried out by a group based in Iraq.

 

The US has so far not pledged military involvement, but the Saudi foreign minister said the kingdom was “continuing to work with our partners in the US”. On September 14, the commander of the US military’s Central Command, Brad Cooper, met the de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in Jeddah in the wake of the Houthis’ seizure of Mocha.

 

WHAT’S THE STATE OF HUMANITARIAN CONDITIONS?

At least 146,000 people have been displaced in the Arab region’s most impoverished country over the past three weeks, most of whom were uprooted from or within Taiz governorate, according to Yemen’s UNICEF country representative, Akhil Iyer.

More than 3,000 people fled across the Red Sea to Djibouti over several days earlier this month, Djibouti state media have reported, with the UN warning that the number could rise.

The number of casualties is still not confirmed as the rival sides have made conflicting claims. As per media reports, the death toll runs into the hundreds.

UNICEF has verified that at least 15 children have been killed and 14 injured in the conflict since early September, while three have been reported missing.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 22 million people in Yemen require humanitarian assistance and protection services; 18.3 million people face acute food shortages; and 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished.

Al-Huri, from the University of Saba, said millions of Yemenis have been suffering from war and “it’s high time for it to come to an end”.

“According to reports by UN organisations, more than five million Yemenis have left their homes for different places across Yemen, and those people are eager to return home. Their families want to live safely and with dignity,” he told Al Jazeera.

 

 

ATTACHMENT SIXTEEN – FROM TIMES OF ISRAEL

TRUMP REJECTS IRANIAN CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL, REPORTEDLY PLANS TO RENEW STRIKES AFTER MIDTERMS

Iran official says plan would halt all hostilities and reopen Strait of Hormuz within seven days, but WSJ reports Trump sees a likelihood of renewing bombing campaign later in year

By Agencies, ToI Staff and Jacob Magid

26 September 2026, 10:03 am

 

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he has rejected a proposal by Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iran had submitted an offer through Qatari mediators on the UN General Assembly sidelines that would have seen the strait reopened in exchange for the US ending its blockade of Iranian ports, as part of a wider end to the ongoing Mideast conflict.

“They made a proposal, but I rejected it,” Trump told reporters when asked about it outside the White House. “They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” Trump added, before claiming the US has “total control” over the channel.

Citing US officials, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Trump had privately rejected the offer, and had told aides that he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections.

The officials said that Trump was reluctant, however, to resume major combat operations, noting that his views could change and could be swayed by the results of the US midterm elections in November.

In an all-caps post on his Truth Social platform Saturday, Trump declared that “IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!!!”

The Iranians also engaged their Saudi rivals regarding the strait, underscoring the stakes of a seven-month-old conflict that has disrupted oil flows through one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes and taken a toll on the global economy.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas met for talks on Tuesday with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff (no Jared), and previously set out conditions for ending the war and reopening the vital shipping channel.

 “If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days,” Araghchi said at the UN.

The waterway key to the world’s oil supply is central to the conflict between the United States and Iran, which is at a stalemate after nearly seven months.

If the US were to agree, the warring parties could start wider talks “on mutually agreed subjects,” Araqchi added.

That could potentially include discussions of Iran’s nuclear program. Trump has vowed that Tehran will never acquire a nuclear bomb, while a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran will show no ​flexibility over its nuclear program even if the United States accepts its peace deal.

Iran would grant no concessions over its rights, including enriching uranium or shipping its highly enriched uranium out of the ​country, the official said.

Halting Iran’s nuclear program was a key goal of Israel when it launched the war in late February, together with the US.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had previously called discussions through mediators “positive and constructive.”

But Trump was privately skeptical that Iran would meet his demands, the Journal report said, ​and he told his staff that he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely.

Trump also posted an image to his Truth Social platform of a map showing the Strait of Hormuz circled and labeled “Trump Strait.”

 

FROZEN ASSETS

Iran’s proposal also reportedly calls for the release of frozen Iranian assets estimated to be worth at least $12 billion, as well as the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade of Iran.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview with broadcaster CBS that the ceasefire “process will begin from the very day they accept it.”

“We had previously reached an agreement based on the MOU that was signed in Pakistan… if the United States agrees to proceed in that way, everything will return to the way it was before,” he added.

Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Tehran’s demands.

The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that aimed to end the war, reopen the strait and launch talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

But the deal broke down shortly afterward when Iran fired on commercial ships in Hormuz that it accused of deviating from its approved route through the waterway.

Iran requires ships to obtain authorization before passage, citing security and sovereignty reasons.

Ships that refuse to comply are regularly targeted, while the United States sporadically bombs Iranian coastal areas in retaliation.

 

SAUDI ALLIES UNITE ​

Previous attempts at diplomacy have failed to end the war. Since then, the war has alternated between pauses and renewed strikes, degrading Iran’s conventional forces and damaging Iran’s already ailing economy.

Iran and its allies ‌have retaliated by extending the conflict throughout the region. Iran, which controls the strait along with Oman, has struck US allies in the Gulf with drones and missiles while its Houthi allies in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests. Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq were blamed for a pipeline attack that temporarily took more Saudi oil off the market.

Araqchi briefed his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan on the understanding between Iran and Oman regarding safe shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s foreign ministry said early Saturday.

 

The war’s widening toll ​has also united Saudi Arabia’s allies to shore up ​the kingdom’s defenses.

The Saudi-backed, internationally recognized Yemeni government has come under assault from Iran-linked Houthi fighters, with Houthi missiles striking inside the kingdom.

 

ATTACHMENT SEVENTEEN – FROM REAL CLEAR INVESTIGATIONS

IRAN HAS A SECRET WEAPON IN ITS WAR WITH AMERICA: HELP FROM CHINA

Trump wants to preserve relations with Xi, but Iranian customs data show Chinese entities have made thousands of shipments of components used in drones and missiles

By Rory Jones, Jon Emont, Vera Bergengruen and Summer Said  Sept. 23, 2026 9:00 pm ET

 

This summer, when the U.S. and Iran signed a temporary truce, China touted its role in easing tensions in the Middle East. It said its foreign ministry made dozens of calls to nudge peace along, and that President Xi Jinping himself had intervened with suggestions to end the fighting.

That same day, a plane from China landed in Tehran. It carried a shipment for Iran’s Ministry of Defense that included electronics components that can be used to make parts for drones and missile guidance systems, according to Iranian customs data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal. 

 

 

ATTACHMENT EIGHTEEN – FROM AXIOS

TRUMP ASKED XI TO STOP SUPPORTING IRAN

By Barak Ravid

 

President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to halt any assistance to Iran when the two spoke during his state visit, U.S. Ambassador to Beijing David Perdue said Friday.

Why it matters: China's economic, intelligence and military support for Iran has undermined Trump's effort to isolate the country amid the ongoing war.

·         The U.S. is conducting a massive economic pressure campaign against Iran, but without Chinese cooperation it will only be partially effective.

Driving the news: U.S. officials have been concerned since the start of the war that China is supplying Iran with air defense systems and parts to build drones.

·         In recent weeks, Iran has used high-resolution imagery obtained from Chinese commercial satellites that allow it to target U.S. bases in the Middle East as well as aircraft carriers and other Navy ships in the Gulf and in Arabian Sea, U.S. officials say.

·         The discovery spurred the U.S. military to change its operational procedures to make it harder for Iran to locate and target Navy ships, a U.S. official said.

What they're saying: "We have made it very clear to them weeks ago that any help that they would give Iran, whether it be direct or indirect, whether it be intelligence or parts or military equipment was totally unacceptable. President Trump made that very clear again yesterday," Perdue said in an interview with CNBC on Friday.

·         Perdue said the U.S. told China that Iran is an independent issue that is not linked to Taiwan in any way.

·         "We have seen evidence that they have listened to us. They pulled some things down. We have evidence they pay attention when President Trump speaks about Iran," he said.

The other side: According to Chinese state media, Xi urged Trump to de-escalate with Iran by returning to the June memorandum of understanding and reaching a nuclear deal.

·         "China has encouraged relevant parties to stay committed to peaceful solutions and maintain the momentum of talks," Xi told Trump.

State of play: The meeting between Trump and Xi came a day after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a new round of indirect negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

·         Qatari officials participated in the negotiations, passing messages between the two parties, sources with direct knowledge said.

·         The sources said Araghchi gave Witkoff and Kushner Iran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and resuming nuclear talks.

·         "It was the same terms the Iranians spoke about publicly before the meeting," the source said.

·         Iran proposed reopening the strait and resuming nuclear talks in a week, if the U.S. lifts its naval blockade, removes sanctions on oil sales and reinstates a ceasefire across the region.

·         The U.S. negotiators made it clear to the Iranians during the talks on Tuesday that Iran doesn't control the strait and therefore can't make demands about it.

·         Dozens of oil tankers are transiting the strait each day under U.S. protection, moving millions of barrels of oil to global markets — still well below pre-war volumes but enough to ease pressure.

What to watch: Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is the key mediator between Iran and the U.S., met Thursday in New York with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss the diplomatic effort.

·         A source with knowledge of the mediation efforts said Qatar and Iran are waiting to hear Trump's response to the Iranian proposal.

·         "It is still early to know where it is going, but there are some positive movements," the source said.

 

 

ATTACHMENT NINETEEN – FROM REUTERS

CHINA PRESSES IRAN TO HELP REIN IN HOUTHIS AFTER SAUDI APPEAL, SOURCES SAY

By Parisa Hafezi  September 17, 20268:02 AM EDT   Updated September 18, 2026

 

·         China asks Iran to help curb Houthis, three sources say

·         Riyadh sought China's help as Houthi threat grew, they say

·         Sources say it is unclear how Tehran will respond

·         Red Sea escalation threatens energy routes vital to China

DUBAI, Sept 17 (Reuters) - China has privately asked Tehran to help rein in Yemen's Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group's military blitz in the past week, according to three Iranian sources familiar with ​the matter.

Riyadh turned to China for help after the Houthis made rapid advances along the Red Sea coast and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, moves that have left Saudi oil exports and ‌shipping more exposed, the sources said.

China has publicly called for restraint, dialogue and the restoration of safe navigation, but its private message went further than the public statements, they said.

Beijing wants Iran to use its influence with the Houthis to help prevent the conflict spreading further across energy routes on which China, the world's second-largest economy, depends.

The sources, who were briefed on the discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide details of how the message was delivered or whether it was conveyed during a visit to China ​on Wednesday by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

The sources said Tehran's response was that stability and peace in the region depend on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Chinese officials did not issue any explicit threats ​or indicate that Beijing would seek to pressure Tehran economically if it failed to use its influence over the Houthis, the three Iranian sources said.

In response to a Reuters request for comment on this story, the Chinese foreign ministry said: "China does not wish to see regional tensions further spill over into Yemen and the Red Sea. Escalating regional instability is not in the interests of ​any party".

"The sovereignty and security of all countries should be respected, and facilities vital to people's livelihoods must not be targeted. China calls for an end to actions that further complicate the situation and urges resolving issues through dialogue ​and negotiation," it said.

Iran's foreign ministry and the Saudi government's media office did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment for this article.

 

DANGERS OF A WIDER REGIONAL WAR

China has been Iran's largest trading partner for more than a decade and remains the main buyer of its oil. Chinese purchases accounted for more than 80% of Iran's seaborne oil exports in 2025, averaging about 1.4 million barrels per day, according to commodities data and analytics firm Kpler.

"Beijing is one of the few capitals that can still ​press Iran to rein in the Houthis," said a senior Western diplomat in the region.

The Houthis, who emerged in the 1990s in opposition to Saudi Arabia's Sunni religious influence in Yemen, are armed, trained and funded by Iran, ​according to Iranian sources and Western countries, and form part of Tehran's anti-Western, anti-Israel "Axis of Resistance".

Any threat by the Houthis to shipping in the Red Sea and through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait risks sharply worsening the global energy crisis since Iran started ‌blocking the Strait ⁠of Hormuz and increasing the danger of a wider regional conflict.

With Hormuz already effectively shut, sustained Houthi attacks on vessels or ports in the Red Sea would disrupt the Middle East's two main oil-export routes simultaneously, opening a new front in both the energy crisis and Iran's broader confrontation with the United States.

Iran and its allies now exert pressure over both ends of the region's key maritime network, one of the sources said, adding that "China depends on both".

Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said Beijing may oppose US pressure on Tehran, but its interests in the Middle East extend well beyond Iran. Roughly half of China's oil ​imports come from the region, while trade between China and ​the Gulf Cooperation Council states totals around $300 billion a year.

"Iran can disrupt Hormuz. But at some point that leverage begins hurting the very power Tehran increasingly depends on," Vatanka said.

 

CHINA'S DILEMMA

It is unclear whether Tehran will act on the concerns raised by Beijing, according to the three Iranian sources.

The relationship nevertheless carries significant economic and strategic weight for Iran as it continues to face hostilities ​with the US, they said.

China is among the few countries with the financial capacity to provide the investment Tehran needs to sustain its oil industry and ​ease pressure on its economy, battered by war and sanctions.

Beijing has also demonstrated its diplomatic influence. In 2023, China brokered the agreement that restored ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia after years of hostility.

That influence has limits, however. Critics inside Iran have complained about the relatively modest level of Chinese non-oil trade and investment since the two countries signed a 25-year cooperation pact in 2021, particularly compared with China's growing investment commitments in Gulf Arab states.

China remains a factor Tehran cannot afford to ignore, but two of the Iranian sources said ​Beijing's interests were only one consideration among many. Iran's decisions are shaped by competing strategic, economic and political priorities, they said.

"Tehran and ​Beijing need each other. China is a factor Tehran cannot ignore, and Beijing wants Hormuz reopened and Red Sea shipping secured," the Western diplomat said.

Analysts say the key test will be whether China is prepared to attach consequences to its demands. Ultimately, they say, the clearest sign ​of Beijing's resolve would be evidence that it is willing to use its leverage over Tehran.

 

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY – FROM THE ARAB NEWS (JAPAN)

WILL CHINA PLAY A ROLE IN ENDING IRAN WAR?

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the US this week. It is expected that he will bring up the issue of Iran with President Trump  

By Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib    21 Sep 2026 13:37:42 GMT9

 

It was reported last week that China wants Iran to use its influence with the Houthis to prevent the conflict from spiraling. At the same time, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart, who was on a visit to China, that Beijing is willing to “safeguard Iran’s legitimate rights and interests,” while urging the US and Iran to go back to the negotiating table.

These developments came a few days after Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the members of the BRICS grouping to work jointly to bring peace and stability to the Gulf region. While he did not specifically offer to mediate between the US and Iran, many said he insinuated that Beijing could act as an intermediary. China is exceptionally well positioned to conduct or facilitate mediation because it can present itself as a guarantor.

So far, China has not been diplomatically engaged in the conflict. It has only opposed the war while observing events as they unfold. China has been able to shield itself from the conflict. To start with, it has a policy of buying huge amounts of oil when the price is low. Hence, when the conflict erupted and the price skyrocketed, Beijing decreased its imports. However, this cannot last forever. At some point, the conflict is going to affect China. It needs closure and this is probably what has enticed it to take a more active role in efforts to end the war.

Since the beginning, China has been against the US’ war on Iran. It rejected the “economic D-Day” sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump in August, even deeming them to be illegal.

From my discussions with Chinese experts and academics, China does not seek to replace the US in the Middle East. It does not want to have military bases across the region. However, it wants to make sure its interests are protected. It wants to make sure the region is stable and there is a secure and steady flow of oil. This is why it has a vested interest in ending the current conflict and preventing it from spreading.

Xi will visit the US this week. It is expected that he will bring up the issue of Iran with his counterpart. Trump will probably ask Xi to pressure Iran, knowing that he has the capability to do so.

It is difficult for Tehran to butt heads with China because Beijing is its lifeline, especially amid the crisis

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

After all, China — like the US, the Arab Gulf and the rest of the international community — has a vested interest in ensuring freedom of navigation in the region’s waterways. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait can trigger a crisis for everyone. Though Iran is showing defiance, it is a totally different story when it comes to China. It is difficult for Tehran to butt heads with China because Beijing is its lifeline, especially amid the crisis it is currently facing.

As Wang has said, China wants to “safeguard Iran’s legitimate rights and interests.” Beijing can present itself as a guarantor. It can guarantee that Iran will comply. Most importantly, it can make sure the American blockade on Iran is lifted and the bombing does not resume after the Israeli elections in October and the US midterms in November.

China should not only mediate between the US and Iran, it should also seek to broker talks between the Arab Gulf — Saudi Arabia in particular — and Iran. China has leverage with both countries and has already brokered the Beijing Agreement of March 2023, through which diplomatic relations were restored after seven years. China can capitalize on this agreement. Again, it can play an important role not only by mediating but also, because of its leverage, it can play the role of guarantor. In any mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a guarantor is needed because the two parties do not trust each other.

While the US and Israel want to see Iran and the Arab Gulf states fighting each other, China wants to see them getting along. If Iran and the Gulf states are on good terms, it will be more difficult for the war to resume. However, the main point of contention between the Gulf and Iran is the latter’s nonstate actors and sleeper cells. Iran has always called its proxies allies and has used them as leverage against countries in the region. Today we see the Houthis attacking Saudi Arabia from the south, while the pro-Iran militias in Iraq attack from the north. China can push the Kingdom and Iran to fully normalize by solving the issue of nonstate actors in the framework of a regional security architecture.

The Chinese are known to take a measured approach in their foreign policy. They are very careful in their state-to-state relations and adopt a strict policy of noninterference. However, they know that if this war does not end soon, the situation could spiral out of control, with consequences that would be disastrous for the world economy. So, Beijing might now be thinking of throwing the weight of the Chinese dragon behind efforts to bring this conflict to an end.

·         Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.

World Tourism Day 2026: How AI is transforming Saudi Arabia’s tourism experience

Gulf facing most severe security crisis in decades, Bahraini FM tells UN General Assembly

Palestine ‘clearest example’ of international system’s ‘dysfunction,’ Egyptian PM tells UN

 

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY ONE – FROM WASHPOST

SEE THE MENU FOR TRUMP’S STATE DINNER WITH CHINA’S XI JINPING

For the president’s fifth such formal dinner, the dishes blend Chinese and French influences.

September 24, 2026

By Emily Heil

 

The under-construction White House ballroom might not be ready for Thursday’s state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, but the menu set to be served in the more intimate East Room still promises a touch of elegance.

So what will the guests find on the Reagans’ china service, which fits the dinner’s red color scheme?

It seems first lady Melania Trump, who oversaw preparations for the dinner, is returning to the form established in recent history in which state dinners typically feature culinary nods to the guests’ homeland. In this case, it’s a more overt gesture, and Chinese flavors and ingredients show up in the form of a drizzle of scallion oil atop the soup course, in the sesame-seed crust of the main dish — a sea bass — as well as in the vegetables served alongside, bok choy and eggplant.

That bubbly that will likely be raised for the traditional toasts also has diplomatic origins. The Schramsberg blanc de noir hails from the California winery that supplied the sparkling wine that President Richard M. Nixon brought to China in his history-making 1972 meeting with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. The leaders’ “toast to peace” helped thaw Cold-War era relations, and Schramsberg bubbles have been a White House staple ever since.

The menu for Thursday’s dinner, which is expected to draw a slew of tech titans and business moguls, also leans into the formal French influences seen at many of the previous Trump-era state dinners. The soup includes a squash velouté, which is one of the foundations of French high cuisine, accented by a fricassee — another classic French preparation — topped with the scallion oil.

Dessert, too, looks to the country associated with haute cuisine, featuring a crémeux, a sweet sauce with a consistency somewhere between a mousse and custard.

Trump has held five state dinners over his two terms, far fewer than many of his predecessors, but now, with a handful of menus to compare, are there any themes, other than a fondness for Gallic flourishes?

It seems the first lady and the kitchen staff, who create the menus over weeks, in close consultation with the State Department to take into account dietary restrictions and food preferences of the guests given the high diplomatic stakes, aren’t afraid — like many good hosts — to put dishes on repeat. The dinner for King Charles III and Queen Camilla in April also featured a velouté in the first course and a crémeux to end the meal. Why mess with a good (creamy) thing?

And they’ve eschewed the practice, which was frequent at Obama and Biden state dinners, of inviting a guest chef to join the regular White House culinary team.

With Thursday’s dinner, Trump is returning a favor. In May, Xi hosted the U.S. president for a pomp-and-ceremony-filled state visit in Beijing, including a dinner where the menu featured Chinese dishes that also happen to be popular stateside, including pork buns and Peking duck.

The last time Xi was similarly feted at the White House was in 2015 by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. Then, the crowd dined on a menu that employed American ingredients with other nods to Chinese cuisine, including a lychee sorbet.

Here’s the full (2026) menu, according to the White House:

First Course

Yellow Squash Velouté

Wild Mushroom Fricassée

Crispy Pancetta

Scallion Oil

The first course offers a refined and silky-smooth velouté made of sweet yellow squash. This course is gently blended to highlight its delicate seasonal flavors of earthy wild mushrooms, sautéed with fresh herbs. Together, these ingredients create a rich fricassee, complemented by crispy pancetta for a savory and smoky contrast. A finishing drizzle of scallion oil adds vibrance and a subtle allium brightness to the dish.

Second Course

Sesame Crusted Sea Bass

Braised Baby Bok Choy

Roasted Garden Eggplant

Sauce Verte

The second course is prepared delicately with fresh sea bass and coated in toasted sesame seeds. This combination creates a fragrant nutty crust while keeping the fish tender. The fish is served with crisp baby bok choy and roasted garden eggplant, creating lightly caramelized flavors. The dish is finished with a vibrant sauce verte of fresh herbs, which add brightness, acidity and a garden character.

Dessert

Vanilla Crémeux & White House Honey Ice Cream

Walnut Frangipane

Sour Cherry Confit

The dessert course is a smooth vanilla crémeux with a vibrant sour cherry confit center, set atop a rich walnut frangipane. The dessert’s fruit shaped form is complemented by a delicate ice cream made with harvested White House honey.

 

PEANUT GALLERY... OVER 400 COMMENTS, LIKE…

461 comments

The conversation explores a strong sense of dissatisfaction and criticism regarding the opulence of a state dinner hosted by Donald Trump, particularly in light of economic struggles faced by many Americans. Participants express frustration over the perceived extravagance and...Show more

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1.    Johnny Wyeknot20 hours ago

Xi could be heard saying, “I came halfway around the world for Panda Express carry out?”

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2.    CharityB2 days ago

Meanwhile, I am trying to save money on food by emptying my freezer and pantry.

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3.    norelationkushner2 days ago

Does the rsvp card include a box to check for the Big Mac option?

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4.    LouisS2 days ago

In other words, Trump didn't partake.

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5.    sparty0472 days ago

King Donald snuck in 2 Double Whopper meal ahead of time. Do you think he's looking a little puffier lately?

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6.    Andy P - Los Angeles - the SFV2 days ago

Not American cuisine, how nice.

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7.    Opopanax2 days ago

I would think that Xi would be tired of Chinese food. I guess it's better than hamburders.

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8.    patrocle13 days ago

Did Trump get an overcooked steak in the shape of a fish swimming in ketchup?

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9.    midwest child3 days ago

Meanwhile, half of American citizens are struggling to find a way to fill up the car and afford groceries. Dinner last evening was grilled cheese and soup ... and we both work full-time.

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10.                       Commentor883 days ago

Was there white rice served??

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11.                       Commander retired3 days ago

Many commenters are mad that Trump would hold such an event and yet never complained during Dem Administrations. TDS

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12.                       Icarus783 days ago

WHAT!???? No McCheese Burger????

 

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY TWO – FROM FOX

WHAT'S ON THE MENU FOR TRUMP'S STATE DINNER WITH CHINA'S XI? ONE AMERICAN STAPLE IS NOTABLY MISSING

The White House menu, provided by First Lady Melania Trump's office, has a pescatarian flair

By Peter D'Abrosca Fox News  Published September 24, 2026 5:34pm EDT

 

President Donald Trump, despite his wealth, isn't exactly known for his refined palette.

But Thursday's state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping will be an elegant affair, and a far cry from the 47th president's notorious McDonald's order of two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and a large chocolate shake. The swanky event will be quite the opposite.

