Here's the latest
• Economic war: Iran’s top security chief Mohsen Rezaei has vowed to “neutralize the economic war” with the United States. Further details on the United States’ plan to ramp up sanctions against Iran are expected on Monday, when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to hold a news conference.
• Strait of Hormuz: Rezaei also threatened to shut down all traffic in the waterway if any of Iran’s neighbors enter President Donald Trump’s economic war. Meanwhile, some oil companies have developed new tactics so that their tankers could pass through the strait undetected.
• Women’s dress code: A cultural faultline in Iran has re-emerged amid the war and the revamping of the country’s leadership — how and whether to make women wear the hijab. Read more about the public dress code in Iran and the current state of enforcement.
Cultural faultline on public dress code in Iran re-emerges
Four years after the death of Mahsa Amini, and the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests that followed, it seems the way Iranian women dress is back in the spotlight. As the US-Iran war stalls, videos circulating on social media show women being shamed on the streets for what they're wearing, particularly if they don't have the mandatory hijab on. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports.
A cultural faultline in Iran has re-emerged in recent months amid the turmoil of war and the revamping of the country’s hardline leadership: how and whether to enforce the wearing of the hijab by women.
At the height of the conflict with the United States this year, women without the headscarf were often seen at pro-government gatherings and in state media. The government and internal security forces had bigger issues to deal with.
In one video an unveiled woman carrying an Iranian flag said her husband was in the military, and that she was proud of him.
But in recent weeks, the clamor for restoring a hard line on what conservative clerics and politicians call “public nudity” has grown.
Many Iranian women are openly flouting the rule – and authorities seem wary of launching a crackdown, for now. The regime appears to have more pressing priorities – presenting the conflict with the United States as an existential struggle, managing the deep economic fall-out and reorganizing the security apparatus under the leadership of Mojtaba Khamenei.
What we know so far about the United States' threat to target Iran's economy
As the war with Iran drags on, the US has been increasingly threatening economic tactics to exert pressure on Tehran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged economic measures that have “never been seen” last week and President Donald Trump promised an “ECONOMIC D-DAY.”
The US has been employing sanctions against Iran for almost 50 years, and it’s not clear what measures Trump and Bessent might take. Trump made contradictory statements about the status of talks earlier in the week, and the status of negotiations remains unclear.
Catch up on the state of the war here:
- Trump threatens economic pain: The president said on Truth Social this week that the US would begin “the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY” but did not offer further details about what measures an operation would entail. Trump also said there would be economic consequences for any “country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran.”
- Iran pushes back: Top national security chief Mohsen Rezaei has vowed to “neutralize the economic war” and threatened to halt oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz. A close ally of Iran’s supreme leader said Trump’s recent rhetoric stems from “desperation”, Iranian semi-official media reported.
- Bessent to hold news conference: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to hold a news conference at 2 p.m. ET on Monday as the Trump administration ramps up its economic threats against Tehran.
- Prices in the US: The war is also putting economic pressure on the US, but Trump dismissed those effects, calling the conflict “a little detour” as he blamed inflation on Democrats and promised gas prices will soon come down.
- Latest in the strait: Iran has granted permission to a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the Reuters news agency reported today, citing the Iranian state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Shipping traffic through the strait remains well below pre-war levels, but the number of ships crossing the strait rose 27% in the past week, according to a CNN analysis.
CNN’s Laura Sharman, Xiaoqian Lin, Betsy Klein, Adam Pourahmadi, Catherine Nicholls, Billy Stockwell and Valey Arya contributed reporting.
Iran security chief threatens Hormuz oil flow halt and vows to "neutralize" economic war
Tehran’s security chief vowed to “neutralize the economic war” with the United States and threatened to halt oil flow out of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s state-affiliated Press TV reported.
Iran is allowing a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest example of Tehran granting selective access to the vital waterway.
However, Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, threatened to shut down all traffic if any of Iran’s neighboring countries enter President Donald Trump’s economic war.
Rezaei said Iran has shipped 70 million barrels of oil “in the past one or two months alone,” suggesting that was despite the US blockade of Iranian ports that resumed in mid July.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy said oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has averaged between 8 million and 9 million barrels per day as ships attempt “dark transits” through the waterway.
Aided by the US Navy, oil companies have chartered tankers to turn their transponders off and shuttle oil out of the Persian Gulf, through the Strait of Hormuz, to the Gulf of Oman, where they offload their crude to waiting tankers owned by their customers and then head back through the strait.
How some oil tankers make "dark transits" in the Strait of Hormuz
Oil tankers have developed new tactics for passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Greek-owned supertanker Kiku has been seen going dark, turning off its AIS transponders and traveling at night to go undetected. Watch CNN’s David Goldman explain more in the video below:
Oil tankers have developed new tactics for passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Greek-owned supertanker Kiku has been seen going dark, turning off its AIS transponders and traveling at night to go undetected. CNN's David Goldman reports.
What Trump has said recently about the Iran war
President Donald Trump said he views the Strait of Hormuz as an "American territory" in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Friday. Trump was in the state campaigning for appointed Sen. Darline Graham, the sister of his late friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham.
US President Donald Trump on Friday described the war with Iran as “a little detour,” as he blamed inflation on Democrats and promised gas prices will soon come down.
Speaking at Sen. Darline Graham’s campaign rally in South Carolina, he said: “Look, it’s a Friday night. We have plenty of time, right? What the hell do I have to do? Go back, bomb Iran a little bit more?”
The national average gas price is up nearly $1 from a year ago.
Refineries are facing a perfect storm of war and export restrictions, which is limiting how much crude oil they can turn into gasoline, jet fuel and diesel for the global economy.
Trump also said he views the Strait of Hormuz as an “American territory.”
He has previously said he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory after “we finish defeating Iran,” adding that would happen “pretty soon.”
