Iran bill allows 20% cargo seizure for ships breaching Hormuz rules

The statements came within hours of each other, from MPs, a Tehran city council official and military figures, and they map the mood in the hardline camp on the eve of the president's departure.

It came as Donald Trump said he was willing to meet Pezeshkian in New York while warning that "something big" could happen to Iran.

Kamran Ghazanfari, a hardline MP, told Didban Iran that if the existence of the Islamic Republic came under serious threat, the new supreme leader could reconsider the question of nuclear weapons. Some MPs favor a nuclear deterrent to end the recurring threats against Iran, he said, though any decision would rest with senior officials and the Supreme National Security Council.

Parviz Sarvari, deputy chairman of Tehran city council, said he would welcome news that Iran had moved toward building nuclear weapons for deterrence. Membership of the Non-Proliferation Treaty had brought Iran no benefit, he said, while its adversaries threatened it from a position of nuclear superiority.

The push has gone beyond words. Hossein-Ali Haji-Deligani, an MP, submitted a triple-urgency bill for Iran's withdrawal from the NPT, arguing that membership had become more costly since the IAEA Board of Governors referred Iran to the UN Security Council. Similar proposals have circulated for months and the leadership of parliament has kept them off the floor. Haji-Deligani said the presidium has now acknowledged receipt of this one.

Military figures spoke the same day. Army commander Amir Hatami said the armed forces were at full readiness. Esmail Kowsari, of parliament's national security committee, said Iran's growing capabilities would eventually push American forces out of the region.

Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said the war with the United States and Israel was not over and that the Guards had prepared for a long one, citing assessments that Washington may be considering fresh strikes.

What the day was for

Three things were happening at once.

The first is the argument about the last war. The ceasefire that ended the 12-day conflict left hardliners needing it not to look like a defeat at home, and insisting the war is unfinished keeps the account open.

The second is pressure on Pezeshkian. The NPT bill and the nuclear talk arrived alongside renewed parliamentary criticism of his government for allowing IAEA inspectors access, in a dispute over how far Iran should engage Washington and the monitors.

The third is the IAEA referral and the threat of snapback sanctions, which is the immediate cause of the NPT bill and the reason the timing is not a coincidence.

The language stayed inside limits. Ghazanfari attached any reconsideration of weapons to an existential threat. Sarvari's endorsement was of a hypothetical. Neither said Iran should build a bomb now, and neither Mojtaba Khamenei nor the Supreme National Security Council has said anything on the question.

The risk is how it reads elsewhere. Open parliamentary discussion of leaving the NPT and of nuclear contingencies is the kind of material Washington and Israel have previously cited as evidence that Iran is moving toward a weapon, and the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites during the last war. On the same day, the Guards said they expected it to happen again.

The proposal has already been delivered to Washington through mediators and calls for renewed negotiations aimed at permanently ending hostilities, Kyodo News and Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing senior Iranian officials.

Iran wants the United States to begin lifting its blockade of Iranian ports and halt military operations related to the strait. In return, Tehran would reopen the waterway within seven days and return to negotiations, according to the reports.

One official said Iran’s delegation at the UN General Assembly had full authority to revive diplomacy with Washington and discuss the details of an agreement through intermediaries. The initiative was approved by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council, Kyodo reported.

The official nevertheless ruled out a meeting between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump in New York, leaving mediators as the likely channel for any immediate exchange.

“There is a possibility of moving toward an agreement,” the official told Kyodo, while saying Washington would need to demonstrate “seriousness and commitment.”

Pezeshkian left Tehran for New York on Tuesday saying he would use the General Assembly to defend Iran’s position, describe the suffering of its people and address what he called the erosion of trust caused by Washington’s conduct.

“We will use this opportunity in the best possible way to convey Iran’s message of victimhood to the international community,” he said before departing.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who arrived in New York ahead of Pezeshkian, said Iran remained in a “state of war” following US-Israeli attacks and subsequent developments. He described the UN gathering as an opportunity to present Tehran’s case while criticizing the organization’s failure to maintain international peace and security.

“The question of restoring trust is important and provides an opportunity to discuss with the world how trust in the United Nations was lost and how it can be restored,” Araghchi said.

The conditional proposal on Hormuz places that argument about trust at the center of the latest diplomatic effort. Tehran is signaling that it could quickly ease one of the war’s most damaging economic disruptions, but only after Washington takes the first step.