Conspicuously missing from the menu, however, is an American dining staple — red meat. 

In fact, no meat will be served at all. Instead, the dinner is exclusively a pescatarian affair.

TRUMP-XI SUMMIT COULD HOLD KEY TO LOWER GAS PRICES, GOP CHAIRMAN SAYS

The menu for the event, provided to Fox News Digital by First Lady Melania Trump's office, says the first course consists of yellow squash velouté, wild mushroom fricassée, crispy pancetta and scallion oil.

"The first course offers a refined and silky-smooth velouté made of sweet yellow squash," the menu states. "This course is gently blended to highlight its delicate seasonal flavors of earthy wild mushrooms, sautéed with fresh herbs. Together, these ingredients create a rich fricassee, complemented by crispy pancetta for a savory and smoky contrast. A finishing drizzle of scallion oil adds vibrance and a subtle allium brightness to the dish."

TRUMP HOSTS KING CHARLES, QUEEN CAMILLA AT WHITE HOUSE STATE DINNER: FASHION, FOOD AND A STANDOUT GIFT

Served next is a sesame crusted sea bass with braised bok choy, roasted garden eggplant and a French green herb sauce.

"The second course is prepared delicately with fresh seabass and coated in toasted sesame seeds," according to the menu.

"This combination creates a fragrant nutty crust while keeping the fish tender. The fish is served with crisp baby bok choy and roasted garden eggplant, creating lightly caramelized flavors. The dish is finished with a vibrant sauce verte of fresh herbs, which add brightness, acidity, and a garden character."

The two heads of state and their guests will enjoy vanilla crémeux and White House honey iced cream, walnut frangipane and sour cherry confit for their final course.

DAUGHTER OF CHINESE UYGHUR PRISONER MAKES EMOTIONAL PLEA TO TRUMP DURING SPOTLIGHT XI SUMMIT

"The dessert course is a smooth vanilla crémeux with a vibrant sour cherry confit center, set a top a rich walnut frangipane," the menu says. "The dessert’s fruit shaped form is complimented by a delicate ice cream made with harvested White House honey."

The First Lady unveiled a beehive on the White House South Lawn earlier this year.

Famous American tenor Christopher Macchio, who was featured at the Republican National Convention in Dallas a few weeks ago, will entertain for the evening, along with military musicians from the Army and the Marine Corps.

"The décor for the evening is an expression of warmth and celebration and draws on the color red’s longstanding cultural significance throughout Chinese history," the First Lady's memo says, and will feature "urns overflowing with red blossoms and tables covered by red linen with dahlias and ranunculus."

After the dinner, both presidents are expected to retire for the evening.

 

ALSO… 

See the Menu for the State Dinner Honoring Xi Jinping

What's on the menu at the Trump-Xi state dinner?

Trump's state dinner for Xi to feature sea bass and a long list of tech titans

China state dinner with Xi: Elon Musk, a bald eagle and Trump 'off script'

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY THREE – FROM TRT WORLD

CHINA PUSHES BACK AGAINST 'UNILATERAL MILITARY ACTIONS' AT UNGA AMID US-IRAN WAR

Beijing calls for "bringing the Palestinian question back onto the right track of the two-state solution at an early date.

September 26, 2026

 

China’s vice president has voiced Beijing's opposition to "unilateral military actions" amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict, also using his address to the UN General Assembly to urge a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue.

"We should settle differences and disputes through dialogue and consultation and oppose unilateral military actions that violate the UN Charter and circumvent Security Council authorisation," Han Zheng said.

He urged major countries to shoulder "special responsibilities for safeguarding international peace and security" and take the lead in "complying with the rules, upholding the rule of law, and doing what's right."

He also said on Saturday that China believes it should respect the sovereignty and security of Middle Eastern countries, including Gulf states.

"International industrial and supply chains should be kept stable and unimpeded, and global trade should be safeguarded," said Han.

He called for advancing governance in the occupied West Bank and post-conflict reconstruction in Gaza in line with the principle of Palestinians governing Palestine.

China also calls for "bringing the Palestinian question back onto the right track of the two-state solution at an early date," he said.

On Ukraine, he said China plays a continued "constructive role in its own way" to achieve a political settlement of the crisis, also urging "the relevant country to immediately stop using the threat of force against Cuba and immediately and completely lift the blockade and sanctions against Cuba."

On tech advances, he said the world should take a people-centred approach and ensure positive AI development amid rapid technological and industrial transformation, while narrowing the digital divide and promoting universally beneficial development.

 

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY FOUR – FROM USA TODAY

US, CHINA AGREE TO TARIFF REDUCTIONS ON $60 BILLION WORTH OF TRADE

By Rachel Barber   Sept. 28, 2026, 12:04 p.m. ET

 

What Chinese imports to the US will have reduced tariffs?

What new AI-related dialogue did the US and China establish?

Why did China agree to import US coal in 2027?

 

China and the United States reached agreements during President Xi Jinping's state visit, including tariff reductions on $60 billion of trade, a new AI dialogue, investment board, coal import commitments, and the gifting of pandas, aiming to broaden market access and cooperation.

China and the United States have agreed to reduce tariffs on $60 billion worth of trade — one among several other commitments made following President Xi Jinping's state visit to America last week.

Under a new Board of Trade, the two nations recommended tariff reductions on $30 billion worth of "non-sensitive" goods on each side after Xi met with President Donald Trump, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. Although it was not immediately clear by how much tariffs on the select items will be reduced, Greer said the agreement will unlock "improved market access for about 30 percent of U.S. exports to China."

Greer added the move will benefit American consumers as the reductions affect household goods, toys and other products the United States typically does not import from other countries. Because U.S.-based importers pay tariffs on Chinese goods when they enter the country (and may pass those costs on to consumers), reduced tariffs could eventually lead to lower prices on those select items. But lower consumer prices are rarely guaranteed. Elevated energy and transportation costs are still putting pressure on supply chains. As does greed.

"The Trump Administration will continue to pursue fair, balanced, and reciprocal trade with China by ensuring compliance with commitments on agricultural and energy purchases, pursuing balanced trade in non-sensitive goods, and securing market access for American farmers, manufacturers, businesses, and workers," Greer said.

 

AN OPEN LINE OF COMMUNICATION ON AI

Although it did not appear the two leaders came to any breakthrough agreement on the technology their countries are in a race to develop, the two nations committed to continuing discussions about the future of artificial intelligence.

Their meeting came at a time when some American industry leaders are sounding the alarm over the technology's potential risks that Trump has largely brushed aside.

After Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22 that he preferred to use the term "superintelligence" because the word "artificial" makes the technology sound "fake," the White House said in a statement that Xi agreed to use Trump's preferred phrase.

"The two countries established the U.S.-China Super Intelligence (SI) Dialogue to exchange views on risks and benefits related to SI," the White House said, adding the next exchange will take place before November.

 

WHAT ELSE DID TRUMP AND XI DISCUSS?

Investment, supply chains, coal and pandas.

The White House said a new Board of Investment will provide a channel for the two nations to discuss investment opportunities and roadblocks. It added that the two nations will also work to address supply chain shortages related to rare earth and other critical minerals.

The White House also announced that China agreed to import "at least" 10 million metric tons of coal from the United States in 2027 and in 2028.

Plus, Zoo Atlanta welcomed two new giant pandas from China over in what Xi called an "envoy of friendship" between the two nations.

"This historic visit enriched the constructive and stable China-US relationship, upheld the overall stability of bilateral ties, opened a new chapter ‌in China-US ⁠relations, and will have a far-reaching impact on world peace and development," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement.

 

WHICH CHINESE IMPORTS TO THE US ARE AFFECTED?

The White House released a list of 77 Chinese imports to the United States affected by the tariff reductions, which include several consumer products like small appliances, toys, holiday decorations and children's car seats.

Also impacted are:

·         Fireworks

·         Plates

·         Tableware

·         Curtains

·         High chairs

·         Pillows

·         Playing cards

·         Christmas ornaments

·         Magic tricks

·         Baseballs and other sporting equipment

·         Fishing lines

·         Artists’ brushes

 

WHICH AMERICAN EXPORTS TO CHINA ARE AFFECTED?

The White House also released a list of 1,619 American exports to China that will also be impacted by the tariff reductions. It includes a range of agricultural goods, fish and seafood, logs and wood products, cosmetics and medical devices.

Also affected are:

·         Donkeys

·         Mules

·         Horses

·         Cattle

·         Pigs

·         Tuna

·         Lobsters

·         Butter

·         Buttermilk

·         Eggs

·         Live flowers and plants

·         Select frozen food items

Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com, follow her on X@rachelbarber_

, and subscribe to her newsletter "Making More of Your Money"here

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY FIVE – FROM SALON

TRUMP ROLLS OVER FOR CHINA’S PANDA GIFT

Art of the deal: China gets dominance in AI and renewables, plus global respect. Trump gets a couple cuddle-bears

By Andrew O'Hehir  Acting Editor in Chief  Published September 28, 2026 9:00AM (EDT)

 

Certain obvious questions arise from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington this past week, a spectacle that one observer has described as “diplotainment” rather than actual diplomacy. Exactly how much did Donald Trump abase himself in service to a temporary and transactional friendship with the dictatorial leader of a nation that is, at least by conventional standards, America’s principal strategic enemy? 

No one knows; I am tempted to surmise that Trump doesn’t know himself. The man who in sunnier times for his regime enjoyed calling himself “your favorite president” does not seem to be his own favorite president these days. Trump almost visibly glowed with delight when Xi praised the quality of service and attention to detail of his White House visit. “Everything is done to the highest order of perfection, and there is thought in every little detail,” the Chinese president said through a translator. “And it’s greatly appreciated.”

You could describe that as the meaningless courtesies of routine statecraft, but it also suggested a high-flying hotel guest offering his compliments to the concierge: The eggs this morning were entirely delicious. And the way your people turn down the sheets at night: exquisite!

Democracy and fascism: Empty words on the edge of the abyss

If we could somehow remove ourselves from the anguish and destruction caused by Trump’s improvised policies (which resemble comic-book versions of Big Brother’s “Two Minutes Hate” from the film version of “1984”) and his aggressively stupid public persona, we might be able to perceive some pathos in his predicament. He cannot escape from a situation he believed he had created and felt he could control: He is the massively unpopular elected leader of a rapidly collapsing superpower, whose downward slide he promised to reverse but has only accelerated, perhaps to the point of terminal velocity.

Trump visibly and hungrily longs for things he cannot have: the alleged greatness of the mythological American past, rendered as white supremacist schlockinherited third hand from the more vigorous fascist movements of the last century; the enforced adulation and obligatory public spectacle of a totalitarian regime such as Xi’s China or Kim Jong-un’s North Korea; most of all, perhaps, his own youth as a brash Manhattan philanderer and unstoppable political renegade, when he didn’t fall asleep in public or stumble around awkwardly with an unexplained contraption under his clothing.

To consider such matters is not a distraction; it begins to point us toward the larger and more painful questions behind the Xi-Trump pseudo-summit. It surprised literally no one that the two leaders negotiated no new agreements on regulating A.I. (or “Super Intelligence,” in Trump’s self-parodying rebrand), the status of Taiwan, the sporadic trade war between the two nations or ending the war with Iran and restarting the global flow of Middle East oil. No mention was made of Trump’s vaporware claims last May that the Chinese had agreed to buy hundreds of Boeing aircraft and $10 billion worth of U.S. beef and soybeans, but Xi promised to send two pandas from China’s breeding facility to the Atlanta zoo. So much winning. It’s impossible to calculate.

In large part, the absolute nothingness of this summit reflects the fact that China is already winning across the board and Xi needed nothing from Trump beyond the legitimation provided by a diplotainment spectacle “to the highest order of perfection.” As China scholars Nicholas Bequelin and Yaqiu Wang write in a Foreign Policy analysis published before the summit, over the first 19 months of Trump’s second term, the geopolitical balance of power has shifted in Beijing’s favor:

“China has weathered the trade war, narrowed the technology gap, tightened its leverage over critical supply chains, increased pressure on Taiwan, and deepened ties with Russia and much of the global south.”

Contrary to more Sinophobic commentators, they argue that China’s ruthlessly pragmatic leadership is not interested in dominating the world, or at least not in the same way postwar America did. But it does have a long-term agenda, they write, which includes breaking the global dependence on U.S.-centric financial institutions, discrediting democracy and furthering a historical process Xi has described as “the rise of the East and the decline of the West.”

I don’t disagree with any of that, but the most important aspect of Bequelin and Wang’s analysis gets a little buried beneath a forest of impeccably organized policy details. Xi has no need to strike an overtly aggressive posture and can afford to cosplay friendship with Trump because “the West,” or at least its greatest military and economic power, is doing a terrific job of declining all on its own. To borrow the nostrum attributed to Napoleon, the Chinese president is smart enough not to interrupt an opponent while he’s making a mistake. 

It may take generations — if there are any future generations — to measure the scale of America’s self-inflicted damage, which goes well beyond material issues into the realm of psychology or perhaps spirit. (If it’s pretentious to use the Hegelian term Geist, it still fits.) It remains astonishing, not to mention upsetting and enraging, that in the face of a global climate crisis that has already caused millions of deathsand is obvious to nearly everyone on the planet, the U.S. has deliberately chosen to double down on fossil fuels while “China is consolidating its worldwide dominance in batteries, solar, and EVs,” as Bequelin and Wang write. 

Faced with America’s spectacular self-own, who can blame people in the Global South for suspecting that the tradeoff between “democracy” and “authoritarianism” was never as straightforward as they were led to believe?

Chinese solar panels and batteries, often offered at steeply discounted prices, are revolutionizing transit and energy issues in many poorer countries, beginning to break the expensive and damaging addiction to foreign oil. Meanwhile, the U.S. has largely abandoned or dismantled its foreign aid programs aimed at fostering economic development, public health and education, while doing its level best to destroy its own reputation as a multiracial secular republic rooted in the rule of law. Faced with America’s spectacular self-own (which didn’t start with Trump, to be clear), who can blame people in the Global South for beginning to suspect that the tradeoff between “democracy” and “authoritarianism” was never as straightforward as they were led to believe?

Despite the widespread anger and disillusionment of Trump’s second term — an encouraging trend, to be clear — it’s still too easy for Americans to duck the biggest and most glaring question of all: To paraphrase one of the greatest works of postmodern angst, how did we get here? It no longer feels remotely adequate (if it ever did) to suggest that angry, vicious people accidentally elected an angry, vicious president who is pursuing a self-destructive and nihilistic agenda, and that at some future date our national sanity and our indispensable role in world affairs will be reasserted. 

We tried that, remember? It didn’t work. Perhaps, from some great historical remove, Joe Biden’s presidency will appear noble and tragic. But it was also doomed, trapped in a vision of the past every bit as delusional as the MAGA fantasy, and nearly as damaging. The Biden regime’s self-appointed mission of enforcing a “rules-based order” involved pretending that the world had not changed, that America was still widely beloved and admired, that our so-called republic had not bred and nurtured Donald Trump and that he did not embody its bottomless greed, its gleeful ignorance, its wounded and flatulent national pride.

And so we arrive at the final conundrum of the Trump-Xi summit, and our president’s stopped-clock tendency to stumble upon hard truths. In his inimitable ass-backward fashion, Trump has discerned that the “free world” has become a meaningless abstraction and liberal democracy is in a state of systemic failure. He is correct about that, at least to a point. But he can provide no answer beyond prostrating himself before dictators and building monuments to himself in imitation of their grandiosity. If China’s repressive techno-state makes a distinctly unappealing candidate to lead the world into the future, America can only offer competing versions of an imaginary past. Hey, at least we got those pandas. 

Democracy vs. fascism: What do those words even mean?

“Late Fascism” is here, and it doesn’t need Hugo Boss uniforms

America abdicates as global superpower — and it’s about time

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY SIX – FROM TELEGRAPH UK

WHAT’S LEFT OF BRITAIN’S CRUMBLING EMPIRE IS UP FOR GRABS

 

BY DANIEL JOHNSTON

 

When a foreign policy ends in tears, it usually has consequences far beyond the immediate vicinity. Just as the Allies’ ignominious retreats from Iraq and Afghanistan emboldened Iran and the Taliban, so the Chagos surrender signalled to other predators that British overseas territories might be up for grabs, even many thousands of miles away in the South Atlantic.

So it should have been no surprise when Javier Milei, the Argentine maverick, gambled on a concerted campaign to reverse the result of the 1982 Falklands War. He calculated that stirring up revenge fantasies in the Malvinas would boost his flagging popularity.

Beset by foreign policy fiascos and threats from within, Britain has never looked weaker.

What is left of Britain’s withered empire looks about to fall apart and nationalist vultures are gathering over the UK itself with those running the country willing participants in its dismemberment.

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY SEVEN – FROM KCRA (SACRAMENTO)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SAID OIL PRICES WILL LIKELY FALL AFTER THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS, CITING THE ONGOING WAR WITH IRAN AS A FACTOR BEHIND RISING COSTS.

By Rachel Hirschheimer and Ben Miller Updated: 4:45 AM PDT Sep 10, 2026

 

WASHINGTON —

President Donald Trump said oil prices likely won't come down until after the midterm elections, suggesting gas prices will remain high until voters head to the polls.

Higher energy costs have already impacted consumers and businesses. Regular gas prices are rising, and diesel prices have reached record highs, according to AAA.

On Thursday (9/9), AAA reported that the price for a gallon of regular gas is $4.28. Diesel is $5.98 per gallon. 

Diesel, which powers much of the economy through trains and trucks that transport goods, could increase the cost of everyday items. Jet fuel prices have also surged, leading U.S. and international carriers to cut flights and raise fares.

On Wednesday, Brent crude oil, the international standard, surpassed $100 a barrel for the first time since July. The index remained above $100 on Thursday. Experts say the recent increase in oil prices could lead to prices exceeding $110 a barrel unless the war drastically changes.  The highest price they reached during the war with Iran was about $114 back in May.

Brent crude oil tops $100. Here's what that means for U.S. oil prices

Trump expressed confidence that Americans may feel relief at the pump after the midterms.

"Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward. They're going to be tumbling down, and we'll get them down. I think for gasoline we'll get them below $2 a gallon," Trump said.

The war with Iran, which has lasted more than six months, is one factor behind rising gas prices. Trump predicted the conflict will end after the midterms if Republicans are re-elected, claiming Iran "can't hold out any longer."

"They're desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon," Trump (also) said.

Analysts at Bank of America said this week additional refinery outages in Russia (i.e. Ukrainian bombings) have increased diesel and gas prices globally. This is causing a supply chain disruption. Refining activity in Russia decreased, causing a decline in inventories, ultimately pushing prices higher.

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY EIGHT – FROM CNBC

BY Spencer Kimball   Sep. 25

Key Points

·         Saudi Arabia is exporting 6 million barrels per day of crude oil in September, which is equivalent to the kingdom’s monthly average of 2025, according to Kpler.

·         The Saudis have managed to ramp up exports even after they closed the critical East-West oil pipeline due to damage it sustained in a drone attack.

·         They have redirected exports back through the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. military has carved out a shipping lane along Oman’s coast. Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports have surged this month despite a sharp escalation in fighting with Iran-backed militants, according to data from the trade intelligence firm Kpler.

Riyadh is exporting 6 million barrels per day in September, the highest level since the Iran war began about seven months ago. The kingdom’s crude shipments have recovered to the monthly average of 2025.

The Saudis have managed to ramp up exports even after they closed the critical East-West oil pipeline this month due to damage it sustained in a drone attack launched from Iraq. Shipments in September have surged nearly 80% over the 3.4 million bpd of crude exported in August.

The pipeline has acted as a crucial relief valve for the oil market during the Iran war. It allowed the Saudis to bypass the Strait of Hormuz as Iran attacked tankers transiting those waters. Riyadh shifted exports from its oil-producing regions in the east through the pipeline to the Red Sea terminal of Yanbu.

Brent crude oil jumped to nearly $110 per barrel after the pipeline shut, but prices have pulled back as investor confidence grows that the outage has been less disruptive than originally feared.

The Saudis have redirected crude oil exports back through Hormuz as the U.S. military has carved out a shipping lane along Oman’s coast. The other Gulf states have relied on this route for months now, though the journey remains dangerous as Iran continues to attack tankers transiting the strait.

“The ramp-up from the Mideast Gulf is a consequence of the pipeline outage, but it likely also signals a greater confidence in using the Strait of Hormuz given rising traffic,” said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler.

Oil exports through Hormuz reached a seven-day average of 13.2 million bpd on Wednesday, compared with around 17 million bpd before the Iran war disrupted traffic, according Kpler data.

Industry sources told Reuters that the East-West pipeline restarted at low volumes earlier this week and is now ramping up. Saudi Arabia has not publicly confirmed that the pipeline has restarted.

But Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told the Japanese newspaper Nikkei on Thursday that “temporary interruptions” to oil infrastructure last “usually for days, not weeks or months ... on every occasion.” Nasser declined to give a specific update on the pipeline.

 

 

 

ATTACHMENT TWENTY NINE – FROM THE HILL

GOP SENATORS NOT HAPPY WITH TRUMP’S EMBRACE OF XI AFTER CHINA HELPED IRAN

Comments:2

by Ellen Mitchell - 09/25/26 7:36 PM ET

GOP SENATORS NOT HAPPY WITH TRUMP’S EMBRACE OF XI AFTER CHINA HELPED IRAN

 

Republican senators are dismayed over President Trump’s lavish welcome of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the U.S. after the discovery that Iran used Chinese satellite imagery to target American troops in Jordan.

 

 

Republican senators were told of deepening military cooperation between Iran and China at a closed-door national security briefing Thursday, heightening their concerns about Trump’s red-carpet welcome of Xi at Joint Base Andrews.

GOP lawmakers called on Trump to confront Xi over reports that the Chinese government has provided military assistance to Iran and demanded that China produce real concessions on trade, especially U.S. agricultural exports. These discussions have been elusive in Trump’s negotiations with China.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the 21-gun salute and B-1 bomber flyover that greeted Xi’s arrival were “over the top.”

She also said the military honors for Xi were excessive.

Republican senators are also questioning Trump’s announcement this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been invited to the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Miami in December.

Sen.  John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he wasn’t happy to see Trump lavish Xi with honors given escalating tensions between the U.S. and China over the war in Iran, Taiwan’s independence and the artificial intelligence race.

Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it’s “pretty clear” that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea have formed an “axis” alliance opposing the U.S.

“We’ve seen that happen before with disastrous consequences, so I think we need to be very concerned and very aware of what’s happening,” he warned.

 

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY – FROM STRAITS TIMES

TRUMP, XI DISCUSS MIDDLE EAST WAR AS IRAN PRESSES 7-DAY PLAN TO END FIGHTING

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump on Sept 25.

Published Sep 26, 2026, 09:00 AM   Updated Sep 26, 2026, 07:40 PM

 

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK – US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping turned to the Middle East war at their summit on Sept 25, as Iran pressed Washington to accept a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and halt regional fighting.

China is highly dependent on the flow of Middle Eastern oil, which has been disrupted by Iranian threats on tankers leaving the Strait of Hormuz and the advance of Iranian-allied Houthis along chokepoints in the Red Sea.

Xi urged the US and Iran to return to the June framework agreement that led to a short-lived ceasefire and continue negotiations towards a broader settlement, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua.

Trump, meanwhile, warned Xi against providing support to Iran and received assurances that China would not do so, the US ambassador to China said on Sept 25, the final day of Xi’s three-day state visit.

The flurry of diplomacy underscored the global stakes of the seven-month-old conflict, which has disrupted oil flows through one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes and drawn in regional and world powers.

Xi’s visit coincided with the United Nations General Assembly, where Iran and the US engaged in diplomacy through Qatari mediators.

Iran welcomed Xi’s push for a return to the June framework, but also placed renewed emphasis on its peace proposal, formally unveiled on Sept 24.

 “Iran has conveyed to the United States through Qatar a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, a normal maritime passage restored within seven days. The choice now rests with the United States,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters at the United Nations on Sept 25.

“The seven-day timeline will start as soon as the United States accepts this plan,” he said.

