Tehran says it expects U.S. response to ceasefire proposal already rejected by Trump

Follow updates on the war in the Middle East for Wednesday, September 30, here. See earlier developments below.

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions Tuesday on 10 individuals and companies accused of helping Iran's military logistics agency acquire weapons and electronics.

The targets include people based in Iran, Beijing, Hong Kong and Pakistan.

The sanctions are part of a Trump administration initiative called Operation Economic Outcast, aimed at pressuring Iran by isolating its government and economy.

"Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran's enablers," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

President Trump is stuck when it comes to deciding between further war and negotiations, according to Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, the head of Iran's influential Supreme National Security Council.

"We stated our conditions, but Trump is incapable of decision-making," Rezaei said Tuesday during a meeting with Azerbaijan's deputy prime minister, Shahin Mustafayev. "Trump is trapped in a quagmire where he can neither negotiate nor fight."

Multiple Iranian officials have said they are waiting for a response on the proposal made during last week's U.N. General Assembly, however, Mr. Trump already dismissed the plan on Saturday.

"Our plan, which became known as the seven-point plan, was conveyed to the Americans through the Qatari intermediary," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in New York on Monday. "Despite the things that the American president and others said, I said that we are waiting for an official response from America through the intermediary."

Rezaei singled out the strict sanctions on airlines that went into place last week, calling them an "air blockade," as a sign of "desperation."

Iraqi fuel trucks loaded gasoline at a Syrian port on Tuesday in a bid to meet surging energy demand as the critical Strait of Hormuz remains closed and mediators work with Iran and the United States to end the war.

The disruption of the strait has sent shock waves through the global economy, prompting countries to scramble for alternatives and sending fuel prices soaring. A fifth of the world's traded oil and gas transited through the narrow waterway before the war.

Syria, under interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, who ousted longtime leader Bashar Assad in December 2024, has seized the opportunity to bolster the country's economy by providing an alternative route through the Baniyas port. Markets including the United States and Europe have been using the port.

Iraq has been exporting oil to foreign markets for months by trucking it through Baniyas as a workaround to the closure of Hormuz. Now, through a three-month agreement between the two, Iraq has begun importing gasoline via Syria; the first shipment to Iraq arrived at the port on Thursday.

The U.S. on Tuesday targeted people and firms around the globe that it has accused of being financial facilitators or enablers of Iran's military supply chain, as the Trump administration pushes forward with economic warfare against Tehran at a time when renewed diplomacy between the two countries remains uncertain.

The latest action by the Treasury Department is part of the administration's Operation Economic Outcast campaign, which is aimed at severing "critical financial lifelines" for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government.

Ten individuals and entities based in Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan were sanctioned for allegedly procuring weapons and weapon components for Iran's defense ministry as it fights its now seven-month war against the U.S.

U.S. officials have said they want to disrupt Iran's defense systems and further degrade the government's ability to reconstitute its weapons program. The aim of the latest sanctions includes increasing the costs for the people and companies that have assisted Iran's military procurement efforts.

Turkish authorities have seized a plane belonging to Iran's Caspian Airlines at Istanbul Airport, an official said Tuesday, with Turkish and Iranian media linking it to an unpaid $3.4 million debt.

The seizure took place on Monday after passengers had boarded the Boeing 737, which was waiting to take off when officials detained it on the basis of a court-issued seizure order, Turkey's state news agency Anadolu said.

The reports did not mention the recently imposed U.S. sanctions against Iranian airlines as Washington seeks to economically isolate the Islamic Republic.

In a written response to AFP, a Turkish government official confirmed the move, saying it was linked to "a commercial dispute" but did not give further details.

"We can confirm that a Caspian Airlines aircraft at Istanbul Airport was subject to an enforcement measure pursuant to a decision by the competent authorities. The matter arises from a commercial dispute," he said, asking not to be identified.

In a statement quoted by Iranian state television, Caspian Airlines said it had encountered "temporary operational restrictions regarding one of its Boeing aircraft due to an administrative issue in Turkey."

The report said passengers were forced to disembark but the airline had taken "administrative" steps with regard to a debt for "Istanbul Airport services."

It said the plane would return to Iran on Tuesday.

Stocks held steady on Wall Street Tuesday as falling oil prices and stable Treasury yields took some pressure off the market.

The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173 points, or 0.4%, as of 10:37 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.

The majority of stocks within the S&P 500 index lost ground, but several big technology companies helped offset those losses. Nvidia rose 0.8% and Broadcom rose 3.3%. They are among the most valuable companies on Wall Street and those hefty market values give them greater influence over the broader market's direction.

