U.N.-commissioned rights experts say there are "reasonable grounds" to believe the U.S. committed war crimes with strikes that killed scores of Iranian civilians.
Follow updates on the war in the Middle East for Friday, Sept. 18, here. See earlier developments below.
The U.S. is open to meeting with Iranian officials at the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC's "Today" show on Tuesday.
"We're open to that," he said. "I don't think anything is scheduled at this point, but we're certainly open to something like that, especially if it has the prospects of leading to something positive and ultimately achieving the goal of what this is all about."
President Trump told Fox News Sunday he would "probably" be willing to meet Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the summit. Pezeshkian will attend the annual General Assembly along with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Both men have said they will defend Iran's positions on the war during the summit.
A tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, causing a fire that was extinguished, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
"The CSO (company security officer) of a vessel has reported a tanker being hit by an unknown projectile, causing a fire onboard which has since been extinguished," the maritime monitor said, adding that the crew was safe, though the environmental impact of the attack was "unconfirmed."
When the Iran war began seven months ago, Washington, D.C- area Iranian-American Soroush quickly found himself losing friends.
He says he hates the Islamic government in Tehran but believes "nothing is going to be better" by going to war.
Fellow exiles in the U.S. began accusing him of supporting their oppressors.
AFP spoke to Iranian community members around Washington about the tensions. Some requested their full names be withheld as they talked about their own friends and relatives.
Iranian-American Bahar also found herself being cut off within the diaspora -- but in her case because she strongly supported the war.
The 750,000-strong Iranian community in the U.S. is overwhelmingly united in opposing Iran's Islamic regime, but deep fault lines have appeared among expatriates and exiles over whether it will succeed in ending 47 years of clerical rule in their homeland.
"Family relationships have been strained or broken. ... Even lifelong friendships have ended over this," said Sahar Razavi, director of the Iranian and Middle Eastern Studies Center at California State University, Sacramento, who says the war exacerbated pre-existing tensions.
South Korea will not deploy troops to intervene in the Iran war, President Lee Jae Myung said Friday, following reports that Seoul was weighing a possible deployment of forces to the Strait of Hormuz, a key flashpoint in the war.
"There will be no involvement or intervention in the war. We will not deploy troops or military assets in that manner," Lee told reporters at a press conference at the presidential Blue House.
He added that South Korea will "carry out the minimum necessary activities" to protect its own merchant ships and oil shipping routes.
Lee reiterated three times that South Korea wouldn't deploy troops in a way that could lead to military intervention.
"We have upheld the principle of non-involvement and non-intervention in the war until now," he said.
"And we will continue to uphold it going forward."
President Trump complained in an interview late last month that Washington had received "very little help" from other countries and singled out South Korea -- the key U.S. security ally in Asia -- as an example.
An attack was reported late Thursday on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre. The organization said the crew has been reported safe.
In a statement to Iran's semi-official Mehr and Tasnim news agencies, the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to strike a ship that was making "illegal passage" through the Strait of Hormuz. It's unclear whether that incident is related to the one reported by UKMTO.
Iran has pushed commercial ships to ask for permission and use a regime-approved route before sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Matt Bell, 52, has been farming for more than half his life in central North Carolina. He grows soybeans, corn and wheat and raises beef cattle on more than 1,000 acres. But Bell, who voted for President Trump, says soaring prices for fuel, fertilizer, and equipment are hurting his farm and leading some of his fellow farmers to consider calling it quits once this growing season ends.
Bell initially supported Mr. Trump's policies and even thought short-term price increases resulting from the Iran conflict would be worth ensuring Iran never has a nuclear weapon, one of the president's stated goals of the war.
But he now says the administration has made miscalculations in the war. "We're just being strung along as a country, and that's not good," Bell said.
Bell criticized the administration's decision-making around the war, saying, "I think we've been misled."
Russia and China vetoed a United Nations resolution Thursday that would have authorized U.N. experts to keep monitoring sanctions that were reimposed against Iran last year over its nuclear program.
The U.N. Security Council sanctions are still in effect, which freeze Iran's assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran's ballistic missile program, among other measures.
Using a provision in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered the "snapback" mechanism, which reimposed the sanctions on Sept. 27, 2025. It restored the Security Council sanctions committee and authorized a panel of U.N. experts to monitor implementation.
The United States had drafted a resolution to extend the U.N. expert panel's mandate for a year. The proposal was defeated by a vote of 11-2, with Somalia and Pakistan abstaining, because of the Russian and Chinese vetoes.
It comes as the Trump administration is pursuing a wider campaign to isolate Tehran from its remaining economic partners as the more than six-month-old war in Iran has hit a stalemate.
