Iran

Iran’s parliament approved Mehrdad Akhlaghi as the country’s new defence minister, according to Iranian state media and an AFP report published by Arab News. Akhlaghi, described as a longstanding official in the defence industry, replaces Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was killed during the opening phase of the war with the United States. During the confirmation process, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not yield to external pressure. Akhlaghi warned that miscalculations by Israel or the United States could trigger a substantial Iranian response.

Iran presented a proposal under which the Strait of Hormuz would reopen within seven days if the United States accepted Tehran’s conditions. According to Reuters, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the conditions included lifting the US blockade of Iranian ports, releasing frozen Iranian assets and waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales. Araghchi indicated that the strait could reopen on the sixth day, with negotiations beginning on the seventh. The proposal represents a diplomatic initiative linked to maritime access, sanctions and the wider conflict between Iran and the United States.

The intelligence department of Ilam province in western Iran announced, in a statement relayed by ISNA on Saturday, the arrest of 11 people in the Kurdish county of Malekshahi, saying they were organized in three groups and accused of firing on security forces, destroying property and taking part in the January 2026 protests, with links to the United States and Israel. Authorities offered no evidence for the accusations and did not disclose the detainees' identities, arrest timing, places of detention or legal status. They reported seizing weapons without detail and described the protests as a 'coup'.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that a supertanker able to carry around two million barrels hit a naval mine and exploded while trying to leave the Strait of Hormuz by the alternative southern route after switching off its navigation systems. The statement gave no detail on the tanker's identity, flag, the time of the incident, casualties or damage, and the article offers no independent confirmation. Iran had announced the strait's closure again on 12 July and threatened to target ships using routes other than those it designated or crossing without permission.

Amnesty International called on 16 October 2026 for urgent action, saying thousands of people were arrested over the January protests and at least 34 were executed. It said Iran's Supreme Court has upheld death sentences since March against at least 20 more defendants who face imminent execution, two of whom were under 18 at the time of the alleged acts. It added that defendants were tried on charges including moharebeh, denied lawyers before trial, and that forced confessions and torture were documented. The figures come from the organization and are not independently confirmed in the article.

On Friday 16 October 2026, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on the sidelines of a biodiversity convention conference in Armenia. He said Iran does not seek nuclear weapons and that US sanctions and war harmed the world. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran is sensitive to any US presence near its borders, and expressed confidence Armenia would take no step threatening Iranian security, according to Iran's Isna agency. One report links this to the "Trump Route" project.

Reuters reported on Friday 16 October 2026, citing four maritime security sources and ship-tracking analysis, that Iran has exported liquefied petroleum gas and jet fuel since July despite the US naval blockade. According to the report, cargoes were increasingly hidden among ship-to-ship transfers off Oman. United Against Nuclear Iran identified at least eight LPG tankers that left the Gulf of Oman since mid-July, carrying about 4.1 million barrels. A jet-fuel tanker reached Myanmar in September. Reuters said six of the eight gas tankers and the jet-fuel tanker are under US sanctions.

On Friday 16 October 2026, Iranian army commander Amir Hatami said Iran exerts full control over the Strait of Hormuz, with Revolutionary Guard naval forces covering its western side and the army navy its eastern side. He claimed three ships that tried to transit were attacked repeatedly. The army navy separately reported a burning oil tanker east of the strait that it said violated Iranian navigation rules and had switched off tracking systems. Army spokesman Mohammad Akrami-nia claimed US warships had moved over 500 kilometres from the Gulf. These are Iranian claims.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated in a televised address that Iran was experiencing its most severe combination of economic blockade, war, and domestic hardship since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He accused the United States of attempting to intensify public dissatisfaction and encourage social protests through economic pressure. His remarks came amid continuing military tensions and uncertainty over the conflict's resolution. The statements reflected the Iranian leadership's public assessment of economic and political pressures, rather than independently verified measurements of the sanctions' historical severity.

Iran's military reported that an oil tanker caught fire in the Gulf of Oman after allegedly attempting to cross a restricted maritime area with its tracking systems disabled. Iranian authorities did not identify the vessel or explain the cause of the fire. Separately, senior military official Habibollah Sayyari stated that the Strait of Hormuz remained closed to unauthorized maritime traffic and that passage required coordination with Iranian forces. The statements underscored Tehran's asserted control over shipping routes amid continuing regional hostilities and uncertainty surrounding maritime security.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi stated on October 14 that an American attack against Iran before the November 3 congressional midterm elections remained a realistic possibility. His comments followed escalating threats and discussions about potential military operations involving the United States and Israel. The newspapers also reported differing preferences among American decision-makers over military action and economic pressure. The Iranian statement represented a public assessment of a potential threat rather than confirmation that a new attack had been authorized or scheduled.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy announced that a container vessel described as violating Iranian restrictions had sunk after striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz. The statement came amid reports of increasing attacks on commercial shipping in the strategic waterway. Reuters, as cited by the newspapers, reported that four vessels had been struck on October 13, while Iranian officials described changes in their maritime operations. The sinking was reported through an Iranian military statement, and the vessel's identity and precise circumstances were not independently established in the available excerpts.