Iran claims world will be 'astonished' by new weapons, Trump in 'deciding mode'

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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei announced Monday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had arrived in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, where Araghchi will present Iran’s foreign policy positions and hold talks with international leaders.

“In addition to participating in the various agenda items of the United Nations General Assembly and elucidating the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, our country's Foreign Minister will hold talks and consultations with a large number of officials and foreign ministers attending the summit,” Baqaei said in a post shared on X.

More than 160 Irish sports figures have signed an open letter urging Ireland’s national soccer team to boycott upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Israel.

Irish Sport for Palestine organized the petition, calling a boycott “the most sporting thing you could do.”

The matches are set for Sept. 27 in Hungary and Oct. 4 in Serbia. Both will be played behind closed doors at neutral venues.

“This is a significant moment and with this moment you have an opportunity to do the right thing,” the letter said.

Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson acknowledged that “none of us feel comfortable playing in these games,” while the FAI said the matches must go ahead to protect the team’s standing, Reuters reported Monday.

The U.N. Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said Monday Tehran committed crimes against humanity in its protest crackdowns that began in 2025, citing unlawful killings, torture, mass arrests and internet blackouts, Iran International reported.

The panel also found reasonable grounds to believe two U.S. strikes on Feb. 28 amounted to war crimes.

One strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, killing 157 people, including 123 children. A second strike on a sports complex in Lamerd killed 22 civilians.

“The Iranian Government’s repression of the recent protests has led the Mission to find Iran responsible for gross human rights violations,” mission chair Sara Hossain told the council in Geneva.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz said President Donald Trump is expected to challenge the findings during his U.N. General Assembly address Tuesday and “call out the ridiculous.”

President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron met Monday in New York City to discuss regional tensions in the Middle East, agreeing on joint efforts to safeguard global energy supply.

"We decided to act together to ease tensions in the energy markets, by protecting critical infrastructure in the Middle East and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," Macron said in a post on X.

The two leaders met ahead of the U.N. General Assembly's high-level general debate, which begins Tuesday in Manhattan.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Monday that its forces have redirected 110 ships as part of Washington’s ongoing blockade of Iran.

“USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) sails in regional waters as the guided-missile destroyer continues strict enforcement of the U.S. blockade against Iran, preventing commerce from entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas,” the command said in a post on X.

As of Sept. 21, U.S. forces had redirected 110 commercial vessels to ensure compliance, CENTCOM added.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday that the bloc's naval mission in the Red Sea needs more than 10 warships as tensions escalate across the region.

"When Aspides (the EU military operation) was put in place, then the indication was that it needs at least 10 ships. The situation, I think, is even more grave right now," Kallas told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Reuters reported.

Kallas sent a letter to EU member states last week requesting additional naval and air assets, the outlet said.

The developments came after U.S. embassies across the Middle East issued security alerts as fighting intensified between Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed coalition.

A man was critically injured and a police officer was seriously wounded in a shooting outside an Ontario synagogue Sunday evening as Yom Kippur began, the city’s Special Investigations Unit said Monday, according to The Times of Israel.

The suspect opened fire on the officer, who was stationed outside the building in an unmarked vehicle, according to synagogue president Norman Weddum.

Investigators estimated that 20 to 30 shots were exchanged during the incident, leaving bullet holes in homes and shattering vehicle windows along the street.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive or confirmed whether the synagogue or the local Jewish community was specifically targeted.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced Monday that the U.K. will provide military support to Saudi Arabia amid escalating attacks from the Houthi in Yemen.

Speaking to reporters en route to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Burnham said the Royal Air Force will deploy an RAF Voyager tanker aircraft in the coming days.

"We have received a request from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for military support, and on the advice of the defence secretary and the foreign secretary, last night I agreed to that request for defensive air-to-air refuelling," he told reporters.

"Because of course Saudi Arabia has been experiencing attack and we need to keep those pathways open, and hence our agreement to the request," he said, Reuters reported.

The U.K.'s assistance comes as Washington stays on the sidelines during the flare-up in the region.

"That is a time-limited agreement in terms of the assistance that we will provide, but we will keep it under review," Burnham added, saying Britain was "playing our part" in the Middle East by also supporting efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. 

Turkish Airlines has reportedly suspended flights to Iran until at least March 2027 amid U.S. pressure on Iran’s aviation sector and sanctions targeting the regime.

A Turkish Airlines representative told Iran International that the carrier currently has no flights scheduled to Iran before March 2027.

The representative did not guarantee that service would resume after that date, the outlet said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that U.S. sanctions would effectively shut Iranian airlines out of international operations beginning Sept. 23, warning that airports and companies providing services to sanctioned carriers could also face penalties.

Iraq is also moving to stop operations by Iranian airlines, according to Iraqi government sources cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Iraq will enforce the ban on Iranian airlines in accordance with the U.S. Treasury decision starting Tuesday at dawn,” one official said, the outlet reported.

