PHOTO- Turkey seizes jet from Iran’s Caspian Airlines over unpaid debt after passengers had already boarded
HERE IS THE LATEST:
- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said he expects a formal response Tuesday from the U.S. to Tehran’s latest proposal for a ceasefire and the phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
- President Trump said Monday that U.S. and Iranian negotiators have engaged in talks via mediators in recent days, but he insisted that he’s offered “nothing,” rejecting a report by Axios that he’s willing to grant Iran some sanctions relief and access to frozen funds.
- Iran proposed a seven-day plan for a ceasefire and the phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz last week, contingent on the U.S. meeting conditions laid out in the mid-June memorandum of understanding that fell apart after several weeks. Mr. Trump has publicly rejected the Iranian proposal.
U.S. sanctions businesses that allegedly supplied equipment to Iranian military
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Tuesday on 10 individuals and companies accused of helping Iran’s military logistics agency acquire weapons and electronics.
The targets include people based in Iran, Beijing, Hong Kong and Pakistan.
The sanctions are part of a Trump administration initiative called Operation Economic Outcast, aimed at pressuring Iran by isolating its government and economy.
“Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Trump is incapable of decision-making when it comes to war, Iran security chief says
President Trump is stuck when it comes to deciding between further war and negotiations, according to Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, the head of Iran’s influential Supreme National Security Council.
“We stated our conditions, but Trump is incapable of decision-making,” Rezaei said Tuesday during a meeting with Azerbaijan’s deputy prime minister, Shahin Mustafayev. “Trump is trapped in a quagmire where he can neither negotiate nor fight.”
Multiple Iranian officials have said they are waiting for a response on the proposal made during last week’s U.N. General Assembly, however, Mr. Trump already dismissed the plan on Saturday.
“Our plan, which became known as the seven-point plan, was conveyed to the Americans through the Qatari intermediary,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in New York on Monday. “Despite the things that the American president and others said, I said that we are waiting for an official response from America through the intermediary.”
Rezaei singled out the strict sanctions on airlines that went into place last week, calling them an “air blockade,” as a sign of “desperation.”
Iraq begins importing gasoline via Syrian port to bypass the closed Strait of Hormuz
Iraqi fuel trucks loaded gasoline at a Syrian port on Tuesday in a bid to meet surging energy demand as the critical Strait of Hormuz remains closed and mediators work with Iran and the United States to end the war.
The disruption of the strait has sent shock waves through the global economy, prompting countries to scramble for alternatives and sending fuel prices soaring. A fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transited through the narrow waterway before the war.
Syria, under interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, who ousted longtime leader Bashar Assad in December 2024, has seized the opportunity to bolster the country’s economy by providing an alternative route through the Baniyas port. Markets including the United States and Europe have been using the port.
Iraq has been exporting oil to foreign markets for months by trucking it through Baniyas as a workaround to the closure of Hormuz. Now, through a three-month agreement between the two, Iraq has begun importing gasoline via Syria; the first shipment to Iraq arrived at the port on Thursday.
Iraq is importing gasoline supplied by the Qatar-based conglomerate UCC Holding via the Syrian port of Baniyas to bypass disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz
U.S. sanctions target Iran’s military supply chain as status of talks remains uncertain
The U.S. on Tuesday targeted people and firms around the globe that it has accused of being financial facilitators or enablers of Iran’s military supply chain, as the Trump administration pushes forward with economic warfare against Tehran at a time when renewed diplomacy between the two countries remains uncertain.
The latest action by the Treasury Department is part of the administration’s Operation Economic Outcast campaign, which is aimed at severing “critical financial lifelines” for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government.
“Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Ten individuals and entities based in Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan were sanctioned for allegedly procuring weapons and weapon components for Iran’s defense ministry as it fights its now seven-month war against the U.S.
U.S. officials have said they want to disrupt Iran’s defense systems and further degrade the government’s ability to reconstitute its weapons program. The aim of the latest sanctions includes increasing the costs for the people and companies that have assisted Iran’s military procurement efforts.
Turkey seizes jet from Iran’s Caspian Airlines over unpaid debt after passengers had already boarded
Turkish authorities have seized a plane belonging to Iran’s Caspian Airlines at Istanbul Airport, an official said Tuesday, with Turkish and Iranian media linking it to an unpaid $3.4 million debt.
The seizure took place on Monday after passengers had boarded the Boeing 737, which was waiting to take off when officials detained it on the basis of a court-issued seizure order, Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu said.
The reports did not mention the recently imposed U.S. sanctions against Iranian airlines as Washington seeks to economically isolate the Islamic Republic.
In a written response to AFP, a Turkish government official confirmed the move, saying it was linked to “a commercial dispute” but did not give further details.
“We can confirm that a Caspian Airlines aircraft at Istanbul Airport was subject to an enforcement measure pursuant to a decision by the competent authorities. The matter arises from a commercial dispute,” he said, asking not to be identified.
In a statement quoted by Iranian state television, Caspian Airlines said it had encountered “temporary operational restrictions regarding one of its Boeing aircraft due to an administrative issue in Turkey.”
The report said passengers were forced to disembark but the airline had taken “administrative” steps with regard to a debt for “Istanbul Airport services.”
It said the plane would return to Iran on Tuesday.
CBS
