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You can read it in Arabic here , and check out MBN\u2019s flagship Arabic-language Alhurra news platform (also in English ).","The war widened again this week. Riyadh wants to borrow $8 billion, the rial broke 2.2 million to the dollar for the first time, and more prison sentences are coming even as 2,500 convicts received an amnesty. Overdue pensions are being doled out to retirees in alphabetical order rather than all at once, and nobody can agree on whether Hormuz is open or closed.","I\u2019m joined by our new Iran reporter Tara Rad, who is writing under a pseudonym, for this edition of the MBN Iran Briefing.","Find out more below, and share your thoughts, analysis, and predictions with me at ailves@mbn-news.com . \u202fIf you were forwarded the MBN Iran Briefing, please subscribe .","And don\u2019t forget to check out the latest Iran Briefing podcast. In this edition I\u2019m joined by Alex Grinberg, Iran expert at the Turan Center and the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, and Mehdi Yahyanejad, internet freedom activist and founder of Persian-language discussion platform Balatarin. We take up the issue of where Iran\u2019s real online conversations actually happen now that the old public square has splintered, why the IRGC has lost its grip on the online narrative even as it holds on to power, and why most Iranians want the regime gone but may not be willing to pay the high price it would take to get that outcome now.","QUOTE OF THE WEEK","The state of neither war nor peace cannot be a sustainable solution, just as the policy of targeting the Arab Gulf states and Jordan has proven to be a failure.","\u2013 Anwar Gargash , diplomatic adviser to the president of the UAE, on X","TOP OF THE NEWS","1. The War Just Widened Again","Events in the region are unfolding apace. The makeshift temporary peace has unraveled. CENTCOM and the official Iranian press issue repeated announcements of strikes and counterstrikes. Following a series of American strikes on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that \u201cIf the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!\u201d Meanwhile the Iranian press is reporting that a U.S. strike killed people in a wedding party in Sirik, on the Hormuz coast directly across from the UAE.","Although the American strikes have been narrowly focused on Iranian territory, concentrated on the Hormuz coastline, Iran\u2019s strikes have thus far included targets in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Iraqi Kurdistan. These followed on a strike on UAE that I covered in this briefing on Monday. By all accounts, the Iranian missiles were intercepted or fell in remote areas.","In a separate post , the U.S. president said he was \u201cnot trying to force Iran to the bargaining table \u2026 I couldn\u2019t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement. I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?\u201d","Iran, meanwhile, is focusing on their allegation that civilians were killed in the Sirik strike and intends to take the matter to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.","The Tuwaiq Tower in Riyadh, with a mural of Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on its facade. Photo: AFP.","2. Riyadh\u2019s War Bill Comes Due","Saudi Arabia\u2019s National Debt Management Center has begun talking to international banks about at least $8 billion in fresh loans . The state-owned oil company Aramco is pursuing a similar deal.","Iran struck Saudi Arabia directly with missiles and drones in the early weeks of the war, including a barrage near Riyadh, before scaling back attacks on the kingdom. It then shifted the burden of hitting Saudi targets onto its Houthi allies.","Iranian media lost no time in crowing about the Saudis\u2019 seeking loans. As state-controlled Press TV put it, \u201cthe U.S.-Israel war of aggression on Iran has severely impacted the economy of the oil-rich kingdom.\u201d","Although the pressure on the Saudi budget has been mitigated somewhat by the rise in oil prices since the beginning of the conflict, the kingdom had a $9.1 billion deficit in the quarter ending June 30.","Saudi Arabia ran deficits for years before the war, and in the first quarter of 2026 the deficit ballooned to $33.5 billion. Essentially what\u2019s happened is that the economic damage caused to Saudi Arabia by the war has been offset by another consequence of the war: higher oil prices.","3. The Rial Plummets Even Further","As I reported in a recent edition of this briefing, the Iranian rial-to-dollar exchange rate breached the two million mark in late August. The rial has continued to plunge and yesterday passed 2.2 million to the dollar and has now lost 63% of its value since the start of the war.","Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of Iran\u2019s central bank, said Tuesday that the bank is \u201cready to supply two billion dollars in foreign exchange to the market,\u201d adding that \u201cthe dust created in the foreign exchange market will settle, and the recent increase in the exchange rate is more influenced by the psychological atmosphere than by real factors.\u201d","The central bank also announced that during the Iranian month of Mordad, which ended Aug. 22, inflation was 84.4% over the previous August. This is the eighteenth consecutive monthly increase.","Sentenced to death: Ali Zarei, a political prisoner who suffered an eye injury during the \u201cWoman, Life, Freedom\u201d protests. Photo: Iranwire .","4. Amnesty for Thousands, Gallows for Protesters","Tehran\u2019s \u201crevolutionary court\u201d sentenced Ali Zarei, a protester who lost his right eye to gunfire from security forces during the Woman, Life, Freedom demonstrations in 2022, to death. He had fled to Germany via Turkey but had to return to Iran. As I reported in a previous edition of this briefing, the regime\u2019s security forces deliberately target protesters\u2019 heads and torsos. One report describes the regime\u2019s policy of targeting eyes as follows: \u201c[T]he use of blinding is now widespread, denied by the authorities, carried out using weapons termed \u2018non-lethal.\u2019\u201d Iranian security forces have engaged in this practice for years. An article on the website of the American Academy of Ophthalmologists in 2023 described police using \u201cweapons with paint balls to mark protestors\u2019 faces for identification and later arrest. Hollow-point metal bullets expand on impact, ensuring that they wreak maximum damage on orbital structures and remain lodged in soft tissues \u2026 The injuries include mutilated retinas and punctured irises.\u201d","Meanwhile Iran\u2019s Supreme Court upheld a death sentence against Ali-Asghar Peyghambari, a defendant from the January protests who, according to human rights groups, did not even participate in demonstrations and was detained while on his way home from work. His defense attorney said the verdict was issued \u201cdespite the complete absence of any organizational link or connection of any kind between my client and hostile entities.\u201d","This all took place as judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejel ordered an amnesty, sentence reduction, or commutation for 2,577 convicts to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. According to the Iranian press, the authority to do so was delegated to him by the supreme leader.","Women shop at a store selling chador gowns at the Grand Reza Bazaar near the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, northeast Iran. Photo: AFP.","5. Retirees Paid One Letter of the Alphabet at a Time","Iran\u2019s minister of cooperatives, labor, and social welfare announced this week that retirees\u2019 overdue pensions will start being distributed in alphabetical order by surname. The payments are five months late, dating back to April. He apologized for the delay, saying that \u201cI know that we always make payments with a delay regardless.\u201d He didn\u2019t offer a timeline for retirees whose last names fall late in the Persian alphabet. The pension system is in arrears for the month of May .","IN OTHER NEWS","Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz. Photo: Reuters.","Nobody Agrees on Whether Hormuz is Open or Closed","Speaking about the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump said the other day that \u201cThat sucker is open. The Iranian response is very mild.\u201d","Iranian officials keep insisting that the strait is closed. In the words of Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, \u201cthe Americans claim that the Strait is open, but it is not worth considering. The Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the Iranian armed forces.\u201d","Open? Closed? Ajar?","People inside Iran are confused, and in the last few days, most Iranian media outlets have had an article about this.","Khorasan , one of the Iran\u2019s oldest local newspapers, printed in Mashhad and close to conservatives, wrote: \u201cThe reality on the ground reveals that we are not facing a \u2018black-and-white, binary\u2019 situation. Hormuz is neither a fully open commercial gateway nor a completely blocked dam; rather, it has transformed into a \u2018gray zone\u2019 where available evidence confirms that its management is in Iran\u2019s hands.\u201d","The newspaper noted that Iran uses closely managed routes to export its own oil under third-country flags. In fact, a portion of the barrels being transported, as reported in statistics, is Iranian oil being exported by evading sanctions and utilizing foreign-flagged vessels.","Even if Khorasan\u2019s editorial was written for a domestic audience, its core admission is clear: the strait is not closed.","According to the Strait Tracker website , the Strait is both open and closed . To summarize: yes, it is open, but at the same time no, because Tehran can attack ships selectively."],"audio_source_url":null,"author":"Andres Ilves","available_dubs":[],"downloadable_assets":[],"duration_display":"0:00","duration_seconds":null,"embed_url":null,"id":14127,"image_caption":null,"image_url":"https://i0.wp.com/alhurra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-2026-09-02T160434.499.jpg?fit=602%2C401&ssl=1","is_clip":false,"is_youtube_embed":false,"item_type":"article","item_type_label":"Article","language_label":"English","media_credit":"Andres Ilves","micro_label":"Photo","micro_label_kind":"gallery","network_label":"Alhurra","network_logo_url":"/static/uploads/direct_network_logos/alhurra_d529a7a850f2.png","published_at":"2026-09-03T00:36:43","published_at_display":"3 Sep 2026, 00:36 GMT","sequence_badge_label":null,"sequence_count":null,"sequence_count_label":null,"sequence_frames":[],"sequence_kind":null,"source_name":"alhurra","source_name_label":"Alhurra","source_type":"scrape","summary":"Welcome back to the MBN Iran Briefing. You can read it in Arabic here, and check out MBN\u2019s flagship Arabic-language Alhurra news platform (also in English). The war widened again this week. Riyadh wants to borrow $8 billion, the rial broke 2.2 million to the dollar for the first time, and more prison sentences are [\u2026]","title":"Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s Strait","topic":"Iran Briefing","translation_language":"","url":"https://alhurra.com/en/37411","video_url":null,"youtube_conversion_active":false,"youtube_conversion_error":"","youtube_conversion_status":""},{"article_body_paragraphs":["Welcome back to the MBN Iran Briefing. You can read it in Arabic here , and check out MBN\u2019s flagship Arabic-language Alhurra news platform (also in English ).\u202fIf you were forwarded the MBN Iran Briefing, please subscribe .","Here is what you need to know this week. In Washington\u2019s first attack on Iran in a month, U.S. forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, and Iran has retaliated. Washington is moving to sever a key Iranian channel to the dollar, which keeps growing stronger against the rial. Pezeshkian admits that a big chunk of Iran\u2019s trade has vanished, and Khamenei urges Gulf rulers to recognize Washington, not Tehran, as their real enemy.","In other news, as gas lines form across Tehran, Iran\u2019s oil minister and central bank governor are publicly contradicting each other over whether oil exports have stopped. Ghalibaf trades barbs with a hardline editor over negotiations, and going to the theater will now cost you a quarter of your monthly income.","I\u2019m joined by our new Iran reporter Tara Rad, who is writing under a pseudonym, for this edition of the MBN Iran Briefing. Share your thoughts, analysis, and predictions with me at ailves@mbn-news.com .","And don\u2019t forget to check out the latest Iran Briefing podcast. In this edition I\u2019m joined by Alex Grinberg, Iran expert at the Turan Center and the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, and Mehdi Yahyanejad, internet freedom activist and founder of Persian-language discussion platform Balatarin. We take up the issue of where Iran\u2019s real online conversations actually happen now that the old public square has splintered, why the IRGC has lost its grip on the online narrative even as it holds on to power, and why most Iranians want the regime gone but may not be willing to pay the high price it would take to get that outcome now.","QUOTE OF THE WEEK","We will give a decisive response to the aggressors.","\u2014Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian , this morning following the most recent exchange of U.S. and Iranian missile strikes","TOP OF THE NEWS","The war has passed its six-month mark. The cost to Iran has been incalculable. By one recent estimate , the damage to the housing and related sectors alone has run 370 trillion rials, or nearly $200 million. As I\u2019ve been reporting in this briefing , the regime\u2019s executions have stepped up. And the Strait of Hormuz remains essentially closed. The path forward is anything but clear.","1. Hormuz","In the first known American attack on Iran in a month, U.S. forces hit two Iranian rocket launchers just off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran immediately retaliated by striking U.S. military facilities in Jordan and targeting an airbase in the UAE.","In the Iranian regime\u2019s view, whether the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal shipping is up to Washington, not Tehran. Iran\u2019s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said that implementation of the Hormuz understanding reached with Oman will not move forward automatically, as it is contingent on agreements Tehran says Washington made under the MOU signed in June and then broke. \u201cIran is in no hurry to open the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d he said.","On Saturday, Iranian state-sponsored outlet Press TV described the regime\u2019s conditions as \u201cthe complete lifting of the U.S.\u2019s illegal naval and economic blockade against the Islamic Republic, durable cessation of aggression on all fronts, including Lebanon, and clarification of the situation concerning the blockade of Yemen.\u201d","As I reported in this briefing on Thursday, Iran and Oman have laid out a timetable of 30 to 60 days to work out their final agreement.","CENTCOM has said that U.S. forces have cleared the strait of Iranian sea mines. The IRGC Navy has disputed that claim, insisting that \u201cthe dominance of the warriors of Islam over this strategic waterway is absolutely decisive.\u201d","The U.K.\u2019s maritime security agency reports that \u201cvessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains significantly reduced.