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Women in Gaza are being traded for food, forced to marry their rapists: UN
Women in Gaza are being traded for food, forced to marry their rapists: UN By Published Sep. 23, 2026, 2:00 p.m. ET See more of our coverage in your search results.Add The New York Post on Google Women in Gaza are being traded for food and forced into marriages with their rapists, according to a pair of reports from the United Nations — underscoring the critical importance of President Trump’s Board of Peace in the war-torn enclave. There was a 123% increase in the number of early and forced marriage incidents across Gaza in the first quarter of 2026, with women between the ages of 18-59 suffering 68% of all gender-based violence (GBV) in the Palestinian enclave, the United Nations’ Population Fund (UNFPA) found. Researchers spoke to women who said young girls were married off to rapists, traded for food or given up by guardians who did not want to take care of them amid the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israel-Hamas war. “The second highest form of GBV reported was psychological and emotional violence, followed by physical violence, sexual violence, and forced and early marriage,” the researchers wrote. “These trends are attributed to heightened stress felt by women and men forced to live in inadequate and overcrowded shelters and continued limited access to basic resources including food, water, basic hygiene materials and clothing.” The second report highlighted some of the most distressing incidents inside refugee camps in Gaza City and Khan Younis, where 230 women shared their stories. One refugee living in a school-turned shelter said that rape victims are often forced to marry their rapists to avoid shame and scandal. “When rape cases are discovered in schools, you find weddings and celebrations at the school the next day,” she said. Another woman recalled how a man married off his 14-year-old daughter in exchange for “two bags of flour so he and his [other] children could eat.” Others claimed that many families looked to marry their girls off early so that their husbands could help protect them from rapists lurking in the overcrowded refugee camps. The UNFPA previously reported on how girls orphaned by war are especially vulnerable to sexual violence. Still, other girls are simply abandoned by their caretakers, one woman living in a Gaza City camp said, noting she attended such weddings for a 14- and 15-year-old. “Their uncles married them off very young. Do you know why? Because their father and mother were martyred, and their uncles wanted to get rid of the responsibility and expenses,” the woman told researchers. Widows and single mothers are also at greater risk of being sexually abused and exploited, as nearly 25% of all households in Gaza are now headed by a woman, double what it was before the war, according to the UNFPA. “One widow was looking for a tent, and a [camp] representative told her, “I’ll give you a tent, we’ll put you in our camp, and you can come stay with me tonight,” one witness in Gaza City recalled. The humanitarian crisis inside Gaza remains ongoing as skirmishes between Hamas and Israel continue, with nearly all 2.1 million Palestinians still displaced as the Jewish state controls about 70% of the land. The reports underscore the importance of President Trump’s Board of Peace, which announced a multi-phase recovery plan for the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, with the first step set to cost $2.45 billion over six months. The plan, unveiled on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in midtown Manhattan, comprises 66 programs focused on infrastructure, economic growth and installing an international security force. The final cost of the completed reconstruction is estimated to be $71 billion.
