Iran stood firm Sunday (September 27, 2026) on its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s rejection of the proposal, leaving the West Asia war locked in a stalemate.

The waterway is key to the world’s energy supply and is now central to the conflict between Washington and Tehran, which was triggered nearly seven months ago with deadly strikes on Iran.

Iran’s plan called for a cessation of all hostilities in West Asia, including in Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and a return to the conditions in the ceasefire deal that fell apart a few months ago.

That agreement, which dissolved during fighting over Hormuz, called for the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the U.S. naval blockade.

“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent upon these conditions being fulfilled. We will not back down from them,” Mr. Araghchi said on Sunday (September 27, 2026), as reported by state broadcaster IRIB.

“We have never closed the door to diplomacy or negotiations, but at the same time, we have never backed down from our rights.”

But Trump said on Saturday (September 26) that he rejected the truce deal.

“They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” he told reporters. “They want to make a deal and I think that’s fine. I like making a deal too.”

His ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, accused Tehran of demanding too much in exchange for a return to the negotiating table.

“This was, I think, a pretty cynical attempt to put something on the table that they knew was unacceptable. To ask for the release of the blockade, the sanctions, international sanctions and access to billions in assets, just to talk,” he told NBC News in an interview broadcast Sunday (September 26).

“I think it’s kind of common sense that the president doesn’t have a lot of confidence this time after we just tried a few months ago.”

Mr. Araghchi, however, said the Iranians “saw the first reaction from the U.S. President, but so far, nothing has been conveyed to us by the mediators”.

“We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive positions to us, and we will make a decision based on them,” the Foreign Minister added.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, meanwhile, said that they seized an American submarine drone on Sunday (September 27) in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

It said the underwater vehicle was being used “for espionage purposes”, adding that it was “now in the hands of the force’s specialists for data recovery”.

‘Tool for pressure’

Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that aimed to end the war, to reopen the strait and to launch talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

But the deal broke down shortly afterwards when Iran fired on commercial ships in Hormuz that it accused of deviating from its approved route through the waterway.

Iran requires ships to obtain authorisation before passage, citing security and sovereignty reasons.

Ships that refuse to comply are regularly targeted, while the United States sporadically bombs Iranian coastal areas in retaliation.

At the UN, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan complained that the “international community has been absent” and is failing to live up to the responsibility to keep the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab open.

“The kingdom rejects any party’s use of these vital passages as a tool for pressure, threat, or harm to the interests of states,” he said, stressing the waterways’ importance to global energy security.

In New York, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to his office, and said: “Iran has not walked away from the negotiating table but, given past experiences, it no longer trusts the United States.”

Araghchi said at the UN: “Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days.”

“The choice now rests with the United States.”

Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying: “We will not cease punishing the U.S. until Iran’s seven conditions are met.”

Mohebi had told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Tehran’s demands.

Published – September 27, 2026 10:57 pm IST

U.S. President Donald Trump. File
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. File
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President Donald Trump. File
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U.S. President Donald Trump. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Iranian students chanted anti-government slogans and scuffled with counter-protesters on Saturday in the latest display of anger at the country’s clerical leaders, who also face a U.S. military build-up aimed at pressuring them into a nuclear deal.

The gatherings at universities, which were reported by both local and diaspora media outlets, followed a mass protest movement that was met with a government crackdown last month that left thousands dead.

The crackdown had prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten to intervene militarily, though the focus of his threats eventually shifted to Iran’s nuclear programme, which Western governments fear is aimed at producing a bomb.

The U.S. and Iran recently resumed Oman-mediated talks on a potential deal, but Washington has simultaneously increased its military presence in the region, dispatching two aircraft carriers, jets and weaponry to back its warnings.

Videos geolocated by AFP to Tehran’s top engineering university showed fights breaking out in a crowd on Saturday as people shouted “bi sharaf”, or “disgraceful” in Farsi.

