As the war neared six months old, the two sides were not exchanging fire but also not pursuing peace talks. All the while, oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have virtually halted as Tehran clings to its leverage by threatening to strike any unauthorized oil tankers that attempt to transit the narrow waterway.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Monday amid promises to reveal "the toughest sanctions in history" on Iran while also urging China to cooperate with Washington. China buys more than 80% of Iran's shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler.

Beijing urged diplomacy. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Saturday that the imminent U.S. announcement of new economic sanctions on Iran was an "assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent member state of the United Nations.

" "Such secondary sanctions find no foundation in international law," he said in a post on X. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has warned of economic consequences against any country that provides "any type of lifeline to Iran," said on Friday that Washington was observing "what happens" in the conflict.

"They would love to make a deal, but they're not ready to make the right deal, in my opinion," Trump said of Iran. HORMUZ TRAFFIC HALTED While the U.S. has effectively blockaded Iranian vessels in their ports, the Strait of Hormuz remained bottled up with thousands of seafarers stranded on hundreds of vessels.

Only four commodity ships sailed along the strait on Thursday, none of them large crude carriers or liquefied natural gas tankers, ship-tracking data showed. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the U.S. military helped move a seven-day average of 8 million barrels a day of oil through the strait.

That's down from more than 20 million per day before the war or about one of every five barrels consumed worldwide. U.S. attacks have severely diminished Iran's economy and devastated its navy and air force, but Tehran maintains enough missile and drone capability to impede oil tanker traffic and attack regional rivals.

Trump, meanwhile, has yet to achieve objectives he set at the start of the war such as dismantling Iran's nuclear programme - the state of which remains uncertain given that U.N. inspectors have been shut out since 2025 - and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers.

Thousands have been killed, including 168 Iranian school children on the first day of the war. The U.S. has reported more than 750 military personnel wounded and 18 killed. IRANIAN ECONOMY DAMAGED The chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, promised on Friday that Iran would respond to enemy threats militarily with "crushing, punishing and devastating responses.

" Still, President Masoud Pezeshkian called for a diplomatic solution. "It would be better to end the war today, when we are powerful and have dignity, and the whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasizes that America, contrary to all regulations, attacked our schools, hospitals, and infrastructure and is hated in the world," Pezeshkian said, according to the ISNA news agency.

Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the country's main negotiator in mediated talks with the U.S., acknowledged the strain on Iran's economy in comments to Iranian and Iraqi businesspeople late on Thursday. "No matter how much military power we have, we won't survive if people are hungry and we don't have financial turnover, economic growth and national production," Qalibaf said, according to official news agency IRNA.

Iran has granted permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad through various channels, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday. IRNA said obtaining special permission for Iraqi tankers was one of Baghdad’s main requests during Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s visit to Iraq.

Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said on Saturday that Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil through the Strait in recent days and Baghdad had discussed the export of Iraqi oil through Hormuz with Iranian officials. The issue remained complicated, he added, speaking at the Baghdad Dialogue policy conference.

Iraq significantly impacted by blockade on Strait of Hormuz Iraq has been among the countries most affected by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic in the strait remains significantly below pre-war levels, and ships continue to face Iranian attacks in the area.

Iraq produced around 4 million barrels of oil per day before the outbreak of the Iran war. Baghdad is working to expand its exports through Turkey's Ceyhan port and also to begin exporting oil through Syria's Baniyas port and Jordan's Aqaba port, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on Friday.

- The U.S. and Iran have maintained their war of words even as kinetic strikes on one another's targets have halted in recent days. - The U.S. is planning on implementing a tough round of new sanctions against Iran. - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has told CNBC that the measures would negate the need for more military action.

- An announcement on the details of the economic measures is due Monday. Iran maintained its harsh rhetoric Saturday against the U.S.' plans to impose tough new sanctions. "The United States' declaration of new economic sanctions on Iran is far more than continued unlawful 'economic warfare' against a single country," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a post on X.

"It is an assertion of extraterritorial sovereignty over every independent Member State of the United Nations." U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Thursday that the Trump administration's plan to crush Iran's economy will likely negate the need for major U.