Netherlands drops boycott of Eurovision song contest
Netherlands drops boycott of Eurovision song contest The Netherlands has decided to take part in next year's Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence in protest at Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip war. The country's entry will be a joint project involving public broadcasters in the Netherlands, the board of the public broadcasting association NPO said on Wednesday. Until recently, it appeared that the Netherlands would boycott Eurovision again due to Israel's participation, underscoring its opposition to Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip. AVROTROS, the public broadcaster previously responsible for the Dutch entry, announced in August that it would not take part in the competition, saying Eurovision was "no longer neutral". The company stated that it could no longer justify participating alongside Israel given the ongoing humanitarian crisis and human suffering in the Palestinian enclave. After AVROTROS stepped aside as the organiser, NPO said it intends to form a team responsible for selecting the country's participating artist. Dutch news broadcaster NOS will handle the broadcasting of the semi-finals and the final. Last week, Ireland announced that it would not participate in Eurovision next year, also in protest against Israel. Ireland was one of five countries that had boycotted the previous edition of the contest in Vienna. The next will take place in May 2027 in Burgas on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast after the country's entrant Dara won this year's event with her song Bangaranga. Israeli entrant Noam Bettan finished second in the 2026 contest. Belgium also intends to be present in Bulgaria, the Flemish public broadcaster VRT announced on Wednesday. The broadcaster had previously left its participation open. with PA
'We will never bow our head': Iran's president strikes defiant tone in UN speech
'We will never bow our head': Iran's president strikes defiant tone in UN speech Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that Tehran will never “bow its head” to US threats but is open to diplomacy, a day after President Donald Trump threatened to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic. Addressing Trump directly, Pezeshkian said the US leader “must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying. We will never bow our head[s] or bend at the knee”. Israel and the US attacked Iran in February amid negotiations over its nuclear programme. The war has dragged on, with two ceasefires collapsing, and pulled Arab Gulf states into the conflict, as well as Yemen and Lebanon. Pezeshkian began his speech holding a photo of Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on 28 February in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli attack. He also shared photographs of Iranian children killed by US air strikes and their graves.
Board of Peace plans $2.4bn Gaza reconstruction as Israel kills seven
Violations against Palestinians in Gaza continue even as world leaders call on Israel to adhere to ceasefire deal.
No breakthrough in US-Iran contacts yet, but exchange of ideas continues — Rubio
According to the US Secretary of State, the United States always remains open to talking to almost anyone in the world about a conflict, or a crisis, or some disagreement
BP Stock Gains Amid JPMorgan Upgrade, Oil Rally - BP (NYSE:BP)
BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) shares are trading higher Wednesday afternoon as benchmark crude prices gain on stalling Middle Eastern diplomatic talks and an analyst upgrade. Here’s what investors need to know. - BP stock is showing upward movement. What’s pushing BP stock higher? Geopolitical Risk Premiums and Crude Realizations Energy commodities advanced Wednesday amid a perceived lack of progress in U.S.-Iran peace discussions taking place alongside high-level United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York. Tensions remained elevated following the arrival of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday and following his UN address on Wednesday, as formal talks between Washington and Tehran yielded no concrete ceasefire framework. Striking a firm stance on past diplomacy, Pezeshkian said Iran has repeatedly joined negotiations, but accused opposing powers of acting against agreements reached. “We have only defended ourselves,” he said. The pause in diplomatic momentum has reintroduced a geopolitical risk premium into Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate futures. Because BP’s upstream extraction and operational costs remain largely fixed regardless of short-term market swings, higher crude prices flow directly to net profit margins. JPMorgan Upgrades BP to Overweight Further fueling Wednesday’s move higher, JPMorgan upgraded BP from Neutral to Overweight and raised its price target significantly from 550 pence to 675 pence (about $54 for ADS shares). In a note to clients, JPMorgan analyst Matthew Lofting acknowledged that BP’s “recent history has been chequered” by strategic inconsistencies and balance sheet constraints. However, the bank views current commodity market conditions and BP’s internal restructuring program as “a major opportunity to lower macro procyclicality and high-grade fundamentals into 2028”. The firm expects BP’s deleveraging efforts to accelerate starting in the second half of 2026, noting that repairing the balance sheet is a non-negotiable starting point that should ultimately bring its gearing metrics in line with industry peers by the end of 2027. BP Stock Rises Wednesday Afternoon BP Price Action: BP shares were up 2.97% at $44.37 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data. Image: Shutterstock © 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.
Jerusalem Daily: World leaders condemn Israel at UN
Palestinians protest Israel’s prison visit bans as settler pogroms continue across the occupied West Bank.