That sequencing reflects how Iranian officials now describe diplomacy itself. IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said Tuesday that negotiations should not be understood as reconciliation or peace but as an extension of the conflict by other means.

“If the country’s interests require it, negotiations can be part of the battle while we remain prepared for combat,” Mohebbi said. “One war is fought with weapons; in negotiations, the war is fought with words, arguments and diplomatic methods.”

Mohebbi said the IRGC was preparing for a prolonged conflict, although it assessed that Iran’s adversaries lacked the capacity to begin another war. “The war is not over,” he said.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf offered a similar formulation, arguing that diplomacy should convert military strength into political gains rather than amount to surrender. But other political figures sought to narrow Pezeshkian’s room for maneuver. Lawmaker Mohammad Rostami said any direct negotiations with Trump would be unacceptable, calling the US president the “killer of our martyred leader.”

Pezeshkian also faced criticism from lawmaker Mojtaba Yousefi and former senior IRGC commander Hossein Kanani-Moghadam, who said he should have considered staying away from the General Assembly. Their remarks underscored the domestic resistance the president could face if the diplomatic opening advances beyond indirect contacts.

The value of Tehran’s Hormuz offer will partly depend on whether the United States sees seven-day reopening as a meaningful concession or merely a reversal of disruption Iran helped create. The economic pressure around the waterway also continues to change.

Saudi Arabia restarted its East-West oil pipeline and could resume crude exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu later Tuesday, Reuters reported. Drone attacks had forced the pipeline to shut on September 13, limiting a key alternative to Hormuz. Its return, even initially at a low rate, could reduce some of Tehran’s leverage by restoring another route for Saudi exports.

China is also emerging as a potential source of pressure. Beijing has offered to help Washington press Iran over the war in return for US concessions on arms sales to Taiwan, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with discussions between the US and China ahead of a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The report did not specify what measures China might take against Tehran.

Yet Beijing simultaneously opposed US sanctions affecting Iranian airlines. China’s Foreign Ministry criticized unilateral measures lacking authorization from the UN Security Council after the US Treasury secretary warned that countries providing Iranian carriers with fuel, credit or other services could lose access to the US dollar system.

Iran Air said it had received no official orders from Turkey, Azerbaijan or Iraq to suspend services to Istanbul, Baku and Najaf. Iraq’s Transport Ministry likewise said flights to and from Iran were continuing normally.

The push gathered pace around the UN General Assembly, where Qatar said it was trying to secure even a short-term agreement between Iran and the United States that could reopen negotiations. Doha said restoring navigation through Hormuz and removing the threat of military action would be necessary for meaningful talks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, arrived in New York and spoke by phone with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the General Assembly agenda and efforts to advance international peace and security, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.

The diplomacy is taking place as Persian Gulf Arab states increasingly discuss not only how to stop the fighting but what a future security arrangement with Iran could look like. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have called for greater regional dialogue, with Qatar advocating a common security framework involving Tehran and Persian Gulf states. The Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia has also discussed a possible non-aggression pact with Iran. The FT described the war as prompting Persian Gulf states to reassess their approach to regional security.

That effort is closely tied to the disruption around Hormuz, which has become one of the war’s central economic pressure points. French President Emmanuel Macron said after meeting US President Donald Trump in New York that France and the United States would work together to protect critical Middle East energy infrastructure and freedom of navigation through the strait. They would also seek a moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure. Macron had warned earlier that disruption around Hormuz and attacks on alternative routes were putting global energy markets under severe pressure.

Washington is also looking beyond the immediate shipping disruption. The Trump administration has proposed contributing $5 billion to a fund to rebuild damaged regional energy infrastructure and reduce reliance on Hormuz, with eight Middle Eastern partners asked to provide matching contributions for a potential $10 billion fund. The Wall Street Journal reported that some regional officials questioned whether rebuilding could begin safely without a peace agreement with Tehran, given the risk of renewed attacks.

The economic consequences are already being felt beyond Iran. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said Tehran had prevented Iraqi tankers from passing through Hormuz despite Baghdad considering Iran a regional partner, and said Iraq had lost about $60 billion in revenue since the war began. US Central Command, meanwhile, said its forces had redirected 110 commercial vessels as part of Washington’s blockade against Iran.