S. military operations against the Islamic Republic. Bessent vowed that the U.S. will create "the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world" against Iran. He said he will hold a news conference on Monday to "talk about exactly what we're going to do.

" In a preview of the plan, he said that the U.S. will be telling all of its allies, "You are either with us or against us." Vice President JD Vance said economic pressure is the United States' "most effective tool" against Iran. Speaking on a podcast, Vance said that the move was "a delicate dance" as both sides apply pressure to each other, but added that "what has been true over the last couple of weeks is they felt a lot more pressure than we have.

" Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told an event in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Friday that Muslim countries must make a plan to overcome "cruel" sanctions, according to a government summary of his comments. 'Crushing economic operation' The comments came after U.

S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. will launch what he called the "most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country" against Iran. Trump also threatened severe financial penalties on any nation that helps Tehran evade sanctions, and added that "this will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.

" While both sides have held off attacking one another's targets in recent days, shipping through the economically crucial Strait of Hormuz remains a fraction of its levels before the U.S. launched its war against Iran on Feb. 28. Negotiations to reopen the strait have stalled.

Recently observed ship traffic through Hormuz has remained low, with 10 crossings on Monday and two transits on Sunday, according to data provided by the trade intelligence firm Kpler. Oil prices were little changed Friday after Iran's president indicated that Tehran wants the war with the U.

S. to end sooner rather than later. Brent crude futures added 61 cents to close at $94.39 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 23 cents to $87.06. Oil prices finished the week more than 5% higher after Bessent's comments. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian described his country's memorandum of understanding with the U.

S. signed on June 17 as a victory for the Islamic Republic. Pezeshkian said "it is better to end the war today" when Iran is "in a position of power and dignity," according to the state news agency PressTV. The MOU allowed Tehran to determine how the Strait of Hormuz would be administered through negotiations with Oman and the other Gulf states.

One analyst questioned the effectiveness of the new round of economic penalties. Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets said Iran is already one of the most sanctioned countries in the world. It is not clear whether the U.

S. will go after China and Russia who are partners of Iran, Croft told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." The question is whether more sanctions will change Iran's behavior, Croft said. Tehran appears to believe that it can outlast the U.S., she said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — Malaysia and Brunei expressed profound concern over the heightened tensions and renewed hostilities in West Asia, particularly involving the United States and Israel against Iran, and the retaliatory strikes against several countries in the region.

In a joint statement issued following the 27th Annual Leaders’ Consultation in Bandar Seri Begawan on Saturday, Sultan of Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the situation had resulted in civilian casualties, damage to infrastructure and a worsening humanitarian situation.

“They urged all parties to exercise restraint, avoid further escalation, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, and return to dialogue and diplomacy, towards ending the hostilities and coming to a resolution,” the statement said.

The leaders further noted that the situation had disrupted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, affecting global supply chains in energy and essential goods. “In this regard, they underscored the importance of maintaining maritime safety and security, and upholding freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

“They expressed deep concern over any discriminatory or unilateral measures which are inconsistent with international law, and called for the restoration of the safe, unimpeded, and continuous transit passage of vessels and aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz, in accordance with the 1982 Unclos,” it said.

On Palestine, both leaders emphasised that the Palestinian issue remains the root cause of conflict and broader instability in the region and expressed strong condemnation against the continued acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing committed by Israel, the Occupying Power.

They also condemned the indiscriminate violence and blockade of humanitarian access and aid delivery, which have resulted in mass casualties and prolonged suffering of the Palestinian people. The leaders urged the international community to act decisively to end the cycle of impunity, including by ensuring respect for international law and securing a permanent ceasefire, with a view to ending the occupation and aggression by the Occupying Power.

Both leaders also welcomed the growing global momentum towards recognising Palestinian statehood and reiterated their call for Palestine’s admission as a full Member State of the United Nations. On a broader regional context, the leaders also strongly condemned the targeting of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), comprising personnel from the Malaysian Battalion and the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF).

Both leaders emphasised that the safety and security of United Nations personnel must be fully ensured, and called upon all parties to take immediate and concrete steps to ensure accountability for all attacks against United Nations personnel and their premises.

They also called for full respect for Unifil’s mandate, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions, including United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) and 2823 (2026).