'We will never bow our head': Iran's president strikes defiant tone in UN speech
'We will never bow our head': Iran's president strikes defiant tone in UN speech Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that Tehran will never “bow its head” to US threats but is open to diplomacy, a day after President Donald Trump threatened to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic. Addressing Trump directly, Pezeshkian said the US leader “must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying. We will never bow our head[s] or bend at the knee”. Israel and the US attacked Iran in February amid negotiations over its nuclear programme. The war has dragged on, with two ceasefires collapsing, and pulled Arab Gulf states into the conflict, as well as Yemen and Lebanon. Pezeshkian began his speech holding a photo of Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on 28 February in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli attack. He also shared photographs of Iranian children killed by US air strikes and their graves. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters US strikes on the Minab elementary school killed at least 150 people, including approximately 120 children. A US strike that discharged thousands of tungsten pellets also targeted a sports complex in the southern Iranian city of Lamerd. A UN fact-finding mission said earlier this month that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the strikes amounted to war crimes. Pezeshkian defends nuclear programme Pezeshkian reaffirmed Iran’s denial of long-standing US claims that Tehran sponsors terrorism. “Those who are terrorists, and train and protect terrorists, describe us as such. We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists,” he said. “America and Israel attacked us.” “For the past two centuries, Iran has not attacked any territory or any country,” he said. “Now, we are labelled terrorists”. The US has cited several justifications for its war on Iran. The Trump administration has claimed that Tehran was close to developing a nuclear weapon, despite boasting that it had destroyed Iran’s nuclear programme in June 2025 strikes. Pezeshkian reaffirmed Tehran’s claim that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon but will not give up a civilian nuclear programme. “Iran does not accept for nuclear technology to be at the exclusive disposal of some,” he said. “We will not bow our head and give up the right that is inherently ours. We say it clearly: no nuclear weapons and no limitations to peaceful nuclear technology.” Pezeshkian accused the US and Israel of hypocrisy for trying to constrain Iran’s nuclear programme while allowing Israel to maintain a nuclear arsenal. Israel does not admit to having nuclear weapons, but is widely understood to. “Atomic and nuclear bombs are in the hands of the Israeli regime, but the inspectors are requested to come to Iran,” he said. “The nuclear weapon is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran. Israel kills, but Iran is subject to sanctions,” he said. “They kill. We are sanctioned. We are punished”. Iran needs a 'powerful' military for defence The Trump administration also justified its attacks claiming that Iran’s ballistic missile programme is a threat to the US. Pezeshkian said Iran would maintain a “powerful” military to deter threats. “Iran must be powerful, so as to avoid being threatened,” he said. “We do not wish to use our power for hegemony.” “Our defensive systems have been built so that no one can think that the bombing of Iranian cities can go unanswered,” he said. Pezeshkian also said that the Islamic Republic has the overwhelming support of its population, saying the US and Israel were behind protests that engulfed the country at the start of the year, which the Trump administration also used to justify its attack. “The people of Iran have been in the street demonstrating in support of their homeland,” he said, adding that pro-government demonstrators were on guard for those “equipped, armed and trained by America and Israel to cause insecurity in our country”. 'Strait of Hormuz will not be used for aggression' US and Iranian officials met on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Iranian state media framed the meeting as direct engagement, and Trump's statements appeared to confirm that. The US then reframed the meeting as indirect. Iran submitted new terms to the US to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a flashpoint in the conflict, with both the US and Iran imposing rival blockades in the waterway, a critical chokepoint for global energy flows. An Iranian official told AFP that Tehran’s preconditions had hardened to include the immediate release of $24bn in frozen funds and an end to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of territory controlled by Yemen’s Houthis, who are a key Iranian ally. The June ceasefire extension that Iran and the US sealed broke down over the summer in part over Iran’s attempt to solidify its control over the Strait of Hormuz, where it wants to impose a toll on ships. “In the Strait of Hormuz, we can’t let some have free access and gain their interests from a waterway, while at the same time using that waterway to impose their aggressions upon us… to forbid us access to our own waterways,” Pezeshkian said. The US’s Arab Gulf allies have borne the brunt of Iranian reprisals for US-Israeli attacks. Earlier this week, Qatar and the UAE said Iran needed to be engaged and called for a new security framework. Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
Israel’s destruction leaves Lebanon’s border villages in ruins
Israel’s destruction leaves Lebanon’s border villages in ruins
Syria’s al-Sharaa warns Israeli attacks endanger delicate post-war recovery
President Ahmed al-Sharaa calls for Israeli withdrawal, condemning its attacks as Syria emerges from civil war.