Washington has yet to publicly respond to the Iranian offer, but a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “We are having positive and constructive discussions through the mediators, and we continue to discuss the nuclear issues.”

If the US agrees, the warring parties could start wider talks “on mutually agreed subjects”, Araghchi said.

Tehran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and hostilities would end on all fronts, including Lebanon.

The plan in turn requires the US to lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release Iran’s frozen funds and waive its oil sanctions.

But separately, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran will show no ​flexibility over its nuclear programme even if the US accepts its peace deal.

Iran would grant no concessions over its rights, including ​enriching uranium or shipping its ​highly enriched uranium out of the country, the official said.

Trump has vowed Iran will never develop nuclear weapons.

RETURN TO DIPLOMACY?

The Iranian seven-day proposal comes after previous attempts at diplomacy have failed to end the war, which began on Feb 28 with US and Israeli strikes.

Since then, the war has alternated between pauses and renewed strikes, killing thousands while degrading Iran’s conventional forces and damaging Iran’s already ailing economy.

Iran and its allies have retaliated by extending the conflict throughout the region.

Iran has struck US allies in the Gulf with drones and missiles, while its Houthi allies in Yemen have targeted Saudi interests.

Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq were blamed for a pipeline attack that temporarily took more Saudi oil off the market.

All the while, Iranian-backed Hezbollah has been engaged with Israeli forces in Lebanon.

 

More on this topic

Trump told Xi that China helping Iran is unacceptable, US ambassador says

Why the Trump-Xi summit in Washington could be considered a win for Beijing

 

WARNING TO CHINA

The US warning to China came amid reports that China had supplied Iran with shoulder-fired ​air-defence missile launchers and that Tehran had found ways to evade sanctions on its oil sales with Chinese ​help.

David Perdue, Trump’s ambassador to Beijing, said in a CNBC interview that Trump reiterated to Xi that direct or indirect support for Iran was “totally unacceptable”.

Asked separately on Fox News if that meant China would stop ​assisting Iran, Perdue said: “They assured us yesterday they’re not doing that.”

The war’s widening toll was also visible on the Arabian Peninsula, where Saudi Arabia’s allies moved to shore up the kingdom’s defences.

With the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government under assault from Iran-linked Houthi fighters, and Houthi missiles striking inside Saudi Arabia, allies of the kingdom have united to show support.

Defence officials of Turkey and Pakistan, both partners in a joint defence pact with Saudi Arabia, met in Riyadh on Sept 25 to review the security situation and discuss intelligence cooperation, military coordination and integrating forces, the Saudi defence ministry said in a statement.

The statement came a day after Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish foreign ministers met within the framework of the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

The violence in Yemen has prompted a new humanitarian crisis, the United Nations children’s agency said on Sept 25, reporting a rise in acute malnutrition among children. REUTERS

 

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY ONE – FROM GUK

IRAN HAS 'NO PLANS TO NEGOTIATE WITH US' DESPITE TRUMP CLAIMS IN MEDIA

 

State media in Iran has reported that Iran’s delegation to the UN General Assembly had no talks planned with the United States, after US president Donald Trump said he expected more negotiations.

“Iran’s delegation in New York has no plans for negotiations with the United States,” said the official IRNA news agency, citing an unnamed source close to the group.

Trump told media outlet Axios on Sunday that he expected talks to resume soon, a day after he rejected a proposal by Tehran to reopen the strait of Hormuz within seven days.

“Iran’s views and positions were conveyed clearly and explicitly to the US side... via a Qatari mediator,” IRNA said, adding that the Iranian delegation would return to Tehran on Tuesday.

Iran says it presented seven conditions for ending the war and reopening the strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil and gas flowed before the war.

The strait lies at the heart of the conflict that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. Following that attack, Tehran placed a chokehold on the waterway, and Washington responded with a blockade of Iranian ports.

Axios said indirect talks mediated by Qatar could take place as early as today, less than a week after similar discussions between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.

Iran demands a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah is regularly bombarded by Israel.

It also demands the unfreezing of its foreign assets, lifting sanctions on its oil sector, and an end to the US naval blockade. Trump rejected their demands on Saturday.

In other developments:

·         The Trump administration on Monday plans to release new fuel economy standards that would relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks. President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social media account on Saturday that the less stringent mileage requirements would “take the waste out of building cars in America” and save families “thousands on a new, beautiful and safe car,” while boosting auto production in the US.

·         Donald Trump’s attorney general Todd Blanche argued on Sunday that the administration was permitted to ban three news outlets from the White House because “it is a privilege and not a right to be there”. Appearing on the ABC News program This Week during the second week of the White House’s dispute over press credentialing and access, Blanche also said that the administration took the decision to ban CNN, MS Now and Politico beginning on 19 September because the president was “sick and tired” of what he considered to be those media outlets’ inaccurate reporting.

·         US senator Thom Tillis on Sunday criticized Donald Trump, his fellow Republican, for the president’s support of Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Senate Republican primary. “He made a colossal mistake,” Tillis, a frequent Trump critic from North Carolina, said during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union in reference to the president’s support of Paxton who defeated Cornyn in the May primary.

·         The United States and China released Monday reciprocal lists of products worth about $30bn each that will see tariff cuts, in a deal expected to boost bilateral trade. The details came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with president Donald Trump in Washington in his first state visit to the US since 2015.

·         Trump justified the pending US arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese president Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world - even asking Xi if he’d be in the market for US arms, Trump’s ambassador to China said on Sunday.

·         House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda, with investigations of Trump, his family and his administration if the party sweeps control of the chamber from Republicans in the November elections. The undertaking is as robust as it is daunting, spanning several House committees.

 

 

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY TWO – FROM FOX NEWS

SEC CROWD GREETS TRUMP WITH MASSIVE CHEERS AHEAD OF TENNESSEE-TEXAS SHOWDOWN

The president landed in Knoxville about 40 minutes before kickoff of the first Tennessee-Texas meeting since 1969

By Zach Dean   Published September 26, 2026 12:10pm EDT

 

Donald Trump has arrived in Tennessee for the biggest college football game of the day, and — to the surprise of approximately nobody — the Neyland Stadium crowd went nuts as Air Force I flew over the stadium.

The president arrived in Knoxville about 40 minutes before kickoff of today's marquee showdown between the Vols and No. 1 Texas. It's the first meeting between the two schools since the Cotton Bowl in 1969. Tennessee comes in ranked 14th in the country, while the Longhorns are No. 1 and two weeks removed from an upset of Ohio State.

 

That was in Austin, though. Today's game is in Knoxville, with the eyes of everyone — including the president — on them.

Trump greeted with cheers in Tennessee

Obviously, it's a very pro-Trump crowd for today's ... SEC ... showdown. Who would've thunk it?! Forget the approval ratings. If Trump goes to an SEC game, he's gonna be cheered. Heavily.

Oddly enough, the only place he may have been met with some boos would've been Austin. Look at what the College GameDay crowd did to Ted Cruz two weeks ago.  It was brutal.

 

SEE WEBSITE HERE FOR PIX and VIDEOS

 

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY THREE – FROM US WEEKLY

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP LOUDLY BOOED AFTER INTRODUCTION AT TENNESSEE VS. TEXAS FOOTBALL GAME

By Danielle Campoamor September 26, 2026

 

President Donald Trump received a not-so-warm welcome while attending the biggest college football game of the week. The commander-in-chief, 80, was loudly booed shortly after he was introduced at the highly-anticipated Saturday, September 26, matchup between No. 1 Texas and No. 14 Tennessee. The president first took part in a pregame Air Force One flyover at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday, before he took his seat in a secure suit next to gubernatorial candidate and self-proclaimed MAGA supporter Marsha Blackburn. “Ladies and gentleman, the 45th president and 47th president of the United States — Donald J. Trump,” the announcer said over the intercom and as Trump was shown on the jumbotron. Despite being met with audible boos amid some positive cheers, the president seemed undeterred as the two teams battled it out on the gridiron. (The Longhorns defeated the Volunteers 20-17 on Saturday. The president declined to publicly endorse any team prior to the game.)

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke about the possible game-time disruptions the president could pose simply by choosing to attend the game in-person. President Donald Trump is displayed on the jumbotron during the first half of the game between the Texas Longhorns and the Tennessee Volunteers Getty Images “In the fourth quarter, if he decides to leave early, your communication gets cut off and shuts down,” Sarkisian, 52, told reporters ahead of Saturday’s matchup. “A good friend of mine is Mario Cristobal. Last year, when they were playing Indiana in the national championship, they had the drive at the end of that game, they had no communications because he was leaving early before the game ended. And so you get no warning, it just cuts out. You’ve gotta be prepared for that.”

Trump’s Saturday appearance and subsequent reception was far from the first time the command-in-chief has received a cold shoulder from a large crowd.

Amid rising gas and diesel prices, rising inflation and an increase in the cost of living, the ongoing war in Iran and a historically low approval rating, Trump was also loudly booed while appearing at this year’s 2026 World Cup Final. After Jennifer Hudson performed a stunning rendition of the U.S. national anthem on July 19, Trump was shown clapping while standing from his section inside Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

As the camera panned to him, Trump was audibly booed by the audience. He watched the match — where defending champs Argentina faced off against Spain — beside his wife, Melania Trump, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. (Spain emerged victorious, winning 1-0.) Trump was also met by a loud chorus of boos while appearing at Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (The Knicks lost 115-111, with many critics blaming the president’s appearance for the New York team’s only loss of the championship series.) “It was certainly amazing,” Trump told reporters of his reception at Madison Square Garden after the Knicks’ loss. “It was, I think it was mostly cheers.”

 

Tennessee football did not use Dolly Parton's "My Tennessee Mountain Home" as its fourth quarter song during the No. 17 Vols' 20-17 loss to No. 1 Texas at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 26.  (Knox NewS)

 

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY FOUR – FROM TIME

WHAT DOLLY PARTON SAID IN HER LAST INTERVIEW SHOULD TERRIFY US

By Neal K. Shah   Sep 3, 2026 12:30 PM ET

 

 

Dolly Parton did so much in her life to help others. In her final days, I think she did one last thing that will help millions of people, if we pay attention to her warning and take action.

Just four days before she died, Parton said that she was being treated for health problems that she “didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl.” She was talking about the years she spent caring for her husband through a long illness. The interview moved on to her upcoming projects, and that line went by so quickly that most people missed it. As we reflect on her death, I think it was a clear wake-up call to America.

This is caregiving in 2026. More than 60 million Americans are going through it, a 45% increase over the past decade. We are struggling in the shadows at great sacrifice to our own health and well-being, and caregiving rarely gets airtime as few people want to hear about it. Even worse, hardly anyone wants to talk about it.

In my mid-30s, I suddenly became a spousal caregiver for my wife through her cancer battle. It took an enormous toll on my own health, and woke me up to the harsh realities that millions of Americans face. I realized that supporting caregivers is one of the biggest unmet societal needs of our time, and I decided to dedicate the rest of my life to helping caregivers. 

I left my thriving career as a hedge fund manager to build a social impact organization CareYaya, where I’ve worked directly to help thousands of caregivers, people taking care of their spouses and their aging parents, who are caring for loved ones through serious illness, dementia or disability. The toll that millions of us are facing is enormous and completely in the shadows.

But with our rapidly aging population, rising rates of dementia, cancer, and serious illness, all of which place a huge caregiving burden on spouses or adult children, I think now is a critical time to talk about caregiving, before it totally breaks our society. Parton’s death can be the wake-up call to change the societal narrative and bring about much-needed changes to support caregivers. 

Parton’s own words suggest that for years, her health was going untended while she tended someone else’s, and that no one caught it. In October 2025, when posting a video to quiet fans who had begun to worry about her health, she said that while Carl was sick and after he died, “I didn’t take care of myself,” and that she had let things slide. A few months later in March 2026, opening the season at Dollywood, she said she had gotten “worn down and worn out.” And in August 2026, she said it a final time, only four days before she passed. For years, one of the most famous women in America was doing the unseen and unheralded work of a caregiver.

We have known for a quarter century that this work can literally kill the person doing it. In the Caregiver Health Effects Study, published in JAMA in 1999, elderly spousal caregivers who reported strain had a four-year mortality rate 63% higher than non-caregiving spouses.

Scientists like Janice Kiecolt-Glaser have mapped in detail the biology underneath this phenomenon. Give a caregiver and a matched non-caregiver an identical small wound, and the caregiver’s wound takes about nine days longer to close. Caregivers’ immune cells show accelerated telomere erosion, the hallmark cellular signature of faster aging.

When Blue Cross Blue Shield went into its own claims database and identified 6.7 million members who were caregivers, it found that caregivers had 26% poorer overall health than a matched benchmark. They were 64% more likely to have high blood pressure, 37% more likely to have major depression, and 34% more likely to have anxiety. Among Millennials, the so-called “sandwich generation” raising their children while managing an aging parent’s illness, the rates of hypertension ran 82% higher and hospitalizations ran 59% higher. The health care system can already see clearly what caregiving does to someone’s own health. It simply has not adjusted the way it responds to help caregivers.

Even when the person they’re caring for dies, the risk does not end, as a well-documented “Widowhood Effect” shows the surviving spouse has an excess mortality of over 30% in the first three months after the passing of their loved one.

So what’s the solution? We can start with making caregiving a diagnosis.

Let’s take high blood pressure as an example. It often causes no symptoms and does not hurt. Yet we screen for it, code it, track it, and treat it anyway, simply for one reason: it reliably increases your risk of dying early. That is the logic of preventative health care, to address the risk factor before it becomes an emergency.

By that standard, caregiving should be at the top of the list. It elevates blood pressure, depression, and inflammation, suppresses immune response, correlates with a measurable rise in mortality. And unlike most other risk factors, it is very obvious who might be affected. 

The caregiver is often the person standing in the clinic exam room with their loved one, doing the paperwork and answering questions on someone else’s behalf. Yet currently, they are invisible to our health care system. 

In my years as a cancer caregiver for my wife, taking her to dozens of appointments and treatments, I was never once asked how I was doing or how my health was holding up. Only 15% of caregivers have ever been asked by a health care provider how they are doing. Even on the mental-health side, clinicians still lack the diagnostic pathway to bill for supporting caregivers, so even if caregiver burden is documented, it’s not treated because it’s not billable. Our health care system can bill for almost anything these days, yet it cannot bill for one of the most common health exposures in American life.

What else would caregiver support look like?

If you know a caregiver, please stop texting, “let me know if you need anything.” An exhausted caregiver will never ask, and answering requires more work and inventing a task for you. Just name a day and a four-hour window, and show up. Bring food for them and take over the care duties for a few hours, so they can get a much-needed break to go watch a movie, go to their own doctor’s appointment, sit in a park, or take a nap.

If you are the caregiver, treat your own medical appointments as part of the job. Book them at the same time that you book your loved one’s. Tell one clinician on your care team that you are the caregiver, and ask to be checked on, too. That is information the system needs. And think about it as the announcement you hear when you board an airplane: “In the event of an emergency, please put on your oxygen mask before you help others.” If you don’t manage your own health, you may not be capable of helping your loved one.

As a country, we need to see caregivers, name the burden, and pay for it. Register caregivers alongside the patient, and screen them for physical health, mental health, and economic stability, with actual corresponding help. We should fund respite care and tax credits for caregivers. Unpaid family caregivers deliver over a trillion dollars of economic value in care every year, and we need to decide that’s worth supporting.

The next time a caregiver walks someone they love into an exam room, somebody in the room should ask how they are doing, write the answer down, and support them. 

That is the memorial Dolly Parton earned, and the best way we can honor her legacy.

"I've been blessed": Dolly said.

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY FIVE – FROM CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT for INTERNATIONAL PEACE

Trump Had the Chance to Address U.S.-China AI Safety. He Threw Xi a Party Instead.

The summit may be remembered as a fatal blunder, when Washington, Beijing, and the AI industry collectively chose ceremony over action.

By Jeffrey Prescott   Published on Sep 30, 2026

 

The split screen on AI safety last week—between sobering risk and opulent inaction—could hardly have been more stark. In Washington, President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit, rolling out a red carpet at Joint Base Andrews, offering a tour of his ballroom construction site, and holding a ceremonial tea. On substance, by all accounts, the leaders of the world’s AI superpowers said and did little of consequence. Trump did manage to gather a group of AI and tech CEOs at the White House with Xi—not to negotiate AI guardrails, but for a lavish state dinner.

Trump’s AI titans clinked glasses even as their companies released alarming new data about how little apparent control the industry has over its products. OpenAI announced it had paused training of its “most capable models” and would resume only with additional safeguards in place after a model “broke out of its secure testing environment as recently as last weekend and took unauthorized actions on the internet,” according to Fortune. Other OpenAI agents had interacted with U.S. government websites, including those of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Census Bureau, in unexpected or concerning ways—just a few of the numerous entities the software improperly targeted. Anthropic, meanwhile, reported that its newest model showed “misaligned behavior” at least 1.5 percent of the time, according to Axios, which reported that AI companies are investigating “tens of thousands of incidents in which the models behaved in unexpected, sometimes troubling ways.”

If the leading AI companies are themselves sounding the alarm, why can’t our national leaders act to avoid a disaster? If a more harmful incident occurs—in the United States, China, or anywhere else—before meaningful action to regulate or restrain this technology is in place, last week’s summitry will be remembered as a fatal blunder, when Trump, Xi, and the industry collectively chose ceremony over action.

With China and the United States racing for global tech superiority, nothing is more important than to keep AI systems under human control, with guardrails to ensure safety. Some kind of U.S.-China understanding, even in parallel, could reduce the risk.

Sadly, that was not Trump’s agenda. On September 22, speaking before the United Nations General Assembly, the president rejected efforts to regulate AI, comparing concerns about AI safety to his other favorite “hoaxes,” including climate change and election interference. “The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control” AI, Trump concluded, adding that “we’re going to encourage it, not rein it in.” Following his meetings with Xi, Trump said he wanted to leave AI “exactly where it is. That is China’s position also.” And although Trump’s team put dramatic restrictions around release of Anthropic’s Fable model this summer, those were quickly lifted. Trump’s recent rhetoric suggests no intent to implement anything other than an ad hoc approach to AI safety.

In advance of the summit, Trump’s team did announce an AI dialogue and a new hotline between the United States and China. But Trump and Xi’s meeting yielded no further details or apparent progress. The hotline may simply be an arrangement between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China’s vice premier to pick up their phones in a crisis—the diplomatic equivalent of keeping DMs open—or a more formal effort that, according to WIRED, lacks either approval by Trump or “explicit sign-on from China, which has been noncommittal.” While proposals for such a mechanism exist, what we’ve seen so far falls far short of establishing the communication or risk reduction systems that have been used, for example, to prevent nuclear crises.

On its surface, Xi’s position appears reasonable compared to Trump’s. “We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that the development of AI is always under human control and serves the well-being of the people,” Xi said at the White House. But at the moment, China seems content to signal generic openness to dialogue without pushing any specific approach to improve AI safety. Although two more meetings between Trump and Xi are planned this year, breakthroughs seem unlikely, especially given Trump’s suspicion of AI safety and China’s deep distrust of U.S. intentions.  

To the rest of the world, watching the leaders of the two AI superpowers—one authoritarian, the other chaotic and self-absorbed—seemingly content to admire the problem has to be particularly alarming. Rogue AI incidents this summer included hacks of Australia’s Medicare website and a German wiki website, and an attempted hack of a Nigerian cryptocurrency firm. At the UN Security Council last week, the best one UN expert could muster was an appeal to common humanity: “A mother in Shanghai wants her sons to grow up in a world where AI improves their lives, not undermines them. A father in Chicago wants his daughters to thrive because of AI, not to suffer its harms. Our hopes and concerns are the same, in every nation.” 

It is not hard to imagine a path that could bolster AI safety at home, address concerning national security risks, make use of U.S.-China diplomacy, and further develop global guardrails—because that is precisely the path the United States had begun to chart just a few years ago.

In 2023 and 2024, former president Joe Biden issued an executive order and a national security memorandum outlining principles around “safe, secure, and trustworthy” development of AI systems. The Biden administration also initiated diplomacy with China around AI safety that resulted in agreement that both countries would keep a human in the loop in nuclear command and control. This was a milestone that, while frustratingly limited in scope, would benefit both sides and address a meaningful risk. At the UN, ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield shepherded the first General Assembly resolution on principles for AI globally. Although extremely modest, the resolution had the advantage of making the U.S. regulatory approach—rather than China’s—the starting point for future international regulation. 

To be sure, Biden-era efforts were far from fully fledged and—judging by the speed with which the industry has developed and risks have increased—arguably not nearly ambitious enough. But that agenda did set a regulatory floor that could have scaled along with the industry. Trump’s decision to dismantle the Biden-era framework immediately upon taking office, along with his rhetoric this week doubling down on that approach, now looks like something even industry itself—and indeed the world—would like to see reversed.

 

The American Statecraft Program develops and advances ideas for a more disciplined U.S. foreign policy aligned with American values and cognizant of the limits of American power in a more competitive world.  Learn More

 

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY SIX – FROM FOX

REAL WINNER OF XI SUMMIT REVEALED AS TRUMP LOOKS TO USHER IN NEW ERA WITH CHINA

Critics say China gained time while critical minerals commitments, and Taiwan arms sales remain stalled

By Morgan Phillips   Published September 29, 2026 7:00am EDT

 

For years, being "soft" on China was a political insult hurled across the aisle. Great-power competition ruled. Washington increasingly prepared for the possibility of war with Beijing as the national security world pivoted toward the Indo-Pacific.

The scene in D.C. last week looked markedly different as President Donald Trump attempts to welcome in a new era with the world's second-biggest superpower and growing adversary — especially when it comes to the ever-changing tech landscape.

Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping with a red carpet and the pomp of a state visit last week, speaking warmly about his relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader as the two sides looked for new areas of cooperation.

"The summit went great — for Xi Jinping," Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.

'RED CARPET FOR A DESPOT': TRUMP'S LAVISH XI WELCOME COLLIDES WITH GOP ANTI-COMMUNISM MESSAGE

The reception was striking given how Washington's leaders have spent years describing the challenge posed by Beijing: Chinese hackers penetrating American networks, state-backed efforts to steal U.S. technology and trade secrets, unfair trade practices and a rapidly expanding military with its sights set on Taiwan.

Gordon Chang, a China analyst and author who has long advocated a harder line toward Beijing, said there was a distinction between keeping lines of communication open with a rival and giving Xi the reception he received in Washington.

"I understand that you have a need for dialogue, but when you have that dialogue, you don't necessarily have to have all of the ceremony and all the legitimization," Chang told Fox News Digital. "We can talk to the Chinese, but we don't need to do it in the way that occurred last week."

Trump, however, is betting that a warmer relationship with Xi can produce results despite those enduring disputes. The question is how much Beijing's behavior has actually changed — and what Washington is willing to live with in pursuit of a more stable relationship.

Kennedy explained that "the U.S. got a few small things — agreement to lower tariffs on $60B worth of goods, some purchases of specific items (such as agricultural and coal), the standing up of an AI dialogue, and alignment on major goals with regard to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz."

"But Xi came away the winner because the current commercial ceasefire works mainly to Beijing’s advantage," he added. "It gives them time to continue unabated their drive for tech self-reliance, narrow the lead in various sectors, including AI, and maintain an imbalanced commercial relationship with its trading partners."

TRUMP'S QUIET CHINA WINS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN XI'S EMPTY STATE VISIT

Chang identified the same commodity as particularly valuable to Beijing: time.

"While we talk, we defer taking action," Chang said. "So China got delay. And that is, I think, absolutely critical."

The administration has gotten movement from Beijing on some long-running disputes.

China has tightened controls on chemicals used to make fentanyl and, according to the White House, arrested 21 Chinese nationals in August based on information supplied by U.S. law enforcement. Trump is still pressing Xi to permanently restrict additional precursor chemicals, but the steps mark tangible progress on an issue that has bedeviled Washington for years.

 

Trade is more complicated.

Trump and Xi emerged from last week's talks with a new list of $30 billion in American products and $30 billion in Chinese products recommended for lower tariffs. For U.S. exporters, that could mean better access to the Chinese market for agricultural products, seafood, timber, cosmetics and medical devices.

