Saudi Arabia began seesawing its crude oil exports back east before the Petroline was even hit. They got TWICE AS MUCH (2Mbpd would have been plenty enough for refining) amount of crude flowing through the Petroline pipelines within a little over a week, and likely a sufficient amount sooner than that.

ARAMCO has 24/365 access to spare parts for every single little piece of infrastructure.

Iranian customs data reviewed by The Wall Street Journal lists around 1,300 shipments of dual use components sent from China to Iran's defense ministry between January and June 2026.

Among them were electronics with applications in drones and missile guidance systems.

One shipment cleared into Tehran on the same day Beijing was publicly touting its role in easing tensions in the Middle East.

China has become the only major buyer of Iranian oil, despite U.S. sanctions meant to stop the flows, providing billions of dollars for Tehran this year. Chinese front companies help launder the funds, while Chinese banks route the transactions through the country’s financial plumbing, using China’s currency, to evade U.S. oversight, U.S. officials and people familiar with the flows say.

On the battlefield, satellite imagery procured from Chinese entities has been linked by U.S. officials to an Iranian strike that killed three American troops, the Journal has reported. Chinese companies have also helped provide chemical precursors used to manufacture the types of ballistic missiles used in the attack, according to a document viewed by the Journal and people familiar with the matter.

The actions illustrate a level of Chinese support for Iran that hasn’t been previously reported or publicly acknowledged by the Trump administration. That support has helped extend a conflict that is increasing global energy prices, draining weapons stockpiles and heaping pressure on Trump ahead of the midterm elections.

Beijing said it consistently abides by international rules and opposes “attempts to smear China by associating it with the conflict.” It said China maintains cooperation with Iran and supports all efforts toward peace in the Middle East.

In the past, China has said it strictly regulates the export of dual-use components, which can serve both civilian and military purposes. It has said it rejects unilateral U.S. sanctions, including those that punish unauthorized trading of dual-use materials, saying the sanctions violate international law.

Iranian officials didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Washington has launched hundreds of sanctions targeting Iran since the war began on Feb. 28, including penalties against companies and individuals in China it believes are helping Tehran.

Those steps, along with an embargo of Iranian trade, have caused a contraction of Iran’s economy.

But the White House has proven reluctant to more seriously confront Beijing over its support for Iran, which has continued launching attacks on U.S. forces and oil infrastructure in the Middle East. Trump has made improved relations with Beijing a priority after a tariff war last year showed China has options to hurt the U.S. economy, including restricting American access to rare earth materials.

Ahead of this week’s summit, Trump told top officials and aides that maintaining good relations with Xi is a priority, people familiar with the discussions said.

As a result, senior officials have repeatedly played down the significance of Chinese aid to Iran, avoiding criticism of Beijing that could jeopardize the meeting.

Many within the administration believe the reluctance to take on Beijing is weakening America’s ability to pressure Tehran. Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have called on Trump to confront Xi more directly.

“There is now a large and growing body of evidence that Chinese companies are helping Iran target and kill American troops, keep Iran’s drone and missile programs alive, and sustain Iran’s economy,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, wrote in a letter to Trump on Friday that was shared with the Journal. She urged Trump to make Chinese support for Iran a “centerpiece” of his talks with Xi.

Trump brushed off concerns about Chinese support for Iran when asked earlier this month whether he would raise the issue with Xi. “I think he’s behaved reasonably well, and we behave reasonably well,” he said.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. and China would have “a very frank conversation” at the Xi-Trump summit. “We’ll talk about everything that’s relevant. We’ll talk about everything that’s important,” he said.

“The idea that we would not interact with them at the highest levels is irresponsible.”

A spokesperson for the Treasury Department said it maintains an active channel with Chinese counterparts and won’t hesitate to act when warranted.

“This administration has repeatedly targeted malign Iran-related activity that exploits or transits China’s jurisdiction and will continue to do so,” the spokesperson said.  

The White House has said it is working aggressively to disrupt and penalize anyone who does business with the Iranian regime.

In backing Iran, Beijing hopes to undermine Washington’s diplomatic standing and draw down U.S. weapons inventories, weakening it militarily, political analysts say. Yet China is also wary of going too far.

