China continues to import Iranian crude
Chinese refiners are continuing to purchase Iranian crude oil, frustrating Washington’s push to choke off Tehran’s energy revenues through strict secondary sanctions.
Beijing’s choice to reject American sanctions has been shared by Iranian state broadcaster, Press TV, where reports on Friday say that trade between both states has continued.
Chinese buyers rely on non-dollar transactions and covert ship-to-ship transfers to keep shipments moving despite US naval enforcement.
Beijing has maintained that its commercial ties with Iran remain legitimate under international law, keeping a critical financial pipeline open for Tehran.
Suha Kidwai28 August 2026 11:00
Iran restores 40% of South Pars gas production, state media reports
Iran has revived approximately 40 per cent of its damaged gas production capacity at the South Pars natural gas field following repeated U.S. and Israeli military strikes, deputy oil minister Ahmad Zeraatkar has announced.
He said: “About 40 per cent of the damaged capacity has now returned to service, and production in this part has resumed.”
South Pars was hit by a barrage of joint US-Israeli strikes in March 2026 (AFP/Getty)
The minister confirmed that debris removal across the facility has now concluded and that local engineers are ahead of schedule in efforts to stabilise domestic energy supplies ahead of winter.
However, Zeraatkar stressed that full reconstruction of the giant gas complex will take at least two years due to extensive damage, relying entirely on domestic engineering, and domestic financing packages.
Suha Kidwai28 August 2026 10:30
UAE influenced Trump’s threats to bomb Oman, Iranian media reports
President Donald Trump’s threats to target Oman stemmed from direct coordination with UAE’s bin Zayed, who sought to undermine Omani influence over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media has reported.
According to Nournews, an state-linked outlet, bin Zayed urged Washington to push back against Muscat during a phone call earlier in the week, blaming Omani “greed” for complicating maritime negotiations with Tehran.
The Emirati president urged his American counterpart to take a strong stance against Iran, Nournews has reported (Reuters)
The report highlights growing friction between Abu Dhabi and neighbouring Gulf states over mediation roles and maritime control in the Persian Gulf.
Suha Kidwai28 August 2026 10:00
Tehran official says Iran will send Netanyahu ‘to hell’
Iran’s secretary of the supreme national security souncil (SNSC) has said that Iran will send Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu “to hell” and prove that his “great mistakes.”
In an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Manar programme, major general Mohsen Rezaei condemned Israel’s continued strikes in Lebanon.
Tehran has condemned Israeli-American aggression in the region (AFP/Getty)
He called for the United States to end its intervention across West Asia, especially in Lebanon and Gaza, and emphasised that Israeli attacks on Damascus must stop. “West Asia is like a chain,” he said. “Its conditions are interconnected.”
Suha Kidwai28 August 2026 09:30
Iranian minister says Tehran has changed ‘power equations’ in Gulf
Iranian acting defence minister Majid Ibn al-Reza has said that Tehran has “changed the regional power equations” and demonstrated that the era of “hit-and-run” attacks on the country was over, Al Jazeera reported.
Ibn al-Reza reportedly said a “ridiculous media show does not change the reality on the ground and the victorious side”.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 August 2026 09:00
Iran says diplomacy can get back on track if US recognises pressure does not work
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said putting diplomacy back on track was not impossible but hinged on the US understanding that pressure does not work.
In a post on X, Araqchi said he had held what he described as “creative discussions” with Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, adding that Washington should build trust, speak respectfully, acknowledge Iran’s rights and uphold its commitments.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 August 2026 08:30
Iran’s disfigured supreme leader remains invisible six months into war
Six months after the airstrikes that began the war and propelled a badly wounded Mojtaba Khamenei into the role of Iran’s supreme leader, he remains entirely unseen and unheard by Iranians.
Questions over his condition and role are growing increasingly fraught, with Iran facing critical decisions over a war that has set the Middle East aflame while trashing the country’s already fragile economy.
Iranian officials and other senior sources in the country say Khamenei remains in control, ruling from the shadows for security reasons as he recovers from disfiguring wounds while delegating broad daily authority to a coterie of top figures.
But with no photograph, video or audio message released since his appointment a week into the war, Iranians are ever more sceptical about his position in an Islamic Republic in which the leader’s voice is meant to be absolute.
“The question is no longer whether Mojtaba is alive, but whether Iran still has a functioning supreme leader,” said Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute in Washington.
A still image from undated archive footage released by Iranian media on August 24, 2026, shows Mojtaba Khamenei attending a meeting before he assumed the role of Iran’s Supreme Leader, at an unknown location (Reuters)
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 August 2026 08:00
Six months on, the Iran war has changed the Middle East
It’s been six months since the US and Israel attacked Iran with the perennial goal of transforming the Middle East through military force. The region has changed, but not in the way they had hoped.
The Islamic Republic survived the assassination of its top leaders and weeks of heavy bombing, and found a potent form of leverage in the Strait of Hormuz.
Gulf Arab nations saw worrying gaps open up in the American security umbrella they have relied on for decades — and some are looking at alternatives.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 August 2026 07:20
Iranian official threatens US economic interests
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei has warned that Tehran would retaliate against US economic interests if the US continued with the blockade of Iranian ports.
“If the blockade continues, we will target US economic interests 100 percent, with intensity and force,” Rezaei told Lebanon’s Al-Manar television.
He claimed that Iran had “broken the maritime blockade” during the ceasefire and exported almost 80 million barrels of oil.
Rezaei added that Iran was preparing a list of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz after mediators asked Tehran to set them out.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 August 2026 06:40
White House says Trump keeps ‘all options’ open for Iran
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has claimed that Donald Trump “continues to retain all options on the table” for the Iran war.
“We’ve had Operation Epic Fury to destroy their military. Now we have Operation Economic Outcast to destroy their economy,” she told Fox News.
“No negotiations are happening right now, and this will continue until the president feels that maybe they come to the table in a meaningful way,” she added.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 August 2026 06:00