But there is a gap between the announcement and its impact. The two countries have agreed to consider favorable tariff treatment for the products — they have not yet put all of those lower tariffs into effect.

AMERICA AND CHINA ARE FIGHTING FOR THE FUTURE OF AI — CHIPS ARE THE BATTLEFIELD

And Washington is still trying to get Beijing to make good on commitments it already made.

Nowhere is that more consequential than critical minerals, where China's dominance over global supply chains gives it enormous leverage over industries ranging from automobiles to weapons production.

After his May summit with Xi, Trump announced that China had agreed to address U.S. concerns over shortages of rare earths and other critical minerals.

Four months later, the issue remains unresolved.

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The White House said after last week's summit that Washington and Beijing "continue to work" on restoring adequate shipments. No new comprehensive critical-minerals agreement was announced.

"China has not been living up to its commitments on supplying those minerals," Chang said.

The gap between Washington's warmer posture and its longstanding concerns about Beijing extends beyond trade.

Ahead of Xi's visit, Trump was asked about Chinese spying and cyber activity — an issue U.S. officials have spent years describing as one of the most persistent threats from Beijing.

"When they say China spies on us, I say you’re right, and we spy on them too," Trump said. "They basically do what we do."

Trump's own intelligence community describes the threat in markedly different terms.

The intelligence community's 2026 Annual Threat Assessment calls China the "most active and persistent cyber threat" to U.S. government, private-sector and critical infrastructure networks. U.S. officials have accused Beijing-linked hackers of burrowing into telecommunications networks through the Salt Typhoon campaign and pre-positioning inside critical infrastructure through Volt Typhoon — activity officials have warned could give China the ability to disrupt communications, energy, transportation and water systems in a future crisis.

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"Yes, we do spy on each other, but there's a difference in the spying world," Chang said.

"There are so-called legitimate targets. That's the governments of each state, defense contractors. What is not considered legitimate is spying on civilian institutions, NGOs, universities, all the rest of it. China does that.

"I don't think it's his job to make excuses for China. His job is to protect the United States."

Taiwan offers another test of the new relationship.

A roughly $14 billion weapons package for the self-governed island remains in limbo months after Trump described it as a "very good negotiating chip" in his dealings with Beijing. China claims Taiwan as its territory and has continued military activity around the island even as relations with Washington have warmed.

"My sense is that Taiwan is nervous," Chang said, pointing to the still-pending package. "We still have not had that package green lighted."

Trump has also looked to Xi for help beyond the Indo-Pacific. U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue said Trump warned Xi against Chinese intelligence, components or military assistance reaching Tehran amid the war with Iran and suggested Beijing subsequently took action, saying, "They pulled some things down."

Perdue did not publicly specify what China curtailed.

The emerging relationship, then, is not simply a story of rapprochement. It is a test of Trump's wager that engagement with Xi can produce concrete results while managing threats that Washington still considers serious.

So far, that record is mixed.

Beijing has taken steps on fentanyl, and the two countries are exploring lower tariffs on billions of dollars in goods. But China's critical-minerals commitments remain unresolved. Its cyber operations remain a top U.S. intelligence concern. U.S. defense strategy remains heavily focused on deterring China in the Indo-Pacific, and Taiwan remains one of the most dangerous potential flashpoints between the two powers.

What has changed most dramatically, at least so far, is the relationship at the top — and Trump's willingness to bet that engagement with Xi can manage those risks better than confrontation alone.

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY SEVEN – FROM HUDSON INST. Via WASHTIMES

TRUMP, XI, AND THE IRON REALITY BENEATH THE PAGEANTRY

Do not mistake a spectacular welcome for strategic softness.

By Miles Yu   Sep 28, 2026

 

 

The more U.S.-China relations change, the more they remain the same.

Xi Jinping came to Washington amid extraordinary pageantry, presidential compliments and talk of “strategic stability.” Yet beneath the ceremony lies an iron reality: The United States and communist China remain formidable strategic adversaries because their visions of world order remain fundamentally incompatible.

The Chinese Communist Party continues to portray American power as “hegemonism,” obstructing China’s rise and its preferred Sino-centric order. Mr. Xi used precisely that language weeks before arriving in Washington.

The U.S., meanwhile, continues to strengthen alliances, military deterrence and economic security measures designed, in significant part, to counter China’s global power. (The court trial of Huawei, charged by the Justice Department as a criminal organization, started in New York just days before Mr. Xi landed at Joint Base Andrews.)

That is why Mr. Trump’s spectacular welcome for Mr. Xi should not be mistaken for strategic softness.

At Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, two B-1B bombers roared overhead as the national anthem played during Mr. Xi’s arrival ceremony. The next day at the White House, a B-2 Spirit — the same type of strategic bomber employed against Iran’s nuclear facilities — flew over, accompanied by four F-22 Raptors. Nearly 480 American military personnel participated in the welcome ceremony.

It was hospitality, certainly — but hospitality staged against an unmistakable backdrop of American military, economic and technological power.

The cultural symbolism was equally remarkable.

The state dinner included music from “Les Miserables,” whose revolutionary anthem “Do You Hear the People Sing?” became the street anthem of Hong Kong’s 2019-2020 protest movement. It also featured “The Moon Represents My Heart,” immortalized by Taiwan’s Teresa Teng.

Teng was far more than a pop singer. Her music, once condemned as “spiritual pollution” in communist China, was broadcast from Taiwan toward the mainland and became a Cold War cultural symbol of a Chinese world beyond Beijing’s rule. Teng rejected invitations to perform in communist China and publicly supported the 1989 Tiananmen protesters.

Few musical choices could have carried more historical irony at a White House dinner honoring the CCP’s supreme leader.

Even “Jasmine Flower,” performed during the state visit, was no communist anthem. It is an old Chinese folk melody, predating communist rule by centuries and famously incorporated into Puccini’s “Turandot.”

The distinction matters: China is older and greater than the CCP.

The symbolism continued at the National Archives. Mr. Trump took the ruler of a Leninist party to see America’s Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights — the documentary foundations of limited government, individual liberty and popular sovereignty.

Then there is the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, a document Beijing would prefer the world to remember differently. Japan renounced “all right, title and claim” to Taiwan and the Pescadores without transferring sovereignty over them to China.

Beijing has long rejected the treaty’s legitimacy. Whatever one’s interpretation of Taiwan’s ultimate legal status, the treaty complicates the CCP’s insistence that Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan is an internationally settled historical fact. It is not.

Taiwan itself produced another revealing contrast. Mr. Xi pressed Mr. Trump to go beyond America’s traditional formulation of “not supporting” Taiwan independence and explicitly oppose it. Mr. Trump offered no publicly announced concession.

Then there was the radically different language used by the two sides.

Mr. Xi offered the usual abstractions: peaceful coexistence and the perennial disingenuous promise of “win-win” relations. Washington increasingly spoke the language of numbers, deadlines and implementation: an extension of the trade truce to Jan. 10, 2027; at least $17 billion annually in American agricultural purchases; restored market access for American beef and poultry; 10 million metric tons of American coal in both 2027 and 2028; tariff treatment for $30 billion in goods in each direction; and concrete delivery of rare earths and critical minerals.

Still, Washington should never confuse promises with performance. Earlier commitments remain incomplete, including Chinese purchases of Boeing aircraft and American agricultural products.

No grand strategic bargain emerged from the Washington summit. The two leaders essentially agreed to keep talking.

There was another important message that week, and it was directed toward Japan.

While U.S.-China relations provided the diplomatic theater, Mr. Trump conspicuously reinforced America’s treaty alliance with Tokyo. Two days before meeting Mr. Xi, the American president held a highly visible meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the United Nations. They discussed China, cooperation on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and critical minerals, deterrence, the Quad and a free and open Indo-Pacific.

No sooner had Mr. Xi departed for home than Ms. Takaichi received a detailed briefing on the summit directly from “Dear Donald.”

The larger picture could hardly have been lost on Mr. Xi: China gets presidential pageantry, and Japan remains America’s principal Indo-Pacific ally and the cornerstone of America’s power and influence in the region.

Strategic stability requires strategic patience — and wiles. Mr. Trump has spent a lifetime bargaining in hard-edged worlds, from New York real estate to casinos and entertainment. He understands that cordiality and displays of power and strength are not synonymous.

America now needs both carrot and stick.

Mr. Trump can play diplomatic good cop, keeping leader-to-leader communication open and offering rewards for measurable Chinese compliance. Yet his administration also contains officials — such as Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth — who can play the harder role when Beijing fails to deliver.

China has leverage, especially in rare earths and critical minerals, but dependence runs both ways and asymmetrically. China remains enormously dependent on American consumers, advanced technologies, financial power and a global economic and alliance system in which the U.S. still exercises extraordinary influence.

Washington has far more leverage than its habitual pessimists imagine. The question is whether it is willing to use it.

The summit’s message was not going soft on China. Nor was it friendship. It was something subtler and potentially more effective: Smile at Mr. Xi. Show him the Constitution. Play Teresa Teng and Puccini. Fly the B-1Bs and B-2s overhead. Demand dates, quantities and compliance. And keep the stick within reach.

Read in The Washington Times.

 

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY EIGHT – FROM GUK

LATENITE COMEDIANS on TRUMP/XI

 

Late-night hosts recapped Donald Trump’s lavish state dinner for the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, and Jimmy Kimmel asked Zohran Mamdani about texting the president.

 

JON STEWART

“Last week, a young man by the name of Donald Trump picked up a young man by the name of Xi Jinping, Chinese president, at the airport for a pivotal three-day visit to Washington,” said Jon Stewart at the opening of Monday’s Daily Show, after an unusually lavish welcome for the Chinese leader in DC.

“Now, as with any monumental meeting of superpowers, with profound repercussions for global safety and stability, it began with ‘House Tour’,” he added before clips of Trump showing off the White House’s gilded frames and red carpet to the visiting leader.

“Trump spent most of Xi’s White House visit just pointing at shit, while Xi did his best effort to pretend to be impressed. Although I’m sure they talked about issues of national importance,” said Stewart before another clip, this time of Trump telling the press of Xi: “We had a great meeting, and he has great interest in granite.”

Jimmy Kimmel: ‘The only thing more unwelcome in the Oval Office than CNN is a salad’

“Does he? Does he love good granite?” Stewart wondered. “Is that his ‘I love good granite’ face? Because it looks like his ‘I’d rather be standing in front of a tank in a square’ face. Look it up.

“President Trump, I’m sure you’re proud of your new circular granite helicopter parking spot, but just so you know, this is Shenzhen, China,” he continued next to a photo of the futuristic city. “They’ve got a fully autonomous magnetic levitation train. Pretty sure he’s not blown away by carved rock in shape of circle.”

But it’s OK, Stewart continued with faux reassurance, because surely Trump understood “the seriousness of the competition between our two nations” and would not undermine US national security. “I mean, national security is the whole reason we’re paying $600m for this fucking ballroom, right? So you’ll keep that behind the curtain, yeah?” Except Trump did invite Xi and his wife “through that beautiful curtain”, making them the first people to set foot in the new “military complex” ballroom. “Maybe Trump’s just trying to sell Xi Jinping on renting the ballroom out for his next big function,” Stewart quipped.

But while Trump talked granite and ballrooms, he apparently did not bring up the fact that China is selling weapons to Iran. In fact, he even appeared to offer to sell weapons to China.

“What the fuck?! How does America even stay on the map sometimes?” Stewart fumed. “How do we not just slide into the sea?”

 

SETH MEYERS

While Trump bragged about his multi-day welcome for Xi, “it didn’t seem like you got a lot of work done in those meetings,” said Seth Meyers on Late Night. “Mostly, I saw you babbling about the White House renovations, like the ballroom.

“First of all, if someone invites you to go ‘through that beautiful curtain in the back’, you need to get the fuck out of there,” said Meyers of the president’s invitation to Xi and his wife. “It’s like the first scene in a horror movie that takes place in an antique store.

“Also, isn’t this bullshit ballroom of yours supposed to include a bunch of top secret military facilities, and if it does, maybe don’t do the tour with the heads of foreign governments?” he added. “Must be so easy to be a spy these days – ‘this is Falcon. I’m on the premises, and I have eyes on the ballroom door. As planned, I will create a distraction, and then wait … hold up … sounds like he might just be giving us a tour.”

Meyers also mocked Trump’s enthusiasm for Xi’s alleged enthusiasm for granite. “Stop pretending that everyone else is interested in the same dumb shit you’re interested in!” he laughed. “First of all, outside of you, no one has a great interest in granite. If you meet someone who says they have a great interest in granite, odds are they’re also going to go through their beautiful curtain in the back.”

 

JIMMY KIMMEL

And on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, this week broadcasting from the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, the host also roasted Trump’s lavish state dinner for Xi Jinping with the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and JD Vance, among others. “All the famous people who weren’t invited to Taylor Swift’s wedding were there,” Kimmel quipped.

“Trump says he and President Xi have never gotten along better, and they do seem to be quite close,” he added before a clip of Trump clasping hands with Xi while ascending the stairs to the White House.

Later in the show, Kimmel hosted “the president’s other man crush”, the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani.

After welcoming the mayor with a montage of Fox News clips fearmongering over his tenure, Kimmel asked Mamdani about his “unexpected” relationship with Trump, “which seems to be a very friendly relationship”.

He added: “Did you guys hit it off immediately or is it something that you really went into thinking, ‘OK, I need to have a relationship with the president of the United States, and I think the best way to do it is to charm him.’ How did you do that, and can you help me?”

“Sorry brother,” Mamdani replied. “The president and I have many disagreements. One thing we do agree on is this city, how much we love this city, so from that first meeting in November of last year, I was just thinking of how we can make this meeting not about us, but about New Yorkers. How can we spend that time talking about the things that can make life in the city a little bit easier.”

Kimmel then asked Mamdani about reports that he occasionally texts with the president, and requested they send “a selfie of us right now”, but the mayor shut him down: “Jimmy, I love you, but I love housing more.”

 

 

ATTACHMENT THIRTY NINE – FROM AI OVERVIEW

HERE IS THE COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT AND BREAKDOWN OF THE CONTROVERSIAL, TAXPAYER-FUNDED "AMERICA WILL NEVER BE A COMMUNIST COUNTRY" TELEVISION ADVERTISEMENT AIRED BY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.

 

• [Background Music Begins]: The R&B song "Love Me" by JMSN plays, featuring falsetto voices singing "Love me... love me... love me..." repetitively underneath the audio.

• [Visual]: Grainy, rapidly edited strobe-style photos and video clips of President Trump at various White House events flash on screen.

• President Donald Trump (Voiceover):

"Together, we will defeat communism, socialism, and Marxism in America. America will never be a communist country."

• [Visual Text On Screen]: Large, bright red letters flash across the screen alongside photos of the president:

          • AMERICA WILL NEVER BE A COMMUNIST COUNTRY

          • LARGEST TAX CUTS IN HISTORY

          • REIGNITING AMERICAN MANUFACTURING

          • DEFEND LAW AND ORDER AND POLICE

• Dana White (UFC CEO, audio clip from the RNC):

"He's the toughest, most resilient person that I've ever met, and nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves."

• [Closing Visual Text]: Small letters appear at the bottom of the screen:

          • Paid for by the U.S. Government.

Context & Controversy

• Government Funding: The 30-second advertisement drew intense scrutiny because it was funded with federal taxpayer dollars and carried a "Paid for by the U.S. Government" disclaimer rather than being paid for by Trump's campaign.

• The "Public Service" Defense: The White House defended the advertisement as an "educational and unapologetically patriotic" public service announcement (PSA) intended to promote national pride. Because Trump was not explicitly on the ballot for the upcoming midterms, they argued it was not a political campaign ad.

• Hatch Act Scrutiny: Legal experts and Democratic lawmakers heavily criticized the timing—airing just weeks before the midterms—arguing it functioned as partisan propaganda and likely violated the Hatch Act by using public funds for political purposes.

 

2024 REPLAY

 

Adapted from Wisconsin speech and Madison Sq. Garden speech

Trump’s voice: “This is the final battle with you at my side. We will demolish the deep state, expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media, and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.”

 

 

ATTACHMENT “A” – FROM THE UNITED NATIONS

FULL TEXT: NETANYAHU’S ADDRESS AT THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

“I want you to listen to my words carefully: One day, and it may not be far away, the Iranian people will be free. Their murderous regime will be toppled by its lies, by its corruption, by its cruelty,” the Israeli prime minister said.

The following is a transcript of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address during the 81st U.N. General Assembly in New York City, on Sept. 24, released by the prime minister’s office. It has been lightly edited for style.

 

“Mr. President,

Before I begin, just a quick announcement:

If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall—please do so now. Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Fourteen years ago, I stood on this podium, and I drew a red line.

I vowed to prevent Iran’s murderous dictatorship from developing atomic bombs, nuclear weapons aimed at destroying Israel, nuclear weapons that could threaten the entire world.

That’s exactly what we did.

Now let me say something that might surprise you.

Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard. It was very hard to do. But for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister. Because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead.

Now, you want to hear the ultimate irony?

In defending itself, Israel is also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall!

In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran’s nukes.

It’s hard to imagine more mind-blowing hypocrisy, but that’s exactly what it is.

This isn’t the first time we were faced with the threat of annihilation.

On June 5, 1967, Israel was surrounded by enemies who openly swore to destroy us.

We weren’t then in Judea Samaria, the heart of the historic homeland of the Jewish people. We weren’t in Gaza. We weren’t on the Golan Heights.

And Mr. al-Sharaa, you should know the Jews have been on the Golan Heights since the days of Moses. You can read it in the Bible.

At that time, on the eve of the Six-Day War in 1967, we weren’t in any of these places. We were on a tiny sliver of land—we still are—that is equal to about one third of one percent of the landmass of the entire Arab world.

Yet they accuse Israel of colonialism. Some colonialism.

And who’s accusing us? Among them are people in Britain and in France. For God’s sake, they invented the term. Their colonies braced the entire globe.

Colonialism…Give us a break… Another lie.

Yet at the time, on this tiny patch of Earth, no West Bank, no Gaza, no Golan Heights, just the very survival of this one and only Jewish state, because this is what this conflict is about. It’s not about territories; it’s about a Jewish state at any boundaries. And yet, at the time, we were threatened with annihilation by three Arab armies that were about to invade us.

You know what Israelis were doing at the time? They were digging mass graves in preparation of thousands and thousands of casualties. In preparation to bury our dead.

At the time, I was an Israeli high school student in Philadelphia.

Five days before the war broke out, I flew back to Israel.

I found a country in total blackout.

Israel braced for impact.

I flew back to see my brother Jonathan, Yoni.

He was a 21-year-old paratroop officer. And like the rest of the army, his unit was already mobilized. I went to find him. I was told the paratroops are in camps in the orchards, the orange groves around Ramle. So I went there, and I asked some soldiers, “Do you know where Yoni Netanyahu is?” “No.” Then one guy said, “Oh, you mean the young guy? Yeah, he’s in the next grove.”

So I went there, and suddenly, at the end of a long row of trees, I saw my brother.

He was absolutely shocked to see me.

“Bibi,” he said, “what are you doing here?”

We ran, we hugged each other.

Over a cup of makeshift military coffee, I asked him the question that was on my mind, the question that was on everybody’s mind.

“So, Yoni,” I said, “what’s going to happen?”

He paused. And then he said something I’ll never forget.

“We’re going to win,” he said. “We have no other choice.”

I remember those words as if it was yesterday.

We’re going to win. We have no other choice.

And then we did.

Nine years later, Palestinian terrorists hijacked a passenger plane headed for Israel. They took it to Entebbe, Uganda.

Like the Nazis, the terrorists selected the Jewish passengers—men, women, children, babies. They threatened to kill them all if Israel did not release Palestinian terrorists.

And then, on July 4, 1976, the bicentennial of the United States, in one of the most dramatic rescue missions in modern times, Yoni led his brave soldiers to the heart of Africa.

Miraculously, they rescued 103 Jewish hostages and brought them all home, every single one of them.

My brother, the commander of the storming party, was the only soldier killed in this mission.

I want to thank Uganda again for recently erecting a statue of Yoni in the place where he fell.

My friends,

Yoni’s words are as true today as they were more than half a century ago.

We’re going to win. We have no other choice.

At no time was this demonstrated more clearly than on Oct. 7, 2023—the darkest day in Israel’s history.

On that horrific day, thousands of Palestinian terrorists stormed into Israel from Gaza.

I want you to know there wasn’t a single Israeli in Gaza at the time. Not a civilian, not a soldier. Not one!

It didn’t matter one bit.

The Hamas terrorists committed the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

They went house to house, shooting Israeli civilians point-blank. They did so with fiendish glee. With sadistic joy, they live-streamed as they murdered.

And who did they murder? The very Israelis—their neighbors—who gave them jobs, who picked up Palestinian children at the Gaza border and drove them to Israeli hospitals for cancer treatment, and then brought them back.

Can you imagine such monstrosity?

These Hamas monsters, they slaughtered Holocaust survivors. They burned babies alive in front of their parents. They beheaded our men. They brutally raped our women, and then they murdered them.

Altogether, they slaughtered 1,200 Israelis that day.

I want to give you an idea of what this means for a country of 10 million. Proportionately, this is equal to 40,000 innocent Americans slaughtered in less than 24 hours. That’s 16 times 9/11. Sixteen 9/11s that occurred not very far from here.

On that darkest of days, our enemies expected us to collapse.

Well, we didn’t collapse. Instead, we rose and fought like lions.

For the past three years, our heroic soldiers have fought day in and day out in a seven-front war!

Do you know any other country the size of New Jersey capable of fighting a seven-front war? And for three years?

Seven fronts: Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria, Palestinian terrorists in Judea Samaria. They all ganged up on us to wipe us off the face of the Earth.

They failed.

Because instead of collapsing, we delivered crippling blows to all of them.

With our great American friends, we crushed Iran’s army, navy, air force and nuclear facilities.

Israel hammered Hamas. We pummeled Hezbollah.

Remember the beepers? Well, I can tell you this: Hezbollah certainly remembers them.

Guess what happened to the bulk of Hezbollah’s vast arsenal of 150,000 ballistic missiles and rockets, all aimed at our civilians?

They’re gone.

Hezbollah’s leaders—dead. Their spirit—broken.

The arch-terrorists, the worst mass murderers on Earth, not only killing Israelis, killing Americans, killing Brits, killing citizens of dozens of countries—Khamenei, Dief, Sinwar, Haniyeh and Nasrallah—and thousands of other terrorists who sought to destroy us—they’re all gone too.

The remaining terrorists desperately try to regroup. Every day they try to murder our people.

And in particular, they try to murder our people in our historic homeland, in Judea. By the way, that’s where the word Jew comes from. Judea—that’s our land. They try to murder us, thousands of attempts per year on families, peaceful families driving along the roads. They shoot at pregnant women; they shoot entire families.

Of course, none of this is covered in the international press or on social media. None of it. What they cover is a handful of juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who throw stones, who chop down olive trees. Occasionally, they light some fires. I can’t stand that. I won’t stand for vigilantism. We’re a country of law. So we put our Shin Bet on them. But that’s what they call settler violence. And the number of casualties a year? Maybe two or three. In the total time this has been discussed, maybe two or three dead. Compared to the thousands of terrorist attacks against the peaceful settlers, honorable people, law-abiding people. What a distortion. It’s an obsession. I hear this discussion here? Leaders of countries seriously talk about that. And they say it with such importance. “We can’t stand settler violence.” You don’t know what you’re talking about.

And listen, two days ago… I say this to my colleague Emmanuel Macron. Two days ago, three days ago, a French citizen, Netanel Shukrun, a father of six, was gunned down when he visited a spring with his 16-year-old son. And a Hamas terrorist in Judea and Samaria comes and fires point-blank at him. And the last words he uttered: “Flee, flee, son. Save yourself.”

That was three days ago. Two days ago, in Judea and Samaria, a reserves officer, a reserves soldier, Neria Leiter, was mowed down by a Palestinian terrorist. He is fighting for his life now in a Jerusalem hospital.

I visited the family right before I boarded the plane to come here.