US envoy walks out on Pezeshkian UN speech slamming war on Iran
As Iran’s president began his speech at the UN General Assembly, an official from the US delegation walked out.
Yemeni government in military and diplomatic push to reverse Houthi gains
Government claims battlefield advances as diplomats attempt to put anti-Houthi fight at UN centre stage.
Iran's president tells Trump it will never 'bend the knee'
Iran's president tells Trump it will never 'bend the knee' - Published Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has told the UN General Assembly that it will never "bend the knee" after almost seven months of war with the US and Israel, but is ready for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Responding to US President Donald Trump's threat to "annihilate" the Islamic Republic if a deal is not reached soon, Pezeshkian said: "He must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying." He also insisted any deal would have to include an end to the US blockade of Iranian ships and ports. "It cannot be the case that everyone benefits from the Strait of Hormuz while we are denied access," he said. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas shipments usually pass, has effectively been closed since the start of the war in late February due to Iranian missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels and the US blockade. The US and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to end the war and reopen the strait in June, but it collapsed within weeks after the Iranian attacks on shipping resumed and the US reinstated its blockade. On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff held indirect talks brokered by Qatari mediators on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Witkoff said he hoped the discussions – the first since June – would "prove constructive and promising", adding that the mediators would continue their work. But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai said the talks were "not anything new" and that Araghchi had maintained Iran's conditions, including the end of the US blockade and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
Two Straits, One Bill: Washington And Beijing Are Paying For The Same Blockade – OpEd
Two Straits, One Bill: Washington And Beijing Are Paying For The Same Blockade – OpEd Key Takeaways: - The author says Monday’s two Hormuz transits (vs. ~125 a day before Feb. 28) and 48 Bab al-Mandeb commodity ships last weekend show the U.S. and China still share the same oil-and-freight pipes even as they split on chips and AI; Ghalibaf ties a Hormuz reopening to Tehran’s terms, a senior Iranian official floated a week if Washington eases pressure, Brent closed at $97.69, and Lloyd’s said escorts would still cap flows under 10% of normal. - Houthi control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and Perim Island, Trump’s refusal to strike them at MBS’s request, Saudi loadings down from 7.5 to ~2.1 million b/d, and an East–West pipeline only just restarted after a Sept. 13 drone hit are tied to China’s Q2 crude imports at 8.1 million b/d (−32%) and U.S. August inflation of 3.4% (gasoline +27.4%, diesel over $6, Fed hike to 3.75–4%). Shanghai–West Coast spots are up 129% since late February. - August Chinese exports to the U.S. still rose 34.4%; soybean buys are halfway to 25 million tonnes, and rare-earth controls lapse Nov. 10. The proposed summit bargain: Xi lean on Tehran to reopen Hormuz in return for extending that truce—keep tech on a decoupling list, keep fuel, food, and ships on a shared one. On Monday, two commercial vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war began on February 28, about 125 made the crossing every day. At the other end of the Arabian Peninsula, 48 commodity vessels crossed the Bab al-Mandeb over the weekend, down from 57 the weekend before. Xi Jinping lands in Washington this week for a summit with Donald Trump. Both men will arrive with economies being taxed by the same two stretches of water, and neither government controls either one. A decade of American strategy has assumed that the US and Chinese economies can be pried apart, sector by sector, until Chinese distress stops being an American problem. For semiconductors and frontier AI, that separation is policy, and it is defensible. For oil, grain and the ordinary goods that fill container ships, the past seven months have shown something else. The two economies are tied to the same infrastructure. When it breaks, they fail together. Look at who decides whether that infrastructure works. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has warned that Hormuz stays blocked until Tehran’s demands are met. On Tuesday, a senior Iranian official said the strait could reopen within a week if Washington eased military pressure and lifted its blockade of Iranian ports. Brent crude fell to $97.69 a barrel on that remark alone, its first close below $100 since September 9. Two tankers were attacked in the strait that same day. Even under naval escort, Lloyd’s List calculated, transits would be capped below 10 percent of normal volumes. The Red Sea exit is now held by a militia. In a few days this month the Houthis took Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast, six districts covering 5,400 square kilometres, and seized Mayun (Perim) Island at the mouth of the strait. At talks in Muscat, Houthi representatives told American officials their restrictions would apply only to Saudi-linked vessels. Trump twice turned down Mohammed bin Salman’s requests to strike them. The effect on Riyadh has been severe. Saudi crude loadings fell from 7.5 million barrels a day in January and February to about 2.1 million by mid-September. The East-West pipeline, the kingdom’s route around Hormuz, was shut by a drone attack on September 13 and restarted only on Tuesday, at reduced capacity. China takes 22 percent of Saudi crude. Roughly half of its oil imports come from the Middle East, and more than 90 percent arrive by sea. The US Energy Information Administration found that Chinese crude imports averaged 8.1 million barrels a day in the second quarter, 32 percent below the first. In May and June they fell below 8 million for the first time since 2016. Beijing’s strategic reserves cushioned the blow, but they cannot replace a trade route. Americans are paying at the pump and at the bank. Headline inflation reached 3.4 percent in August. Gasoline was up 27.4 percent from a year earlier and accounted for more than a third of the monthly rise. US diesel has topped $6 a gallon. On September 16 the Federal Reserve raised rates to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent, its first increase in three years. Shipping costs added to the strain: Lloyd’s List reported that spot rates from Shanghai to the US West Coast had risen 129 percent from late-February levels, and much of that increase came from fuel. Advocates of decoupling have one strong counterpoint, and the piece should face it. If the two economies were really tied together, tariffs would have loosened the tie by now. They haven’t. In August, Chinese exports to the United States rose 34.4 percent to $42.5 billion, and China’s global surplus reached $119.1 billion. Four years of tariffs moved some of the supply chain, but the goods still reach America, on ships that pay the same war-risk premiums and bunker prices as everyone else. Tariffs changed where the goods come from. The ships, and the risks at sea, stayed the same. The trade relationship built since May is small, but it works as a buffer. Beijing agreed to buy 25 million tonnes of American soybeans a year and by mid-September had passed the halfway mark, although its buying of other crops has been selective. A bigger deadline follows the summit. China’s suspension of rare-earth export controls expires on November 10. If the truce breaks down, American manufacturers would face a magnet and metals shortage on top of an energy shock. Chinese factories would lose a US market that is still absorbing their output while their fuel bills climb. That is two supply shocks at once, and the Fed has just shown how little room it has left. The summit agenda already includes Chinese purchases of Iranian oil. Washington treats them as grounds for punishment. They are also leverage. Beijing is Tehran’s largest customer, and a Hormuz that stays shut costs China more than it costs the United States, which exports oil. A commitment from Xi to press Tehran on reopening the strait, in return for an extension of the truce and the rare-earth suspension past November, would do more for American gasoline prices than another tariff schedule. It would also test whether Beijing will spend influence to protect a trade route it depends on. None of this touches export controls on advanced chips, and it shouldn’t. The case is for keeping two lists: one for technology, where separation is deliberate, and one for fuel, food and freight, where it isn’t possible. Trump and Xi will spend this week discussing Taiwan, AI and soybeans. Meanwhile, a speaker in Tehran and a militia on Perim Island decide how much both countries pay for fuel. The leaders can compete over the first list and still agree to protect the second. Like what you read? Please consider supporting Eurasia Review. Thank you for your consideration!
‘They kill, we are punished’: Iran calls out Western hypocrisy
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused Israel and the US of applying ‘double standards’.
