Trump warns Iran 'the hammer' may be coming as draft US-Iran deal takes shape
Oil prices have fallen 3% since news of renewed peace talks between the U.S. and Iran in recent days, but President Donald Trump still has not ruled out renewed conflict with Tehran.
Iran drastically expands threats to US despite sticking to peace talks
The Iranian regime has greatly expanded its threats toward the U.S. even as it engaged in a fresh round of talks with mediators in Qatar this weekend.
The new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, met with Iran’s military chiefs and said the response to “any kind and level of threat” from the U.S. or Israel should be immediate and without “geographic limits,” and urged an expansion of the list of potential targets.
The rhetoric mirrors President Donald Trump's own approach to the talks, saying this weekend that he would prefer a diplomatic end to the war in Iran, but is nevertheless willing to drop "the hammer" on the regime after midterms.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iran's latest threat could mark 'significant escalation'
Fox News' Madeleine Rivera reported on the latest threats from Iran's ayatollah directed at the U.S. this week as Iranian negotiators sat for yet another round of peace talks in Doha, Qatar.
Iranian Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued fresh threats against the U.S., however.
Fired Pentagon general admits leaking classified Iran, Ukraine intel: report
Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, a former senior Pentagon strategist, admitted to leaking classified information about U.S. policies toward Iran and Ukraine to two reporters, Axios reported.
An internal Pentagon investigation is said to have found that Sylvia admitted to the leaks on video after failing four polygraph tests. War Secretary Pete Hegseth later fired the three-star general.
Sylvia, who served in the Joint Chiefs of Staff's Directorate for Strategy, Plans and Policy, made “unauthorized disclosures to the media,” investigators concluded.
The leaks began as early as June 2025 and involved encrypted Signal messages and a meeting with a reporter at an Arlington, Virginia, diner, according to Axios.
Investigators said Sylvia also used handwritten notes from a classified document to disclose details of U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Thursday the case had been referred to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.
"Classified information is not personal property,” Parnell wrote on X.
“Leaking it for personal, political or professional gain is a betrayal of the trust placed in those responsible for keeping it.”
“Our commitment was not an empty promise,” he added. “We vowed to find you, and we meant it.”
Fox News' Emma Bussey contributed to this report.
Trump doubles down on vow to stop Iranian nuclear ambitions
Tensions remain high with Iran on Monday as Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., breaks down the regime's ongoing hostility toward the United States.
During an appearance on "Sunday Morning Futures," Sheehy reacted to President Donald Trump's warning that Iran has been waging war on America since 1979.
Recent satellite reports have suggested that Iran is attempting to reboot its nuclear development program even as they engage win further peace talks with the U.S.
Trump has vowed throughout the conflict that his central goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Rubio: Trump is ready for war with Iran
President Donald Trump is ready for war with Iran but would prefer the conflict end with a negotiated peace, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday.
Rubio addressed the issue during an appearance at a G20 summit in Atlanta, Georgia, this weekend. He confirmed that Trump "hasn't made a decision" on whether to renew attacks on Tehran.
Midterm elections lie just a single day away, and Trump had previously said he was unlikely to launch any attacks before those elections played out.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly called Trump on Saturday and urged him to launch attacks immediately after the elections, but Trump said he is inclined to wait and see how the latest round of talks plays out.
Iranian ‘ghost fleet’ filmed evading US blockade en route to China, UANI says
Small Iranian "ghost fleet" tankers are slipping past the U.S. naval blockade and smuggling sanctioned liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to China through a shadowy maritime hub off Malaysia, according to U.S. investigators who covertly filmed one of the vessels en route in September.
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which conducted the months-long probe, said at least nine similar tankers carrying Iranian oil or LPG have also evaded U.S. restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz since Washington reinstated the Iranian port blockade in July.
UANI identified one of the sanctioned tankers as the SOGL. It allegedly escaped the blockade on Sept. 1 carrying approximately 500,000 barrels of Iranian LPG after collecting it at an Iranian port in August.
The vessel then traveled thousands of miles to a Malaysian offshore anchorage, where UANI filmed the vessel receiving fuel and other services offshore. The ship then traveled on to China, where the organization said it discharged its Iranian cargo.
"This tanker had loaded its Iranian LPG from Assaluyeh Port, Iran, in late August. It then breached the U.S. blockade and made its way to a Malaysian anchorage," Jemima Shelley, a senior analyst at UANI, explained.
"What this shows us is that some vessels are managing to breach the U.S. maritime blockade," Shelley said of the footage shared exclusively with Fox News Digital.
"Most vessels aren't, but since the reinstatement in mid-July, we have seen only nine small tankers being successful in their breach of the U.S. blockade and departing the Gulf of Oman laden with oil or LPG."
At the center of the operation is the Malaysian Eastern Outer Port Limits Anchorage, known as the EOPL, an offshore shipping area approximately 70 kilometers from Malaysia’s coastline.
The anchorage has become a critical staging ground for Iran’s sanctioned energy trade with China, Shelley said.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Emma Bussey.
Oil prices drop 3% amid news of renewed US-Iran peace talks
Oil prices dropped 3% on Monday alone after news released of renewed peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.
Iranian negotiators spend three consecutive days in Doha, Qatar, this weekend before departing on Sunday.
President Donald Trump reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he favors letting the latest negotiations play out before renewing attacks on Tehran, according to Axios.
Netanyahu reportedly advised Trump to renew attacks immediately after the U.S. midterm elections.
Trump says fresh strikes are still on the table, telling a campaign crowd in Iowa that the U.S. may soon give Iran "the hammer."
Iranian negotiators leave Doha talks as framework of deal circulates: report
Iranian negotiators departed talks in Doha, Qatar, one Sunday as a draft peace proposal began circulating for feedback, according to an official briefed on the matter.
There is potential for a follow-up meeting in the coming days, the official says.
News of progress on the talks comes as President Donald Trump escalated his threats to renew conflict with Tehran at a Sunday night campaign rally.
"The only reason we are not finished with Iran is because I want to be nice. I want to try and save all those lives if I can. But at some point, we're going to have to give them the hammer," Trump told a crowd in Iowa.
“It’s going to be over very soon. Very soon," he predicted.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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