Two members of Iran’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly were “kicked out” of the U.S. after failing to comply with a State Department order to leave the country.
“Secretary Rubio means business. Two more members of the Iranian delegation were found still in New York long after the UN General Assembly had passed. They have now been kicked out of the country,” a U.S. official told Fox News Digital.
The State Department ordered Iran’s entire delegation to leave the U.S. immediately on Monday, but the two diplomats remained in New York, according to an Axios report.
Iran’s mission to the U.N. was told Friday that the U.S. was aware the diplomats had not left and was again instructed that they needed to depart immediately, Axios reported. One diplomat left Friday night and the other Saturday morning, according to the outlet.
The White House declared America is “winning” its economic campaign against Iran Saturday as Tehran faces crippling inflation and its oil exports are squeezed by the U.S. blockade.
“Don't believe the naysayers. Operation Economic Outcast is crushing Iran's ‘leaders,’ while America is winning,” White House communications director Steven Cheung wrote on X.
“Oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian oil has been stopped completely due to the successful U.S. blockade. Inflation is crippling Iran's economy,” he added.
Cheung pointed to a Bloomberg report detailing the growing economic pressure on Tehran seven months into the war. Inflation in Iran is approaching 90%, while the U.S. blockade is choking off the regime’s crude exports, according to Bloomberg.
At the same time, oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are recovering toward prewar levels despite continued Iranian attacks, the outlet reported.
The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas’ most senior figure in the Gaza Strip overnight Saturday, with the results of the strike still under review.
The IDF and Israel Security Agency said the strike targeted Ali Ahmed Al-Amoudi, deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau in Gaza, while he was inside an apartment allegedly used by the terrorist organization for its activities.
According to the IDF, Al-Amoudi served as Yahya Sinwar’s right-hand man and personal assistant and was involved in decision-making surrounding the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.The military said Al-Amoudi is now the most senior Hamas figure in Gaza and is directly involved in the terrorist organization’s activities and efforts to rebuild for war.
The IDF said it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians before the strike, including the use of precise munitions.
“The results of the strike are under review,” the military said.
Fox News' Yael Rotem-Kuriel contributed to this reporting.
{{#rendered}}The Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday that it has killed two members of the Palestinian terrorist group that is backed by Iran.
"The IDF struck yesterday in the city of Gaza and eliminated from the air the terrorist Ahmed Mahmoud Khar Ramlaoui, a commander in the rocket unit of the Shejaiya Battalion in the military arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization," it said on X.
"In an additional strike yesterday in the Gaza city area, the terrorist Munir Ibrahim Mizrahi, head of an anti-tank missile squad in the PIJ organization, was eliminated from the air," the IDF added. "Throughout the war and recently, the terrorists advanced terror cells against IDF forces and Israeli civilians and acted to rehabilitate the organization's capabilities, while systematically violating the ceasefire agreement."
Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed, said Saturday that the Middle East is still grappling with extremism following a suspected hijacking attempt on a FlyDubai plane heading to Israel earlier this week.
Gargash on Friday had called the incident a "dangerous and potentially catastrophic act of terrorism," according to The Times of Israel.
"The region's struggle with extremism persists, and justifying terrorism through hate speech is part of the danger, not its margins. The latest terrorist operation is a new warning that the confrontation has not ended," Gargash wrote on X on Saturday.
"Here, the importance of the UAE's early and firm stance is confirmed: no tolerance for extremism and no leniency toward its discourse, for security begins with confronting hate and drying up the sources of extremism," he added.
Fox News Digital's Brittany Miller contributed to this post.
Data from AAA shows the national average price for a gallon of gas remains elevated during the U.S.-Iran war, but it has been trending downward over the last week.
As of Saturday, it costs an average of $4.38 per gallon in the United States, down from $4.49 a gallon one week ago.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told FOX Business earlier this week that "President Trump remains committed to unleashing American energy dominance, cutting costs, and putting more money back in the pockets of hardworking American families.
"A few weeks ago, the President met with nearly a dozen refiners at the White House to discuss ways to expand our refining capacity, which will lower prices at the pump. As the U.S. continues to maintain full control of the Strait of Hormuz, oil and gas prices will fall back to pre-conflict levels," she said.
{{#rendered}}
A top official at the Treasury Department told FOX Business she believes the "Iranians know that the U.S. is winning" as the Operation Economic Outcast sanctions campaign is ramping up pressure against Tehran.
Under Secretary for International Affairs Erin Browne made the remark this week as Iran's official currency plunged to record lows with an exchange rate of over 2.5 million rials to the American dollar.
"I think the Iranians know that the U.S. is winning in terms of our economic isolation and Economic Outcast against Iran. And we've seen the rial fall to its lowest levels. Again, on Tuesday, it hit an all-time low," Browne said.