It values economic ties with America, and as the world’s largest energy importer, China suffers if the oil shock caused by the conflict drags on, political analysts say.  

Air shipments

The shipments to Iran’s defense ministry that were reviewed by the Journal are part of a surge in flights with cargo from China to Iran this year.

The air bridge has become a crucial supply route for Iran’s drone and ballistic-missile programs as the U.S. Navy blocks Iranian sea trade, defense experts say.

The shipments have arrived at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport. The boxes are packed with GPS tracking devices, electric motors and aircraft engine parts, according to Iranian customs records provided by trade database ImportGenius.

Records from January 2025 to the end of June this year show thousands of shipments to Iran’s defense ministry and Iranian companies of items that can be used to build drones and other weapons.

Many of the entries are marked with a reference to “Article 119,” a section in Iranian customs regulations that grants full tariff exemptions for armaments and defense imports.

China has offered economic and military support for Iran for decades. But the two sides deepened ties after the Trump administration in 2018 launched a “maximum pressure” campaign to cut Iranian oil exports to zero and force Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program.

The campaign included sanctions penalizing foreign entities that helped Iran, cutting them off from the U.S.-led global financial system.

Rejecting those rules, Tehran and Beijing signed a 25-year strategic pact in 2021. China became Iran’s biggest oil importer, buying up more than 80% of its crude exports, according to U.S. lawmakers.

An elaborate network of Chinese banks and Hong Kong shell companies evolved to help Iran evade sanctions and keep the oil flowing, the Journal has reported.

M/T Celestial Sea, an Iranian-flagged oil tanker.
U.S. Marines boarded an Iranian-flagged commercial oil tanker suspected of attempting to violate the U.S. blockade on May 20. USMC
Hong Kong said it enforces United Nations sanctions but not those imposed unilaterally by nations, which it says violate international law.

Chinese exporters of dual-use goods and electronics also began attending trade fairs in Iran, translating their corporate slogans into Farsi to build local ties, according to an analysis of social-media posts by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

In the following years, Chinese companies produced for Iran chemical materials such as sodium perchlorate, which is used to make propellant for ballistic missiles.

The exports became more important for Iran after Israel largely destroyed its missile program in attacks in 2024, forcing the regime to replenish its arsenal.

The sales became widely known when the Journal and other media reported on them in 2025.

U.S. forces later that year raided a ship carrying dual-use components from China to Iran, signaling that Washington was watching.

One Chinese company that attempted to sell chemical materials, Haokun Energy, told a U.S.-sanctioned importer of products for Iran last December that exports of sodium perchlorate required government licenses.

It said it had coordinated with Chinese authorities “to process part of the licenses confidentially,” Haokun wrote in a letter viewed by the Journal.

Treasury had earlier sanctioned Haokun and the importer for helping Iran sell oil to China. The December letter said Haokun had set up a Beijing-based shell company for the sodium perchlorate transaction.

The Journal verified the company was established weeks before the letter’s date. It couldn’t be determined if the deal progressed.

Haokun didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Material for Shaheds

Days before the U.S.-Iran war began, Iranian customs data showed a delivery of 300 tons of chemical compounds from China to Iran’s ministry of defense.

Once the war started, trade between Iran and China initially collapsed, according to Iranian customs data and Kpler, a research firm that tracks oil shipments.

The U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports, announced in April, further tightened the noose.

Tehran responded by expanding air links between China and Iran via Mahan Air, an Iranian airline sanctioned by the U.S. that Treasury says has ferried cash, weapons and personnel for Iran.

The airline increased flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to Tehran to about 27 a week by the end of April from four at the start of March, according to FlightRadar24 data.

Air shipments to Iran’s ministry of defense accelerated, customs data show. Mahan didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Researchers who track trade with Iran say the shipments involve little-known Chinese suppliers working with Iranian importers.

Some of the components on offer are known to be used to make Shahed drones, said Kate Koren, deputy director of the economics program at CSIS in Washington. The cheap but deadly Iranian drones have caused significant damage to U.S. bases.

In a soon-to-be-published report, Koren said she found several Chinese companies that had publicly advertised sales this year for sensitive electronics, including those found in the Shahed.

In May, Treasury sanctioned Chinese and Hong Kong-based companies it said were trying to help Iran acquire weapons, including shoulder-fired missile launchers.

