Iran Dismisses Trump's AI Video Threats as Clashes Resume

Iran has rubbished Donald Trump’s threats against one of its key islands after the US president threatened to hit the Islamic Republic “hard” following Iranian missile strikes on US military bases.

Hamid Bovard, the chief executive of the National Iranian Oil Company, said operations on Kharg Island, a vital trade hub holding some 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports, had not stopped, after Trump posted an AI video on social media claiming it was “being blown to smithereens”.

“Trump’s tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate,” he said in response to the Truth Social post.

A US official also told Reuters that the US did not target Kharg Island in overnight strikes.

The latest escalation in tensions came as both sides exchanged fire for the first time in a month, with Iran attacking US bases in Jordan and the UAE in response to US attacks on Larak island.

Offering Washington a route to climb down, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would immediately reciprocate if the US honours its commitments under an interim deal signed in June to pave the way for peace talks.

The latest: Iran's president says Tehran will reciprocate if US honours interim deal commitments

Iran will immediately reciprocate if the United States returns to its commitments under an interim deal signed in June, president Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday.

He made his comments at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Bishkek after the first exchange of direct attacks in the US-Iran conflict since late July, with the US striking Larak Island and Iran then launching attacks on two US air bases in Jordan.

“I am stating clearly that if the US returns to its commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate," Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state media.

He was referring to an interim deal signed in June between Tehran and Washington in efforts to end the war, which started with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. The deal quickly unravelled amid disagreements over its implementation.

Pezeshkian said in Bishkek on Monday that war was in no one's interest and that Tehran was still open to a negotiated solution in its conflict with Washington.

Iran’s Achilles Heel: Why Trump has his sights on the tiny oil hub Kharg Island

Six months into the war with Iran, US president Donald Trump has posted a fake AI video to social media, claiming that a key Iranian island was being destroyed.

The claim that Kharg Island was “blow to smithereens”, accompanied by a clip of refineries exploding into flames on Truth Social, was quickly debunked by his own officials.

The US has struck Kharg before, however, with Vice President JD Vance confirming in April “military targets” on the outlet had been hit.

Here’s why Kharg Island matters to Iran’s economy and, by extension, to the United States military:

The island holds around 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports and could choke off the country’s economy for years. Maira Butt and James C. Reynolds report

Vance says US now focused on free flow of commerce in Strait of Hormuz

US vice president JD Vance said Washington’s immediate priority was restoring the “free flow of commerce” through the Strait of Hormuz.

He said the US strike on Larak Island was aimed at preventing Iran from laying mines in the key shipping route.

He accused Iran’s leadership of acting “not with a whole lot of strategic wisdom” in trying to choke off oil and gas exports.

“What’s odd to me is that they will sometimes fire at their own allies just to prevent the free flow of oil and gas,” he said, calling Iran’s leaders “really crazy”.

Iran president tells Pakistan PM war not in Tehran’s interest

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian has told Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif that continuing the war was not in Iran’s interest and said Tehran remained willing to implement a US-Iran memorandum of understanding mediated by Pakistan in June.

He spoke with Sharif on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan on Monday.

Meanwhile, Iranian state TV said the escalation between the US and Tehran followed a tanker hitting two Iranian naval mines while trying to pass through the southern Strait of Hormuz.

It said three ships had been targeted for using an unauthorised route.

The IRGC warned other vessels that they must comply with Iran’s rules for passage or face the same fate.

US treasury secretary warns sanctions could trigger economic collapse in Iran within months

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said Washington’s sanctions campaign is putting severe pressure on Iran’s economy and could trigger an economic collapse within months unless Tehran agrees to negotiations.

Bessent said: “I would think that they are lashing out kinetically because they are losing economically.”

He added that “within weeks or months” the Iranian economy could collapse, though he stressed that this “does not have to happen”, saying: “We just have to have the regime come to their senses.”

Bessent also warned that the US plans to impose new sanctions every week, targeting banks and potentially cutting institutions off from the dollar-based financial system.

“You’re going to see a lot more of these every week,” he said.

Iran calls Trump’s AI video of attack on key oil export hub ‘laughable’

Iran has denied Donald Trump’s claim that Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub, was being “blown to smithereens”, calling his posts “laughable”.

“Trump's tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate,” National Iranian Oil Company chief Hamid Bovard was cited as saying by Nournews.

Trump had shared an AI video of the attack on Kharg Island earlier on his Truth Social.

Bovard said the island remained calm and oil operations had continued without interruption despite repeated US and Israeli attacks.

Kharg handles about 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports.

Oil prices rise amid renewed clashes between US and Iran

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as renewed fighting between the US and Iran heightened fears of disruptions to crude supplies from the oil-rich Middle East.

Brent crude futures gained 56 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $91.05 a barrel by 0044 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 83 cents, or 1 per cent, to $86.59 a barrel.

Vance says US military is 'big enough' to handle threats, despite reports of munitions shortages

JD Vance has said the US military is “big enough” to handle threats, despite reports of munitions shortages.

“Are you concerned about reports of weapon shortages, the strain on the forces? Is the U.S. Military big enough to handle threats around the world, including China?” Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson asked the US vice president in a new interview.

“Look, we're clearly big enough to handle threats around the world, including China”, Vance replied. “As the president has said, we want to have a positive relationship with the PRC [People’s Republic of China]”.

Hegseth hired conservative influencers who amplify his ‘warrior ethos’ mantra: report

A handful of high-profile conservative influencers have reportedly been working as undisclosed government employees and using their huge social media followings to praise US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and defend the Trump administration’s policies.

Among them are Rob Maness, a retired Army Air Force colonel with more than 130,000 followers on X, and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel with more than 600,000 followers on X, according to the Washington Post.

Maness and Schlichter have active government email addresses ending in “.civ” – meaning they are civilian employees – and are assigned to the Defense Department’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, sources told the Post.

Yet neither influencer has disclosed that they are working for, or did work for, the Pentagon, the Post reported. Even while they were advocating for Hegseth to fire critics at the department, backing Trump’s military actions in Venezuela and defending the Defense Secretary’s spending on a luxury dinner.