Iranian leaders are acknowledging the economic toll of war with the United States, with the supreme leader calling on the government to address the hardship while the president reported foreign trade has shrunk by more than one-third due to the American sanctions and blockade.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured and has not been seen publicly since the February 28 attack that killed his father, former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, called on the government to tackle the economic hardship.
"There is the need to seriously address the chain of economic and livelihood challenges, such as inflation, unemployment, management of prices and the market for goods and services," said a written statement attributed to Khamenei.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media that Iranian exports and imports slumped nearly 35% because of US sanctions and a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
The warnings come even as other Iranian leaders threaten the US with military retaliation, while the Iranian navy says it still has control of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway giving Iran leverage through its ability to disrupt global energy markets.
With the war now at the six-month mark, and negotiations at an impasse, President Donald Trump's administration has stepped up efforts to punish Iran financially with what it has billed as an "economic D-Day."
With the US focused on its economic pressure campaign, others have sought to revive diplomatic efforts to end the war. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Thursday. He said he had stressed during the meeting the importance of returning to the pre-war status of open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday described the talks with Al Thani as "creative." Qatar and Pakistan helped broker the June memorandum of understanding that led to a brief ceasefire before disagreements over the strait caused it to unravel.
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The Iran war has entered its sixth month, with no clear end in sight as military tensions, economic pressure and diplomatic efforts continue across the region.
We also brought you the latest developments from Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Syria, Yemen and beyond.
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The Iran war has entered its sixth month, with Tehran continuing to insist it does not seek further escalation while warning it will defend itself against any aggression.
Iranian officials have claimed the "enemy" failed to achieve its war goals, while President Masoud Pezeshkian has acknowledged that US sanctions and a blockade have caused foreign trade to fall by nearly 35%.
Tehran has also maintained that it has "full control" over the Strait of Hormuz, despite US claims that the strategic waterway remains open.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused US government elements and Israel-aligned actors of helping prolong the war, claiming American consumers are "paying the real price".
Elsewhere, Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping, Iran's Pezeshkian and other regional leaders are set to attend a summit in Kyrgyzstan as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation seeks to promote itself as a counterweight to Western influence.
In the region, Iraqi Kurdistan's oil production has resumed following drone attacks, while a Yemeni government soldier was killed in a Houthi drone attack in Taiz.
In Gaza, Israel's military said it had struck a Hamas commander within the compound of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, while at least one Palestinian was killed in a separate Israeli drone attack in Gaza City.
Israel's military said it struck a Hamas commander within the compound of a Gaza hospital on Saturday, while the territory's health officials said Israeli strikes elsewhere killed three people.
It is the latest bloodshed to occur in the war-shattered territory despite a US-backed ceasefire that took effect in October 2025, with Israel continuing to target Palestinians it says are militants.
The military said it struck a Hamas commander who "was hiding within the compound" of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, but was unable to immediately confirm if he had been killed.
The hospital reported that three people had been injured in an Israeli strike near a warehouse close to the maternity ward inside the medical facility.
Earlier in the day, Al-Aqsa Hospital reported one person killed by Israeli fire in the eastern area of the city.
The Israeli military said it was checking the reports.
In Gaza City, the civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas, said an Israeli strike near a roundabout in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood killed two people and injured several others.
Israeli settlers assaulted a Palestinian couple and a crew of foreign journalists near the family’s home in Jalud, south of Nablus, according to the head of the village council.
Raed al-Haj Mohammed told The New Arab that settlers attacked the al-Tubasi family and the journalists while they were near the family's home, which had been taken over by settlers.
"The settlers assaulted the al-Tubasi family and a crew of foreign journalists who were accompanying them near the house of the al-Tubasi family, which was seized by the settlers," al-Haj Mohammed said.
"The settlers blocked their way and beat them with sticks and sharp objects, which led to the injury of the couple, Mahmoud and Aida al-Tobasi, a journalist and a photographer, with injuries and bruises all over their bodies," he added.