A video posted that month on Iran’s Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, showed members of the militia getting training on how to use the missile launchers, known as manpads, to shoot down U.S. fighter jets.

Iran currently operates manpads that it manufactures inside the country based on older Chinese versions, according to former Treasury officials.

But Iranian officials want access to China’s latest models, which are more effective, the former officials said.

Over the following weeks, U.S. officials sanctioned more Chinese individuals and companies for procuring weapons for Iran’s military and the IRGC.

One of the procurement networks tried to buy manpads for Iran’s Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation, which works to adapt foreign-made weapons to be produced at home, U.S. officials said.

The group tried to deliver the manpads to Iran via Belarus to obfuscate the Iranian end-user, but it wasn’t successful, U.S. officials said.

‘I trust them’

On June 17, the U.S. and Iran signed a 60-day truce. Days later, Iranian customs noted air shipments from China with more than $6 million of electronics components that the U.S. government has said are used for a variety of military purposes, including in flight control units for precision-guided weapons.

In July, the U.S. added new sanctions on individuals and companies working for Mahan Air, including a China-based company it said acted as a sales agent for the airline, coordinating the transport of electronics.

The U.S. issued more than 100 additional sanctions that month.

But divisions were deepening within the administration over how hard to press China.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers in July that China, along with Russia, was enabling Iran “at different levels.”

Days later, Trump pushed back. “I don’t know that they’re enabling,” he said, insisting that Xi had personally assured him China wouldn’t provide Iran with weapons.

“I trust them,” he said of Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “There could be some things they do. But thus far, at least, it has not been major.”

The same week, after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila, Rubio told reporters that “nothing that China has done has in any way changed the trajectory” of the conflict.

Beijing had in some instances been “quite cooperative,” he said.

Behind the scenes, U.S. officials were trying to tighten the screws on support for Iran involving China.

In one episode, U.S. officials identified sales of petrochemical products from Iran to Egypt, being paid for with U.S. dollars, violating U.S. sanctions.

The transactions were handled through the United Arab Emirates branch of Banque Misr, an Egyptian state-owned bank, according to several people familiar with the transactions.

Treasury authorities sent warnings to the bank to stop, the people said.

Instead, Banque Misr switched the payments to China’s yuan currency. They were to be cleared through the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, a Chinese financial network in which transactions are harder for U.S. authorities to track, the people said.

The plans eventually failed, as U.S. officials became aware of them, communicating their disapproval to Egyptian officials, according to the people.

Treasury later went after Banque Misr, calling its U.A.E. branch “a critical node” for Tehran’s financial activities and moving to cut its access to U.S. dollars.

Egypt’s foreign ministry and Banque Misr said they were communicating with U.S. authorities about Treasury’s allegations. Banque Misr added that it respects “relevant regulatory and legal frameworks.”

The episode created tension between China and Egypt, with Beijing suspicious that Egyptian officials had shared information with the Americans, people aware of the details said.

Xi himself brought the issue up in a summit with Egypt’s president in Cairo earlier this month, one of the people added.

Satellite images

Some Trump officials and U.S. national security officials still thought the U.S. wasn’t doing enough.

Concerns grew more urgent after U.S. officials concluded Iran had used Chinese satellite imagery before and after a July 17 strike that killed three U.S. troops, linking it directly to the attack.

The Trump administration had already sanctioned three Chinese satellite-imagery companies in May for providing data it said could help Iran target U.S. forces.

In late August, Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched “Operation Economic Outcast,” a program to “sever every economic lifeline” sustaining the Iranian regime.

The U.S. added sanctions against a China-owned oil tanker that transported Iranian oil and a network of Chinese companies and individuals that helped Iran obtain critical components.

But no major Chinese companies were targeted.

When reporters twice asked Bessent whether the administration would strengthen sanctions against Chinese banks and businesses, Bessent declined to single out China, saying that “every country” should be prepared to face U.S. sanctions.

Although the U.S. blockade has made it much harder for Iran to export oil, some keeps flowing to China.

About four million barrels were delivered to China in the week after “Operation Economic Outcast” was launched, according to Kpler calculations.

