Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has called Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “serpent”, accusing him of tricking Washington into launching the war.
“In Hebrew, Netanyahu openly crows that he suckered the U.S. Administration into a war on Iran on behalf of Israel. Netanyahu explicitly laughs about how he ‘influenced’ America through 1,000 hours of airtime on US networks,” Araghchi wrote in a post on X.
“In English, he praises POTUS’ leadership. Serpent,” he added. A presentation by Netanyahu in the White House Situation Room in February was key in convincing Trump to launch joint strikes against Iran – even despite the skepticism of his vice-president and a pessimistic intelligence assessment, the New York Times reported .
Netanyahu reportedly suggested that the Iranian regime could easily be toppled and it would be so weakened that it could not choke off the strait of Hormuz.
After launching the unprovoked war against Iran on 28 February, which many experts agree is illegal, Trump and Netanyahu fell out when it quickly became clear a quick regime change victory was unlikely to happen.
Since then, the two leader’s relationship has become increasingly strained, with their goals sharply diverging, especially over the Israeli assault on Lebanon, which has threatened to derail US diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran.
In making the sanctions threat last Monday, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, announced an initial set of sanctions on 60 individuals, entities and vessels for alleged involvement in trade with Iran, but there were no Chinese financial institutions on the list, despite their involvement in financing the Iranian oil trade. The omission reflected US caution.
Asked why the Trump administration had not declared immediate sanctions and had stopped short of naming potential sanctions targets, Bessent replied: “Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?”
Financial and trade experts say the administration is well aware of the risk of Chinese retaliation before a scheduled summit next month between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. China could strike back through financial markets or with limits on its export of critical minerals.
Iran has been economically wrecked by the war and the accompanying US blockade, but it maintained its defiance in response to Bessent’s threats of total isolation. You can read more here:
Related: China denounces US threat of sanctions over trade with Iran
The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, is due to host meetings of the G20 finance ministers in North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday. He will attempt to rally countries around Washington’s new economic strategy against Iran, which is continuing to disrupt the global economy by blocking traffic through the strategic strait of Hormuz.
Bessent has been at the heart of the US’s efforts to economically isolate Iran after the Trump administration recently signalled a shift away from military strikes which failed to force Tehran’s capitulation or collapse (this lull in direct strikes was broken yesterday).
Last week, the US threatened to impose severe sanctions against any country or entity maintaining economic ties with Iran, while Tehran vowed retaliation against any country that took part in the US-led isolation campaign.
But there remains huge uncertainty over how the US president, Donald Trump, will handle China, Iran’s biggest trading partner and leading buyer of its oil.
Speaking ahead of the G20 meetings in Asheville, North Carolina, Bessent told the Associated Press that he would speak to his Chinese counterparts during the talks, adding that “all options are on the table” in terms of sanctioning Beijing for its continued purchases.
According to Fars news agency, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said after the US assault on Larak Island last night that:
The foreigners must be cut off from the region and learn a serious lesson so that they do not repeat their aggressions.
UAE denies Iranian claim that al-Minhad airbase was targeted in attack
The UAE’s defence ministry said in a social media post published two hours ago that the country’s air force intercepted an Iranian drone over its territorial waters on Monday. The ministry said the armed forces remain on high alert to combat any future threats.
It came after Iran’s army said it launched a drone attack on US forces in the United Arab Emirates’ al Minhad airbase early on Monday. It said the attack was in response to the US striking Iran’s Larak island, which sits very close to Iran’s coastline in the strait of Hormuz, on Sunday.
The IRGC said the US attack on Larak island killed and wounded several soldiers and citizens and vowed “response and punishment”. A US official claimed the strikes were launched after “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the strait of Hormuz.”
However, in a second social media post this morning, the UAE’s defence ministry denied the claim that the al Minhad airbase in Dubai had been targeted with missiles, saying it was “unfounded”. Iran also said it had struck US military bases in Jordan in response to the Larak assault. As we mentioned in the opening post , Jordan’s army said it had intercepted eight missiles, without stating their origin.
Head of National Iranian Oil Company dismisses Trump’s claim of Kharg Island attack
Hours after the attacks, the US president, Donald Trump, claimed in a social media post – featuring an AI video showing oil infrastructure exploding – that Iran’s energy hub of Kharg island was being “blown to smithereens”, without any supporting evidence.
Hamid Bovard, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, mocked Trump’s post, saying that oil operations there are continuing.
“Trump’s tweets are laughable and conditions in Kharg are calm and appropriate,” Nournews cited him as saying, adding that the island had been bombed repeatedly by US and Israeli forces in the past, but oil workers had not allowed operations to stop “even for a moment”.
Kharg Island is a major Iranian energy hub responsible for handling about 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports, making it among the country’s most sensitive economic targets.
Trump has previously threatened to seize the island, which hosts vast storage facilities, but has rowed back on his threats, perhaps knowing that any takeover would require the US to put boots on the ground, exposing American forces to Iranian attacks.
US and Iran trade strikes for first time in a month
Welcome to our live coverage as hostilities between the US and Iran flared again for the first time in a month, with American strikes on Iran prompting retaliation from Tehran.
A supertanker caught fire and was brought to a complete halt after hitting two naval mines in the southern strait of Hormuz , Iran state TV reported on Monday, citing a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps .
The IRGC said the tanker had been attempting to pass through the waterway illegally. It did not identify the vessel or provide information about its crew. It warned that other ships violating its security rules would face the same fate and said compliance with its regulations for passage through the strait was mandatory.
On Sunday, the US said it carried out airstrikes on Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the strait, with an American official saying the IRGC was preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the narrow waterway.
The IRGC said on Monday it attacked two US military airbases with ballistic missiles in Washington-allied Jordan , causing “heavy damage”, state media reported. Jordan’s army said it had intercepted eight missiles, without stating their origin.
Iran said later it had targeted US military personnel at an airbase in the United Arab Emirates . Donald Trump later claimed on social media that Iran’s energy hub of Kharg Island was “being blown to smithereens”.
Iran’s supreme leader called the US and Israel enemies of all Islamic nations . In a written message issued six months on from the start of the war, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei also urged rulers of Muslim nations to “know your real enemy, understand its plans and confront it”, the official Irna news agency reported.
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency says it urgently evacuated prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s oldest son from the US due to a threat against him. In a brief statement the Associated Press obtained on Sunday, the Shin Bet confirmed there had been a “significant threat” to Yair Netanyahu, without elaborating.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent will step up efforts to isolate Iran economically as he hosts G20 counterparts this week , a US official has said.
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian is due to take part in a summit starting on Monday of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation , a regional bloc that seeks to be a counter-influence to the west. Russia’s Vladimir Putin is expected to hold separate bilateral talks with Pezeshkian and China’s Xi Jinping, among other leaders, a Kremlin spokesperson said.
“In Hebrew, Netanyahu openly crows that he suckered the U.S. Administration into a war on Iran on behalf of Israel. Netanyahu explicitly laughs about how he ‘influenced’ America through 1,000 hours of airtime on US networks,” Araghchi wrote in a post on X.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Yohannes Lowe (now) and Adam Fulton (earlier). Published 31 Aug 2026, 09:43 am.