Stocks have been under pressure as oil prices swing sharply as the U.S. war with Iran drags on, helping to push Treasury yields to their highest levels in two decades.

The price of Brent crude oil in the most actively traded part of the oil market fell 1.5% to $96.41 a barrel. It briefly climbed above $100 on Monday before prices eased a bit, but they are still well above the roughly $72 it cost before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

Mediators continued to work with the United States and Iran on reaching a deal to end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump over the weekend rejected an offer from Tehran to reopen the key waterway.

Overall, rising oil prices have been fueling a jump in Treasury yields. Higher yields threaten to slow economic growth by making borrowing more expensive for individuals and businesses. They can also hurt prices for stocks, especially those seen as expensive, including many technology companies that have soared because of the frenzy around AI technology.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 5.25% from 5.24% late Monday, near its highest level since 2007, before the financial crisis and Great Recession sent yields toward zero.

The escalating fighting in Yemen is pushing the country's health system to "breaking point," the World Health Organization said Tuesday, warning that diseases like cholera were already circulating widely.

A renewed ground campaign waged by the Iran-backed Houthis against Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces has left hundreds dead and is deepening the country's humanitarian crisis, with at least 145,000 people displaced this month alone, United Nations figures show.

The impoverished country's health system - already weakened by over a decade of civil war - is on the brink.

"Yemen's latest escalation is pushing an already fragile health system towards breaking point," warned Annette Heinzelmann, WHO emergency director for the eastern Mediterranean region, according to the AFP news agency.

"Nine health facilities or assets have now been damaged, put out of service, closed or directly attacked" in the hard-hit areas of Taiz, Lahj and Hodeidah, Heinzelmann said.

Even before the latest escalation, only around 60% of Yemen's health facilities were fully functional, Heinzelmann added, and the country had been facing high malnutrition and outbreaks of diseases including cholera.

The U.N. envoy for Yemen said Tuesday that he had met with Houthi negotiators over the weekend in an effort to avert further escalation in Yemen, amid fierce battles on the country's west coast between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and fragmented Saudi-supported government forces.

The renewed violence, which has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands, is the latest twist in Yemen's conflict, which began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the country's Western- and Saudi-backed government to settle into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia entered the war a year later, leading a multinational coalition in support of the government forces.

In an interview with The Associated Press in Cairo, Hans Grundberg said his meeting in Oman with the Houthis' chief negotiator, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, aimed to look for ways "to avoid seeing the current escalation go even further."

He also held talks in Saudi Arabia with representatives of Yemen's internationally recognized government and other regional powers, including Saudi officials. Saudi Arabia has been the main target of the Houthis' latest escalation, which Grundberg described as "unprecedented" and "dramatic."

Grundberg said the instability in the region, and the "influence of regional parties, including Iran, and also other neighbors to Yemen," has also impacted the course of the Yemen conflict.

Iranian Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Amir Akrami-Nia said Tuesday that what he described as the new "Iranian order" in the Strait of Hormuz was irreversible.

Speaking at a public gathering in Tehran, Akrami-Nia said Iranian forces would prevent the country's adversaries from using the strategic waterway the way they did in the past.

"With power and determination, we assure you, dear people, that your children are standing in the middle of the Strait of Hormuz, as the greatest achievement of this war, and they will never allow the enemy to exploit this strait as it did in the past," he said, in remarks relayed by the Telegram channel of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. "The strait is an Iranian strait. An Iranian order has been established over it, and this order is irreversible."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said he expects a formal response Tuesday from the U.S. to Tehran's latest proposal for a ceasefire, which includes a plan for the phased reopening of the strait to commercial vessels.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said there were "indications" that Israel's enemies could try to attack ahead of elections scheduled for the end of October, without giving details.

"We have indications that ahead of the elections our enemies will try to attack us. So ... I am sending you a message: Don't mess with us, not now and not ever. Our long arm will reach you anywhere, anytime," Netanyahu said during a visit to an Israeli air force base, according to a video published by his office.

The U.S. and Israel jointly launched the war against Iran, but Israeli forces have predominantly focused their recent military efforts on the Iran-backed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Despite a June deal that provides for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, Israeli forces continue to strike towns in the south of the neighboring country, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps urged Americans to take to the streets to rally against President Trump and the U.S. war against Iran, which the powerful paramilitary force again claimed the Trump administration had lost.

Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, spokesman for Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, said such street protests should denounce what he called the U.S. government's war-mongering policies. He said Americans should "revise their decision" about their leaders.

He accused the United States of using Iran's nuclear program as a ruse to "plunder Iran's wealth" and to turn the country "back into a colony.