Gasoline and diesel prices continued to surge on Thursday, with energy experts warning that those costs are likely to climb in the days ahead.
"Consumers should plan on higher prices for longer," said Patrick De Haan, a petroleum expert at GasBuddy, which tracks U.S. fuel prices.
The national average for gasoline jumped 7 cents overnight to $4.44 a gallon, according to AAA, up nearly 50% since before the Iran war started in February. Diesel, essential for transporting food and other goods around the U.S., hit a record $6.40, up 77 cents since the beginning of September.
The U.S. announced new sanctions on cryptocurrency venture Bitbank as part of its ongoing Operation Economic Outcast campaign.
Bitbank is allegedly run by financier Babak Zanjani, who is already sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury.
"Today's designations of Iranian digital asset infrastructure make perfectly clear that efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond OFAC's reach," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "If you support the Iranian regime, the Department of the Treasury will sanction you."
Also sanctioned were BitBank's developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company and three high-level executives associated with Zanjani, according to the Treasury.
Bitbank was labeled a "key component" of Iran's attempts to evade sanctions that are limiting ways for the regime to acquire funding.
The Trump administration has approved visas for top Iranian officials, including the president and foreign minister, to attend next week's U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting in New York even as the two countries are locked in a stalemated war.
The State Department said Thursday it had approved visas for Iran's "core delegation," along with essential staffers to participate in the U.N. meetings. The core delegation includes President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to visa privacy laws.
"Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend UN General Assembly High Level week. The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our policy. The delegation is smaller than last year," the statement said.
The move is unusual due to the more than six-month-long conflict between Iran and the United States and no sign that agreements to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or return to talks on Iran's nuclear program are close.
Iran is backing up the claim of its proxy in Yemen, saying the Houthis should be believed when they say they did not attack the Muslim holy city of Mecca with a drone yesterday as Saudi Arabia claimed.
"Any attack on Islamic holy sites, particularly Mecca, Medina and Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as any threat to visitors and residents of those sites, is condemned," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in Arabic on X.
"At the same time, the mere claim that a drone was intercepted on its way to Mecca cannot constitute a basis for accusing a specific party, particularly since Yemen's Government of Change and Construction has explicitly denied this claim," he added.
Iran also specifically pointed out "false flag" propaganda operations as a potential explanation for the announcement by Saudi Arabia. Most of the other Gulf countries immediately came out in condemnation of the alleged attack. The Saudis said they interrupted the drone before it could do any damage.
"It should not be forgotten that our region has witnessed numerous cases of 'false flag' operations, particularly in recent months, whose objective has been to divert public attention from the crimes committed by [Israel] and the United States in the region, and to sow division among Islamic countries," Baqaei said.
Saudi Arabia will be getting a major upgrade to its air force with the purchase of 48 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft from the United States, according to the U.S. State Department.
The jets will cost the Saudis about $24.3 billion, according to the State Department. The fighter jets are built by Lockheed Martin. The planes are in common use by many U.S. allies, including the U.K., Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Canada and more.
The jets will be of the F-35A variety, which means a conventional takeoff as opposed to the F-35B, which can take off vertically.
"The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia's capability to deter current and future threats by strengthening its homeland defense, and improving interoperability with U.S. forces, and other regional and NATO forces," the State Department said.
The F-35 Lightning II is one of the most common stealth fighters in the U.S. arsenal, with hundreds being used across the Air Force, Marines and Navy. There was a record 191 F-35 fighters delivered to the U.S. in 2025, according to Lockheed Martin.
The Iranian foreign ministry summoned Germany's ambassador on Thursday to object to "inappropriate statements" from Berlin, a reference to recent critical remarks by Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
After a meeting with the visiting Iraqi prime minister on Tuesday, Merz demanded Iran lift its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, cease its support for armed groups across the region and put an end to its "military nuclear programme," which Tehran has consistently denied pursuing.
The Iranian ministry said in a statement that Ambassador Axel Wilhelm Dittmann was called in following the "inappropriate statements by senior German officials against Iran, as well as certain interventionist actions by the German embassy in Tehran."
At the meeting, the ministry's director for Western Europe, Alireza Yousefi, rejected Merz's comments "and conveyed the Islamic Republic of Iran's strong protest against Germany's unjustified and destructive approach to issues concerning the region and Iran, stressing the need for this approach to be corrected."
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei on Wednesday accused Merz of offering a "knowingly distorted" narrative, pointing out the United States and Israel had launched the war on Iran and adding, "Germany failed to show even the minimum moral courage required to deplore that."
