Iran's top security chief says IAEA moves will push countries to leave NPT

The attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base on Tuesday damaged an A-10 Thunderbolt II, commonly known as the Warthog, as well as about eight F-15 fighter jets, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The F-15s sustained light damage and were returned to service.

The exchange began after US forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers.

Washington said the strikes were carried out after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps twice targeted a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles over the previous two days.

Iran then launched ballistic missiles at the American base in Jordan, forcing US forces to fire roughly 30 Patriot interceptors, the official said.

That expenditure comes amid growing concern in Washington over the rate at which the war is consuming some of the US military’s most sophisticated missiles.

Precise stockpile figures are classified, but independent estimates and recent reporting suggest inventories of Patriot, THAAD and other high-end munitions have fallen sharply during the Iran war.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated in July that the United States had expended about 65 percent of its prewar Patriot interceptor inventory, leaving between 759 and 827 missiles from an estimated 2,330 before the conflict.

The concern is less that the United States is about to run out of missiles for the Iran war than that rebuilding inventories could take years, potentially reducing Washington’s ability to respond to another major conflict.

CSIS has estimated that replenishing several key weapons, including Patriot, THAAD and Tomahawk missiles, will be a multiyear undertaking.

The aircraft damaged in Jordan add to mounting US equipment losses since the war began in February.

According to a May report from the Congressional Research Service, 42 US military aircraft had already been lost or damaged in the conflict. The losses included more than two dozen drones, fighter aircraft hit by Iranian strikes and aircraft lost in accidents.

Eighteen US service members have been killed and more than 800 injured since the war began.

A butcher in Karaj told Iran International that some customers now ask for their meat to be placed in black bags so it does not attract attention.

He described an elderly woman who had just bought meat when a man on a motorbike snatched the bag from her hand, causing her to fall and suffer injuries.

Police and judicial authorities do not publish detailed statistics on food theft, making it impossible to establish its scale or whether such crimes have increased. But basic groceries feature repeatedly in recent media reports of theft.

Some cases appear to involve people with no previous history of crime.

Meat, rice, cream

State news agency IRNA reported the case of a woman caught hiding two tubs of cream under her chador. When stopped by a security guard, she said her children were hungry. Her husband, described as a day labourer, reportedly knew nothing about the theft.

In a review of similar cases, IRNA said some of those accused, including housewives, had no criminal record and were facing theft charges for the first time. Cheese, yoghurt, cream and cooking oil were among the goods being stolen, it said.

The newspaper Jahan-e Sanat has separately reported thefts of cheese, butter and meat from shops.

The reports come as the cost of basic food has risen far faster than overall prices.

According to the Statistical Center of Iran, year-on-year inflation for food and drink reached 127.5 percent in the month to late August, meaning average prices in the category had more than doubled in a year.

Some staples rose considerably faster. Solid vegetable oil increased by more than 383 percent, eggs by nearly 294 percent, chicken by around 177 percent and red meat by 148 percent.

Iranian media reported last month that a kilogram of beef fillet cost around 42.7 million rials, about $19. At that price, one kilogram was equivalent to roughly seven and a half days of earnings at the minimum daily wage of 5.54 million rials, or about $2.50.

Armed robberies

But food is also appearing in crimes that have little apparent connection to immediate hunger, suggesting that sharply higher prices have made groceries more attractive to thieves.

In eastern Tehran, members of a gang who police said confessed to more than 10 house burglaries were stealing rice alongside gold, dollars and coins.

Police have also reported larger thefts, including around 1.5 tons of rice and other groceries from a storeroom in Tehran and approximately 15 tons of rice from a private warehouse in Rey.

Local media reported two armed robberies of shops in Iranshahr, in Sistan and Baluchistan province. In one, attackers took six sacks of rice, around 12 bottles of cooking oil, tinned food and pulses. In another, robbers fired shots before taking rice and cooking oil.

The cases cannot establish that food theft is increasing, nor do they point to a single motive. Shoplifting by someone struggling to feed a family is plainly different from a gang stealing rice alongside gold or raiding a warehouse.

What connects them is the changing value of food after years of inflation, particularly the steep price rises of recent months. Basic groceries have become increasingly difficult for many Iranians to afford — and valuable enough to steal.

The cabinet has opposed a report by parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee concerning the proposal, state news agency IRNA reported, citing Iran’s national database of laws and regulations.

The published notice did not specify which parts of the committee report the government opposed. The decision was taken at an August 23 cabinet meeting and formally communicated on September 8 by First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref.

Alireza Salimi, a member of parliament’s presidium, hit back Thursday, saying the government had exceeded its authority and was approaching the legislation politically rather than on its merits.

“This is a parliamentary proposal, not a government bill, and therefore the government’s action in opposing it is illegal,” Salimi told parliament’s ICANA news agency.