A vessel was struck by a suspected projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz late Monday, according to a British maritime security agency.

The U.K. navy's Maritime Trade Operations center said it received "a third-party report of a vessel struck by a suspected unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in a fire."

UKMTO said the fire was extinguished and the crew was safe.

While no country has claimed the attack, it is the latest in a series of recurring strikes on vessels transiting or attempting to transit the vital waterway that connects the energy producers of the Persian Gulf with international markets. Tehran has long warned ships to transit the strait only via a route it has approved, and with permission from Iranian authorities.

The U.S. military has also previously struck and disabled ships linked to Iran as part of the ongoing blockade of Iranian ports.

The value of Iran's currency fell to another record low compared to the U.S. dollar Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials for a single dollar, in a stark reflection of how the war in the Middle East has steadily eroded the Iranian economy.

The latest decline came just a day after the rial hit its previous record of 2.4 million to the dollar.

Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Tuesday that U.S. restrictions affecting Iranian flights amounted to "American bullying," adding that Tehran had filed a complaint with international bodies, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

"U.S. air sanctions are bullying," Mohajerani said at her weekly press conference, adding that Iran was pursuing the matter through legal channels and had submitted a complaint to ICAO.

She said the government was continuing diplomacy and negotiations while preparing for different scenarios, stressing that "diplomacy and defense are two arms of national interests."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted late Monday that Tehran has made no changes to its proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and the phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran awaits a formal U.S. response to the plan via mediators.

Tehran presented the proposal last week, demanding that in exchange for the strait being reopened, the U.S. meets conditions set out in the memorandum of understanding signed in June by Mr. Trump and his Iranian counterpart.

"Our plan, which became known as the seven-point plan, was conveyed to the Americans through the Qatari intermediary," Araghchi told reporters in New York, where he has been for the U.N. General Assembly. "Despite the things that the American president and others said, I said that we are waiting for an official response from America through the intermediary."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday that it is developing new weapons to defend the Islamic Republic.

"We are constantly designing and upgrading new and existing weapons to defend ourselves," IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi said, without offering any real detail.

"We use all the technologies of the world to build new weapons in order to defend our people and our country, and if necessary, we will use these weapons to defend our country," he said.

Mohebbi said the U.S. had failed to achieve its objectives through military and economic pressure, and predicted that "ultimately, America will be forced to leave the region."

Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tuesday that if his country's security was not guaranteed, no infrastructure in the region would be safe from attack, state media reported.

"In a region where we cannot sell oil, no one else will sell oil either; or if our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will remain safe," said Ghalibaf, who is also Iran's parliament speaker, according to video released by state TV.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he expected a formal answer on Tuesday from the United States to Tehran's proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported.

Qatari intermediaries "presented ideas, and we discussed them; they are set to raise the matter with the American side once more, after which the final U.S. response will be conveyed to us," Araghchi said late Monday.

Iran's top diplomat, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, said "the Qataris hope this will be done by tomorrow."

President Trump denied that he has offered to relieve Iran of some sanctions and unfreeze its funds, writing on Truth Social: "I offered them NOTHING!"

The president was reacting to an Axios story that said Mr. Trump is open to granting sanctions relief in exchange for progress on Iran's nuclear program.

A U.S. official also told CBS News on Monday that Mr. Trump is willing to grant Iran sanctions relief and release frozen funds if progress is made on the nuclear issue.

President Trump confirmed to reporters that American and Iranian negotiators exchanged messages through mediators on Monday.

He did not share any details on the talks, saying, "We're going to win."

CBS News reported earlier Monday that indirect U.S.-Iran talks began in the morning. A U.S. official said Mr. Trump is willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release frozen funds if there is concrete progress on Iran's nuclear program, but there will not be a deal unless the nuclear issues are addressed, and the two sides remain apart on the timing of commitments.

An Iranian diplomatic source told CBS News the primary issue is that the U.S. president does not seem to have a clear position on what he wants from negotiations, making it difficult to move from discussions to a concrete agreement.

Yields in the U.S. bond market cranked higher Monday and again reached their highest levels in roughly two decades, which knocked U.S. stocks further from their record high.

Monday's rise in yields followed the latest swings for oil prices, which have been yo-yoing on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow tankers to flow freely again through the Strait of Hormuz and deliver oil from the Middle East to customers worldwide.

The latest turns came after President Trump said over the weekend he's rejecting an offer from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program.

A move by the U.S. to temporarily halt diesel exports amid record-high prices would initially lower costs, but a prolonged ban could drive up domestic gasoline prices, according to Goldman Sachs.