Iran opposes restrictions on access to peaceful nuclear technology — Pezeshkian
The Iranian president emphasized that the issue of the country's nuclear program must be resolved not on the battlefield, but through a mutual agreement
Iran: Strait of Hormuz won’t be used to ‘impose insecurity on us’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly that ‘warfare knows no borders’.
Security Council 2140 Committee Considers Two Ad Hoc Reports Submitted By Panel of Experts on Yemen Pursuant to Paragraphs 15, 16 of Resolution 2801 (2025)
On 31 August 2026, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) held informal consultations to consider two ad hoc reports of the Panel of Experts on Yemen, submitted pursuant to paragraphs 15 and 16 of resolution 2801 (2025), on the topics of: (i) dual-use components and precursor chemicals; and (ii) information sharing and vessel flag State capacity.
Where Will This All/Diesel End Up?
Where Will This All/Diesel End Up? By Michael Every of Rabobank Underlining how markets are now driven by geopolitics and geoeconomics, it’s all big names, big games, and big trades today. The UN general assembly is in session as the Wall Street Journal notes, ‘World leaders almost all agree on one thing: the UN is failing.’ Xi will also visit Trump: will those talks achieve anything substantive? Oil is down on hopes for ‘peace in our time.’ The Saudi east-west pipeline will start again at lower capacity, China warned the Houthis not to block the Red Sea, Trump negotiators held a “very productive” three-hour meeting with the Iranians in New York, Iran floated reopening Hormuz in seven days if the US lifts its blockade, and Ukraine’s Zelenskyy stated Kyiv and Washington want that other war to end “before winter” and is ready for an “energy ceasefire.” Yet elsewhere the question looks like ‘war at what time?’ Iran has hardened its demands for ending the war, and Trump just publicly threatened it with “annihilation”, then met with the Arab states expected to attack Tehran alongside it if that were to occur. Qatar is urging diplomacy as the Gulf enters “one of the most dangerous phases.” Ukraine’s press reports ‘Russia's rigged election gives Putin a mandate for all-out war’. In Russia, two more oil refineries were just hit, and bomb shelters in Moscow and St Petersburg are quietly being modernized. The US, Greenland, and Denmark signed a security deal that will see expanded US military bases and a larger NATO presence. UK PM Burnham did a U-turn on the Chagos islands deal after being told it was “terrible” by Trump, which is important but not market moving; his refusing to rule out rejoining the EU could be both - and he might notice Argentina considering new submarines and frigates. The Senate Armed Services Committee chair has criticized the planned pageantry around the Trump-Xi meeting, which was not offered in Beijing in equal measure: but larger questions swirl around tariffs, rare earths, AI, and Taiwan. The Hong Kong press wonders if both men can use their leverage --recall ‘Who has the cards?’ was our 2026 theme this time last year-- to make progress. Do recall that in April 2017, when the two men first met in the US to talk trade and North Korea, Trump, over “a beautiful piece of chocolate cake”, told Xi that he had just launched 59 cruise missiles at Syria in response to its government’s use of chemical weapons against its own people. Today, could the US spare 59 missiles for the same level of opponent? Ahead of that key meeting, speaking to our zeitgeist, Brazil's President Lula used his UN speech to warn against any foreign interference in his country’s upcoming presidential elections. Much is at stake there in both domestic policy and geostrategic terms. Trump and Japan’s PM Takaichi met to reaffirm their close geopolitical and geoeconomic alliance. That now encompasses the BOJ and the Yen carry trade too: on which note, Japan’s big banks' domestic loan share is seeing its first sustained post-1991 bubble burst rise, exactly what the White House and Takaichi want as (defence) industry investment rises. Nearby, South Korea’s President Lee urged the US to ease North Korea sanctions to encourage it to freeze its nuclear programs; and the EU announced it was moving towards an initial FTA with the Philippines, which sits within the US bloc in Asia – it just received a coastguard vessel from Taiwan, for example. Where will this all end up? Markets must wait for the results of the big-name big game. Relatedly, where will diesel end up? That question must be asked again today after Trump backed calls to halt US exports of refined products to address record high prices at home. Treasury Secretary Bessent said officials are now looking into if a total or partial diesel export ban is feasible. As