Iran warns US preparing strikes, threatens retaliation — SkimNews

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- Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned on Sunday it had received information the US is preparing to resume strikes, raising the prospect of a new round of fighting after months of reduced direct attacks.
- Tehran threatened retaliation against American bases and interests in the Middle East and warned regional states that allowing their territory or facilities to support US attacks would be "considered complicit" and could face an Iranian response.
- Trump told Fox News he was in a "deciding mode" on Iran, listing further military action, economic pressure, or a deal as options, and said he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
- Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed Tehran for New York with a brief stopover in Qatar, while Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told lawmakers Tehran should use military force to push back opponents before turning to diplomacy.
- Iran told Qatari and Pakistani mediators its conditions for renewed talks include ending the war and US attacks, releasing frozen Iranian funds, and lifting the US naval blockade; Ghalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until Washington meets what Iran says are its earlier commitments.
- Shipping data showed only 12 commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, down from 35 the previous weekend; a 60-day June memorandum that reduced full-scale fighting expired last month, with attacks around Hormuz increasing since.
Why it matters: Hormuz shipping collapsed from 35 to 12 vessels in a single weekend, showing the confrontation is already constricting a key global energy route. Both sides are amplifying pressure ahead of the UN General Assembly — Iran with explicit retaliation threats, Trump with a public "deciding mode" — while Qatar shuttles between capitals to test whether diplomacy can outpace escalation.
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