Neria, a father of four, is the son of Yechiel Leiter, our brilliant ambassador to the United States.

Three years ago, Yechiel’s oldest son, Moshe, a father of six, was killed while clearing a booby-trapped building in Gaza.

Yechiel, my brother, your pain is immeasurable.

The entire people of Israel, and many outside of Israel, are praying for Neria’s life.

But despite the pain, despite the agony, we do not give in.

In a recent post before he was attacked, Neria wrote this: “We have no other country. It is a privilege to defend it.”

To Neria, and to all of the heroes of Israel, I pledge a sacred vow:

Your sacrifice will not be in vain. We will continue to defend our state. We will continue to win. Because we have no other choice.

In this battle against the barbarians, we’ve had no greater partner than President Trump.

I thank him for his bold leadership. He boldly confronted an enormous danger to America, Israel and the world.

Decades ago, he understood that if left unchallenged, the fanatic ayatollahs who chant “Death to America! Death to Israel!” would eventually carry out their mad fantasies.

So Israel and America acted together not only to protect ourselves, but to save civilization.

Brave American pilots alongside brave Israeli pilots flew joint missions over the skies of Iran.

America and Israel also worked together to bring back our remaining hostages.

We brought back every last one of them.

You ask, why are we winning?

Yoni said it simply. We have no other choice.

Throughout this long war, our goal never wavered: To win!

To win with unwavering resolve. To win with unrelenting courage. Because this is Israel.

One nation fighting for one future.

Left and right. Young and old. Religious and secular.

Do we have our differences?

Of course we do. Who doesn’t?

But in the critical moments, those moments that shape our destiny, we stand together, because what unites us is so much stronger: our history, our values, our courage.

The courage of our brave people who withstood 1,000 massive ballistic missiles that Iran rained down on our cities, on our civilians.

Ladies and gentlemen,

You’re sitting here, in the General Assembly Hall of the U.N. Do you know what one ton, just one, one-ton ballistic missile would do if it hit this place? It would obliterate the entire compound. In fact, two such missiles would obliterate the U.N.

So you can imagine, think about one thousand gigantic missiles falling from the skies on your cities, on your homes.

I salute the courage of the people of Israel. I salute the courage of our brave soldiers—Jews, Christian, Druze, Muslim. The most moral army in the world, the IDF.

For three years, they have been valiantly fighting a seven-front war.

But there is an eighth front to this war. It’s the war for truth.

It is waged in the world’s media, and most perniciously, in social media.

Several foreign countries have spent untold billions to spread lies about my country.

The first to do so was Qatar.

Decades ago, it started massively funding American universities and toxic media outlets like Al Jazeera. They did the same in Europe, by the way.

Their goal was clear. Brainwash young minds to hate Israel, hate America and hate the West.

This is the same Qatar that hosts the Hamas butchers of Oct. 7.

The latest country to become a super-spreader of antisemitic lies is Turkey. (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan is a tyrant who also hosts the Hamas terror chiefs.

He has murdered thousands of Kurdish civilians. He denies the Armenian genocide. He jails journalists and opposition leaders. In fact, I think he holds the world record on this, and that’s a tough call. But I think he’s number one.

He illegally occupies Northern Cyprus, an EU member, and he regularly transgresses against Greece, a NATO member.

Now he wants to take over Syria.

That’s not surprising, because he calls for Israel’s destruction almost every single day. He says he’s going to be the ruler of Jerusalem.

No, Sir. You won’t. This is our country, our city, our eternal capital.

Tyrants the world over seek to threaten us; they seek to undermine our resolve with their campaign of lies.

But ultimately, as on the military battlefield, the Jewish People will prevail.

It will take time. It will take time to vanquish the lies. It will take time for the world to acknowledge what is so plain to see. That Hamas used Palestinian civilians as human shields. That it used hospitals, schools and mosques as terrorist command posts. That it stole much of the food we let into Gaza.

While Hamas did everything possible to keep Palestinian civilians in harm’s way, often at gunpoint, Israel did everything possible to get them out of harm’s way.

We sent millions of text messages warning civilians to leave combat areas.

We made millions of phone calls.

We dropped millions of leaflets.

I want to ask you some questions. What genocidal regime gives a million polio vaccinations to the enemy’s population? What genocidal regime enables the distribution of two million tons of food into Gaza? That’s a ton for every person.

Accusing Israel of genocide is the greatest lie of the century.

If you want to know how big a lie, if you want to know how absurd this is, listen to Col. John Spencer. He’s head of Urban Warfare studies at West Point. He’s considered the world’s foremost expert on urban warfare.

I think he’s with us today.

Col. Spencer has studied every urban war from antiquity to modern times, from ancient Greece to Mosul to Gaza.

Here is what Col. Spencer says: “Israel has done more to prevent civilian casualties in war than any other military in history.”

We’ve taken innumerable steps to protect the civilian population. Is this genocide? Of course not. It’s the opposite of genocide.

So to all those spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York City, I say this:

Shame on you.

Shame on you for distorting the facts.

Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor.

Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth.

Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York. They talk to me. They tell me. This isn’t the city we remember. It changed so quickly.

It’s no wonder.

You praised criminals convicted of supporting Hamas.

You count as friends people like Hassan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11.

“America deserved 9/11.” Some friends you have.

You invite into your home a Palestinian journalist who filmed Hamas terrorists beating and torturing Israeli hostages, and later admitted that he refused to publish the videos in order to protect—you guessed it—the terrorists!

Your wife liked a post praising the Oct. 7 massacre.

She liked another post saying Tel Aviv shouldn’t exist.

You refused to condemn any of that.

You falsely and repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide.

Mr. Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here; you tried to silence me. You can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth.

And here’s the simple truth.

Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide.

And that’s exactly what Mr. Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us had we not stopped them. They would have killed every last one of us.

The lies you and other antisemites spread about the Jews and the Jewish state have real consequences.

In New York, Jews are threatened on the way to synagogue. Jews have been stabbed in the streets. Jews are demonized. They’re targeted simply for being Jews.

Jews have been murdered in Sydney, Manchester, Montreal, Boulder, Colo.

They’ve been attacked in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Washington, D.C.

The antisemites of the world want to terrify our people.

I have news for them.

The days when Jews were defenseless victims marched to the slaughter, those days are over!

Today we have a state. Today we have an army. Today we have a people ready and willing to defend ourselves.

So today I have one message for Jews around the world: Raise your head high. Be proud. Be confident. Don’t be intimidated. Stand up.

And for everyone else who wants to defend truth and justice, join us in standing up to the barbarians who threaten our common civilization.

But I have to be candid with you. Not everyone is standing up. We saw that. Because unlike Israel, there are some, and most recently, especially in Western Europe, who have chosen not to stand up.

The leaders of these countries have chosen to succumb to the antisemitic mobs.

They have chosen weakness. They have chosen appeasement.

We cannot evade the sad truth before us.

Many in the free world are afraid to defend freedom.

I ask them: what will this future, what will this behavior, what will the world hold for you?

The brotherhood of democracies or the Muslim Brotherhood?

How long will it take for you to see that these fanatic jihadists are choking your waterways, your energy supply, your economic lifeline?

I can assure you, ladies and gentlemen, we in Israel do not wait for others to wake up from their moral slumber.

We forge ahead. We seize the future. We pioneer incredible developments in health, agriculture, artificial intelligence—"superior intelligence”. And we bring these amazing innovations to all of humanity.

Israel has never been stronger.

We are not afraid, but I’ll tell you who is afraid.

The Tyrants of Tehran. That’s who.

You know what they’re most afraid of? Their own people.

The brave Iranian people who have sacrificed so much for so long.

The Iranian regime is especially afraid when their people have this. This is a communications device, Starlink, that allows people to access truth, to exercise choice and to exercise freedom of thought and freedom of speech.

That’s why the Iranian regime spends billions of dollars censoring the Internet.

Mr. President, I’m going to leave this device with you so you can give it to the Iranian delegation so when they inevitably defect, they too will be able to freely tell their story on social media.

To the protesters outside, to the hypocritical delegates who left this hall, I ask:

Where were you when the Iranian tyrants butchered and maimed tens of thousands of unarmed Iranian civilians? When they butchered and maimed thousands of their own people? Where were you?

Did you organize mass rallies? Hunger strikes?

Did you protest outside the Iranian mission to the U.N.?

Did you speak out, for that matter, for Christians persecuted in Iran and throughout the Middle East?

No, you didn’t do that. Because you’re phony human-rights protesters.

On Christians, you know that their numbers are plummeting everywhere in the Middle East where they’re being persecuted and hounded, except one place: my country, Israel, where the Christian community is growing, thriving, succeeding.

In fact, you didn’t protest when we left Bethlehem. When it was controlled by us, it was 80-90% Christian, and we gave it to the Palestinian Authority. And today it’s 80-90% Muslim. Everyone, the Christians were shoved out. Did you protest that? Did you speak about that? Nothing. Nada.

And you said nothing about Iran just now. You said nothing about Iran.

But I want to give you the good news.

Despite your silence, despite your hypocrisy, it’s only a matter of time that in Iran something incredible will happen. The power of the people will overcome the people in power.

I want you to listen to my words carefully: One day, and it may not be far away, the Iranian people will be free. Their murderous regime will be toppled by its lies, by its corruption, by its cruelty.

This evil regime will fall, and we will all celebrate that day.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The story of my people, the Jewish people, goes back over 3,000 years.

We speak the same language today that we spoke then.

We live in the same land in which our ancestors lived then: David, Solomon, Isaiah and Jeremiah. That’s our land.

The land of Israel.

Our prophets, our purpose and our people are unique in history.

Our values have inspired humanity for millennia.

The belief in one God. The sanctity of life. The rule of law. Our eternal quest for peace. Our eternal quest for justice.

It is these sacred values that propelled us throughout the ages. It is these sacred values that helped us beat the odds of history.

The great American writer, Mark Twain, said it best 125 years ago. He said it well before the rebirth of the modern Jewish State, well before the great victories of Israel’s soldiers.

Here’s what he said: “The Jew had made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages, and has done it with his hands tied behind his back…

The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away… other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight...

The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his spirits, no slowing of his energies…”

Ladies and gentlemen,

Over the centuries, the tyrannies that tried to destroy us failed time and again.

God willing, they’ll continue to fail.

If we muster our courage, if we steel our resolve, we will continue to win.

As the Bible says, netzach Yisrael lo yeshaker, the eternity of Israel will not falter.

And the reason is simple.

We have no other choice.

Thank you all.

 

 

ATTACHMENT “B” – ALSO FROM THE UNITED NATIONS, via REV.COM

 

President Trump (00:04):

Thank you very much. Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, First Lady of the United States, distinguished delegates, ambassadors, and fellow leaders. It's my great honor to welcome the world to America as we celebrate 250 years of glorious freedom and independence. Two and a half centuries after the Cause of Liberty found its home on this continent, I can report to you with pride that America is back and our country is stronger today than ever before. Our economy is the envy of the world. Our military is the most powerful on earth. Our technology is second to none, and we are leading in virtually everything. Our energy is fueling the planet. America is rising. Our nation is growing. Our power is expanding. Our country is doing better than ever before, and our future is very, very bright.

(01:12)
Since I took office, we have created more than one million new private sector jobs, and more Americans are working today by far, than ever before. Last week, it was announced that the poverty rate has reached its lowest level in American history. We lifted 1.5 million Americans out of poverty last year alone, another record. The African American and Hispanic American poverty rates are at all time lows. Real household incomes for Americans have soared to the highest level in history, $87,000 on average, surpassing the prior record that I set in my first term.

(01:58)
From day one, my administration has worked to remove every single unnecessary regulation and obstacle to doing business in America. We passed the largest tax cuts in American history, and as a result, more money is being invested in the United States right now than has ever been invested in any nation, anywhere in the world. US stock markets have set 80 all time records, and that's just in the last 12 months. We've secured commitments for $21 trillion in new investments from all over the planet, compared to less than $1 trillion in four years in the previous administration. Two years ago, our country was dead, and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. Before I took office, we had the worst and most dangerous border on earth, and now we have the most secure border in American history. Nobody comes in unless they're invited, unless they have permission.

(03:03)
In the past 16 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States, and that's done by some very sophisticated people. It's not done by the Trump administration. Zero. As a result, last year we achieved the largest drop in violent crime ever recorded. The murder rate has plummeted to its lowest level in 125 years, since the year 1900. I sent our crime busters into Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana, and crime in each place went down over 80% and it'll go down still further. More importantly, when I arrived on January 20th of last year in Washington DC, it was riddled with crime and now crime is down 87% and we're going for a hundred. If you take a look and I guess a lot of you have been there, tourism is thriving. Restaurants are bustling and people are proud of our nation's capital. They're proud like never before.

(04:08)
We've invested more money in the United States military in the past 12 months than ever before. And this term, it'll be $1.5 trillion. We inherited a dark age of America from the previous administration and we turned it into the Golden Age of America. The entire world is being lifted by the wealth, strength, spirit and momentum of a newly energized and a very powerful United States of America. And just as we moved quickly to address problems we inherited at home, we have acted with decisiveness and speed to reshape the world stage and solve problems that have plagued us for far too long.

(04:54)
Every leader in this room, and your great leaders, many great leaders, I know all of you very well, but they know that given only a short time to make this world better, safer, and more prosperous for our children, for the people on earth, we have to take advantage of it. As President of the most extraordinary nation in history, I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day. I do not believe in letting problems fester. They only become harder to solve. So while others have talked, I have acted. While others have spoken of peace, I have made peace. While others have ignored threats, I have confronted them. While others have talked of courage, America has shown it. While others have promised strength, I have used it to make America the most powerful country in the world.

(05:50)
Working with many nations in this room, we are solving decades of intractable challenges and we are settling years of unfinished business and we're doing it well. There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world's peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond. They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more. From the first day I entered the political arena, I've been unwavering. I will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

(06:43)
Upon taking office last year, I immediately opened negotiations with Iran and offered them full economic cooperation in exchange for ending their nuclear program and support for terror, but they refused. They absolutely refused. That was a big mistake. Then in Operation Midnight Hammer, the US military obliterated their nuclear program beneath mountains of rubble. And again, I urged Iran to make a deal, and again, they refused. The regime continued building a vast missile and drone stockpile that threatened the security of every American service member in the region and everyone else in the region. They also made a missile that was capable of hitting Europe and they were very proud of it. I hope the Europeans realize that.

(07:32)
Iran's goal was to complete their mad dash to a nuclear bomb from behind this conventional ballistic missile shield. If they had succeeded, that wicked regime would've been free to spread terror and death forever, knowing that any attempt to stop them would face an arsenal of nuclear annihilation. In America, we just marked the 25th anniversary of the worst terror attack in history, September 11th, which killed 3000 people just a few miles from here. It was an unbelievably terrible time. In two weeks, we will mark the third anniversary of the October 7th attack in Israel where terrorists funded by Iran, tortured, mutilated, and killed 1,200 very innocent civilians, including dozens of Americans and many babies, babies, little, tiny, beautiful babies.

(08:31)
Iran's supreme leader celebrated that massacre and called it a service to humanity. The same regime slaughtered over 72,000 of its citizens this year. Recently, 10,000 were killed for protesting. Just imagine such a vile regime were ever empowered to carry out large scale terror attacks from behind a nuclear shield. This was the reality we had to confront, a reality that far too many preferred to ignore. They all ignored it. Many presidents and many others just wanted to ignore it. They were unwilling to do anything about it, but they knew the problem.

(09:12)
After giving Iran every chance for a deal, I took action to ensure that neither the United States nor any nation in this all would ever have to face such a nightmare, such a catastrophic problem. As a result of Operation Epic Fury, all 159 ships of their Navy are now lying at the bottom of the sea. Likewise, their Air Force is gone. Their radar is gone. Their anti-aircraft equipment is gone. Their missiles and drone manufacturing capacity is almost gone. Their economy is gone. The only thing that isn't gone is inflation, which is destroying their country and is now well over 300%. Yet even after we agreed to a ceasefire for nuclear discussions, Iran promptly-

President Trump (10:00):

... and after we agreed to a ceasefire for nuclear discussions, Iran promptly violated it with brazen acts of terrorism against civilian ships from other countries. I want to thank the UN Security Council for voting overwhelmingly to pass a resolution condemning Iran's despicable terrorist attacks on commercial shipping. Thank you very much.

(10:24)
That resolution, I'm pleased to say, received more cosponsors from UN member nations than any security council resolution in history. That's something. Now we must be equally united in maintaining pressure. The United States Navy has recently escorted more than one billion barrels of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, and more oil is flowing than at any point since the start of the war. We're taking 22, 25, 30, 32, and 37 ships out respectively every single day, every single night.

(11:02)
But I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election because it doesn't make sense for them not to. They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don't realize is that I'm not running. I did that already and won in a landslide. We won in a giant landslide and I'll be here for two and a half years. The Republican Party is running and I'll be helping them, but I am not running. I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran. It doesn't even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. The cowards and traitors... Thank you.

(12:29)
Thank you. The cowards and traitors would love to say, "The United States is low on munitions," but that's not true. We have more munitions than we could ever possibly even think of using, and we're building them at levels that we have never done before. We are adding to our stockpiles faster than we have ever been able to do before. Top of the line stuff. In addition, in the very near future, massive munition plants will be opening. There are 18 of them being built by the greatest defense companies in the world right now. 18 under construction. Some of them very quickly will be completed. They're almost there. And that rapid construction will be leading to very rapid deployment of missiles of every type and ammunition of every type, and we'll be able to supply our allies at a much faster rate than we're doing right now.

(13:35)
I call on all nations to join us in enforcing the complete economic isolation of Iran until they stop their attacks on commercial shipping, relinquish their nuclear ambitions, and cease their support of terror. The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate. If we stand united, we will soon see a world free of the last 51-year menace of Iranian terror and oil prices will come plummeting down even lower than they were at the start of the conflict. And they were very low. In the United States, they were really low. With courage and resolve, anything is possible. Big changes can happen and happen fast.

(14:28)
One year ago when I addressed the great leaders this hall, the war in Gaza was still raging brutally. The hostages were still deep in Hamas tunnels and there was no end in sight. It was never going to be resolved. But here on the sidelines of the general assembly, we took the first steps. It changed everything. A few weeks later, we ended the war in Gaza, saving untold thousands of lives. We also brought home all remaining hostages, both living and dead, every single one of them. Thank you.

(15:08)
Thank you. Everyone thought it was a miracle that we were able to do so and people celebrated in the streets. I want to express my gratitude to the United Nations Security Council for their unanimous endorsement of our 20-point Gaza Peace Plan and for officially approving the Board of Peace. It's going to be a very significant group of people. Nearly 30 countries have joined the board, which I am honored to chair, and we're thankful to many of those member nations for contributing billions and billions of dollars to relief. It goes right to the rebuilding and relief of Morocco, Bahrain. These are the countries that gave Qatar, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and many more. That money goes right to the source, right where they need it and they desperately need it. Those countries have been very generous and others also are stepping up at numbers that nobody would even believe because they want to see people live. They want to see the humanitarian thing happen properly. They've been fantastic.

(16:21)
I also want to thank those who have committed troops, police and training to help stabilize Gaza, including Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Jordan and more. Since I took office, it has been my great honor to settle eight wars and in so doing, become friendly with the leaders of many of those countries. It was a great honor to do it. Numerous of these wars have gone on for many years and even decades. The reason I was able to make these settlements was the use of my relationships, very special relationships to this day, very, very special. Trade, the use of tariffs and the threat of tariffs, and various other reasons depending on the country. Among them, terms of settlement, Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Armenia and Azerbaijan. And of course the war in Gaza, which as I stated previously, includes the return of all hostages, both living and dead.

(17:44)
Almost every one of these countries wrote me a letter of thank you. The prime minister of Pakistan, terrific man, said that, "Donald Trump was responsible for saving 30 million lives and probably many more than that." The president of Azerbaijan said, "President Trump in six months did a miracle. It was an absolute miracle that nobody though could be done." The prime minister of Armenia said, "This breakthrough would simply not have been possible without President Trump's personal engagement and his resolute commitment to peace." The president of Cambodia stated, "President Trump's extraordinary statesmanship, marked by his commitment to resolving conflicts and preventing catastrophic wars through visionary innovative diplomacy was most recently demonstrated in his decisive role in brokering an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and peace. This timely intervention, which averted a potentially devastating conflict, was vital in preventing a great loss of lives and paved the way towards the restoration of peace."

(18:55)
The president of Rwanda said, "When President Trump saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he immediately took it. This conflict has lasted for 32 years. Millions and millions of people have died. We got it settled. We've seen countless mediations and efforts, but none has succeeded in resolving the underlying issues. President Donald Trump issued a new and effective statement that really has brought great peace and space through really a breakthrough that we thought was impossible."

(19:35)
We're working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine and we will get that one done. It's going to happen, I think more quickly than people understand. They've had it. 25,000 young people, mostly soldiers a month are dying, 25,000 a month. I look at those battlefield pictures and I really don't want to see them anymore. It's so horrible to see. 25,000 a month, both sides.

President Trump (20:00):

... 25,000 a month, both sides. In addition, the United States and Iran will definitely get it done. We will get it done. One way or the other, it's going to be done. It's going to be done fast. A lot has happened since we last gathered here one year ago. In January, at my direction, the United States military conducted a massive military operation penetrating deep into the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, descended on a heavily defended and fortified military base, one that was supposed to be flawless against attack and arrested the outlaw dictator, real criminal, Nicolás Maduro. Since that day, hundreds of Venezuelan political prisoners have been freed. They've let them out of jails, and we're working closely with the leaders of Venezuela to forge a much better future for the Venezuelan people. Last month, we signed the largest oil deal in history, covering 65 billion barrels of oil, which will benefit both Venezuela and the United States enormously and help drive down the cost of energy all over the world.

(21:14)
And that is starting to perk right now. It's coming out. The biggest oil companies in the world are going in, and the numbers are absolutely incredible. When you add the United States and Venezuela together, we have more than 60% of the oil in the world. So it's perhaps the biggest deal. It was a war, but it's perhaps the biggest deal ever made to the victor, belong the spoils. You've all heard that. Our actions in Venezuela are proof that the United States will no longer permit threats to America to gain a foothold anywhere in the Western hemisphere. And if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States. As you know, Venezuela had the finest equipment in the world from other countries, and guess what? It didn't work. Didn't even come close to working. For decades, other administrations allowed much of this region to be dominated by vicious gangs and bloodthirsty drug cartels destabilized by uncontrolled migration and infiltrated by hostile foreign adversaries, foreign, sick, demented adversaries.

(22:35)
But not anymore. We are reasserting American power, including American military power where necessary in our region and around the world to create a safer future for all of us. It's happening and it's happening quickly. Upon taking office, I designated the drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and unleashed the United States armed forces to eliminate them. The cartels are the ISIS of the Western hemisphere, not good people. They're enemies at war with civilization, using murder, rape, torture, and extortion as instruments of terror. Like ISIS, they should be killed, exiled, or detained as enemy combatants without the possibility of release, which is what we're doing. To that end, the United States has carried out dozens of strikes and cartel drug boats destroying 97% of the drugs coming into the ocean and sea. You've seen it. They disappear very quickly and we're down 90%. They're down 97%. Nobody thought that was possible.

(23:48)
It was a big source of delivery. And three months ago, we terminated the leader of the Venezuelan gang, Tren De Aragua. Mexico is the epicenter of the cartel violence, unfortunately. It's unacceptable for the United States to share a 2000-mile border with a territory controlled by enemy cartels. So Mexico must reclaim control of its soil from the enemies of humanity. My administration is also seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba where the communist regime is under great pressure, the biggest pressure they've ever been under. It's an absolutely failed state. It's failing like never before and it will fall. Marco Rubio is handling a negotiation. He's deep into negotiations with Cuba, let's see what happens, will not allow a haven for foreign adversaries to threaten America on our own doorstep. It's right at our doorstep. The Cuban regime has also spent decades coordinating with the left-wing radicals and communist networks here in the United States. As our state department has detailed, they've cultivated ties to subversive and radical groups such as the Communist Party USA, Antifa, and the Democrat Socialists of America. Communism will never be coming to America, but freedom will be coming to Cuba and safety and security will be coming to Mexico. I'm very proud to tell you we have a very good relationship with the Mexican government. We've made great strides, very great strides with Mexico. They don't want the cartels either. And when that day comes, this entire region will be a better, safer, and more beautiful place in which to live and thrive. As I announced just days ago, the United States has also reached an unprecedented agreement regarding the northern frontier of North America, the large and strategically vital piece of land known as Greenland. This agreement made with the Kingdom of Denmark, an incredible, beautiful country. And the Greenland people itself gives the United States permanent control over security and all of the needs on that territory.