argued yesterday, in an integrated global energy market, such binary action wouldn’t achieve anything good for the US. However, why assume that backdrop? The US didn’t export any crude at all from 1975 to 2015: shocking to some, perhaps, but true. Yes, the US wants to use “energy domination” as a strategic tool, which requires sharing it - yet why share with everybody, if to your own detriment? Today, why couldn’t the US opt for a partial, geopolitical diesel export ban and use economic statecraft like the Defence Production Act, to keep up refinery output of the ‘right’ products, more Jones Act waivers, to get fuel from the US Gulf to its west and northeast, and new state-backed mandated land and floating storage facilities at home and even regionally, if needed? “Because markets?” If that is your answer, please recognize that such ideological thinking, for that is what it is at root, limits the ability to project potential future market outcomes, and sometimes expensively so. Indeed, note that after Trump floated purchasing cheaper Belarussian potash, ‘elbows up’ liberal-world-order PM Carney floated his country and the US forming a self-reliant bloc for fertilisers. That is exactly what the US wants to do – but for far more than fertilisers, and with more countries than just Canada. For example, Mexico’s President Sheinbaum just had a “very good” call with Trump and touted progress towards a trade deal with what are rumored to be much tighter regional rules of origin. As such, why not with refined crude products too? That doesn’t mean such a strand of US grand macro strategy would be well implemented – but that fact also doesn’t rule out it ever happening. Meanwhile, against the above backdrop, the Fed’s Collins stated, “I now see an increased likelihood of future scenarios in which inflation remains notably above 2%.” To repeat what was said yesterday, the big trade is to correctly predict the big-name big game, not what a small-picture thinker like a central banker is saying long after the geopolitical facts were obvious. If certain deals are struck, if certain countries are struck, if certain market flows are struck, energy prices can change dramatically – and then, suddenly, central bankers will be saying very different things. Those who listen only to them will think they are ahead of the curve rather than seeing they are behind the geopolitical and geoeconomic ones. Tyler Durden Wed, 09/23/2026 - 11:00
Pezeshkian Lashes Out In UN Speech: The Nuclear Bombs Are In Israel, But Inspectors Sent To Iran
Pezeshkian Lashes Out In UN Speech: The Nuclear Bombs Are In Israel, But Inspectors Sent To Iran Summary: Pezeshkian Addresses UN As expected, the United States delegation immediately walked out as Iran's president began speaking, in front of what was not a very well attended address to begin with. He listed out a series of war crimes by the US aggressor but an accompanying theme was Iranian defiance while under the bombs. He also featured the Minab girls school attack by the US, underscoring that innocent children were killed - but contrasting this with Iran's response, saying it did not hit civilian populations Iran's enemies have been make to learn we will not surrender, Pezeshkian declared. "They imposed the war on us, but we proved that we are not afraid of fighting a war, one that is defensive in nature." Another theme was the ongoing hypocrisy over the fact that "atomic and nuclear bombs are in the hands of the Israeli regime, but the inspectors are sent to Iran." Pezeshkian further recalled that Iran while behind the table of negotiations came under the surprise bombs of US and Israeli warplanes. He repeated that "Israel has the [nuclear] bombs... and has not allowed a single inspection, yet they are rewarded." He also said, "The US wants to sacrifice the population of a country in order to seek its illegitimate goals" and so "This will become a world much more dangerous for all of us." On Hormuz and the question of negotiations, he said that the strait cannot be used for passage of weapons that will be used against Iran. While Iran is ready for diplomacy it strands ready to keep using its military power, the Iranian leader said. Overall, the speech did not focus very heavily at all on the prospect of new talks with Washington - something perhaps intentionally left out to appease domestic hardliners in the Islamic Republic. * * * Watch: Iran's President Pezeshkian speaks Immediately upon the Iranian leaders starting his speech, the US delegation walks out. Earlier: We once again have differing versions of a key meeting in the aftermath of a significant and rare US and Iranian diplomatic encounter. The Tuesday 3-hour meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York was headed by