Mahan Air, meanwhile, flew from China to Iran 39 times in the first week of September, double its prewar level, according to FlightRadar24.

Many of the flights appear to be focused only on cargo, rather than moving passengers.

Many tracked by FlightRadar24 in early September, for example, weren’t available for booking on the airline’s website.

Last week, Iranian state-affiliated media said Mahan would suspend flights to Oman and Turkey. But the airline continues to fly to China.

A Hamas commander who held seven Israeli hostages in captivity during the war was killed in a strike in Gaza City over the weekend, the military announces.

The strike killed Mahmoud Abd al-Fattah Awad, who the military says held hostages Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Doron Steinbrecher, Naama Levy, Ziv Berman, Omri Miran, and Eitan Mor in a tunnel in Gaza City.

Recently, the Hamas commander planned and advanced attacks on troops and Israeli civilians, and acted to restore Hamas capabilities, "in systematic violation of the ceasefire," the military says.

Separately, the army also confirms killing Hamas's chief financial officer in southern Gaza yesterday.

Muhammad Abu Alwan, who served as head of the terror group's finance department, directed the transfer of over a billion dollars to Hamas during the war, according to the IDF and Shin Bet, "making him a key figure in maintaining the terrorist organization’s rule and survival."

Abu Alwan had also been involved in restore Hamas infrastructure, in violation of the truce, the military says.

Gulf states are split over how to handle a restart of U.S.-Iran talks.

Qatar is lobbying the Trump administration for negotiations and has floated a seven day pause in fighting that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Oman is behind a phased reopening and a diplomatic solution.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE want economic pressure and sanctions on Tehran maintained.

Riyadh's position is that Iran should absorb more pressure before any agreement, citing attacks on Gulf shipping and Houthi actions in Yemen.

WSJ

DUBAI—Efforts to rekindle talks to end the war between the U.S. and Iran are running into resistance from major Persian Gulf oil producers that have swung against any accommodation of Tehran, people familiar with the matter said.

Mediators including Qatar are pressing for a fresh round of talks in Oman as soon as next week to try to get Washington and Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and start the process of winding down the war.

President Trump said Tuesday he believed the two sides would meet again soon.

Gulf countries generally agree that Trump shouldn’t escalate militarily against Iran.

But oil kingpin Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are lobbying the Trump administration to keep up the economic pressure on Iran and not agree to concessions that would ease sanctions or the U.S. Navy blockade, the people said.

Saudi Arabia, in particular, is facing new obstacles in getting its oil to market after Iran’s Houthi militia allies in Yemen began squeezing the kingdom’s shipments through the Red Sea.

The pressure from the Gulf is adding to a host of other impediments to a deal.

They include Trump’s own inclination to maintain the blockade, concerns in Tehran that any talks would just be a delaying action for the U.S. to get past the midterm elections before returning to the attack, and an increasingly belligerent tone from Iranian hard-liners as U.S. economic pressure bites down harder, the people said.

“There may be no greater force pushing the GCC to conform with U.S. sanctions than the regime reactivating the Houthi threat to their south after months of having blocked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank, referring to the Gulf states.

“These are the costs and consequences of Iran overplaying its hand.”

A White House official said the sanctions and blockade had left the U.S. in a strong position with Iran.

“While President Trump is open to talking with Iran under the right circumstances, he has no need to negotiate with the Iranians,” the official said.

Arab states led by Saudi Arabia had pushed through the summer for negotiations with Iran and were even willing to countenance a deal that acknowledged some Iranian sway over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital sea lane for their oil exports.

But Tehran’s attacks on Saudi ships in the waterway and its encouragement of efforts by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen to shut off an alternative route through the Red Sea have raised doubts in the Gulf that Iran could be serious about a deal, the people said.

That view was shared by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told American officials recently that the U.S. should continue with its blockade until Iran is compelled to sign a new agreement, some of the people said.

U.A.E. officials who previously said their Gulf state was eager to end the conflict diplomatically have also poured water on expectations for talks with Iran and said the flare-ups in regional violence and attacks on ships show Tehran is in no rush to return to diplomacy.

Gulf states shouldn’t be content with permanent Iranian control of the strait, they said.

Other Gulf states, mainly Oman and Qatar, argue the region already has suffered significantly and say proposals for a phased reopening of Hormuz and a halt to attacks on Gulf states are the only viable way to end the conflict.