Pressure is also spreading westward toward the Red Sea. Britain agreed to provide Saudi Arabia with limited defensive air-to-air refueling support after intensified attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, while G7 foreign ministers meeting in New York called on Iran to stop arming and supporting the group. They warned that continued Houthi attacks threatened civilian shipping, international trade and wider stability.

At the same time, Tehran has continued to signal military readiness. An IRGC deputy commander said Iran was strengthening its missile, drone, cruise missile, cyber, electronic warfare and air-defense capabilities, underscoring the tension between the diplomatic activity in New York and the continuing risk of renewed escalation.

The diplomatic push is unfolding as the war continues to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, strain regional energy supplies and widen security concerns across the Middle East.

For Iranians visiting relatives abroad, returning home has become increasingly uncertain. For those living outside the country, reaching parents, children and other loved ones in Iran is becoming just as difficult.

The disruption has left travelers trying to determine which flights are still operating, whether future bookings can be relied upon and what alternatives remain if they cannot fly.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that US sanctions would effectively shut Iranian airlines out of international operations from September 23, warning foreign companies against providing them with fuel, ground services or ticket sales.

“All the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” Bessent told CNBC. “If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system.”

The warning does not itself close foreign airspace to Iranian aircraft, but raises the risk of US penalties for companies and financial institutions that continue doing business with sanctioned carriers. The practical impact will depend on how governments, airports and service providers respond.

Iran International contacted multiple international airlines and four travel agencies specializing in travel to Iran to establish what options remain for passengers.

Which flights are still available?

Options are increasingly limited and can change at short notice.

Turkish Airlines has suspended all flights to Iran until at least March 2027, a company representative told Iran International by phone, adding that no services are currently scheduled before then and there is no guarantee they will resume in March.

Emirates said it is no longer operating flights to Tehran, while Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines confirmed that flights to and from Iran are suspended until at least October 24, 2026.

Both Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines said they were monitoring the situation and could not guarantee that flights would resume after that date.

Qatar Airways told Iran International that its flights to Iran are currently suspended because of airspace restrictions. Services are tentatively scheduled to resume on November 29, but the airline said that date could change depending on conditions.

Four travel agencies specializing in Iran travel said they were also unable to book operating services on airlines from Russia, China and Oman, as well as Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines and carriers serving routes from Armenia, at the time they spoke to Iran International.

One agency said it had seen Pegasus continue to accept some bookings for Iran routes that were later cancelled at short notice, forcing passengers to change their travel plans.

Iran International found some Pegasus itineraries between Turkey and Iran displayed on booking platforms from November 29, but the listings do not guarantee that the flights will operate.

Iran also did not appear as a destination option in searches on Flydubai’s or Expedia’s booking systems. Other routes checked by Iran International produced no available itineraries before March 2027.

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Those searches provide only a snapshot of what booking platforms were displaying at the time and do not establish when international services will resume or whether other routes may remain available.

How are people getting to and from Iran?

The travel agencies, which requested anonymity, said their businesses had been severely affected as passengers looked for alternatives to flying directly into Iran.

They said some travelers arriving from Western countries were flying to Turkey and then taking a roughly 17-hour bus journey to Van, near the Iranian border.

From there, travelers could cross into Iran and continue by road. The agencies estimated that reaching Tehran from Van could take another 16 to 17 hours by bus or car.

That can mean more than 30 hours on the road alone, excluding the initial flight, border crossings and waiting times.

The agencies said Mahan Air had already stopped operating from Turkish airports after losing access to ground-handling services.

The disruption followed the US Treasury’s September 8 sanctions package, which designated all Iranian airlines and also targeted three Turkey-based companies accused of providing services to Mahan Air. Treasury described the 27 sanctioned carriers as Iran’s remaining airlines not already covered by US sanctions.

Other Iranian carriers were still operating through Turkish airports as of September 21, the agencies said, but they expected those services to come under increasing pressure after September 23 as companies assessed the risk of continuing to service sanctioned aircraft.

What changes on September 23?

The US Treasury sanctioned 36 targets connected to Iran’s aviation sector on September 8, including 27 Iranian airlines. Treasury accused the aviation sector of being used to transport weapons, military personnel and illicit cargo.

Bessent said on September 21 that the restrictions would effectively shut Iranian airlines out of international operations from September 23 by targeting the foreign services they rely on.