Tehran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, and on the other side by Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The US side had called the talks "very productive" - with the suggestion that the Iranians were in the mood to compromise for the sake of achieving a swift ceasefire and peace deal. However, The Guardian reports Wednesday, "Iran has pushed back on claims that it dropped former preconditions for reopening the strait of Hormuz in surprise talks held in New York under the mediation of Qatar...". via AFP"Trump said the three-hour talks held in a room at the UN headquarters had gone very well and been very productive," the report continues. "He suggested further talks were possible imminently, which led to the price of a barrel of Brent crude to fall to below $100 (£75) for the first time in two weeks. Witkoff said the talks had been ‘encouraging, constructive and successful.'" In Tehran, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei did not convey that there has been any shift in Iran's negotiating position: "The interaction that took place with the American side was through Qatari mediation. This interaction was aimed at conveying Iran’s conditions, including the end of the war in all its dimensions, the cessation of American aggressive actions, the naval siege, and the economic war, the release of Iranian assets and so on." The Iranian delegation conveyed to the US side the precise five conditions that Tehran has been pushing all along, the Iranian official insisted.. Among the 'biggest asks' - which the Trump administration has thus far shown openness to - is the release of all Iranian frozen assets. Instead, Trump and his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have only sought to tighten the anti-Tehran noose with 'Economic D-Day' and secondary sanctions targeting anyone still doing business with Iran. On Sept. 20, the Iranian parliament speaker said that Tehran had "clearly communicated" its strict conditions to Washington via mediators: The chief negotiator warned that there would be “no return to the previous negotiating framework or reopening of the Strait of Hormuz” unless Iran's preconditions were met. “We must both fight and negotiate,” Qalibaf said in remarks to the parliament, criticizing what he described as approaches that offer “no clear path to ending” the conflict. “This view…effectively takes the country toward an endless, exhausting war.” Iranian 'hardliners' are said to be outraged upon learning of the Tuesday Kushner-Witkoff meeting, and so much of Tehran's messaging in the aftermath has also been geared for domestic consumption: Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi's move in dealing with Witkov was done without coordination with the relevant authorities, according to Tasnim, citing sources US state-funded RFERL has listed out the following responses from within Iran: Some called for impeachment proceedings to be launched though they were not clear if they wanted Araqchi or Pezeshkian out of office. One user charged that the meeting was “an even bigger mistake” than Pezeshkian traveling to the US for the UN General Assembly. “If anyone’s met and negotiated with the Americans, they better stay there. [Iran] is a country for honorable people,” wrote Vahid Azizi, an economist and former official at the Iranian National Tax Administration under hard-line late president Ebrahim Raisi. Hard-line commentator Mohsen Maqsudi said it was “sheer stupidity” to negotiate with Washington while “under threat” and cause a drop in oil prices. Tehran has been hoping that the rise in fuel costs will pressure Trump into ending the war. Hardliners ask: why negotiate with the Americans at all, and why provide optics which will push down the price of oil? Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei has sought to calm domestic criticisms on Wednesday: “If the United States does not comply,” he said, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed and negotiations will not resume. He added that the U.S. must first “earn the trust of the Iranian people.” Today, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, we engaged in lengthy talks with the Iranian delegation through the mediators, who shuttled between the two sides throughout the day. They successfully completed a round of discussions that we hope will prove… — Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (@SEPeaceMissions) September 22, 2026 Like Washington, the Iranian side does not want to 'endless war' - but has also vowed to outlast the Trump administration. The US President himself has lately conceded that the Iranians are waiting till after the November midterm elections to strike a deal, expecting that the Republics will lose Congress. Tyler Durden Wed, 09/23/2026 - 10:46