Controversial measure

The confrontation is the latest stage in a dispute over legislation that would significantly broaden the state’s powers to police contacts with foreign governments, media, universities and international organizations in the name of combating espionage and infiltration.

Parliament approved the proposal’s general principles in August by 183 votes to four, but lawmakers have yet to complete consideration of its individual provisions.

A publicly circulated draft would impose new restrictions on sharing information and contacts with foreign institutions and give the Intelligence Ministry and the Revolutionary Guards’ Intelligence Organization roles in identifying prohibited foreign links.

Critics have warned that its broad language could expose journalists, academics, researchers and others engaged in academic, cultural or civil-society cooperation abroad to prosecution.

Pezeshkian’s administration had already raised objections before the cabinet’s formal decision.

Brain drain risk

Vice President for Legal Affairs Majid Ansari said in August that the proposal conflicted with constitutional protections for individual freedoms and could sharply restrict academic contacts with institutions overseas.

He also argued that Iran already had laws and security agencies to combat foreign intelligence activity.

“If every type of contact and communication faces restrictions and is criminalized by law, naturally they will prefer to migrate and carry out their scientific and research activities in a free environment,” Ansari warned.

Salimi said any defects should instead be addressed as parliament considers the proposal.

“If there are flaws in parliament’s proposal, they should be corrected through expert review,” he said.

He also questioned why government representatives had not raised their objections earlier with the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

The dispute leaves the government and parliament at odds not only over the scope of the proposed restrictions, but over the administration’s authority to challenge a security initiative originating in parliament.

Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian did not identify which institutions were using the schools or disclose how many educational facilities had yet to be returned to the Education Ministry.

“These educational spaces must be handed over to the Education Ministry before the start of the school year, and where there are challenges, the relevant institution should inform the province so alternative space can be provided and the issue resolved,” Motamedian said.

The Revolutionary Guards, Basij paramilitary force and police used schools to station personnel during and after the war.

Dozens of schools used during war

An Iran International investigation published in March found that security and military forces moved personnel, weapons and equipment into at least 70 civilian sites across 17 provinces during the US-Israeli strikes from March 2 to 14.

100%

Nearly half of the locations – 34 – were primary or secondary schools. Other sites included hospitals, stadiums, universities, mosques, parks and government offices.

Footage from several cities showed security vehicles, personnel or military equipment on school grounds.

‘Schools offered greater security’

Journalist Ali Hossein Ghazizadeh said schools offered forces large courtyards, numerous rooms and locations among residential buildings at a time when military bases were being targeted.

• 

  Iran’s military uses schools and civilian sites during US-Israeli war

“Being in schools provides greater security for them,” Ghazizadeh told.

Schools were particularly useful for relocating personnel after bases and other facilities were struck, and their location among civilian buildings provided additional protection, Ghazizadeh said.

The use of educational facilities did not necessarily end with the fighting, Ghazizadeh said, adding that Iran International had received information indicating that some institutions sought to retain schools for longer-term use.

Civilian protection concerns

Schools are generally protected as civilian objects under international humanitarian law but can lose that protection if their use makes them military objectives. Attacking forces remain bound by rules including distinction, proportionality and precautions to limit civilian harm.

100%

Iranian officials have denied using civilians as shields and accused Israel of targeting civilian infrastructure during the conflict.

The Israeli military confirmed to Iran International in March that it had identified Iranian forces deploying personnel and weapons at civilian sites, including schools, mosques and stadiums.

The Houthi advance, the prospect of a protracted US-Iran conflict and renewed international pressure over Tehran’s nuclear program emerged as the three most consequential developments of the day, pointing to a war expanding geographically, placing sustained pressure on US military resources and further threatening global energy supplies.

Three Yemeni government sources told Reuters that the Houthis had taken control of Mocha, a strategically located city on Yemen’s Red Sea coast near the Bab al-Mandab strait, one of the world’s most important shipping routes.

The capture marked a significant territorial advance by the group, which already controls Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and some of the country’s populous north. It followed a new series of Houthi missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia, bringing another major US ally more directly into the conflict.

The Saudi-led coalition said the Houthis attacked Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jazan on Wednesday using ballistic missiles and drones. Saudi authorities issued an early warning in Khamis Mushait on Thursday morning before later announcing that the danger had passed.

Major General Turki al-Maliki, the coalition’s spokesperson, said the Houthis were continuing their attacks on Saudi “national assets and infrastructure.” He said the coalition would respond “responsibly” in defense of Saudi sovereignty, civilians and national resources.

The attacks have also tested the Mecca agreement signed last month by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry described the accord on Thursday as a “defensive alliance” but said there were no plans to expand it.

“There is no such thing under discussion right now,” ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said when asked how Islamabad would meet its obligations following the Houthi attacks. “When the time comes, we will act under the agreement.”

Tehran rejected US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assertion that Iran was behind the attacks. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the Houthis, formally known as Ansarallah, made their own decisions.