Footage posted by the Persian-language TV channel Iran International, which is based outside the country, also showed a large crowd chanting anti-government slogans at Sharif University of Technology.

The Fars news agency later said there were reports of injuries in scuffles at the institution.

Iranians had reprised their protest slogans earlier this week to mark the 40th day since thousands of people were killed as a wave of demonstrations was peaking on January 8 and 9.

The unrest first broke out in December over prolonged financial strain, but exploded into mass anti-government protests that were suppressed in a violent crackdown by security forces.

The clerical authorities acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, but say the violence was caused by “terrorist acts” fuelled by Iran’s enemies.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), however, has recorded more than 7,000 killings in the crackdown, the vast majority protesters, though the toll may be far higher.

Iranian authorities had initially acknowledged the legitimacy of the protesters’ economic demands, but as the movement took on an overtly anti-government tone, they accused archenemies the United States and Israel of whipping up “riots”.

Fars said that what was supposed to be a “silent and peaceful sit-in” on Saturday of students commemorating those killed was disrupted by people chanting slogans including “death to the dictator” — a reference to Iran’s supreme leader.

A video posted by Fars showed a group chanting and waving Iranian flags facing off with a crowd wearing masks and being held back by men in suits.

Talks and threats

Ever since the initial wave of protests, the United States and Iran have been trading threats of military action.

Mr. Trump sent the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the region, while a second, the USS Gerald R Ford, is en route via the Mediterranean.

The US has also redeployed dozens of other warplanes to the Middle East — where it maintains several bases — while boosting its air defences.

The build-up seeks to pressure Iran’s authorities as the two sides pursue nuclear talks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told US media this week that following the latest round of negotiations in Geneva, Iran would be submitting a draft proposal for an agreement, saying it would be read in a matter of days.

Araghchi also said the “U.S. side has not asked for zero enrichment” of uranium, contradicting statements from American officials.

Iran denies it is trying to produce nuclear weapons, but insists on its right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.

The U.S. media outlet Axios reported this week, citing an unnamed senior U.S. official, that Washington was prepared to consider a proposed deal that only permitted “small, token enrichment”.

Mr. Trump has suggested that “bad things” will happen if Tehran did not strike a deal, saying Thursday that it had 15 days to agree.

Fears of a conflict have prompted several foreign countries to urge their citizens to leave Iran, including Sweden, Serbia, Poland and Australia, which warned “commercial flights are currently available but this could change quickly”.

A previous round of nuclear diplomacy last year was interrupted by Israel’s surprise bombing campaign against the Islamic republic.

The United States ultimately joined its ally, striking nuclear facilities before declaring a ceasefire.

Iran has maintained that it will defend itself in the event of any new attack.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, in remarks to athletes carried by state television, said the country would “not yield to any trial, even if the powers of the world stand against us with injustice and try to force us into submission”.

Published – February 22, 2026 10:21 am IST

Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Satellite images show that Iran has recently built a concrete shield over a new facility at a sensitive military site and covered it in soil, experts say, advancing work at a location reportedly bombed by Israel in 2024 amid tensions with the U.S.

Images ​also show that Iran has buried tunnel entrances at a nuclear site bombed by the U.S. during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last year, fortified tunnel entrances ‌near another, and has repaired missile bases struck in the conflict.

They offer a glimpse of Iranian activities at some ​of the sites at the centre of tensions with Israel and the U.S., as Washington seeks to negotiate a deal ⁠with Tehran on its nuclear programme while threatening military action if talks fail.

Here are some images showing the changes:

Parchin military complex

Some 30 km (20 miles) southeast of Tehran, the Parchin complex is one of Iran’s most sensitive military sites. Western intelligence has suggested Tehran carried out tests relevant to nuclear bomb detonations there more than ‌two decades ago.

Iran has always denied seeking atomic weapons.

Israel reportedly struck Parchin in October 2024.