The press crew had been preparing a report with the family near their home when settlers allegedly blocked their route and attacked them, according to al-Haj Mohammed.
An ambulance transported the four injured people, including the couple and two journalists, to a hospital in Ramallah. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that American consumers are "paying the real price" for policies that he claimed were keeping US President Donald Trump involved in a "losing war".
In a post on X, Araghchi said Iranian intelligence had identified "major efforts to game energy markets".
He accused elements within the US government of using "gullible media" to influence prices for personal gain while seeking to keep Trump "mired in a losing war".
Araqchi also claimed that actors aligned with Israel were promoting the continuation of the conflict through "rosy assessments".
"US consumers feel the real bottom line," he said.
Our intelligence shows major efforts to game energy markets. U.S. Govt elements use gullible media to influence prices for personal gain and keep POTUS mired in a losing war. Israel-aligned actors also promote war with rosy assessments.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) August 29, 2026
U.S. consumers feel the real bottom line.
An Israeli drone attack on the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City has killed at least one Palestinian and injured two others, according to the Wafa news agency.
The casualties were taken to al-Quds Field Hospital, the report said.
The attack follows an earlier Israeli drone strike on a tent inside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital complex in central Gaza's Deir el-Balah, which injured three people
Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Qusra in the northern occupied West Bank on Saturday, residents and the military said, after nearly three weeks of tension in the area.
Earlier in August a group of rogue settlers began blocking supplies from entering Palestinian houses on the outskirts of the village near Nablus, trapping residents inside and drawing domestic and international condemnation.
Weeks later, Israeli forces continue to operate in the area while settlers still roam the surrounding hills.
On Saturday, Qusra resident Yussef Abdul Kareem Hassan told AFP news agency that a handful of villagers were doing work on a house when they were approached by a small group of settlers.
The settlers then called for backup and returned with dozens more, Hassan said, adding that they had surrounded the Palestinians inside the house and began throwing stones.
Oil production in Iraq's Kurdish region has resumed at between 220,000 and 230,000 barrels per day after companies returned to work following disruptions caused by drone attacks during the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The acting natural resources minister said production had recovered after companies resumed operations, according to local media.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy rejected U.S. claims that the Strait of Hormuz was open, calling them an attempt to control oil prices and conceal what it described as U.S. failures.
It said the restrictions would continue until U.S. military actions against Iran end and relevant commitments are implemented, according to a statement.
A Yemeni government soldier was killed and another was wounded early on Saturday after the Houthi movement launched a drone attackin the southwestern province of Taiz.
Military sources told The New Arab that the drone struck a government forces position in the al-Quds area, killing soldier Sameh Saeed Ali Numan al-Munaifi and lightly wounding another serviceman.
Meanwhile, government forces on the al-Salu front, south of Taiz, said they shot down another Houthi drone as it flew over the area.
A military source said units stationed at the front intercepted and downed the drone, adding that forces remained on high alert in response to attempts by the Houthis to target their positions.
Front lines in Taiz have seen intermittent clashes for years, with both sides continuing to carry out shelling and attacks despite periods of relative calm.
The Houthi movement controls large parts of Taiz province, while government forces remain deployed across several areas, particularly in the south and east. The al-Salu, al-Ahkum and Haifan fronts are among the main areas of contact between the two sides.
Armed factions in Syria's Druze-majority Suweida province have blocked students from travelling to sit for official exams, demanding they be held instead in the areas they control, drawing condemnation from the Damascus-appointed governor on Saturday.
Suweida city and other parts of the southern province are run by local armed groups and are the last areas outside the grasp of Syria's new authorities, who have been trying to establish control over the entire country after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024.
Tensions have run high ever since clashes last year between the Druze and government-aligned forces that spiralled into some of the worst internecine violence the country had witnessed since Assad's fall.
The authorities had scheduled an exam session for Saturday in the government-controlled north of the province for students who were unable to take the test two months ago due to the ongoing tensions.