“Ansarallah is an independent Yemeni actor that makes its own decisions; it takes orders from no one and acts as nobody’s proxy,” Baghaei said.

Rubio had said that the Houthis were “in many ways agents and proxies of the Iranians” and that “behind some of this is clearly the Iranian hand.”

The developments in Yemen unfolded as top US officials privately considered the possibility that the war with Iran could last considerably longer than Trump has suggested publicly.

Vice President JD Vance, Rubio and other senior advisers have discussed with Trump the possibility that Tehran could continue resisting the US naval blockade, sanctions and military pressure through the end of his presidential term and potentially beyond January 2029, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.

Those assessments contrast sharply with Trump’s public insistence that Iran cannot withstand US pressure much longer. Trump said Wednesday that the war would end “immediately” after November’s congressional elections because Iran “can’t hold out any longer.”

At a Republican event in Dallas, Trump said Iran was “falling apart” and was no longer the dominant power it once was in the Middle East.

“They’ve been the bully of the Middle East for 51 years, and they’re not the bully anymore,” Trump said.

The Journal reported that a prolonged war would strain American military resources and extend disruption to global oil markets. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has already extended some US deployments in the Middle East into 2027, while some air-defense units are expected to remain in the region without a firm departure date, according to the report.

The military risks were underlined by reported damage to US aircraft at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan following Iranian strikes overnight.

One A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft was left missing a wing and around eight F-15 fighter jets sustained light damage, CBS reported. The F-15s were subsequently returned to service. US forces defending the base launched more than 30 Patriot interceptor missiles during the Iranian attack, according to the report.

Iran said it attacked the base in Jordan as well as US vessels after the United States targeted Iranian oil tankers. US Central Command denied that any American warship had been struck, saying all attempted IRGC attacks against US naval vessels had failed.

• 

  Tehran widens maritime fight to spread cost of US blockade

The intensifying attacks on military installations, tankers and shipping routes have heightened fears of a prolonged disruption to energy markets.

Only seven vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, down from 12 the previous day and half the recent daily average of 14, Reuters reported, citing preliminary ship-tracking data. Some vessels may have crossed with their transponders turned off and would not have appeared in the figures.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs warned that escalating attacks in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea could drive Brent crude above $120 a barrel, CBS reported.
Trump said oil prices would decline once the United States defeated Iran.

“Oil will be going down as soon as we win the war with Iran, which is taking place right now,” he said.

The third major source of pressure on Tehran came from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, which reported Iran to the UN Security Council over breaches of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations -the first such action against the country since 2006.

• 

  IAEA reports Iran to UN Security Council for first time in 20 years

Iranian officials signaled that Tehran could respond by reducing its already limited cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

Iran had the right to adopt “special measures” in response to the resolution and reserved the option of taking any action it deemed necessary, lawmaker Somayeh Rafiei said.

“It is natural for Iran to seek a review and reassessment of any further cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency or any other institution in the nuclear field,” said Rafiei, a member of parliament’s presiding board.

The confrontation over inspections comes amid renewed scrutiny of construction at Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried complex near Iran’s Natanz uranium-enrichment facility.

A satellite-imagery analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found a sharp increase in activity at the site during 2026. The work included hardening tunnel entrances, paving internal roads, reinforcing access points and removing soil excavated from inside the mountain.

CSIS said the site appeared to have moved from large-scale excavation toward probable internal construction and further external reinforcement. Its analysts said open-source imagery could neither confirm nor disprove assessments that Iran had transferred centrifuges to the facility.

• 

  Construction surges at suspected Iran nuclear site – CSIS

As diplomatic and military pressure grew, Iran sought to project resilience and signal that it was replenishing its defensive capabilities.

Reuters reported that Tehran routed an estimated $2 billion to $2.5 billion through a China-based trade mechanism during the past year, using proceeds from oil sales to pay for Chinese goods without transferring money through the international banking system.

The barter-like arrangement was used to acquire medicine, vehicles and communications equipment and was also connected to contracts worth millions of dollars for Chinese air-defense equipment, Reuters reported, citing two senior Iranian sources and three other people familiar with the system.

• 

  Iran routed up to $2.5 billion via China sanctions workaround in past year - Reuters

Iran’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the country’s military industry remained operational and was “stronger, smarter and more advanced than before.”

“You will soon see a glimpse of the tip of this iceberg,” the ministry said, without identifying the capabilities.

Iranian lawmakers and commanders issued similar warnings. Alireza Salimi, a member of parliament’s presiding board, said Iran possessed “many military surprises” known to the United States.

“If they continue their actions, we will make them regret it,” Salimi said.

The combination of expanding Houthi operations, preparations in Washington for a potentially multiyear conflict and mounting confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program suggested little immediate prospect of de-escalation.

With fighting spreading across the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf, the risks increasingly extend beyond the direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran.