Iran War Updates: U.S. and Iran hold first talks since June after Trump threatens regime with annihilation

Around 50% of the damaged production capacity at Iran's South Pars gas field has been restored, according to a senior oil ministry official cited by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency.

Ahmad Zeraatkar, Deputy Oil Minister for Planning, told Fars that efforts to restore production capacity began following damage to South Pars facilities early in the war, with some units back online ahead of schedule.

In March, Israel struck South Pars, part of the world's largest natural gas field, spiking global energy prices and drawing a rebuke from President Trump.

"By the end of September, around 50% of the damaged capacity had returned to service, and production in this section had resumed," Zeraatkar said.

Zeraatkar said the planned restoration targets had been achieved and that all scheduled measures would be completed before the start of winter.

He also called on consumers to help the effort by reducing energy consumption.

Several countries began suspending flights operated by Iranian airlines to their airports on Wednesday as new U.S. sanctions targeting the country's aviation sector took effect.

The Trump administration announced earlier this month that Iran's entire air transport sector would be subject to sanctions. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that Iranian airlines would face difficulties operating globally from Sept. 23.

Georgia has banned flights operated by Iranian carriers from the country, while Iran's Mahan Air suspended flights to Turkey at Ankara's request.

Azerbaijan has also suspended Iranian flights, citing the new U.S. sanctions.

Iraq ordered the suspension of Iranian flights to Baghdad International Airport from Wednesday, according to the Reuters news agency. Iraqi authorities were, however, considering redirecting the flights to the central city of Najaf, an important Shiite Muslim pilgrimage destination.

"The decision does not mean a complete suspension of flights to Iraq, and that flights to other airports, including Najaf airport, will continue to operate as usual for all Iranian airlines," Iraqi Civil Aviation Organization spokesman Majid Akhavan said in remarks to Iranian media.

Iran's Civil Aviation Organization said flights from Tehran to Baghdad and Muscat, Oman, were canceled from Wednesday, while other remaining international flights, including those to Istanbul, would continue according to schedule.

It added that Iranian passengers were not being allowed to enter Oman's airport, with consultations underway on the issue.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen will attack U.S. interests in the Middle East if Washington intervenes in the conflict in support of Saudi Arabia, including by attempting to thwart Houthi efforts to blockade Saudi shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a military adviser for the group told the AFP news agency Wednesday.

"If America dares to intervene militarily with its fleets or tries to take control of Bab el-Mandeb, it is a red line for them and anyone else … we will fight over it," Houthi military adviser Abed Mohammed al-Thawr told the AFP.

The Houthis have dislodged Saudi-backed government forces from Yemen's Red Sea coast in recent weeks in fighting that has left hundreds dead. Houthi drones and missiles have also targeted Saudi sites, including the capital Riyadh, for the first time in years.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman requested help from President Trump in fighting the Houthis earlier in September, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. Yemen's government also made the request, a well-placed source told AFP.

The Houthis say Saudi Arabia has conducted hundreds of strikes in Yemen since fighting resumed in July, effectively ending a four-year truce.

"If America gambles on supporting Saudi Arabia with airstrikes or air support ... We will consider any American interests around us to be targets and we will not exclude anything," Thawr told AFP, adding that the group would "close Bab el-Mandeb completely to American ships."

Thawr denied receiving directives from Iran, but said they were "one alliance and one body."

"Iran is a friendly, allied, and brotherly country to us, but it does not direct us. We are independent in our decisions and in our sovereignty," he said.  

CBS/AFP

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has said that President Trump's remarks to the U.N. were "a sign of desperation."

Speaking to state news agency IRNA, Baqaei also confirmed the talks held between U.S. and Iranian envoys on Tuesday took place via Qatari mediators.

"The Iranian delegation conveyed its views and its conditions very explicitly and clearly to the American side through the mediators," he said.

Addressing Mr. Trump's remarks about his pending "big decision" on whether to make a deal with, or "annihilate" the Iranian regime, Baqaei said: "The impression among diplomats and delegations from many countries here was that these remarks did not stem from strength, but from desperation … Threatening a country with military attack is an admission of the nature of the current U.S. ruling establishment."

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said American and Iranian negotiators "engaged in lengthy talks" on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

In a post on X late Tuesday, Witkoff said the two sides spoke through mediators over the course of the day. He did not describe the substance of the talks, but said they "successfully completed a round of discussions that we hope will prove constructive and promising."

President Trump told reporters earlier Tuesday that Witkoff and U.S. envoy Jared Kushner had a "very good meeting," and the two sides "have another one scheduled in the very near future."

President Trump joined a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where the president said there's a "lot of momentum" for Iran to make a deal. Countries represented in the meeting included Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. 

"I like these people," the president said of the leaders around him. 

The president said Iran's economy is in bad shape, and he hopes they do something good for their people. 

"I don't think about the election at all when I think about ending the nuclear threat from Iran. I just think about ending the nuclear threat from Iran," he said.

President Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials met on Tuesday, shortly after threatening in his address to the U.N. General Assembly that he may "annihilate" the Islamic Republic if a deal isn't reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.

Mr. Trump told reporters the meeting happened, and ended "about an hour ago," but offered few details about the talks.

"It was a very good meeting," Mr. Trump said. "They have another one scheduled in the very near future."

The meeting lasted about three hours, Mr. Trump said, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff were part of it. 

Witkoff echoed that the meeting went well, saying "I feel very good right now," but provided no further details.

AP/CBS

The U.S. and Iran held talks Tuesday while both countries are at the U.N. for this week's General Assembly, President Trump said. He also said he believes the U.S. will come to an agreement with Iran, though he did not specify when. 

"I think that a settlement is going to be reached," Mr. Trump said during a bilateral meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham. "They want to talk to us. They have been talking to us. Even today, they've been talking to us, and the relationship is developing, let's say."

Mr. Trump was not more specific about what he meant by the "relationship is developing," or put a time frame on when the agreement would come. Earlier in the day, however, he expected the deal to come after the midterm elections.

The president also seemed to say Iran had agreed that it would not pursue a nuclear weapon.

"They understand that we can't let them have a nuclear weapon, and there's a price to pay for that," Mr. Trump said.

The Iranian delegation is expected in New York City for the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, though it's not yet clear whether Mr. Trump will meet with either their president or foreign minister.

President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday that he had to choose whether to "annihilate" Iran if it fails to make a deal to end the Iran war.

"I have a big decision to make – will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world?" Mr. Trump said.

"Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?" he said. "Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?"

The president also reiterated that he believes an agreement is possible before U.S. midterm elections in November, in which his Republican Party faces losing control of Congress at least partly due to high fuel prices caused by the war.

"I believe we'll make a deal right after the election because it doesn't make sense for them not to," he said.

"They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don't realize is that I'm not running. I did that already, and won in a landslide," he said.

Mr. Trump said Sunday he would "probably" meet on the sidelines of the U.N. summit with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is attending along with the country's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

CBS/AFP