Qatar has been working around the United Nations General Assembly to restart talks between Iran and the U.S.

Iran’s foreign minister landed in Doha on Sunday to discuss new proposals including a seven-day pause in fighting that could pave the way to end Iran’s attacks on shipping in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade, people familiar with the matter said.

That could be a nonstarter. The U.S. has regularly communicated to Qatar that Trump has no intention of lifting the maritime embargo, the people said.

Also, while Arab mediators said Iranian diplomats have presented a number of proposals to end the war and acknowledged the deepening economic crisis in their country, they said they are getting a different message from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has said it won’t entertain new formulas for an agreement and that it is prepared for a long war.

The Revolutionary Guard, which is tasked with defending the regime and dominates the power structure in Tehran, wants to return to the terms closer to the preliminary deal Trump struck with Iran in June.

That agreement promised to provide relief from sanctions on oil sales, grant access to Iran’s frozen assets and acknowledge a role for Tehran administering the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for opening the waterway.

The U.S. has told mediators it has no interest in returning to that deal and believes economic pressure will eventually force Tehran to sign an agreement with terms that are more favorable to Washington and Gulf states.

Gulf states are split over how to handle a restart of U.S.-Iran talks.

Qatar is lobbying the Trump administration for negotiations and has floated a seven day pause in fighting that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Oman is behind a phased reopening and a diplomatic solution.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE want economic pressure and sanctions on Tehran maintained.

Riyadh's position is that Iran should absorb more pressure before any agreement, citing attacks on Gulf shipping and Houthi actions in Yemen.

WSJ

DUBAI—Efforts to rekindle talks to end the war between the U.S. and Iran are running into resistance from major Persian Gulf oil producers that have swung against any accommodation of Tehran, people familiar with the matter said.

Mediators including Qatar are pressing for a fresh round of talks in Oman as soon as next week to try to get Washington and Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and start the process of winding down the war.

President Trump said Tuesday he believed the two sides would meet again soon.

Gulf countries generally agree that Trump shouldn’t escalate militarily against Iran.

But oil kingpin Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are lobbying the Trump administration to keep up the economic pressure on Iran and not agree to concessions that would ease sanctions or the U.S. Navy blockade, the people said.

Saudi Arabia, in particular, is facing new obstacles in getting its oil to market after Iran’s Houthi militia allies in Yemen began squeezing the kingdom’s shipments through the Red Sea.

The pressure from the Gulf is adding to a host of other impediments to a deal.

They include Trump’s own inclination to maintain the blockade, concerns in Tehran that any talks would just be a delaying action for the U.S. to get past the midterm elections before returning to the attack, and an increasingly belligerent tone from Iranian hard-liners as U.S. economic pressure bites down harder, the people said.

“There may be no greater force pushing the GCC to conform with U.S. sanctions than the regime reactivating the Houthi threat to their south after months of having blocked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank, referring to the Gulf states.

“These are the costs and consequences of Iran overplaying its hand.”

A White House official said the sanctions and blockade had left the U.S. in a strong position with Iran.

“While President Trump is open to talking with Iran under the right circumstances, he has no need to negotiate with the Iranians,” the official said.

Arab states led by Saudi Arabia had pushed through the summer for negotiations with Iran and were even willing to countenance a deal that acknowledged some Iranian sway over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital sea lane for their oil exports.

But Tehran’s attacks on Saudi ships in the waterway and its encouragement of efforts by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen to shut off an alternative route through the Red Sea have raised doubts in the Gulf that Iran could be serious about a deal, the people said.

That view was shared by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told American officials recently that the U.S. should continue with its blockade until Iran is compelled to sign a new agreement, some of the people said.

U.A.E. officials who previously said their Gulf state was eager to end the conflict diplomatically have also poured water on expectations for talks with Iran and said the flare-ups in regional violence and attacks on ships show Tehran is in no rush to return to diplomacy.

Gulf states shouldn’t be content with permanent Iranian control of the strait, they said.

Other Gulf states, mainly Oman and Qatar, argue the region already has suffered significantly and say proposals for a phased reopening of Hormuz and a halt to attacks on Gulf states are the only viable way to end the conflict.