"So we're seeing the economic damage that this conflict is imposing upon Iran. And the U.S. will continue and be completely relentless in ensuring that they are completely isolated from the global financial system as long as this conflict remains in practice," she added.
When the Treasury Department launched Operation Economic Outcast against Iran on Aug. 24, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a news release, described it as an "economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe."
Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei claimed President Donald Trump is "worst" president in U.S. history, before Trump took a swipe Friday at Iran's leadership during a rally in Alabama.
"After one failure after another, the worst president in American history just keeps talking — and talking — and now his words have even outrun his own fantasies," Rezaei wrote on X. "You can win every day in your own imagination. But reality is shaped by Iran — by its people, its soldiers, and its missiles."
Trump later ripped the Iranian regime, which was rocked at the beginning of Operation Epic Fury with the killing of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"They lost one set of leaders. Then they lost another set of leaders. Then they lost half of a third set, and they had a little runoff for who wants to be president and there were no participants. Everyone said, 'I don't, I don't want to be,'" Trump told an audience in Mobile, Ala.
"And it's part of our problem. I don't know who the hell to deal with. There's nobody to deal with. Nobody wants to be president, I'd say 'Who do I speak to in Iran?' They're not nobody around. Knock, knock. Nobody home," Trump added. "But that war is going to be over soon. One way or the other, one way or the other. It's going to end very soon and probably right after the midterms."
The State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jordan's leader spoke this week about "disarming" the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.
During the call on Friday, Rubio and "King Abdullah discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including implementing the Trilateral Framework in Lebanon, disarming Hezbollah, and promoting stability in Syria," according to the State Department.
"Secretary Rubio thanked King Abdullah for Jordan’s steadfast role in advancing regional security," it added.
Hezbollah has been attacking Israel during the U.S.-Iran war in the Middle East.
{{#rendered}}Photos are emerging Saturday showing smoke rising from an Aramco oil refinery in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The cause of the fire remains unclear.
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen said last week they targeted facilities belonging to the state-run oil company in Yanbu, with missiles and drones, according to Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with The Daily Mail that the Iranian regime "will fall."
"They take time, but they'll fall. Right now, they're very weak," Netanyahu said, adding, "President Trump's blockade is really weakening the IRGC [the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps] a lot."
An increased U.S. military presence remains in the Middle East Saturday as American forces are blockading Iranian ports.
"So I'd say, don't lose faith. Your day of freedom will come," Netanyahu also told The Daily Mail, when asked if he had a message for Iranians.
A fire reportedly has broken out Saturday at a state-owned oil facility in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh, The Associated Press reported, citing an eyewitness.
It's unclear what the cause of the fire was, but Saudi Arabia has been targeted by Iran-backed Houthis from Yemen in recent weeks.
The witness told the AP that authorities have tightened security in the area and police blocked roads leading to the Aramco oil refinery.
The Associated Press contributed to this post.
{{#rendered}}President Donald Trump said Friday that he expects the war with Iran to end "very soon" and predicted oil prices will fall sharply once the conflict is over.
Speaking at a midterm campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama, Trump pointed to Iran's economic troubles and claimed the country is experiencing roughly 310% inflation.
"Their economy is down the tubes. They have one thing they really do have. It's called inflation. They have about 310% inflation. And we'll see what happens," Trump said.
"But as soon as we it's going to end very soon, probably right after the election. But as soon as it does end, oil prices will come tumbling down."
Trump later returned to the timeline, saying the war would end "one way or the other" and again suggesting a resolution could come shortly after the midterm elections.
"That war is going to be over soon. One way or the other, one way or the other. It's going to end very soon and probably right after the midterms," Trump said.
Trump also said oil prices could ultimately fall below the levels seen during his first term once the conflict ends.
Yesterday's Fox News Digital live blog offers additional coverage of the conflict with Iran.
President Donald Trump said Friday that 18 U.S. service members have been killed during the more than six-month conflict with Iran, a figure reflected across the Pentagon's separate casualty categories.
"Iran, we've lost 18 incredible people, 18 and we've been there for a little more than six months," Trump said during a midterm campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama.
Trump also sought to clarify previous remarks about accomplishing his objectives against Iran within weeks, saying that timeline referred to preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
"I did, but what I said is I would do they won't have nuclear. And I did that in one night. The B-2 bombers took him out, but," Trump said.
Trump argued that damage inflicted by U.S. strikes would take Iran years to rebuild.
"And we could leave tomorrow, and it would take them years to rebuild from what we did to them, because they just wouldn't. They should have negotiated. They played their cards. They played their cards too tough," Trump said.
Live Coverage begins here