The sanctions do not automatically prohibit Iranian aircraft from entering every country or close foreign airspace to them. But airlines need access to airports, fuel, ground handling, ticketing, banking and other services to operate internationally, giving Washington significant leverage over their ability to continue flying abroad.

Some countries have already moved to restrict Iranian carriers.

Flights by US-sanctioned Iranian airlines to Georgia stopped from September 21 after the affected carriers operated their final services the previous day, according to Georgian media. Georgia’s Civil Aviation Agency had earlier said it takes US and European sanctions mechanisms into account when granting foreign airlines access to its aviation market.

Iraq is moving even earlier than Bessent’s September 23 deadline. Two Iraqi government sources told AFP that Baghdad would suspend flights operated by Iranian airlines from dawn on Tuesday, September 22.

One official said Iraq would implement the restriction in accordance with the US Treasury decision and warned that countries failing to comply risked sanctions. A second source confirmed the decision.

The suspension could particularly affect Shiite pilgrims travelling from Iran to the Iraqi holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, as well as families and other passengers who rely on flights between the two countries.

For travelers, the central problem is that schedules displayed today may offer little certainty about what will actually operate in the coming weeks. With foreign airlines withdrawing and Iranian carriers facing new barriers abroad, travelling both into and out of Iran is increasingly dependent on a shrinking number of routes — or long overland journeys through neighboring countries.

The warnings came as President Masoud Pezeshkian prepared to travel to New York for the UN General Assembly and regional mediators stepped up contacts with both sides.

Iran would change the “geography of the war” if it came under renewed attack, Revolutionary Guards spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said Monday, warning that Tehran would also use weapons it has not yet deployed and strike new targets.

“If a new aggression occurs, we will certainly change the weaponry and the geography of the war,” Mohebbi said.

“We will introduce new weapons with new capabilities into the battlefield, and the world will be astonished,” he added.

Mohebbi said Iran was prepared for a prolonged conflict and that its targets in another round would not necessarily be the same as before.

Iran’s armed forces also pledged in a joint statement to make the United States, Israel and their allies “taste the bitterness of further defeats,” while Army Commander Amir Hatami said the military remained on full alert.

New ship attacks in Hormuz

The threat came with tensions still high around the Strait of Hormuz, where two tankers were hit in separate incidents within hours on Monday.

An inbound tanker was struck by an unknown projectile, leaving two crew members with minor injuries, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. The vessel remained under its own power and continued toward its next port.

UKMTO later reported that an LPG tanker leaving the strait had been hit by debris from unknown projectiles. Its crew was safe and no environmental damage was reported. Authorities were investigating both incidents.

Shipping through Hormuz remains far below pre-war levels. Seventeen commodity vessels crossed the waterway over the weekend, down from 37 a week earlier, according to shipping data cited by Reuters. Before the war, about 125 large commercial vessels typically transited the strait each day.

Qatar seeks short-term deal to revive talks

Qatar, meanwhile, said mediators were exchanging proposals between Iran and the United States in an effort to secure a short-term agreement that could reopen negotiations.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said Qatari mediators had been discussing proposals for nearly two weeks and traveling between capitals in search of a formula acceptable to both sides. Doha had also received assurances from US officials that Washington wanted an agreement, he said.

Pakistan has also remained involved in efforts to reduce tensions. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni in Tehran on Monday, weeks after Naqvi and Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir visited Iran as part of Islamabad’s mediation efforts.

Iranian media said the latest visit was focused on bilateral relations and that Naqvi was not carrying a US message. Iran’s Foreign Ministry had earlier said it was unaware of any specific proposal being brought by the Pakistani minister.

Pezeshkian is due to leave for New York on Tuesday for the UN General Assembly, where the Iran-US conflict is expected to feature prominently in diplomatic contacts.

Washington tightens pressure

Washington showed no sign Monday of easing economic pressure while those contacts continued.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iranian airlines would effectively be shut out of international operations from September 23 by threatening sanctions against airports and companies that provide them with fuel, landing services or ticket sales.

“If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” Bessent told CNBC.

The effects were already spreading. Turkish Airlines told Iran International it had suspended all flights to Iran until at least March 2027, while Iraqi government sources said Baghdad would stop Iranian airlines from operating in the country in line with the US measures.

Pezeshkian’s arrival in New York on Tuesday will give mediators another opportunity to test whether the proposals being exchanged can produce a path back to negotiations. The US airline measures are due to take effect the following day.