Qatar has been working around the United Nations General Assembly to restart talks between Iran and the U.S.

Iran’s foreign minister landed in Doha on Sunday to discuss new proposals including a seven-day pause in fighting that could pave the way to end Iran’s attacks on shipping in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade, people familiar with the matter said.

That could be a nonstarter. The U.S. has regularly communicated to Qatar that Trump has no intention of lifting the maritime embargo, the people said.

Also, while Arab mediators said Iranian diplomats have presented a number of proposals to end the war and acknowledged the deepening economic crisis in their country, they said they are getting a different message from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has said it won’t entertain new formulas for an agreement and that it is prepared for a long war.

The Revolutionary Guard, which is tasked with defending the regime and dominates the power structure in Tehran, wants to return to the terms closer to the preliminary deal Trump struck with Iran in June.

That agreement promised to provide relief from sanctions on oil sales, grant access to Iran’s frozen assets and acknowledge a role for Tehran administering the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for opening the waterway.

The U.S. has told mediators it has no interest in returning to that deal and believes economic pressure will eventually force Tehran to sign an agreement with terms that are more favorable to Washington and Gulf states.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Iran will show no ​flexibility over its nuclear program even if the United States accepts its proposal to reopen ‌the Strait of Hormuz, which calls for steps including the lifting of a US naval blockade on Iranian ports, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the waterway would remain closed until “all of Iran’s conditions ​are met” by the United States.

Under Iran’s proposal, Tehran has offered to reopen the strategically vital Strait of ​Hormuz.

Within seven days, hostilities would end on all fronts, including Lebanon, the United ⁠States would lift its blockade on Iranian ports, release Iran’s frozen funds and waive its oil sanctions, Iran's ​Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday.

The proposal follows a sharp escalation in Middle East tensions after seven months ​of war between Iran and the United States, with Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen launching missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia.

The strait has become the central bargaining chip in efforts to end the US-Iran conflict, with Iran seeking relief from the US blockade ​that is choking its economy and Washington seeking free passage for ships on the global oil supply route ​now blocked by Tehran.

In a meeting with journalists on Thursday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian President Masoud ‌Pezeshkian said ⁠he hoped a deal with Washington to end the hostilities could be reached before the US midterm elections on November 3.

Tehran said it would be prepared to engage in detailed negotiations over its nuclear program only after its conditions are met by the US.

But the official said Iran would give no concessions over its rights, including ​enriching uranium or shipping its ​highly enriched uranium out ⁠of the country, one of the main US demands.

Israel, the United States and other Western states have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, including pointing to its ​move to enrich uranium to 60%, far higher than needed for civilian uses and ​closer to ⁠the 90% needed for a weapon.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that Iran had 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to 60% when Israel and the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025.

How much ⁠of ​that has survived is unclear.

Iranian authorities have said that Iran could agree ​to dilute its most highly enriched uranium.

In May, Reuters reported that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a directive that the country's ​HEU should not be sent abroad, according to two senior Iranian sources.

WASHINGTON POST: U.S. intelligence assesses that Saudi Arabia has not ruled out developing nuclear weapons, according to classified documents presented to Congress.

The assessment is raising new concerns on Capitol Hill as lawmakers review the U.S.-Saudi civilian nuclear agreement.

The Israeli military warns that it will continue to target Hamas members involved in financing the terror group's military wing.

Since the start of the war, the IDF says that it has killed 16 "key" Hamas financial officers, involved in transferring more than $1 billion in funds to the terror group and financing its military activities, "using a network of dozens of money changers in Turkey and the Gaza Strip."

"The IDF and Shin Bet are focusing efforts on harming the Hamas terror organization's financing capabilities, particularly preventing the rehabilitation of its infrastructure and military capabilities, while eliminating the network of money changers that finances Hamas's military wing," the army says.

The IDF says it warns residents of Gaza that "additional elements are operating in your area that continue to engage in financing efforts, fund transfers and advancing the military activities of the Hamas terror organization while putting your lives at risk."

In a warning to those transferring the funds to Hamas, the military says it will "continue to act against you and strike those who take a direct part in the financing mechanisms of Hamas's military activities, which are a target of IDF and Shin Bet operations."