(26:11)
We will have the complete ability to do what is necessary to defend the American continent and also Europe and other places. No US adversary will ever be permitted to establish a military presence in Greenland anymore or make sensitive investments there without our express written approval. We will immediately begin the process of developing a large military presence in the appropriate locations. We'll be building two very major military bases. This agreement will be signed later today and I look forward to working with the wonderful people of Denmark and Greenland. It's been a great experience, amazing experience that we've really formed a bond in doing it. By expanding America's footprint in the Arctic and North Atlantic, this deal also protects Europe in addition to America and greatly protects them. It also very much enhances NATO with who has a great leader. And Mark, I know you're in the audience and you are indeed a great leader, Mark Rutte, which is now growing stronger than ever before.

(27:24)
NATO is doing things that nobody thought they would be able to do, including raising their number to 5% from 2%, number that's a protection that's going to be much greater protection for them. We continue to seek and end the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine, which is killing, as I said, thousands and thousands of people every month. Last week in honor of Senator Lindsay Graham, I signed a powerful new law passed by Congress providing me with enormous new tariff authorities and if necessary, I will have to use them. It's time to stop the killing. I also want to recognize the extraordinary work of our great first lady who has secured the safe return of many displaced Ukrainian and Russian children back home to their families, so many. Thank you very much, First Lady. Thank you very much. Where is our First Lady? Where is she?

(28:24)
She's around here someplace. Can you imagine? I can't see the First Lady. Thank you very much, First Lady. Great job. She worked so hard on it. This year she also became the only First Lady in history to preside over a meeting of the UN Security Council, and she did it very well. And today she's hosting a gathering of fostering the future together, which has nearly 60 members to help improve the lives of young people all over the world. So, Melania, thank you very much. Great job. Great job you're doing. Led by Ambassador Michael Waltz here at the United Nations, we have also worked with many countries in this room to implement the most sweeping UN reforms in history.

(29:10)
We cut the UN budget for the first time ever, slashing it by 15% in 2026 and eliminated more than 4,000 positions from the UN bureaucracy. The United Nations has great, great potential. I've said that for many years, but it must stop imposing the far left agenda of globalist bureaucrats who nobody ever elected. Last year, my administration was forced to intervene to stop and obscure UN body, the International Maritime Organization, from secretly establishing a first ever global carbon tax, very expensive tax, to raise international shipping costs by 10 to 20% and maybe more than that. There is no global government and while I'm president, there will be no global taxes. The United States is equal-

President Trump (30:00):

... no global taxes.

(30:02)
The United States is equally opposed to the out of control... Thank you. Thank you very much. The United States is equally opposed to the out-of-control institution known as the International Criminal Court. We will never allow US service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us. They're an evil group of people. I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately.

(30:39)
It is equally unacceptable that, with all the genuine atrocities in the world, the UN's top human rights officials spend their time criticizing the United States for protecting our children from transgender mutilization and transgender insanity and enforcing our immigration laws. What they do is unbelievable. What they do, it's transgender mutilization of our children.

(31:08)
The craven hypocrites of Human Rights Council have little to say about the persecution of Christians. I mean, Christians are being persecuted all over the world. It's not even believable. I never thought I'd say it. But it's been happening for a long time, so this is persecution of Christians where the crimes of the world's most repressive regime is, yet they want America to open up our borders to gangs and criminals, from world's most dangerous places. They want the worst people to come in from the worst places on earth. And we don't do it anymore. We did do it, but we don't do that anymore.

(31:46)
It is deeply ironic that the United Nations has an entire institution, the UNESCO group of people and countries devoted to protecting cultural heritage, yet, with their ceaseless promotion of mass migration, these globalists are actively destroying the greatest cultures and most extraordinary heritage in all of history. There is no human right to illegal immigration, but there is a right to remain a sovereign nation. And we want to remain a sovereign nation, and so should you.

(32:21)
The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence being spoken of so much now, herein after officially called Super Intelligence, changing the name, and that the use of the word "artificial" makes intelligence fake. It makes it sound fake. And it is not fake. It's actually amazing, but we have to be careful. In fact, it is exactly the opposite of what it purports.

(32:55)
From this point forward, all of United States documents and, hopefully the world's will be changed to use the much more accurate term "super" as opposed to "artificial". So it's Super Intelligence. In other words, welcome to the new world of Super Intelligence-SI. SI, let's see if that goes, it sounds much better. It is much better, and it's much more accurate. Let's see if I have any power. Maybe I do, and maybe I don't. We're going to find out pretty soon.

(33:28)
Super Intelligence. Every major new technology brings challenges and Super Intelligence is no exception. Yet the very same people who said we'll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming, a name since reborn to "climate change" because the planet was cooling, not warming and nobody was dead, these are the same people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us and that everything is going to be a total disaster. Same group of people, this is the group that came up with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, the Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine hoax, climate change, open borders. Whoever wins AI, you have to remember this, and now I say whoever wins SI, whoever wins, super intelligent wins. That's the group that wins.

(34:28)
And we're leading now over China by a lot and everyone else. And we're going to keep it that way. We're going to keep it very, very straight and very strong. I'm not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution. Many say bigger than the industrial revolution or the internet itself. And we will be very careful, and that's why we have a Department of Justice that we've already used it having to do with this very subject, and used it very powerfully, everything worked out very well and very quickly, and other law enforcement bodies that will rein things in if we have to do that. But we will only encourage Super Intelligence. We're going to encourage it, not rein it in. We're going to watch it closely through the Department of Justice. The United States leads the world in Super Intelligence and will continue to do so safely and responsibly. Americans have never been a nation that retreats from a frontier or shrinks from a challenge no matter how great or how daunting that challenge may be.

(35:35)
Freedom was not a gift that Americans won easily after 250 years, and it is not one that we will ever, ever, ever surrender. It was right here in New York City that George Washington ordered the Declaration of Independence read to his troops in 1776. As they listened to those immortal words for the first time, the patriots could see across the waters of New York Harbor to a British invasion fleet, more than 100 ships strong, which had just arrived to crush the cause of liberty, thousands of soldiers getting off those ships. Nobody stood a chance, but we won, and we won decisively. Those first Americans knew that it is not enough merely to believe in great principles. We must also have the will and the courage and the strength to defend them.

(36:29)
As we gather in this same city two and a half centuries later to discuss the great events of our time, that is the challenge for every nation in this room. If we go forward strong and united against the enemies of all humanity, if we reject the voices who would have us give in to fear and doubt, if we refuse to shrink from our duties to our people, then, together through bold action, we will make this world far safer and a far better place. We will leave our nations far stronger. We will grow our economies far bigger. And we will not just speak of peace, prosperity and justice here at the United Nations. We will stand for them all over the world. Together, we will build a future for our people that is brighter, more hopeful and more magnificent than ever before.

(37:29)
Thank you. God bless the nations of the world. And God bless America. Thank you very much, everybody.

Speaker 1 (37:36):

On behalf of the assembly, I wish to thank the President of the United States.

‍

ATTACHMENT “C” – FROM RADIO FREE EUROPE (Takeaways)

TRUMP REJECTS IRAN'S PLAN TO REOPEN STRAIT OF HORMUZ

September 26, 2026 03:23 CET   Updated September 26, 2026 22:14 CET

 

As the conflict in the Persian Gulf continues to impact and shape the region, journalists from RFE/RL's Central Newsroom and Iranian service, Radio Farda, deliver ongoing updates and analysis.

Key Takeaways

·         US President Donald Trump has said that he is "rejecting" Iran's seven-day plan to reopen the key Strait of Hormuz as unacceptable.

·         Saudi Arabia called on UN members to join efforts to defend freedom of navigation in vital Middle East waterways, calling the current situation a threat to global energy security.

·         Trump directly warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against providing assistance to Iran during their talks in Washington

 

a) TRUMP REJECTS IRAN'S PLAN TO REOPEN STRAIT OF HORMUZ

US President Donald Trump said on September 26 that he was "rejecting" Iran's seven-day plan to reopen the key Strait of Hormuz as unacceptable.

"I'm rejecting their deal. They want to make a deal where they open the strait immediately because they're losing so badly," Trump told reporters outside the White House. "I like making a deal, too, but that deal would not be acceptable."

A day earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had given Washington a "concrete" plan to reopen the strait, requiring steps similar to those outlined in a memorandum the two countries signed in Islamabad earlier this year.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been a major obstacle to a negotiated settlement aimed at ending the war between the United States and Iran.

In response to US and Israeli attacks, Tehran restricted access to the strait at the start of the war, disrupting global oil markets and sending prices soaring. Washington, in turn, imposed a naval blockade on Iran, diverting ships and preventing them from reaching the country's ports.

Trump said the United States had "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz. He said that "massive amounts of oil" were moving through the waterway, with 29 ships crossing the chokepoint over the past day.

"They outsmarted themselves," the US president added, saying Washington had cut off one of Tehran's main sources of income with its naval blockade. "They don't have any money now, because they wanted to close the strait, and we closed it on them."

 

b) SAUDIS CALL ON GLOBAL COMMUNITY TO HELP ENSURE FREE SEA TRAFFIC IN REGION

Saudi Arabia called on UN members to join efforts to defend freedom of navigation in vital Middle East waterways, calling the current situation a threat to global energy security.

"The international community has been absent from assuming its responsibilities in confronting all that threatens international peace and security," Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan told the UN General Assembly on September 26.

Iran has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and its Houthi allies in Yemen have done similar actions in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Both are crucial routes for transit of oil and gas exports.

"The kingdom stresses the importance of guaranteeing the protection of freedom of navigation in all international waterways, foremost among them the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden," he said.

He also demanded "the return of conditions in the Strait of Hormuz to what they were before February 28, without imposing any fees or taxes.”

Tehran has insisted it has the right to charge transit charges or similar fees to allow sea traffic to flow through the Strait of Hormuz, while the global community insists that the passage is an international waterway and not under the control of any one nation.

 

c)  IRAQ IN TALKS WITH US OVER EXEMPTION FROM SANCTIONS ON IRANIAN AIRLINES

The Iraqi government said on September 26 that it was in talks with Washington to secure an exemption from US sanctions on Iranian airlines that have grounded Tehran's civilian fleet in several countries where they operate.

"The Iraqi government is holding direct talks with the American side to exempt certain Iraqi airports from these measures," the Iraqi prime minister's media office said, adding that the move would allow flights to resume "for humanitarian reasons, including medical treatment, education, religious visits."

Earlier in the week, after a number of countries, including the Middle East's biggest travel hub, the United Arab Emirates, restricted flights to and from Iran, Iraq suspended such flights at the country's airports in Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil, and Sulaimaniya.

Iran's ambassador to Iraq Mohammad Kazem Al-Sadegh said in an interview with the Iranian news agency ISNA that Tehran was in contact with the Baghdad to find a way to restore the flights, adding that there are "roughly 25 daily flights from Iran to Najaf and about 15 flights to Baghdad."

Iraqi airlines stopped flying to Iran when the conflict in the Middle East began earlier this year.

With reporting by AFP.

 

d) Trump Warned Xi Against Supporting Iran, US Ambassador Says 

·         By Alex Raufoglu

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump directly warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against providing assistance to Iran during their talks in Washington, according to the US ambassador to China, offering new details about an issue that had loomed over Xi's visit.

Ambassador David Perdue, who attended the bilateral meetings, told CNBC that Trump made clear that any Chinese assistance to Tehran -- including intelligence, components, or military equipment -- was "totally unacceptable."

“There’s been indirect support we think, but there’s no direct evidence. We’re very concerned about this indirect work and we’ve made that very clear,” Perdue said.

In a separate interview with Fox News, Perdue said Beijing had given Washington assurances that it was not providing such assistance.

“We've seen movement...on that already. That's what the commitment is. They assured us yesterday they're not doing that,” he said.

The comments come after US lawmakers and national-security experts had urged Trump to confront Xi over allegations that Chinese entities have helped Iran through satellite intelligence, weapons components, and purchases of sanctioned Iranian oil.

Beijing has denied providing Tehran with military or intelligence support.

Xi instead publicly called for Washington and Tehran to return to negotiations aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

 

e) Iran Says It Gave US 'Concrete' Plan To Reopen Strait Of Hormuz

Tehran has given Washington a "concrete" plan to reopen the key Strait of Hormuz, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on September 25.

"If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, a normal ‌maritime passage restored within seven days. The choice now rests with the United States," he told reporters at the United Nations.

"The actions that the United States should take are not new," Araqchi added. He did not specify the steps Washington would have to take but said they were similar to those outlined in a memorandum of understanding the two countries had signed in Islamabad earlier this year.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has long been a central issue in the war between the United States and Iran and a major obstacle to a negotiated settlement aimed at ending the broader conflict in the Middle East.

Since the early days of the war, Tehran has restricted access to the waterway in response to US and Israeli attacks on Iran, disrupting global oil markets and sending prices soaring. In the following months, it also sought to impose a toll on vessels passing through the strait.

The United States, in turn, imposed a naval blockade on Iran in mid-April and reinstated it in July, diverting ships and preventing them from reaching Iranian ports.

 

22:31 25.9.2026

f) YEMEN’S PRESIDENT CALLS ON YEMENIS TO MOBILIZE AMID HOUTHI ATTACKS

Rashid al-Alimi, the Riyadh-based president of Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government, called on Yemenis on September 25 to mobilize and join the armed forces.

Al-Alimi also offered a future general amnesty to Iran-backed Houthi fighters and affiliates who leave the group on or after September 26.

Yemen descended into civil war in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, ousting the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government. A 2022 truce had largely held until recently.

In July, a spate of attacks began after the Houthis welcomed an Iranian plane to Sanaa.

Earlier this month, Houthi rebels seized nearly all of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, giving the militant group control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key chokepoint for global trade. They have also intensified attacks on energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter.

With reporting by Reuters.

 

19:21 25.9.2026

g) Iraqi Airports Suspend Iranian Flights As US Targets Tehran’s Aviation Sector

Iraqi airports have suspended flights operated by Iranian airlines after the United States targeted Tehran’s aviation sector. At least five other countries have imposed similar restrictions.

All flights to and from Iran have been suspended at airports in Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil, and Sulaimaniya, according to Iraqi state media and sources cited by Reuters on September 25.

Two days earlier, Washington had announced that it would impose sanctions on any company doing business with Iranian airlines, aiming to ground Tehran's entire civilian fleet worldwide.

The announcement was followed by flight suspensions in Oman, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, and the United Arab Emirates, the Middle East’s biggest travel hub.

With reporting by Reuters.

 

17:58 25.9.2026

h) AT ASIAN GAMES, HADIANI BECOMES IRAN'S FIRST WOMAN TO COMPETE IN GYMNASTICS SINCE 1979

Twenty-year-old gymnast Hengameh Hadiani has become the first Iranian woman to compete in gymnastics at the Asian Games since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

For 47 years, Iran’s hard-line authorities had refused to issue competition licenses to female gymnasts because of the country’s dress code restrictions.

On September 22, she placed 13th in artistic gymnastics at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, with Iranian state-affiliated media celebrating her achievement as a “historic performance.”

The shift in tone echoes a pattern in state media coverage of women’s participation in other sports and activities. Reports celebrating such breakthroughs often overlook the official arguments used for decades to justify the restrictions.

About three years ago, for example, Mahin Farhadizadeh, a former Iranian deputy sports minister, said that standard gymnastics violated the Islamic republic’s “cultural standards,” adding that rhythmic gymnastics had “no athletic or medal value whatsoever.”

Iran has already won 24 medals in Nagoya, including six golds, 11 silver, and seven bronze.

14:24 25.9.2026

 

i) BOSNIAN ARMS PROBE LEADS TO IRAN-LINKED CRIMINAL NETWORK, SOURCES TELL RFE/RL

Firearms allegedly diverted into illegal channels by a police officer near Sarajevo may have reached Iran-linked criminal networks across Europe, sources familiar with a Bosnian weapons-trafficking investigation told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.

The Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), working with Europol, carried out searches this week at several locations across the country, detaining a police officer in the town of Ilijas. While under SIPA supervision, the officer obtained a gun and committed suicide.

He was suspected of misusing firearms permits issued to residents of the town and the surrounding area to purchase pistols from at least two Bosnian companies -- Bratunac and Doboj -- and rerouted them into illegal channels.

Information obtained by RFE/RL suggests that dozens of firearms were acquired by the criminal groupings through this path in 2024 and 2025.

 

 

 

ATTACHMENT “D” – FROM BROOKINGS (TAKEAWAYS)

WHAT DID THE TRUMP-XI SUMMIT ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISH? 

Brookings experts weigh in

Ryan Hass, Melanie W. Sisson, Yun Sun, Susan A. Thornton, Kari Heerman, Vanda Felbab-Brown, Jonathan A. Czin, Mireya Solís, Michael E. O’Hanlon, and Scott M. Moore

Updated: September 30, 2026

Originally published: September 29, 2026

 

Ryan Hass

America holds a weaker hand after state visit

During the state visit, Trump was simultaneously uninterested in the policy details of the U.S.-China relationship and attentive to the special touches of hospitality he wanted to extend to Xi. Xi, by contrast, appeared bemused and even entertained at times by Trump’s efforts to impress him.

Lost amidst the visit’s pomp, Trump failed to deliver on the business at hand. The White House summit readout offers no details or sense of movement on a principal objective of the visit—removing impediments to the regularized flow of critical minerals that China leveraged since Trump’s announcement of the Liberation Day tariffs.

Meanwhile, according to U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue, Trump has offered to sell weapons to China while consulting with Xi over future arms sales to Taiwan. Such statements are too far from believable for anyone in Beijing to take them seriously. There is a risk the Chinese are concluding that Trump is so unprepared for summits that his statements lack credibility or lasting value.

Additionally, Trump’s performance has laid bare that he is not invested in viewing U.S.-China relations as a security competition. Any talk of the Trump administration playing five-dimensional chess with China through its actions in Greenland, Venezuela, or elsewhere falls apart when Trump is simultaneously offering to sell weapons to China.

Trump’s performance will raise fresh concerns among America’s allies about Washington’s continuing reliability. It also will raise eyebrows in Beijing about the Trump administration’s overall competence. Neither of these outcomes put America on a stronger footing for navigating future challenges with China, whether over security issues, trade imbalances, human rights, or artificial intelligence.

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Melanie W. Sisson

China benefits from Washington’s lack of strategic vision

Expectations for the Trump-Xi summit were low; nobody was let down. The visit also reinforced the impression that Beijing has a strategy for pursuing its interests, and Washington does not. 

Trump is a man in perpetual pursuit of instant gratification, and the brief extension of the trade truce announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Trump enough of it that he could spend his time gleefully showing Xi all his new toys. Xi arrived prepared to indulge Trump’s showboating—and to use it to his advantage: Xi took every opportunity to forward the idea that the United States and China are great power equals; to present a vision of bilateral cooperation that might appeal to a Global South audience; and to further insinuate his preferred language on Taiwan into the bilateral narrative.

The good news is that the visit is another data point suggesting that Xi prefers anemic stability to no stability at all, and therefore he is not inclined to test limits and run risks. The bad news is that in the absence of Washington’s own strategic vision, incremental, short-term dealmaking does more for China’s interests than for America’s. If the two leaders again sideline security concerns—including artificial intelligence—in their scheduled November and December meetings, and their delegates agree in January to yet another trade-truce extension, it will be because China recognizes this imbalance and is quite content with it.

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Yun Sun

Détente amid political strains

Trump and Xi’s Washington summit reaffirms the positive trajectory the United States and China have been committed to following two prior summits in Busan last year and Beijing last May. The question is how sustainable this trajectory will be and whether it could withstand political changes, including the U.S. midterm elections next month, the 2028 presidential election, and a new administration in 2029. All of them could take U.S. policy toward China in a very different direction. The return of a more establishment-oriented administration could bring back a more competitive outlook and strategies toward China. There is also a rising “restrainer” school that advocates for more accommodation, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence with China.

The Chinese have argued that the new “constructive relationship of strategic stability,” or the détente, is the result of China’s enhanced comprehensive national power, especially its ability to impose “mutually assured disruption” vis-à-vis the United States. A more establishment-oriented U.S. administration could put this concept to a serious test, especially if it seeks to resume the competitive approach toward China through active competition in all domains, enhanced support of Taiwan, and strengthened ties with allies and partners to collectively suppress China’s influence.  After all, other than with rare earths, China’s ability to disrupt the American economy without paying a significant cost itself is extremely limited, if not entirely nonexistent. And even with the Chinese ability to inflict damage, the United States could pursue an entirely different policy course other than the current one. There is still a deep conviction within the national security community that China remains the only great power with the capability and desire to challenge the U.S. supremacy. Future changes in U.S. politics will inevitably bring new uncertainties to the current narrative.  

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Susan A. Thornton

China and America need to keep talking

Many have called Xi’s recent state visit a summit long on pageantry and short on substance. Trump certainly gave the Chinese leader a lavish welcome, but at the end of the day, this is a meeting between the leaders of the world’s two biggest powers. The pageantry, honestly, was for both of them.

What was the signal in this noise and where are we headed? The visit produced substantive outcomes on much-needed institutionalization of the relationship. The two leaders committed to meeting twice more within the year, once at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in China and once at the G20 in Miami. The trade teams managed to launch the Board of Trade as an ongoing negotiating platform and will presumably continue their discussions with a view to another extension of the trade truce in the next several months. The AI dialogue has also launched and, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, will meet again in November. And the Chinese readout included language about reinstituting military-to-military dialogue channels and work on crisis management mechanisms, which are long overdue. These represent a much-needed start on restoring some regular connectivity between the two sides. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated on multiple occasions, the United States and China need to be talking to one another; not doing so is irresponsible.

Many differences remain and few issues were resolved, but statecraft is about mature management of problems. This summit moved us a step in that direction and signaled to Americans, Chinese, and the world that their leaders understand the importance of sustained engagement.

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Kari Heerman

Don’t mistake bilateral activity for progress

Xi’s state visit may be both less and more consequential than it looks. The danger for Washington is that the machinery emerging across summits and negotiations creates the appearance of broader progress while leaving largely untouched the problems that prompted it to rethink the relationship. The summits keep Washington and Beijing talking, which may help contain disputes. Meanwhile, the accumulating deals and mechanisms could produce lasting changes in how the economic relationship operates.

In the immediate term, each deliverable will command attention: another extension of the trade truce, details of the new Board of Trade, an AI dialogue. The new trade arrangements do little to address concerns about structural excess capacity. Critical minerals and technology remain largely unsettled. These are not peripheral issues; they are central to the shift in China policy in Washington and other capitals.

Washington and Beijing can bargain bilaterally, but these challenges play out through trade, investment, technology, and supply chains that run through countries and firms around the world. Bilateral bargains therefore cannot by themselves resolve these challenges. If bilateral bargaining is how Washington manages its economic relationship with China, the rest of the world will increasingly be part of the bargain, whether it wants to be or not.

Trump and Xi have committed to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in China in November and the G20 in the United States in December, where the prospect of another bilateral meeting will inevitably command attention. Many of the countries around those tables have a major stake in these issues. If the next U.S.-China bargain again becomes the main event, managing the bilateral relationship may further substitute for addressing issues that cannot be solved bilaterally.

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Vanda Felbab-Brown

Little focus on fentanyl

A striking feature of the Trump-Xi summit was the lack of focus on fentanyl and other synthetic drugs and precursors originating in China. For weeks, the Trump administration has claimed that its post-October 2025 law enforcement cooperation with China produced great results, attributing declines in fentanyl drug overdoses to it that, in fact, began in May 2023. Since then, tens of thousands of lives in the United States have been saved. That’s a crucial accomplishment, but it did not start or accelerate during the Trump administration.

In fact, after Trump’s fentanyl tariff bluster in January 2025, China learned how to neutralize, outplay, and deflect U.S. pressure by restricting U.S. access to rare earths, boycotting politically sensitive U.S. goods such as soybeans, and occasionally scheduling drug precursors. Many of the precursors, as well as the potent synthetic opioids nitazines, that China scheduled in 2025 were already slated by China to be scheduled during the Biden administration. China simply double-counted its scheduling. After a slow year in 2025, U.S.-China law enforcement cooperation has also returned to where it was in the second half of 2024, to both countries’ satisfaction. To placate Washington, China adds a few new precursors or novel substances, such as orphines, to its scheduled list before Trump-Xi meetings. It did so again in September 2026.

But major issues remain unaddressed—exactly the same ones the Biden administration grappled with. When China schedules precursors or finished drugs, Chinese traders move to nonscheduled ones and knowingly peddle them to drug trafficking organizations with recipes for their conversion into illegal products. New dangerous drugs such as cychlorphine, xylazine, and medetomidine emerge in China and flow to illicit markets. Smuggling untested and counterfeit peptides (GLP-1 drugs) to the United States is a new venture for Chinese trafficking networks. Chinese money laundering services for Mexican cartels and other criminal groups are also burgeoning.

Scheduling is useful, but its effectiveness is limited. What is most needed is for China to develop reliable law enforcement mechanisms to prosecute traders who knowingly sell nonscheduled chemicals to criminal organizations—the equivalent of U.S. material support statutes. Chinese traders must also be obligated to do due diligence on their customers. Intensifying global efforts against Chinese money laundering networks is also imperative.

Hopefully, the suspension of the administration’s histrionic fentanyl rhetoric will provide a productive atmosphere for a serious bilateral effort to tackle these tough law enforcement challenges, rather than lead the Trump administration to simply give up on dealing with them.

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Jonathan A. Czin

A missed opportunity for America and Europe

Xi’s state visit to Washington marked a momentous missed opportunity for American foreign policy. Instead of feting Xi, Washington policymakers could have been tag-teaming with European allies on the trade issues that animated Trump’s first and second trade wars with China. European leaders are seriously considering moving ahead in October with measures to deal with China Shock 2.0. The current frailties in China’s domestic economy—especially its growing reliance on exports—could afford the United States and its allies an unusual degree of leverage with Beijing, given how dependent China remains on the European and U.S. markets.

Alas, even if European leaders do move forward—still a big “if”—they will be doing so alone, as the Trump administration is already focusing on Trump’s next two meetings with Xi. That’s unfortunate. At best, these encounters are likely to be “meetings about meetings” as the two sides struggle to get the dialogue mechanisms underway that they already agreed to at Trump and Xi’s previous tête-à-tête. At worst, these meetings may be punctuated by a “Big Three” meeting among Trump, Xi, and Russian President Vladimir Putin—a photo op that would evoke the Yalta Summit of World War II. While those encounters are likely to be more stunt than substance, the choreography would underscore that Trump remains more focused on courting than countering these two leaders who are working together to undermine U.S. power.

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Mireya Solís

Bad news for Japan and Asian allies

By most accounts, the Trump-Xi meeting was heavy on pageantry and light on substance. Coming into the summit, expectations of major results were already low. The United States and China are far apart on the major international conflicts of the day—Ukraine and Iran. They remain at odds over structural economic irritants. And despite pledges of “constructive stability,” tit-for-tat defensive economic measures and Chinese grey zone activities in the First Island Chain are ongoing.

On cue, the meeting’s outcomes were modest: an extension of the Busan compromise (suspending Chinese export controls on rare earths and American tariffs), a forthcoming dialogue on artificial intelligence, and the operationalization of a Board of Trade to lower tariffs on nonsensitive bilateral trade.

Nevertheless, thin fact sheets should not be mistaken for a “nothing-burger” event. This summit spoke volumes, in ways that undercut U.S. partners and allies—for its intangible elements: optics, narratives, and signaling. Beijing is keenly aware of the importance of diplomatic protocol. When Trump chose to give Xi an unprecedented welcome by meeting him at the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews, it became clear that Xi has the upper hand over an American president saddled with low approval ratings and a no-exit Iran conflict. More concerning for Tokyo were Trump’s scripted remarks on the wartime alliance between the United States and China just when Beijing is pressuring Japan on all fronts and trying to discredit its defense buildup as the return of militarism. Trump’s failure to grasp that the United States had allied with a different China and fought a different Japan will only invite more Chinese coercion. Perhaps the bitterest bit to swallow was the revelation by U.S. Ambassador to China David Purdue that Trump asked Xi if he would be interested in buying American weapons. Such a blasé comment telegraphs to foe and friend alike that the president is not taking seriously the growing Chinese squeeze U.S. partners are experiencing in the region.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pulled out all the stops to meet first with Trump and impress on him the complexities of the China challenge. The vibes at the U.S.-China meeting show she came up short as the United States regaled Xi with summit atmospherics that benefit China with little tangible deliverables in return.

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Michael E. O'Hanlon

A bargain on Taiwan?

Reportedly, in Washington last week, Xi asked Trump to oppose even the possibility that Taiwan could someday gain its independence. (Right now, U.S. policy does not endorse that outcome, but nor does it exclude the possibility.) Thankfully, Trump appears to have declined; acceding to Xi’s request would have been a unilateral American concession.

But is there a deal to be made that could gain something from Beijing as well? One possibility to consider: Washington would formally and publicly oppose the option of Taiwanese independence in exchange for Beijing promising to never use force against Taiwan. These would both be big changes to existing policy. By this concept, if Beijing ever saw the need to punish or pressure Taiwan (over the independence issue in particular), it would do so using only economic and diplomatic means. The overarching goal would be to prod Beijing and Taipei toward a mutually acceptable form of permanent autonomy for Taiwan within a broader Chinese nation or commonwealth centered on Beijing—though achieving that result might take many years, quite probably beyond Xi’s tenure in office. 

Initial negotiations to pursue these kinds of reciprocal pledges—categorical and permanent U.S. opposition to Taiwan independence, with a Chinese promise never to use force to settle the Taiwan issue—should be highly discreet and noncommittal at first. It would be important that the United States not give China the idea that its interest in protecting Taiwan had weakened. But then again, Washington would be making a very big ask of Beijing with this proposal—a long-shot idea, to be sure—so floating the idea might not be so risky. After all, it would not be tantamount to saying that the United States would no longer protect Taiwan.

Even if agreed to, these reciprocal pledges would only mean so much. They would not produce verifiable changes in military capability and would also be reversible. Still, there could be benefits. Were Beijing sincere, one could expect to see a dramatic reduction in People’s Liberation Army military activity around Taiwan right away. And for its part, China could expect to see at least some reduction in U.S. military planning focused on the Taiwan Strait. In the short term, however, Taiwan itself should continue to maintain, even strengthen, its military defenses with American help, since they have been too weak for too long. 

Nothing in this plan would provide definitive proof that the bargain would endure. Nor would it require complete trust by either side in the other; both would continue military planning and sustain military capabilities for a range of contingencies. 

It is also important to note that nothing about the deal would be permanent if Beijing were to breach its terms. Specifically, were China to attack Taiwan, the United States could reverse its position on opposing Taiwan independence. It could also come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of a Chinese attack, either militarily or through economic warfare. American military planning would not have to change so fundamentally as to eliminate any hypothetical capacity to help protect Taiwan. But over time, the goal would be to demilitarize the issue to the point where force would no longer be seen as the way to resolve any Taiwan crisis that might emerge, and competition over Taiwan would no longer be the central organizing concept in the military force planning of China or the United States.

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Scott Moore

Pageantry over progress

The September 24 state visit underscored that the Trump administration has little apparent desire to reshape the fundamentals of U.S.-China relations. There was no clear progress on the core issues, including the ongoing Iran war and its associated energy crisis, artificial intelligence, trade, or security. The summit was driven by optics rather than outcomes. More telling was the latest Chicago Council polling released the same week. American views of China have warmed from their 2024 low, and support for committing U.S. troops to defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion has fallen to 38% from 52% in 2021. The shift is sharpest among younger Americans, especially Generation Z. Some of this moderation likely reflects partisans taking cues from the White House. But if the generational shift is sustained, it will shape the future of U.S.-China relations more than anything staged in Washington this week.

 

ATTACHMENT “E” – FROM IRAN INTERNATIONAL  (Thirteen Takeaways)

 

a) SAUDI ARABIA, UAE URGE TRUMP TO MAINTAIN PRESSURE ON IRAN - WSJ

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are urging Washington to maintain sanctions and its naval blockade of Iran, complicating efforts to restart peace talks as attacks threaten their oil exports, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Mediators including Qatar are seeking talks in Oman as early as next week to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin winding down the war, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected the two sides to meet again soon.

While Persian Gulf countries generally oppose further US military escalation, Saudi Arabia and the UAE want Washington to withhold concessions on sanctions and the blockade.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently told US officials the blockade should remain until Iran is compelled to sign a new agreement, people familiar with the discussions told the Journal.

 

US – Iran talks focused on phased deal to reopen Hormuz

The position marks a shift from the summer, when Saudi Arabia and other Arab states pressed for negotiations and were prepared to consider an agreement recognizing some Iranian influence over Hormuz.

Iranian attacks on Saudi ships and Tehran’s encouragement of Houthi efforts to restrict the alternative export route through the Red Sea have since weakened confidence in Iran’s willingness to reach a deal, the report said.

UAE officials have similarly lowered expectations for negotiations, arguing that renewed violence and attacks on shipping show Tehran is in no hurry to return to diplomacy. They said Persian Gulf states should not accept permanent Iranian control of Hormuz.

 

From Hormuz to Indian Ocean: Iran threatens to redraw the map of the war

Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran specialist at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Journal that renewed Houthi threats, following months of disruption in Hormuz, were pushing regional governments toward compliance with US sanctions.

Oman and Qatar favor a different approach, arguing that a phased reopening of Hormuz and an end to attacks on Persian Gulf countries offer the only viable path out of a war that has already inflicted substantial regional damage.

Qatar has pursued mediation around the UN General Assembly. Iran’s foreign minister visited Doha on Sunday to discuss proposals including a seven-day pause in fighting that could lead to an end to Iranian attacks on shipping in exchange for Washington lifting its blockade.

But US officials have repeatedly told Qatar that Trump has no intention of lifting the maritime embargo, according to the report.

A White House official said sanctions and the blockade had strengthened Washington’s position. “While President Trump is open to talking with Iran under the right circumstances, he has no need to negotiate with the Iranians,” the official said.

Talks also face resistance inside Iran. Tehran fears Washington could use negotiations to delay action until after the US midterm elections before resuming attacks, while hardliners have adopted a more confrontational tone as economic pressure intensifies, the Journal reported.

Arab mediators said Iranian diplomats had offered proposals and acknowledged the worsening economic crisis, but the Revolutionary Guards had rejected new negotiating formulas and expressed readiness for a prolonged war.

The Guards, which dominate Iran’s power structure, want terms closer to the preliminary June agreement: relief from oil sanctions, access to frozen assets and recognition of an Iranian role in administering Hormuz in exchange for reopening the waterway.

Washington has told mediators it will not return to that agreement, believing sustained economic pressure will force Tehran to accept terms more favorable to the United States and its Persian Gulf partners.

 

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b) US-IRAN TALKS FOCUSED ON PHASED DEAL TO REOPEN HORMUZ

Sep 24, 2026, 18:55 GMT+1

US and Iranian negotiators are exploring a phased agreement that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for Washington lifting its economic blockade of Iran, Reuters reported Thursday, citing Iranian, regional and Western sources.

The emerging proposal reflects a problem that has repeatedly frustrated attempts to revive diplomacy: neither side wants to surrender its main source of leverage before the other acts.

Two Iranian sources, two regional officials and two Western diplomatic sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters the strait had become the central bargaining chip in talks taking place around the UN General Assembly in New York.

Iran wants relief from the US blockade, which has sharply restricted its trade and intensified pressure on its economy. Washington, meanwhile, is seeking the restoration of free passage through Hormuz, a crucial route for global energy supplies.

“One way forward would be to solve the crisis in stages,” a senior Iranian official said on the sidelines of the General Assembly. “The first would be to end the blockade and reopen Hormuz.”

A coalition of 80 countries called Thursday for the urgent reopening of the strait, accusing Iran and its Houthi allies of threatening navigation and disrupting international trade and energy supplies.

“We call for the full restoration of navigational rights and principles without delay,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said in a joint statement at the General Assembly.

But the US-Iran talks remain far from an agreement.

A senior European official said Iran had “a very long list of demands”, while the White House insisted that President Donald Trump was under no pressure to make concessions.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian put responsibility for the repeated breakdown of diplomacy on Washington during a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Thursday.

“We have been and remain willing to engage in dialogue, but if there is any advice to be given, it should be conveyed to the American side,” Pezeshkian said, arguing that previous rounds of negotiations had been disrupted by Washington and ultimately followed by war.

The difficulty for negotiators is therefore not only finding a sequence in which both sides relinquish leverage, but convincing each that concessions made by the other will last.

An earlier understanding reached in June collapsed the following month, leaving both sides wary of another temporary arrangement.

Trump has said he believes an agreement with Iran could be reached after the November 3 congressional midterm elections.

President Xi Jinping told Trump during their White House meeting Thursday that Beijing supported Washington and Tehran returning to the June arrangement intended to end the war and reopen Hormuz, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

 

c) FROM HORMUZ TO INDIAN OCEAN: IRAN THREATENS TO REDRAW THE MAP OF THE WAR

By Behrouz Turani  Sep 24, 2026, 17:48 GMT+1

Tehran is signalling that its response to US pressure may be to widen the conflict, turning restrictions on its shipping and aviation into risks for airports and waterways stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea and potentially the Indian Ocean.

The emerging pattern is one of horizontal escalation: rather than confining its response to the point of pressure, Iranian officials are increasingly warning that action in one arena could produce retaliation elsewhere.

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi made that logic explicit on September 23, declaring that “Iran will certainly change the geography of the war” and adding that “our targets will no longer necessarily be the same as before”.

A day later, Yahya Rahim Safavi, military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, gave the clearest indication yet of how far that geography might extend.

In a video released by the IRGC-linked Fars News Agency, Safavi said the front could expand further in response to continued warfare, “reaching the Indian Ocean and perhaps beyond”.

He added that linking Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb “will change the battlefield”.

Fars noted that it was the first time an adviser to Khamenei had explicitly mentioned the Indian Ocean, home to the US-British base at Diego Garcia, nearly 4,000 kilometres from Iran.

In an earlier interview reported by Fararu, Safavi said Houthi advances mean the United States now faces a new challenge at Bab el-Mandeb and in the Red Sea.

IRGC Aerospace Force commander Majid Mousavi warned that “if you make the sacred Strait of Hormuz unsafe, we will turn the entire region into hell for you from across Iran”.

FROM SHIPPING TO AVIATION

The same logic has increasingly appeared outside the maritime arena.

Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei addressed Iran’s neighbouring Arab states in an interview with state broadcaster IRINN on September 23, saying: “If you stand with America, we will not just watch you.”

He warned that if Iranian flights were banned with their cooperation, “their airports will have no flights”. He did not specify any country, airport or method of disruption.

REZAEI LINKED THE WARNING TO THE HORMUZ STANDOFF.

He also said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was due to convey Iran’s seven conditions through mediators and that, until they were met, neither the strait would reopen nor negotiations resume.

Tehran had given the Americans “four to five days” to meet the conditions, he asserted.

A WIDENING MAP OF PRESSURE

The statements suggest Tehran is increasingly answering different elements of Washington’s pressure campaign with threats or measures in corresponding domains.

Safavi’s framing of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb as a connected theatre suggests Tehran increasingly sees pressure around the two strategic chokepoints as interconnected.

The most immediate audience for many of these warnings is Iran’s Arab neighbours, whose airports, ports and territory are exposed to the consequences of US-Iran escalation.

Rezaei’s remarks appear designed to raise the potential cost for those states of cooperating with Washington’s pressure campaign.

Iran has already demonstrated a willingness during the conflict to target regional aviation infrastructure, repeatedly striking Kuwait International Airport and damaging terminals and a radar system.

The Indian Ocean references extend this widening map further.

For now, the shift is clearest at the level of rhetoric: none of the statements reviewed sets out a specific Iranian plan for operations there.

But combined with threats against regional airports and repeated references to Bab el-Mandeb, they point to an increasingly explicit message from Tehran that further US pressure could carry risks well beyond the Strait of Hormuz.

 

d) 'BULLY AT HOME, VICTIM ABROAD': IRANIANS ON PEZESHKIAN'S UN SPEECH

By Saba Heidarkhani   Sep 24, 2026, 11:59 GMT+1

Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN that Iran would not accept the language of force. Iranians writing to Iran International had one reply: that is the only language his government uses at home. Their messages picked apart what he said, what he left out, and how he said it.

Speaking at the 81st General Assembly on Wednesday, the president said Tehran was ready for dialogue but rejected "the language of force," called Donald Trump's words a sign of "the character of a bully and the logic of force," and held up photographs of the late Ali Khamenei and of schoolchildren killed in the strike on Minab in the war's first hours.

Three things drew the messages: the gap between the president's posture abroad and the state's conduct at home; the crackdown of January that he did not name; and the way he spoke.

                   Pezeshkian gets the generals' applause, and no word from the man above  

'ONLY BRAVE IN FRONT OF US'

The most frequent reaction set the president's words in New York beside the state's words in Iran.

"The Islamic Republic wants dialogue with anyone stronger than itself," one wrote, "and bullies its own defenseless people."

Another pointed to Pezeshkian's repeated use of the word force: inside Iran the state threatens America, he wrote, and in New York it asks "why are you bullying us."

The president's own language on the January protests was not far from writers' minds. In August he called the protests a "riot" and described those who reported the killings as "cowards and traitors," remarks that had drawn an earlier wave of messages. On January 11, days after the killings, he had called the protesters "terrorists" and demanded a "decisive" response from the security forces.

One writer put it in a single line: for 47 years the Islamic Republic has been busy with terror, and now Pezeshkian comes to play the victim.

Another watched the delivery rather than the text. "People like Pezeshkian only claim power and swagger in front of us," he wrote. "From the trembling voice, the stumbles and the level of stress in his speech, it was clear how brave he is in front of real superpowers."

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WHAT HE LEFT OUT

Pezeshkian never used the word protests. The Iranians he described in the streets these past seven months were the crowds at the state's own rallies, organized by the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij, out at night, in his telling, to defend the country against people "America and Israel had incited and put guns in the hands of."

The millions who came out against the state, and the tens of thousands killed, did not appear in the speech at all.

A writer from Qeshm, the island in the Strait of Hormuz, said the president had repeated the state's version of the protests instead of speaking about Iran's own victims, including those killed on January 8 and 9 and in earlier crackdowns.

Others treated the speech as an occasion to list what it omitted: the protests of December 2017 and January 2018, Bloody November in 2019, the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising of 2022, the January 2026 uprising, and the poisoning of girls' schools in 2022 and 2023.

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The messages came days after the UN fact-finding mission on Iran presented its latest report. Its chair, Sara Hossain, said the January crackdown had met protests with an "extremely violent" response, and that many of the violations, including killings and imprisonment, amounted to crimes against humanity.

Several writers said that Iranians themselves had been pushed to the margins of the speech. "Pezeshkian was more a defender of the Revolutionary Guards and of Palestine," one wrote, "than someone who wanted to say anything about the people of his own country."

HOW HE SAID IT

The third and most personal thread was the president's manner: his walk, his delivery, his command of his own text.

Many described his bearing as a street tough's swagger and compared him to Shaban Bi-Mokh, the Tehran strongman whose mobs helped bring down the government in the 1953 coup and whose nickname means "the brainless." Writers said his grip on the speech was so weak that a passerby pulled off the street and put at the UN lectern would have spoken more fluently and said more.

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A writer from Tehran said he had been ashamed to watch Pezeshkian represent Iran, in a speech he found empty of manners, culture or "any diplomatic decorum."

"Why can't he speak properly?" another asked. "He talked as if someone had a gun to his head."

One writer compared the speech to those of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and said the level of language from the president of the Islamic Republic had left him astonished.

Several concluded that the delivery reflected the office. Pezeshkian, they wrote, has no authority of his own; he reads what is written for him and handed to him.

"That is why they made him president," one wrote. "The text they write for him usually has a fixed structure, and it is on file at the foreign ministry and the presidency."

 

e) CHINA SHIPMENTS HELP SUSTAIN IRAN’S WEAPONS PROGRAMS DESPITE US PRESSURE

WSJ  Sep 24, 2026, 06:41 GMT+1

Chinese suppliers sent around 1,300 shipments of dual-use components to Iran’s defense ministry in the first half of 2026, helping sustain its weapons programs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Iranian customs records showed one delivery arriving on June 17, when Washington and Tehran signed a 60-day truce and China promoted its peacemaking role. More than a dozen shipments followed two days later, carrying over $6 million in parts usable in drones.

The findings put Chinese support for Tehran at the center of Xi Jinping’s Washington visit this week, alongside trade, artificial-intelligence safety and Taiwan. Trump told aides that preserving relations with Xi was a priority, the Journal reported.

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Records supplied by ImportGenius, covering January 2025 through June 2026, listed thousands of shipments to Iranian companies and the defense ministry, including GPS devices, motors and aircraft engine parts. Many cited Article 119, which exempts defense imports from tariffs.

Days before war began on February 28, China delivered 300 tons of chemical compounds to the ministry. Trade initially collapsed, and April’s US naval blockade restricted supplies further. Iran responded by expanding air connections.

US-sanctioned Mahan Air increased flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to Tehran from four weekly in early March to about 27 by late April, FlightRadar24 data showed. It operated 39 China–Iran flights in September’s first week, twice its prewar level. Several were unavailable for passenger bookings. China services continued despite announced suspensions to Oman and Turkey.

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CSIS researcher Kate Koren identified Chinese companies advertising sensitive electronics used in Shahed drones. Suppliers cultivated Iranian customers through trade fairs and Persian-language marketing.

Chinese chemical supplies also helped replenish missile production damaged by Israeli attacks in 2024. After reports of those exports in 2025, US forces raided a ship carrying dual-use components from China to Iran.

In a December letter, sanctioned Chinese company Haokun Energy said it had coordinated confidential export licensing for sodium perchlorate, used in missile propellant, and created a Beijing shell company for the transaction. The Journal verified the company’s registration but could not establish whether the deal proceeded.

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Washington also targeted networks seeking newer Chinese shoulder-fired missile systems for Iran, which manufactures versions based on older Chinese designs. One unsuccessful effort sought delivery through Belarus to conceal Iran’s Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation as the recipient. Tasnim separately published footage of IRGC personnel training with portable launchers.

IRAN'S BIGGEST BUYER

China became Iran’s dominant oil buyer after Trump’s 2018 “maximum pressure” campaign; the countries signed a 25-year pact in 2021. US lawmakers put China’s share above 80% of Iranian crude exports. Banks and shell companies have facilitated payments, including in yuan, US officials and other sources told the Journal.

One arrangement involved Iranian petrochemical sales to Egypt through Banque Misr’s UAE branch. After US objections to dollar payments, proposed transactions shifted to yuan through China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System. Washington intervened, stopping the plan, and later moved to restrict the branch’s dollar access.

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Egypt and the bank said they were engaging US authorities; the bank affirmed regulatory compliance. Beijing suspected Egyptian officials had shared information with Washington, and Xi raised the matter in Cairo on September 1, the Journal reported.

US officials also linked Chinese satellite imagery obtained before and after a July 17 Iranian strike to the attack, which killed three American troops in Jordan. Washington had sanctioned three Chinese imagery companies in May.

Despite hundreds of sanctions, disagreements persisted inside Trump’s administration. Hegseth said China and Russia enabled Iran; Trump cited Xi’s assurances against weapons deliveries, saying: “I trust them.” Rubio said Chinese assistance had not changed the war’s trajectory.

July measures targeted Mahan-linked entities, including a Chinese sales agent. Late-August Operation Economic Outcast targeted a Chinese-owned tanker and procurement networks, but no major Chinese companies. Kpler recorded roughly four million barrels reaching China the following week.

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Lawmakers from both parties urged tougher action; Senator Elissa Slotkin called for Iran to become central to the summit. Rubio promised frank talks, while Treasury and the White House defended their enforcement efforts.

China rejected accusations of improper support, citing export controls and opposition to unilateral sanctions. Hong Kong said it implements UN sanctions only.

 

f) Iran, US remain divided after UN talks as Hormuz blockade continues

Sep 24, 2026, 05:10 GMT+1

Iran and the United States remained far apart Wednesday after renewed UN talks, with Tehran demanding an end to the US blockade of its ports and Washington keeping pressure in place as oil continued moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

The first indirect talks between the two countries in months took place Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, between speeches in which US President Donald Trump threatened further military action and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected the use of force to secure a deal.

Pezeshkian told the assembly Wednesday that Iran would not surrender to American pressure but remained willing to negotiate. He accused Trump of displaying a “bullying mentality” and argued that diplomacy could not succeed under military threats.

His address left the central dispute unresolved. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran was reviewing Washington’s response to its proposal for ending hostilities but that the sides remained far apart. The proposal prioritizes lifting the US blockade of Iranian ports and reopening Hormuz.

Trump had described Tuesday’s discussions as productive. Iranian officials confirmed that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi communicated with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner through Qatari mediation but disputed suggestions that Tehran had abandoned its conditions for reopening the strait.

HORMUZ REMAINS AT THE CENTER OF THE DISPUTE

The disagreement over the waterway links the diplomatic exchanges to the continuing confrontation at sea.

Pezeshkian argued in his UN speech that Iran could not be denied access to Hormuz while other countries benefited from shipping through it. Tehran has linked reopening the strait to an easing of US military pressure and the lifting of the blockade. Washington has rejected Iran’s efforts to exert greater control over navigation and collect fees from passing vessels.

While those terms remained unsettled, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said American forces were helping move between 10 million and 17 million barrels of oil a day through Hormuz despite attacks on tankers.

He compared that volume with about 20 million barrels a day before the war and said roughly 3 million barrels were moving through alternative routes.

“The tankers, they may get hit. Many of them just sail on,” Bessent told Fox News.

US Central Command separately said it had redirected 115 commercial vessels as of September 23 while enforcing the blockade of Iranian ports. The figures describe two distinct parts of Washington’s maritime campaign: maintaining oil flows through the strait and restricting trade with Iran.

Continued shipments have not restored safe passage for commercial crews. A vessel was struck in Hormuz on Wednesday, killing one crew member and forcing the evacuation of more than 20 others, according to Oman’s navy. The origin of the projectile was not immediately established.

The danger also prompted India’s Forward Seamen’s Union to seek naval escorts for merchant ships after Indian sailor Suraj Yadav, 26, was killed aboard the MV Cape Dao off Oman.

European Council President António Costa raised the shipping dispute with Pezeshkian, urging Iran to halt strikes on neighboring countries, restore freedom of navigation through Hormuz and resume cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

ECONOMIC PRESSURE CONTINUES ALONGSIDE DIPLOMACY

Washington also pressed ahead with restrictions beyond the maritime blockade.

Bessent said US sanctions had shut down more than 80% to 90% of Iran’s international flights and questioned how Tehran’s delegation to the UN would return home. The measures expose foreign companies servicing Iranian airlines to potential secondary sanctions.

The restrictions disrupted routes to neighboring countries, although some international flights continued after the US deadline. The Guardian reported that Iranian officials were seeking to preserve air links as the new measures took effect.

The diplomatic opening did not produce an announced shift in the military positions of Iran or Israel. Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Ali Abdollahi vowed retaliation for the killing of the country’s former supreme leader and children in Minab. Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said Israel had not finished its mission against Iran and called for further sanctions.

By the close of Wednesday, the talks had restored a channel between Washington and Tehran but left the terms of a settlement unresolved. The US blockade remained in place, oil continued to move through a dangerous waterway, and neither side had announced an agreement on how unrestricted navigation through Hormuz would resume.

 

g) THREATS AND COUNTER-THREATS COMPLICATE NEW US-IRAN DIPLOMACY

By Maryam Sinaiee  Sep 23, 2026, 23:30 GMT+1

Iran warned Wednesday that any renewed US attack would draw a stronger military response, even as officials from the two countries pursued a new diplomatic opening in New York that has triggered a backlash among hardliners in Tehran.

The warnings followed President Donald Trump's threat at the United Nations to “annihilate” Iran, while Tehran has said further negotiations depend on Washington accepting seven conditions it has put forward for ending the conflict.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, sharply criticized Trump in remarks broadcast on state television, saying Iran would not return to what he described as the previous model of diplomacy.

He said the United States would first have to meet Iran's seven conditions before Tehran would agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin negotiations.

Rezaei said it had been agreed at a meeting with President Masoud Pezeshkian that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would communicate the conditions to intermediaries during his visit to New York.

That account has become significant amid a growing dispute in Tehran over Araghchi's contact with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday and whether the foreign minister had authorization to meet him directly.

US officials have described the latest contact between the two sides as face-to-face, while Iranian accounts have emphasized the role of mediators and said the purpose was to convey Tehran's conditions to Washington.

‘CHILDISH AND VILE’

Iran's state broadcaster reported Tuesday evening that Araghchi had met Witkoff at the insistence of the American side and that the purpose of the meeting was to communicate Iran's conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said contact with the US side took place through Qatari mediators and was intended to communicate conditions including an end to the war on all fronts, a halt to US military operations, an end to the naval blockade and economic war, and the release of Iranian assets.

The contact prompted strong criticism of Araghchi from hardline and IRGC-affiliated media.

Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC, described Araghchi's explanation as “childish and vile” and demanded an apology, questioning why he needed to meet Witkoff if Iran's conditions had already been communicated through intermediaries.

Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, also questioned the meeting and asked Araghchi to explain what authorization he had received.

But parliament member Mojtaba Zarei defended Araghchi, saying his own review indicated that the foreign minister had been authorized to meet Witkoff.

“There was and is no negotiation,” Zarei wrote, saying Iran's seven conditions, including the lifting of the blockade of Yemen, had been communicated directly to Trump's representative.

PEZESHKIAN’S REVISED SPEECH

The dispute unfolded as Pezeshkian and Trump publicly exchanged warnings while leaving open the possibility of diplomacy.

Pezeshkian said during his address to the General Assembly on Wednesday that he had changed his prepared remarks after hearing Trump's speech.

Holding up photographs of children killed in the attack on a primary school in Minab alongside an image of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of imposing the war on Iran and said the Islamic Republic had “powerfully” defended itself.

But he also said Iran remained open to negotiations in pursuit of peace and would not accept what he called “the language of coercion.”

Trump, meanwhile, issued a fresh warning against Iran while also expressing optimism that the dispute between Washington and Tehran could be resolved.

Speaking Wednesday at a meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders in New York, Trump said the United States would “immediately” attack Iran if it carried out activities at the Kolang underground facilities.

Later Wednesday, after meeting British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Trump said negotiations were continuing and that he believed the two sides would ultimately reach an agreement.

Iran's General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters accused Trump of using the UN podium to justify military action and said Iran was prepared to deliver “stronger, crushing and unpredictable blows” in response to any renewed attack.

The simultaneous threats and diplomatic contacts have left the two sides pursuing negotiations while publicly warning that renewed military action remains possible.

 

h) New US-Iran talks run into old question of who speaks for Tehran

Behrouz Turani  Sep 23, 2026, 17:47 GMT+1

 

Any effort to end the Iran war faces a fundamental obstacle even after the resumption of US-Iran diplomacy in New York: apparent divisions within Tehran over who has the authority to negotiate and how far those negotiations can go.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian devoted both the opening and closing sections of his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday to rejecting President Donald Trump's accusations against Tehran.

He also made clear that while Iran welcomed negotiations, it would not yield to coercion or what he described as Trump's “bullying.”

The tension between those two messages reflects the difficult political terrain surrounding the latest diplomatic opening. Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have signaled a willingness to pursue talks, but criticism from hardliners has raised questions about how much room they have to negotiate.

Those divisions surfaced after Araghchi's contact with US envoy Steve Witkoff in New York on Tuesday.

The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported Wednesday that the contact had taken place without authorization from Iran's policymaking bodies, including the Supreme National Security Council.

Citing Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the council, Tasnim said the approved plan had been limited to conveying Iran's seven conditions through mediators. It described Araghchi's reported interaction with Witkoff as a “major error” and called on the foreign minister to explain his actions.

The criticism points to a potentially important fault line in Tehran: not necessarily over whether diplomacy should continue, but over how direct that diplomacy is permitted to become.

Accounts of Tuesday's discussions have themselves differed. US officials have described a three-hour diplomatic exchange positively, while Iranian accounts have emphasized the role of mediators and said Tehran's conditions were conveyed to Washington.

An Iranian diplomat told Reuters before Pezeshkian's speech that discussions on ending hostilities could continue in New York and described the General Assembly as “a golden opportunity for America to return to diplomacy.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any agreement would require sustained work over time and that Trump retained military options.

Rubio also pointed to divisions within Tehran, saying potential agreements had repeatedly faltered after being referred back to the country's revolutionary establishment. He blamed the IRGC for the collapse of an earlier US-Iran understanding after it attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

 

HARDLINERS TEST THE LIMITS

Despite Tasnim's criticism of Araghchi, some hardline messaging immediately before and during the New York talks appeared to leave room for diplomacy.

Before opposition to the talks became more vocal, even the hardline Kayhan newspaper sounded unusually supportive of Pezeshkian on Wednesday morning.

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi also delivered a dual message following reports of the talks.

“We don't reject diplomacy, but we impose our own conditions. Our defensive power will be proven in the field,” he was quoted as saying.

The formulation suggested that the IRGC was not rejecting negotiations outright, even while insisting that diplomacy take place on Tehran's terms and alongside continued military pressure.

The dispute over Araghchi's contact with Witkoff suggests the argument may therefore be less about whether Iran should negotiate than about the format, limits and authorization of those negotiations.

Pezeshkian's own language at the United Nations appeared designed to preserve that room while demonstrating that negotiations would not amount to capitulation.

Responding to Trump's rhetoric, he warned the United States, Israel and regional actors that Iran would respond forcefully to threats, while insisting that Tehran still believed in diplomacy.

Major General Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran's Armed Forces, similarly argued that “rhetoric doesn't change the power calculus” and described Trump's remarks as “a sign of desperation” on the US side.

THE SEQUENCING PROBLEM

The mediation channel has so far allowed the two sides to exchange complex proposals without requiring the politically riskier spectacle of a meeting between Trump and Pezeshkian.

But even if Tehran's internal disagreements can be contained, substantial differences remain over what each side must do first.

Washington is reportedly insisting on the clearance of maritime choke points and assurances related to Iran's nuclear program before easing its naval blockade.

Tehran, by contrast, is demanding an immediate end to US interdictions and the release of $24 billion in frozen foreign assets as conditions for further progress, according to a source close to the Iranian diplomatic team.

Iran has also linked progress in negotiations to reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

The diplomatic opening in New York therefore leaves two related questions unresolved: whether Washington and Tehran can agree on the sequence of steps needed to end the conflict, and whether Iran's diplomats have sufficient authority at home to deliver whatever they negotiate.

The reaction from the IRGC and other hardline institutions in the coming days may provide an early indication of the answer.

 

i) IRAN WARNS IT WOULD DISRUPT REGIONAL AIRPORTS IF ITS FLIGHTS ARE BARRED

Sep 23, 2026, 16:31 GMT+1

 

Iran threatened to disrupt airports in neighboring countries that comply with a US campaign to ground Iranian airlines, escalating its response to new sanctions that have already begun cutting some of the country’s remaining air links.

“If neighboring countries cooperate with the United States in stopping Iranian flights, their airports will not be able to operate either,” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said in an interview with state television on Wednesday.

Rezaei did not specify how Iran would prevent the airports from operating. He separately warned neighboring countries against participating in any further US military action against Iran.

“I am telling neighboring countries from now: do not enter this adventure,” he said.

The Treasury Department this month sanctioned 36 targets connected to the sector and warned companies providing services to Iranian carriers that they risked secondary sanctions.

Washington says Iranian aviation networks have been used to transport weapons, personnel and other cargo for the government.

The pressure has already begun to disrupt Iranian air travel. Flights to Baghdad and Muscat were canceled after authorities there stopped accepting Iranian flights, while Iranian carriers have also faced restrictions or cancellations affecting destinations including Turkey and Georgia.

Some international services continued operating on Wednesday despite the US deadline.

 

‘HORMUZ IS OUR DIGNITY’

Rezaei coupled the airport warning with a deadline for Washington to respond to Tehran’s terms for further negotiations and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which has been severely disrupted during the war.

“We have given the Americans four to five days to comply with Iran’s conditions,” he said. “Until Iran’s conditions are accepted, there will be no negotiations and the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened.”

Rezaei did not spell out the conditions in the interview. He said they had already been communicated to mediators and would be conveyed again during the UN General Assembly gathering in New York by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

“We are not going back to the diplomacy of the past,” he said. “The diplomacy we have started is completely different from the past.”

He described control over the Strait of Hormuz as a source of leverage in negotiations.

“The Strait of Hormuz is our dignity. The Strait of Hormuz is our power,” Rezaei said. “The Strait of Hormuz is the Iranian people’s tool for obtaining their rights.”

 

j) KHAMENEI ADVISER SAYS TEHRAN CAN NEGOTIATE, HARDLINERS SAY IT MUST NOT

Sep 23, 2026, 13:41 GMT+1

 

A military adviser to Iran's supreme leader said the government has room to deal with Washington, and within hours a lawmaker and Guards-affiliated outlets condemned reported contact with it. The split surfaced as the Guards were reported to be directly engaged in Yemen.

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s decision to leave the government’s “hands open” in negotiations reflected significant strategic judgment.

“If the Supreme Leader has deemed it expedient and left the government’s hands open in the negotiations, that is an important act of prudence,” Safavi said in a televised interview.

Tehran sets out terms as US-Iran talks intensify in New York

He also pointed to coordination between Iran’s military and political leadership and said he hoped decisions by the Supreme National Security Council would help prevent another war.

The remarks provided rare public confirmation from a senior military figure that Pezeshkian’s government has the leadership’s approval to pursue negotiations. They followed a day of indirect exchanges between Iranian and US delegations in New York, though major differences remain over Washington’s naval blockade and Tehran’s conditions for ending the conflict.

The prospect of diplomacy also exposed competing views inside Iran over how far Pezeshkian should go.

Lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei and the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim and Fars news agencies criticized Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff. Rezaei questioned its authorization and called it a “sign of weakness,” while the outlets argued that it rewarded Washington and eased pressure on the United States.

Reformist politician Gholamhossein Karbaschi, meanwhile, said the president should meet Trump to help resolve the country’s problems, echoing a similar appeal from senior reformist figure Mehdi Karroubi.

Lawmaker Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani went further, predicting that a Pezeshkian-Trump meeting would take place in New York.

“In my view, the meeting between Pezeshkian and Trump will take place,” he said. “Last year, Pezeshkian decided to meet, but the Americans did not show up.”

Bakhshayesh Ardestani, a member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, also advocated acquiring a nuclear weapon before leaving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“Buy or build the atomic bomb, then say you are withdrawing from the NPT,” he said, while acknowledging that senior officials were not currently seeking withdrawal.

The competing statements illustrated the political constraints surrounding the New York diplomacy: Pezeshkian is said to have received apparent backing to negotiate, but officials and political factions remain divided over direct contact with Trump and the concessions Iran should seek or offer.

Those talks are unfolding as US economic pressure begins to narrow Iran’s international connections. Iranian airlines continued operating some foreign services Wednesday after a US deadline aimed at grounding the country’s fleet by threatening sanctions against companies providing fuel, ground handling, ticketing and other services.

Bloomberg cited flight-tracking data showing at least six flights leaving Iran for destinations including Bangkok, Phuket, Shanghai and Kabul after the restrictions took effect.

But the pressure appeared to be uneven rather than ineffective. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said flights to Baghdad and Muscat had been canceled, while Azerbaijan suspended Iranian airline services and Turkish Airlines halted its flights to Iran until at least March 2027.

The price of US pressure moves up Iran’s social ladder

The restrictions add urgency to Tehran’s diplomacy by extending the economic confrontation beyond shipping and oil into civilian aviation. At home, however, authorities sought to show that wartime damage was being repaired.

An Oil Ministry official said around half of the damaged capacity at the South Pars gas field had returned to service and that the remaining planned restoration work would be completed before winter.

At the same time, a report of a deeper Iranian military role in Yemen showed how the conflict continues to extend across the region. IRGC personnel were on the ground helping the Houthis seize Yemen’s Red Sea coast from pro-government forces, the Associated Press reported, citing 10 officials and soldiers.

The report said Iranian personnel helped direct a rapid 115-kilometer offensive, marking Tehran’s most direct intervention on behalf of the Houthis since Yemen’s civil war began in 2014. Houthi forces also penetrated the communications of the National Resistance, allowing them to monitor movements and sow confusion.

That reported intervention could complicate efforts to contain the conflict while Tehran and Washington negotiate. Iran is signaling that its government has authority to pursue an agreement, but its regional military posture and the expanding sanctions campaign continue to generate pressure that could either drive diplomacy forward or deepen the confrontation.

The IRGC ground forces are implementing a “special plan” to enhance their combat capabilities, the coordinating deputy commander said on Wednesday.


k) TEHRAN SETS OUT TERMS AS US-IRAN TALKS INTENSIFY IN NEW YORK

Sep 23, 2026, 04:35 GMT+1

 

Iran formally set out its conditions for ending the war as indirect talks with the United States intensified in New York on Tuesday, with the Strait of Hormuz and Washington’s naval blockade emerging as central points in efforts to turn renewed contacts into an agreement.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran conveyed its conditions to the United States through a Qatari mediator in New York. They included an end to the war on all fronts, a halt to what Tehran described as US “acts of aggression,” an end to the naval blockade and economic warfare, and the release of Iranian assets.

The Iranian account gave the clearest official description yet of what Tehran had put before Washington during a day of indirect contacts at the UN General Assembly. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said mediators shuttled between American and Iranian delegations throughout the day and that the two sides completed a round of discussions he hoped would prove “constructive and promising.”

The talks coincided with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s arrival in New York for the General Assembly. Before his trip, Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said they hoped he would convey the message of the Iranian people and armed forces to the international community.

The conditions outlined by Baghaei also showed why the Strait of Hormuz has become central to the negotiations. Tehran has linked an easing of restrictions on the waterway to US steps on military pressure and the blockade, while Western and regional governments have increasingly focused on restoring normal navigation through the strait. Reuters reported that a senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen Hormuz within seven days if Washington eased military pressure and lifted its blockade on Iranian ports.

European diplomacy in New York was converging on the same issue. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed ending the war and fully reopening Hormuz, arguing that navigation should be free and unimpeded and that there should be no tolls or fees after the war.

French President Emmanuel Macron also said reopening the strait was the “main objective” of his Monday talks with US President Donald Trump. Macron said the situation in Hormuz had been “probably underestimated” and that France was prepared to become more involved in enabling transit while avoiding a direct confrontation.

Those efforts, however, have not removed the core disagreement over Tehran’s demands. Al Arabiya reported, citing a US source who attended a meeting with the Iranian delegation, that Washington had rejected Iran’s request to lift the blockade and that major obstacles to an agreement remained.

That leaves the New York diplomacy with a clearer negotiating framework than before — Iran has publicly set out its conditions and Washington has confirmed sustained indirect talks — but also with the blockade and access through Hormuz still at the center of the gap between the two sides.

 

l) TRUMP SEES ‘MOMENTUM’ FOR IRAN DEAL AFTER NEW YORK MEETINGS

Sep 22, 2026, 22:11 GMT+1

 

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday there was “a lot of momentum” toward a deal with Tehran after his envoys met regional mediators and Iran’s top diplomat, as contacts in New York put the Strait of Hormuz at the center of efforts to end the war.

Trump said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a “very good” three-hour meeting with an Iranian delegation and predicted that “a settlement is going to be reached.”

Iranian state television later confirmed that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Witkoff “at the insistence of the American side” and conveyed Tehran’s conditions.

The diplomatic activity continued into Trump’s meeting with Persian Gulf Arab and other regional leaders, where he said Witkoff and Jared Kushner had also held a “very productive” meeting with mediators working on Iran.

“I think there’s a lot of momentum for them to make a deal,” Trump said, adding that his envoys had respect on both sides and that he believed they would “get this thing ended.”

The contacts marked the clearest movement toward direct negotiations in New York after days of proposals passed through Qatar and other regional mediators. But both Washington and Tehran continued to accompany the diplomacy with military threats, leaving Hormuz — where Iran has offered to ease restrictions in return for US concessions — at the heart of both the talks and the confrontation.

HORMUZ MOVES TO CENTER OF NEGOTIATIONS

In the meeting with Witkoff, Araghchi presented Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including lifting the US naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and ending the war across all “resistance” fronts, according to state media.

A senior Iranian official separately told Reuters that Tehran could reopen the strait within seven days if Washington eased military pressure and lifted the blockade on Iranian ports. The proposal was conveyed to the United States through mediators last week, the official said, adding that Iran’s delegation in New York had authority to pursue renewed diplomacy.

Iranian officials also made clear that Tehran still sees the waterway as leverage. Parliament deputy speaker Ali Nikzad said negotiations were now tied to Hormuz and that Iran would “not back down” over the strait.

A parliamentary committee, meanwhile, advanced provisions allowing authorities to seize 20% of the cargo or its value from ships found to have violated Iranian passage rules.


REGIONAL PUSH GATHERS PACE

Qatar said Tuesday it was working with Pakistan to open a path for dialogue and facilitate an agreement between Tehran and Washington, including a possible short-term deal that could allow wider negotiations to resume.

Araghchi met Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in New York on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey also called for dialogue and diplomacy and backed implementation of the Islamabad memorandum between Iran and the United States. Arab mediators were separately pressing for a high-level US-Iran meeting during the General Assembly.

Trump’s meeting with Persian Gulf and other regional leaders later Tuesday put those efforts directly before the US president. He said Washington was “hearing from everybody” and compared the gathering with a similar meeting last year that preceded the Gaza agreement.

THREATS REMAIN AROUND DIPLOMACY

Neither side, however, eased its military rhetoric. Trump used his UN address to urge other countries to join Washington’s campaign to isolate Iran and later warned Tehran to act “fast” before it was too late.

During his meeting with GCC leaders, he also threatened another strike on Pickaxe Mountain if the United States detected renewed activity there.

“We may have to blow up another one, Pickaxe Mountain. We’re not seeing a lot of activity there, but if we do, we’ll blow it up immediately,” he said.

 

 m) TRUMP: WE MAY HAVE TO BLOW UP PICKAXE MOUNTAIN

IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said the force did not reject diplomacy but viewed negotiations as a way to impose Iran’s conditions. Iran’s top military commands separately warned of “more severe, crushing and unpredictable” strikes if the United States or Israel attacked again.

Trump nevertheless suggested the timetable for a deal could be shortening. After saying at the UN that an agreement might come after the US midterm elections, he told regional leaders it could happen “maybe before.”

PROSPECTS OF PEZESHKIAN-TRUMP MEETING

President Masoud Pezeshkian is in New York for the General Assembly, but no meeting with Trump has been announced yet. The possibility has already drawn criticism from hardline figures in Iran who describe Trump as the “killer” of Iran’s late leader.

Questions over what Pezeshkian could deliver in such a meeting have also been raised outside Iran. Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi cast doubt on whether talks involving Pezeshkian and Trump could produce meaningful change, telling Fox News that Iran is ultimately controlled by the Revolutionary Guards.

“I don’t expect anything otherwise coming out, especially [from] someone like Pezeshkian, because when the country is de facto run by the IRGC, anybody with the slightest moderate tone would be internally accused of betraying the system,” Pahlavi said.

          Can Iran and US find a deal while threatening escalation?