Washington has proposed investing $5 billion in a new fund to help Middle East nations rebuild energy infrastructure damaged in the Iran war and to reduce their reliance on the Strait of Hormuz for energy supplies, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Citing U.S. and Middle Eastern officials and documents, the outlet said discussions were ongoing and that terms could change. It also said there was no certainty that any countries would sign up.

The move, the report said, was also an acknowledgment that the conflict has rocked the global energy market while destroying Middle East pipelines and refineries at significant cost.

Under the Trump administration’s plan, The plan is that Washington would seek a matching contribution from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq and Jordan.

The investment fund would called the Partnership for Allied Trust and Construction, or PACT, the oulet said.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with his Iranian counterpart, Eskandar Momeni, in Tehran on Monday to discuss bilateral relations, Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior said in a post shared on X.

The talks focused on strengthening ties and implementing agreements previously signed by senior officials from both countries, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Naqvi had also visited Tehran in August with Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Asim Munir, as part of Islamabad’s efforts to mediate between Iran and the United States.

In another post on X, the ministry said Momeni “thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir for their efforts towards regional peace and stability.”

The United States has denied visas to members of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s delegation, including members of his communications team, ahead of this week’s U.N. General Assembly, Iranian state media reported Monday.

Pezeshkian is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.

“In an unprecedented hostile move by the U.S. government, [U.S. President Donald] Trump has denied U.S. visas to certain members of the president’s high-level delegation, including members of his communications team,” state news agency IRNA said.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), said the move by Washington shouldn’t be considered controversial.

Taleblu said on X that denying an "inflated media staff roster filled with communications advisors who are listed as media but not U.N.-accredited media and are seeking to travel to allow the Iranian president access to a free press in the U.S. and set up unofficial and official engagements shouldn’t be controversial.

Houthi fighters pushed Monday to seize strategic heights in Yemen to cut off the Red Sea coast from areas still held by Saudi-backed forces, Reuters reported.

Five Yemeni military sources told the outlet that the Houthis were looking to capture the Kahboub Mountains in Taiz and Lahij provinces.

The mountains separate the Red Sea coast from government-held territory in southern Yemen.

Government forces appear to remain largely on the defensive after losing the Bab el-Mandeb area, while the Houthis seek to maintain momentum despite being exposed to intensive airstrikes, analyst Mohammed al-Qadhi also told Reuters.

“These mountains could become critical to determining whether the Houthis succeed in consolidating their recent territorial gains or whether government forces will be able to retain the positions necessary to mount a counteroffensive,” al-Qadhi said.

Former USS Cole commander Kirk Lippold discusses escalating Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional influence and the potential for deeper U.S. involvement in the conflict.

Lippold analyzes Iranian military operations and Saudi Arabia defense capabilities on Monday's "America Reports."

Lippold discusses the IRGC groups controlling the Iranian economy and military while stating Saudi Arabia must handle its own national security against Houthi missile strikes instead of relying on U.S. intervention.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz issued a direct warning to the Iranian regime Monday, stressing that any potential peace agreement hinges on Tehran negotiating in good faith and dismantling its nuclear ambitions.

"The Iranians have to come to the table in good faith, and we have to know they are speaking for the Ayatollah," Waltz told "Fox & Friends" on Monday morning.

"We've seen now time after time we come to an agreement and they go back to Tehran, and between the IRGC, the civilians and others and the religious clerics, they end up backing away or pulling the rugs out from under us."

The remarks come as diplomatic tensions peak at the United Nations, with President Donald Trump entering a critical "deciding mode" regarding a new framework of Iran sanctions for 2026.

Waltz outlined the administration's broader strategy, noting that the president intends to use the U.N. General Assembly to rally global leaders and Gulf partners to strictly enforce economic pressure on Tehran.

The international community remains unified against the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, according to Waltz, who warned the U.S. expects full compliance with sanctions from both allies and adversaries until the regime fundamentally shifts its approach.

The leader of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen used the anniversary of his group’s overthrow of the Yemeni government to lash out at Saudi Arabia.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, in a pre-recorded speech aired Monday on the Houthi-run al-Masirah channel, reiterated his group's core demands, calling for an end to what he termed Saudi "aggression" and the crippling blockade that the Saudi-led coalition has imposed on the rebels for nearly a decade.

“Stop the aggression and end the blockade,” al-Houthi said. “Our demands represent the legitimate rights of our people.”

The televised address marks the anniversary of the Houthis' September 2014 campaign, when the group descended from their northern stronghold to seize the capital city of Sanaa.

The takeover forced Yemen's internationally recognized government into exile in Saudi Arabia and ignited a devastating conflict.

The following year, Saudi Arabia formed a multinational coalition and entered the war in a bid to restore the ousted government. As part of its ongoing military campaign, the coalition imposed a severe air and sea blockade on Houthi-controlled territories, which remains a central point of contention today.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.