UK maritime advisory rates Strait of Hormuz ‘critical’, Persian Gulf ‘severe’

The US Department of Justice on Thursday indicted a dual Iranian-Iraqi national on terrorism-related charges, alleging he provided material support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the group Kata’ib Hezbollah.

The Justice Department said Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi was charged in an eight-count indictment that includes conspiracy to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations and involvement in attempted attacks in Europe and the United States.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York allege Al-Saadi operated as an operative of both the IRGC and Kata’ib Hezbollah and was involved in nearly 20 attacks or attempted attacks across Europe, as well as planning activity targeting the United States.

Al-Saadi been detained and brought to the United States for prosecution, according to the Justice Department.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that Washington does not have “unlimited patience” with Iran and suggested military strikes could resume if diplomacy fails.

“We did not have a regime change in Iran, but we changed the regime,” Bessent said during a White House briefing, arguing that the Iranian government, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the religious leadership were struggling to communicate after US strikes.

“We are being patient,” Bessent said. “President Trump always prefers a peace deal, so everything that we have done thus far has been defensive, and at present that is what we will continue doing.”

Bessent added that strikes could resume if US President Donald Trump concludes that a peace agreement is not possible.

Iran’s Guards-affiliated Tasnim News Agency cited a source close to the negotiating team as saying the text of a potential memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States has neither been finalized nor confirmed.

Reports by Western media saying the memorandum has been finalized are “not true,” Tasnim added.

The agency also said Iran has not informed the Pakistani mediator that the text has been finalized and would notify both the mediator and the public once an MOU is completed.

Revolutionary Guards forces killed two Kurdish brothers after surrounding their hideout in western Iran and opening fire without warning, Hengaw rights group said on Thursday.

Meisam and Mojtaba Veisi were killed in Qaleh Kahoush village in Dalahu county, Kermanshah province, Hengaw said.

“The armed agents opened fire on the residential house from four sides without any prior warning,” Hengaw said, adding the brothers died at the scene.

The group said the two had been living in hiding since nationwide protests in January 2026. It identified them as Kurdish cultural activists and followers of the Yarsan faith.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iranian people must endure economic and political pressure as part of its confrontation with the United States, adding that Iran would not pursue “humiliating” diplomacy or seek nuclear weapons.

“If we stood against the world’s strongest power, we must accept the hardships,” Pezeshkian said on Thursday, according to the state media.

Pezeshkian also blamed Israel for instability in the region and said foreign powers had expected unrest inside Iran after military strikes but were "surprised by continued public support for the government more than 80 days into the conflict."