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

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.

President Donald Trump has reportedly held off on planned U.S. military airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen over the weekend.

"We're in constant communication with them," Trump told Fox News in an exclusive phone call Sunday morning. "They don't want to fight us."

Trump had ordered the Pentagon to prepare strikes following a Thursday phone call from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who implored him for assistance.

By midday Sunday — with target lists approved and warplanes actively being loaded with munitions — the president called off the operation to give time for diplomacy amid this week's United Nations General Assembly.

Most of the president's inner circle fiercely opposed joining the Saudi-led fight against the Houthis, according to The New York Times.

Following a 50-day U.S. bombing campaign in 2025, the Houthis agreed to stop firing on American ships — a pledge Trump noted they have upheld; however, the group has recently reignited its war with Saudi Arabia, capturing territory near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait and blockading Saudi shipping.

Saudi Arabia has pressured Washington for help, previously demonstrating its leverage by denying the U.S. airspace and bases for operations in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the report.

Current and former U.S. officials doubt that a renewed, limited bombing campaign would effectively neutralize the Houthis or force them to the negotiating table. Experts describe the Saudi-backed Yemeni ground forces as fractured and ineffective, while the Houthis have spent the last year reconstituting their arsenal and utilizing artificial intelligence to engineer new missiles.

Fox News' Trey Yingst contributed to this report.

Israel’s military remained on alert Monday even as the country woke up to the silence and empty streets of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, considered the holiest day for the Jewish faith.

“For the next 25 hours, Israel is offline,” the foreign ministry wrote on X after sundown Sunday.

Streetlights blinked yellow as the faithful walked to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City.

But the military said it bolstered its frontline forces following the killing of an Israeli settler Sunday in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian suspect was detained after a search.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Saudi Aramco is aggressively ramping up oil exports from its terminals inside the Mideast Gulf, signaling a rapid recovery and providing downward pressure on global oil prices.

The Kingdom loaded roughly 14 million barrels of crude oil onto seven Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) on Sunday.

According to TankerTrackers.com data and satellite imagery corroborated by Reuters, this significant activity was concentrated near the Ras Tanura port.

This pivot to Gulf exports follows the Sept. 13 drone attacks that forced the shutdown of Saudi Arabia's east-west oil pipeline, effectively halting crude loadings at the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

To maintain supply lines, Aramco has re-routed its logistics, canceling some European cargo sales in favor of boosting sales to Asian markets via eastern ports.

Trade sources indicate Aramco sold approximately 60 million barrels of crude from Ras Tanura for ship-to-ship transfers at the Omani port of Sohar for September and October loading.

Analysts at JP Morgan report that satellite data shows Saudi oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz averaged 2.9 million barrels per day over the past six days — a massive jump from the 700,000 bpd average seen in August.

The visible recovery in Saudi export capacity has immediately impacted the market. The surge in volume helped push the Brent crude benchmark below $100 a barrel Monday, marking its first dip below that threshold since early September.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Vice President JD Vance said Monday that the Trump administration is doing “everything that we can” to tamp down gas prices as continued Iranian attacks on commercial shipping put pressure on energy costs.

“We’re very cognizant of the fact that because the Iranians are terrorizing international shipping, energy prices are elevated,” Vance told reporters before boarding Air Force Two for North Carolina.

“We’re doing everything that we can to, one, try to tamp down on these prices, but give the American people some relief in the interim,” he added.

Vance pointed to President Donald Trump’s calls for states to provide relief from gasoline taxes as one potential way to ease costs for Americans.

The vice president attributed elevated gas prices to Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz, while saying a “substantial amount” of oil and gas continues to move through the critical waterway.

“We’re of course going to try to protect the free flow of commerce as much as we can,” Vance said, adding that the U.S. Navy would continue working to protect shipping.

Vance also said he expects further discussions about Iran during the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week.

Oil prices have dropped to a 12-day low, with both Brent and WTI crude temporarily dipping below $100 a barrel, driven by a sudden surge in Saudi Arabian oil shipments and cautious optimism for U.S.-Iran diplomacy.

Shipping data and satellite imagery confirm Saudi Aramco is aggressively ramping up exports to stabilize the market. The state oil giant loaded 14 million barrels of crude onto seven Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) at Gulf terminals Sunday, heavily concentrated around the Ras Tanura port.

This massive mobilization of crude through the contested Strait of Hormuz has provided immediate relief to global energy markets assessing the ongoing Middle East conflict.

Beyond physical supply, markets are reacting to a potential diplomatic opening. President Donald Trump has expressed willingness to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during this week's UN General Assembly in New York.

Behind the scenes, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has reportedly conveyed Tehran's baseline conditions for re-engaging in negotiations to international mediators.

Despite the downward pressure on prices, the physical risks to regional infrastructure remain high. Fighting continues to escalate across the Arabian Peninsula, with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis claiming recent drone and missile attacks on both Riyadh and a Saudi Aramco facility in the Red Sea city of Yanbu.

Houthi forces are also actively pushing to cut off the Red Sea coast from remaining areas held by Saudi-backed forces, ensuring the geopolitical risk premium on crude remains a factor.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A second tanker was reportedly struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said Monday, marking another incident involving commercial shipping in the strategic waterway.

UKMTO said it received a delayed report that an LPG tanker traveling outbound through the Strait of Hormuz had been hit by debris from “unknown projectiles.”

The vessel’s master reported that all crew members were safe and there was no environmental impact. The tanker was continuing to its next port of call, according to UKMTO.

Authorities are investigating the incident, while UKMTO advised vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and report suspicious activity.

The report follows an earlier incident Monday in which UKMTO said a tanker entering the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an “unknown projectile,” leaving two crew members with minor injuries. That vessel also continued under its own power.

Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., joins “America's Newsroom” to weigh in on the Iran conflict as President Donald Trump and other world leaders prepare to gather at the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York City.

“Everybody is at the United Nations this week,” Mast said. “They're supposed to be all about peace, global peace. What President Trump needs to make clear there is that it's the United States of America that's defeating Iran.”

“It's China that's arming Iran,” he continued. “It's the United States of America that's working to defeat Russia on behalf of Europe and NATO and Ukraine. It's China that's working to arm Russia.”

“That is the juxtaposition,” Mast added.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Monday that China has “heard” President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Iran as the administration presses Beijing not to provide material support to Tehran.

Asked on “America’s Newsroom” whether the Iran war was complicating the U.S.-China relationship, Greer said the conflict adds “a layer of complexity” but stressed that Washington has made its position clear.

“The Chinese have heard the president, they've heard Secretary Bessent on Iran,” Greer said. “And we have been very clear that they can't contribute materially to Iran's, you know, belligerence.”

Greer said the administration has also asked China to moderate its purchases of Iranian oil, though he noted much of that oil is currently not getting out of Iran.

“Whether they want it or not, it's just not available,” Greer said.

Greer added that the Chinese have “generally speaking, steered clear of the Iran situation.”

President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are set to converge on New York City for the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) this week, setting up what former White House officials describe as a "dramatic" diplomatic moment, with Tehran’s delegation effectively "captive" under U.S. restrictions amid heightened Middle East tensions.

Pezeshkian, for one, is scheduled to address the assembly on Wednesday, Reuters and Iran's semi-official news agency, Mehr, reported Sunday, with Trump at the rostrum on Tuesday.

"The choreography here is going to make for a fairly dramatic moment," Theo Wold, former acting assistant attorney general and White House domestic policy advisor, told Fox News Digital.

"For the Iranians, the limitation is going to be that there's going to be less access to the international press and less ability for them to essentially poke the Trump administration in the eye," Wold added before noting that it is "pretty sensible to allow them to participate in the international forum and to discuss whatever issues they think are pertinent to their regime and then tell them to go home."

The high-profile gathering also comes as Trump weighs renewed strikes on Iran amid the almost seven-month war. Tehran, meanwhile, has set seven conditions for talks with Washington, according to Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital's Emma Bussey.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that Iranian airlines will effectively be shut down beginning Wednesday under the threat of U.S. secondary sanctions, while saying Chinese officials have been “very engaged” in Washington’s economic pressure campaign against Tehran.

Bessent told CNBC that air service providers could be cut off from the U.S. dollar system if they provide services to Iranian airlines.

When an Iranian airline lands at an airport, “you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” Bessent said.

The Treasury secretary also said the U.S. has been holding positive discussions with Chinese financial authorities over compliance with sanctions targeting Iran.

Bessent made the comments after concluding talks Sunday night with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Monday that President Donald Trump is “always open to a deal” when asked whether the president would consider meeting with his Iranian counterpart.

“The president is always open to a deal,” Waltz told “FOX & Friends” when Brian Kilmeade asked whether Trump would be open to meeting the Iranian president.

Waltz, however, said any Iranian official sitting down with Trump would need to have the authority to negotiate on behalf of Iran’s supreme leader.

“We have to know that whether it's the Iranian president or whomever else in their delegation, that they can speak and enter into a deal on behalf of the Ayatollah,” Waltz said.

Trump expressed openness Sunday to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as his administration maintains economic pressure on Tehran.

Waltz also argued that mounting U.S. economic pressure on Iran has weakened Tehran’s position, declaring that “our foot is on the neck of the Iranian economy.”

The ambassador pointed to the falling Iranian currency, soaring inflation and dwindling foreign currency reserves, while saying Tehran is struggling to maintain gasoline subsidies and pay some government workers and military personnel. Waltz credited Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s economic pressure campaign and said Trump does not intend to ease up on Iran.

The comments come as world leaders gather in New York for the U.N. General Assembly and questions mount over whether renewed diplomacy could emerge between Washington and Tehran.

A tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an “unknown projectile” Monday, leaving two crew members with minor injuries, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center.

UKMTO said military authorities informed the agency that the tanker was struck while conducting an inbound transit through the strategic waterway.

The vessel remained operational and was continuing to its next port of call under its own power, UKMTO said. No environmental impact has been reported.

Authorities are investigating the incident, and UKMTO advised vessels traveling through the area to exercise caution and report suspicious activity.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global energy chokepoint, with roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passing through the waterway in peacetime. Tankers are traversing the strait, though traffic remains well below what it was before the war broke out in February.

Iran warned Monday that it could deploy new weapons and expand the geography of the conflict if the United States launches another offensive, as President Donald Trump weighs his next move in the war.

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said Tehran would change both its weaponry and targets in response to renewed U.S. military action, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

“We will introduce new weapons with new capabilities into the battle, and the world will be astonished,” Mohebbi said, according to Iran International. He also claimed Iran has targets that have not previously come under attack and is prepared for a prolonged conflict.

Trump, meanwhile, told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst on Sunday that he is in “deciding mode” and warned Iran that “big things” could happen if Tehran does not “behave.”

"It's basically three things,” Trump said. “Wipe it out, let it rot with the economy, or make a deal."

The U.S. Virtual Embassy in Iran urged Americans to leave the country immediately Sunday, warning of potential flight cancellations and airspace closures amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.

“Do not travel to Iran for any reason. U.S. citizens should leave Iran now,” the embassy said in a security alert shared online.The embassy said the security environment remained “complex,” with the potential for “unforeseen escalation.”

It advised Americans in the region to exercise heightened vigilance and check with their airlines directly for updates on flight departures.

The alert also warned that “Iranian-supported Houthis” have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports.“

This military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly,” the embassy said.