Satellite imagery taken before and after that attack shows extensive damage to a rectangular building at Parchin, and apparent reconstruction in images from November 6, 2024.

Imagery from ‌October 12, 2025 shows development at the site, with the skeleton of a new structure visible and two smaller structures adjacent to it. ‌Progress ⁠is apparent in imagery from November 14, with what appears to be a metallic roof covering the large structure.

But imagery ⁠from December 13 shows the facility partly covered. By February 16, it cannot be seen at all, hidden by what experts say is a concrete structure.

The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), in a January 22 analysis of satellite imagery, pointed to progress in the construction of a “concrete sarcophagus” around a newly built facility at the site, which it identified ​as Taleghan 2.

ISIS reported in November that imagery showed “ongoing construction and the ‌presence of what appears to resemble a long, cylindrical chamber, maybe a high-explosives containment vessel, likely measuring approximately 36 meters long and 12 meters in diameter placed inside a building”.

“High-explosive containment vessels are critical to the development of nuclear weapons,” ISIS added, “but can also be used in many other conventional weapons development processes.”

William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground, said the roof had a similar hue to ‌the surrounding area, adding: “It has most likely been covered with dirt to obscure the concrete colour.”

ISIS founder David Albright wrote on X: “Stalling ​the negotiations has its benefits: Over the last two to three weeks, Iran has been busy burying the new Taleghan 2 facility … More soil is available and the facility may soon become a fully unrecognizable bunker, providing significant protection from aerial ⁠strikes.”

Tunnel entrances buried at Isfahan nuclear complex

The Isfahan complex is one of three Iranian uranium-enrichment plants bombed by the United States in June.

In addition to facilities that are part of the nuclear fuel cycle, Isfahan includes an underground area where diplomats say much of Iran’s enriched uranium has been stored.

Satellite ‌images taken in late January showed new efforts to bury two tunnel entrances at the complex, ISIS reported on January 29. In a February 9 update, ISIS said a third entrance had also been backfilled with soil, meaning all entrances to the tunnel complex were now “completely buried”.

A February 10 image shows all three tunnels buried, Goodhind said.

ISIS reported on February 9 that “backfilling the tunnel entrances would help dampen any potential airstrike and also make ground access in a special forces raid to seize or destroy any highly enriched uranium that may be housed inside difficult”.

Tunnel entrances fortified at complex near Natanz site

ISIS has reported that satellite images point to ongoing efforts since February 10 to “harden and defensively strengthen” two entrances to a tunnel complex under ‌a mountain some 2 km (1.2 miles) from Natanz – the site that holds Iran’s other two uranium enrichment plants.

Imagery shows “ongoing activity throughout the complex related to this effort, involving the ​movement of numerous vehicles, including dump trucks, cement mixers, and other heavy equipment”, ISIS wrote.

Iran’s plans for the facility, called Pickaxe Mountain, are unclear, ISIS said.

Shiraz south missile base

About 10 km (6 miles) south of Shiraz in southern Iran, this is one ⁠of 25 primary bases capable of launching medium-range ballistic missiles, according to Alma Research and Education Center, an Israeli organisation. Alma assessed the site had suffered ⁠light, above-ground damage in last year’s war.

A comparison of images taken on July 3, 2025 and January 30 shows reconstruction and clearance efforts at the main logistics and likely command compound at the base, Goodhind said.

“The key takeaway is that the compound has ‌yet to return to its full operational capacity from prior to the airstrikes.”

Qom missile base

Some 40 km north of the city of Qom, this base suffered moderate above-ground damage, according to Alma.

A comparison of images taken between July 16, 2025, and February 1 shows a ​new roof over a damaged building. The roof repairs appear to have begun on November 17 and were most likely complete 10 days later, Goodhind said.

Published – February 19, 2026 03:22 pm IST

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One with U.S. first lady Melania Trump at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. on February 16, 2026.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was ready for a “fair and equitable” deal, but not for coercion. File
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