But Druze fighters in Shahba, north of Suweida city, said in a statement on Friday that "all roads are completely closed to the movement of students and proctors to examination centres outside the area", insisting that tests should be held in their areas instead, citing security concerns.
Sweida governor Mustafa al-Bakkur condemned the move on Saturday, saying: "Outlaw gangs are working to make the future of Sweida's students a political bargaining chip to be manipulated as they please."
He said that around 150 students were still able to sit for their exams, some of them having left Druze-controlled areas days prior to avoid any obstacles.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Saturday that the Qalandia Vocational Training Centre, in occupied East Jerusalem, remains a United Nations facility and must be respected and protected under international law.
The statement came in response to the Israeli authorities' continued control of the site for a fifth consecutive day.
UNRWA said the facility had been damaged while under Israeli control and that it had received reports of individuals entering the premises and attempting to steal some of its contents.
The agency stressed the importance of protecting the centre and its property, citing its role in providing educational services and vocational training to Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA also strongly condemned Israeli actions at the Qalandia Training Centre on 25 August, including what it described as an intrusion and illegal activities on the premises.
"The Government of Israel is legally obligated to ensure that such actions are rolled back without delay and that they are prevented from recurring," UNRWA said.
The agency reiterated its commitment to fully resuming educational activities at the centre.
Israeli forces withdrew from the centre near Qalandia refugee camp and Kafr Aqab, north of Jerusalem, on Friday after raiding and taking control of the site since Tuesday.
However, the Israeli authorities have maintained control of the premises, with workers and a private security company remaining at the site.
Most entrances have been welded shut, surveillance cameras installed and models of soldiers placed inside, according to Omar Rajoub, Director of the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem Governorate.
Rajoub said the withdrawal of military forces did not amount to a full handover of the site, with Israeli authorities retaining control and the measures imposed inside the facility remaining in place.
He added that the steps appeared to be in preparation for projects announced by the Israeli municipality concerning the site.
Egypt's Banque Misr said it is reviewing a U.S. Treasury notice related to restricting U.S. dollar correspondent banking services provided by U.S. financial institutions to Banque Misr's branch in the United Arab Emirates, according to a statement on Saturday.
It said Banque Misr's branch in the UAE continues to provide banking services to its customers in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures.
The U.S. Treasury said on Friday it had moved to cut off Banque Misr's branches in the United Arab Emirates from dollar transactions for its dealings with Iran.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has admitted that US sanctions on his country are hurting its economy, despite just days ago insisting they would achieve nothing.
"Some say sanctions have no effect at all; to those people, I really don't know what to say," Pezeshkian told state TV in an interview late on Friday.
"We are in a war situation, and we must accept these wartime conditions," he added.
On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out plans for the "economic asphyxiation" of Iran, warning of dire consequences for countries that do not join the American campaign.
The new measures build on a sanctions regime by the US and allies that has been in place since 2018 when President Donald Trump withdrew from an international deal struck with Tehran on its nuclear programme.
Pezeshkian said Friday that Iran's exports and imports had fallen by 25 to 35 percent in recent months as the US maintains a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
The president said the price of petrol should be increased in Iran to account for the fall in trade.
"We should raise the price of the third-tier quota... For example, from 5,000 tomans to 10,000 tomans," he added.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that Tehran does not seek escalation or war but will defend itself with all its strength against any aggression.
"No force will be able to subjugate a people who consciously stand up to defend their principles and territorial integrity," Pezeshkian said during the inauguration of a bridge and tunnel project in the city of Isfahan via video conference.
The Iranian president said Tehran believed issues could be resolved through dialogue and "active" diplomacy but stressed that the country "will not surrender to threats and aggression."
Pezeshkian added that the Iranian people's resilience in the face of recent economic pressures "represents proof that we are a nation of resistance," according to Iran's ISNA news agency.
Israeli forces arrested three Palestinians from the Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.
Local sources said soldiers detained Amir Shehab, 23, and Muhammad Fadi Khalaf, 25, during a raid on the Am’ari refugee camp in el-Bireh.