The U.S. blockade on commercial ships entering or exiting Iranian ports has now redirected 104 vessels, according to U.S. Central Command.
The total grew by just one vessel since Tuesday, according to CENTCOM.
The U.S. reinstated its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz on July 14 after a brief period when Iran agreed to not attack ships in the waterway following the signing of a memorandum of understanding. That MOU quickly fell apart, however, as the U.S. and Iran argued over who would control the flow of traffic through the strait.
President Trump touted the blockade during a speech in North Carolina on Wednesday night.
"Not one ship going to Iran has gotten through that blockade," Mr. Trump said. "Not one. So I just want to thank our military."
Iranian forces in recent days have brought down at least two American MQ-1 unmanned aircraft, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
It is unclear where in the region the remotely piloted aircraft were brought down or which MQ-1 variant was involved. The U.S. military has fielded two principal MQ-1 variants: the Predator, which became a fixture of U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan before the Air Force retired it in 2018, and the Gray Eagle, a larger Predator-derived aircraft still operated by the Army, including its special operations forces.
Both the Predator and Gray Eagle were designed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions but they can also carry Hellfire missiles for striking targets. In the Strait of Hormuz, these unmanned aircraft can provide U.S. forces with persistent surveillance over the narrow waterway while also tracking Iranian military activity and monitoring threats to both American forces and commercial shipping.
Over 100,000 people were displaced in Yemen in just the first two weeks of September amid the increased fighting between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemen government, according to UNICEF, the U.N. children's relief agency.
The agency said more than 104,000 people have been displaced, including over 57,000 children. Many displaced individuals came from the city of Taiz, the largest city in the southwestern part of Yemen, as well as Marib and Aden.
The Houthis blitzed through the western part of the country last week, capturing new territory as they approached and eventually took over the key coastal city of Mocha.
"Children in Yemen were already living through one of the world's most grave humanitarian crises, and many have known little but conflict and displacement," Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. "Now, tens of thousands of families have been forced from their homes in just two weeks, many fleeing only with what they can carry. For children who have already endured years of hunger, displacement and disrupted schooling, this latest violence is eroding what little stability they had left."
The problem has already crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with over 2,000 people moving into Djibouti, UNICEF said.
A senior Iranian figure said Thursday that Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are removed from power.
"Our fighters will not open the Strait of Hormuz until they bring the criminal Trump and the bloodthirsty Netanyahu down from the seat of power," Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, the political adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said according to Iranian state broadcaster IRNA.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since replacing his father as Iran's supreme leader.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on Feb. 28, the first day of joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, and Vice President JD Vance has said Mojtaba, his son and successor, was likely gravely wounded in the same strikes.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the situation in the Middle East during a phone call Thursday, Chinese state media reported.
The call, which was not immediately confirmed by the State Department, came days before the two countries' leaders are due to meet in Washington. Beijing has presented itself as a potential mediator in the U.S.-Iran war.
President Trump on Sunday dismissed a report by the Wall Street Journal that China had given Iran satellite imagery of an air base before a strike that killed three American soldiers in Jordan.
"You know, when they say that China spies on us, I say you're right, and we spy on them too," Mr. Trump told reporters. "That's what we do. They basically do what we do."
The President did not answer questions about whether he would broach the incident with President Xi Jinping when they meet on Sept. 24, instead reiterating his belief that they have a good relationship.
"I think he's behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well," Mr. Trump said.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed Thursday that three children were killed in government strikes.
"Three children were killed and several Yemeni nationals were injured in strikes by the Saudi-backed mercenaries" in the far southwest Taiz province, which is held by the Houthis, according to the Almasirah television network. The broadcaster, which is affiliated with the Houthis, earlier said Saudi airstrikes had killed one person.
Saudi Arabia's civil defense emergency response agency said Thursday that one person was killed when shrapnel from an intercepted Houthi drone crashed down over Taif governorate, east of the holy city of Mecca.
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government has begun reinforcing its defenses around Aden, the country's interim capital, as fighting with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels draws closer.
A source in Aden's local authority told the regional Al-Araby al-Jadeed news outlet that government and allied forces had deployed additional personnel and imposed further security measures to protect the city, which sits on Yemen's southwest coast.
Government reinforcements have also been sent toward Lahj and Abyan, also in the southwest, and to the front lines near Houthi positions, as well as toward the strategic western Red Sea coast, most of which is now under Houthi control.
Additional forces have been deployed to other cities in government-held territory as part of what the military sources described to Al-Araby al-Jadeed as a "new phase of the confrontation," and a plan to retake territory.