US sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei imposed four days after an American military drone was shot down in Gulf waters reduced the chances of talks that could lead them away from conflict.
As world powers called for diplomacy and de-escalation, the situation worsened after President Donald Trump formally announced economic measures against Iran’s head of state and eight commanders of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The new sanctions, 24 hours after Mr Trump said he was willing to talk to Iran without conditions, and the threat of more to come mean there can be no direct talks, Tehran’s permanent representative to the UN said.
Majid Takht-Ravanchi said the steps taken against Mr Khamenei’s office, after America’s decision to send more forces to the Gulf, were “yet another indication of continued US hostility against Iran’s people and its leaders”.
Mr Takht-Ravanchi called on the UN to take charge of negotiations over the crisis.
On Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the sanctions meant the "permanent closure of the road of diplomacy" with the United States.
Iran was locked out of a Security Council meeting about attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman two weeks ago, which Washington has blamed on Tehran, and the shooting down of a drone by the Revolutionary Guards in the early hours of Thursday.
After a briefing from the US, the council repeated its condemnation of the tanker attacks in the Gulf and the earlier sabotage of four vessels off Fujairah, but did not identify Iran as the perpetrator.
Instead, it called the incidents “a serious threat to maritime navigation and energy supply”.
“Differences must be addressed peacefully and through dialogue,” said Kuwait’s ambassador to the UN, Mansour Al Otaibi, the current chairman of the council.
But the acting US representative to the UN, Jonathan Cohen, later said that Iran was behind the tanker attacks and that last week’s shooting down of the drone was unprovoked.
“The only state actor with the capabilities and the motive to carry out these attacks is Iran,” he said of the tanker attacks. “There is no other credible explanation.
“US information confirms Iranian vessels approached the two vessels before the explosions took place and then monitored the vessels as the explosions happened.”
France, Germany and Britain said they were gravely concerned by increased tension in the Gulf, including Iran shooting down the drone.
“These developments risk miscalculation and conflict,” said Christoph Heusgen, Germany’s ambassador to the UN. “We call for de-escalation and dialogue with full respect for international rules.”
Monday’s sanctions were the latest step in Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran after the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said the US had made matters worse.
“Let’s remember who started all this,” Mr Nebenzia said. “What kind of dialogue can you have with a knife at your throat?”
Richard Nephew, a former US State Department official and sanctions expert, said the window for diplomacy was closing.
"The way out of this is that both sides decide that leverage building has less value than avoiding conflict, and start to talk," Mr Nephew said.
“The problem is that both are creating their own credibility traps and saying ‘We can’t negotiate with them because then we’ll look weak’. That is totally toxic.”
Mr Trump has repeatedly said that the nuclear agreement failed to curb Tehran’s “destabilising activities” in the Middle East, including its ballistic missile programme, or place permanent restraints on its atomic programme.
He has also warned that foreign companies will face sanctions if they conduct business with Iran, urging other parties to the agreement to follow the US withdrawal.
But Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia have vowed to stick by it. Mr Heusgen said on Monday that Europe was still committed to the deal because it “contributes to reducing tensions in the region as well as global nuclear proliferation”.
Before the council meeting, Mr Takht-Ravanchi repeated Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s assertion that the US drone was in Iranian airspace and was warned that action was imminent.
Mr Trump ordered retaliatory strikes but later backed down, reportedly 10 minutes before they were to be launched, instead opting for a cyberattack and further economic sanctions.
Iran has written to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to urge the world body to lead in finding a way to avoid war, Mr Takht-Ravanchi said.
He said face-to-face talks with the US were not possible in the current circumstances.
“The mandate is there,” Mr Takht-Ravanchi said. “On dialogue with the US, dialogue has certain rules and regulations.
“You cannot start a dialogue with someone who is threatening you, who is intimidating you. Today we have just witnessed the United States imposing another set of sanctions on Iran.
“How can we start a dialogue with somebody whose primary preoccupation is to put more sanctions on you?”
MATCH INFO
Champions League last 16, first leg
Tottenham v RB Leipzig, Wednesday, midnight (UAE)
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Western Clubs Champions League:
- Friday, Sep 8 - Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Bahrain
- Friday, Sep 15 – Kandy v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Friday, Sep 22 – Kandy v Bahrain
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Scoreline
Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan
Saudi Arabia Al Muwallad 63’
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Omania, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
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7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
Winner: Dahess D’Arabie, Connor Beasley, Helal Al Alawi
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Fertile De Croate, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
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The specs
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Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)