A third man, 25-year-old Ahed Ibrahim Hamayel from Ramallah at-Tahta, was arrested in the city of Beitunia.
Iranian army commander-in-chief Amir Hatami has claimed that the country emerged victorious from the war because the “enemy” failed to achieve its objectives.
Hatami said the “enemy” had sought to destroy Iran’s drone and missile capabilities, but that its missile stockpile continued to be fired at them with the “utmost intensity until the last moment”, according to the Fars news agency.
“In military logic, the aggressor and aggressor sides are considered victorious when they achieve their goals, but in defensive warfare, the failure of the enemy to achieve its goals means the victory of the defender,” he added.
Israel's military said it carried out an airstrike in the West Bank on Friday that killed a Palestinian it described as a Hamas operative as well as two of his accomplices, in a rare use of deadly Israeli air power in the occupied territory.
Hamas condemned the strike but did not claim the person targeted — whom the Israeli military named as Qais Bitawi — as a member. The strike targeted a car in the area of Jenin in the northern West Bank, the military and medics said.
The West Bank has seen a surge in militant Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians as well as military raids into Palestinian towns. The northern West Bank, where Jenin sits, was the site of a major Israeli assault last year, which the military says was aimed at targeting militant strongholds.
In a statement, the military said Bitawi was involved in directing, funding and executing attacks on Israeli civilians and security forces. It said he maintained ties with Hamas members in Gaza, where the group is based, as well as abroad.
The Palestine Red Crescent ambulance service said Israeli ground troops raided the site of the drone strike, briefly detained medics and prevented them from transporting those wounded or killed to hospital.
Israel's military did not immediately provide comment on the ambulance service's statements.
Israel's 2025 operations in the northern West Bank forced thousands of Palestinians from their homes, with Israeli forces clearing out refugee camps and maintaining their longest presence in some West Bank cities for decades.
Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity over what it said were forced expulsions.
Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping are expected in Central Asia's Kyrgyzstan Monday for a two-day summit, also attended by Iran's and India's leaders, of a regional bloc seeking to be a counter-influence to the West.
Around a dozen heads of states will head to the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek to mark 25 years of the Shanghai Cooperation Group (SCO).
The group brings together Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, four Central Asian countries and Moscow-allied Belarus.
Putin and Xi have previously used SCO summits to promote their vision of a multipolar world and present a united front against the West.
It takes place four-and-a-half years into Moscow's Ukraine invasion and six months into the war between Washington and Tehran. Iran will be represented by its president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Putin, Xi, Pezeshkian as well as India's Narendra Modi and Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif are due to take part in a plenary session chaired by Kyrgyz leader Sadyr Japarov.
Putin is also expected to hold separate bilateral talks with Iran's Pezeshkian and China's Xi, among other leaders, Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov said.
Russia and Iran -- among the most sanctioned states in the world -- have massively deepened their military and economic ties during the Ukraine war.
US President Donald Trump has warned Moscow and Beijing against arming Iran.
Putin's meeting with Pezeshkian comes days after the CIA's director John Ratcliffe made a rare trip to Moscow, with US media speculating he could have discussed Ukraine and Iran with his Russian counterparts.
The Iranian government pledged on Sunday to stand firm against U.S. sanctions and what it called US-Israeli "conspiracies," saying diplomacy and defence were "complementary, coordinated and inseparable" tools for protecting the country’s national interests, security and territorial integrity.
In a statement carried by state media, the government said it would pursue both tracks simultaneously and focus on curbing inflation, creating jobs, supporting domestic production and gradually reducing dependence on the dollar.
The Iran war has entered its sixth month, with the conflict continuing to fuel military tensions, diplomatic efforts and growing economic pressure.
Iran's president says foreign trade has fallen by nearly 35% under US sanctions and a naval blockade, while Tehran insists it remains in control of the Strait of Hormuz despite US claims that the key waterway is open to shipping.
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