\u201d","Prior to the war, roughly a fifth of the world\u2019s oil supply moved through the strait.","Two things to watch for: how Tehran responds to the latest American attack and whether there is any progress on the Iran-Oman plan.","People wait to withdraw money from ATMs at Banque Misr in Cairo, Egypt. Photo: Reuters.","2. Washington Squeezes Iran\u2019s Dollar Lifeline in the UAE","The U.S. Treasury Department\u2019s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced on Friday that it was proposing a rule that would revoke the U.S. correspondent banking access of Banque Misr UAE. Misr (\u0645\u0635\u0631) is the word for Egypt in Persian and Arabic. There is a 30-day public comment period before the rule takes effect.","Correspondent banks in the U.S. are the way foreign banks can move dollars to and from the United States, and cutting off access to them would mean Banque Misr UAE can\u2019t touch dollars.","As the U.S. agency\u2019s release put it, \u201cBanque Misr UAE\u2019s customers include apparent front companies used by Iran\u2019s Ministry of Defense and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to evade U.S. sanctions, as well as to launder money on behalf of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.\u201d The Treasury Department says that Banque Misr UAE processed around $1.8 billion for 103 companies between Jan. 2024 and this past June.","The UAE Central Bank announced on the weekend that it wouldl conduct a \u201cspecial and urgent examination\u201d into the activities of Banque Misr\u2019s branches in the country","Iranian officials, from Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf , continue to dismiss and deride the U.S. economic effort against the Islamic Republic.","Watch for whether other banks are targeted by FinCEN.","3. A Third of Iran\u2019s Trade Has Vanished","Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday that Iran\u2019s imports and exports have fallen by 25 to 35%.","The same day, a message attributed to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that Iran needs to increase its domestic output and stop the dollar from \u201cplaying an important role\u201d in Iran\u2019s economy.","One dollar continues to trade at over two million rials. The rial has weakened by 2.9% compared to a week ago, and 25.66% over the past six months.","Watch for further dire announcements on the state of the Iranian economy.","A Chinese-flagged oil tanker moored at an oil terminal at Tsing Yi port in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters.","4. China\u2019s Iranian Oil Imports Are Cratering","Chinese purchases of Iranian crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz averaged about 530,000 barrels a day in July and August \u2013 48% below prewar levels. China had been partly offsetting that loss by rerouting tankers through the Red Sea and Suez Canal instead, but those crude oil imports fell as well after the Houthis began their blockade of Saudi ships.","China still holds an estimated 1 to 1.4 billion barrels of oil in storage. Ninety percent of Iranian crude exports are destined for China.","I asked my colleague Min Mitchell, MBN\u2019s China Editor, what the drop in Chinese oil coming from Iran means for the country. Her answer: \u201cChina was getting a pass from Iran as a friendly country and its largest buyer when the war first broke. But we\u2019re starting to see the blockades making an impact. Half is a big drop, though China can sit on this for a while. They\u2019ve got over a billion barrels in storage. China isn\u2019t short of oil, it just wants cheap oil. To Beijing, Iran\u2019s best value was always the discount, and that\u2019s what\u2019s gone. It reveals to the world the limit of a seemingly strong relationship between Beijing and Tehran.\u201d","One tanker-tracking report found that no tanker laden with Iranian crude oil has successfully departed the Gulf of Oman without being intercepted or turned back since July 12.","Watch whether any tankers make it through.","5. Khamenei Tells Gulf Rulers to Recognize a Common Enemy","In a message attributed to him on the occasion of Islamic Unity Week, Supreme Leader Khamenei made an appeal to Gulf leaders. \u201cMy strong and repeated advice to the rulers of Islamic countries, especially the countries of the West Asian region and the Persian Gulf, is to recognize your real enemy, understand his plan, and confront him,\u201d he said, referring to \u201cthe criminal rulers of America and the fake Zionist regime.\u201d","The appeal comes weeks after Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, and not long after the UAE announced that \u201call trade, commercial exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran have been halted until further notice.\u201d","Watch for reactions to the message attributed to Khamenei and any further outreach from Tehran to Gulf capitals.","IN OTHER NEWS","A tanker truck drives along the road between Bandar Abbas and Bandar Khamir, southern Iran. Photo: AFP.","Oil Minister vs. Central Bank Governor on Oil Exports","Iranian oil minister Mohsen Paknejad said a few days ago that the country\u2019s oil sales have not stopped, contradicting a statement by central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati a week ago.","Hemmati had said on Iranian national television that \u201cit is a reality that we are not exporting oil.\u201d","The oil minister acknowledged that oil sales have decreased, but claimed that the process of delivering oil to customers in distant waters still continues. He added \u201cI will not go into details [of selling oil], because if the information is disclosed, the enemy could exploit it.\u201d","Iranian oil has been under sanctions, mainly from the United States, which have made it harder for Iran to sell its oil and access international markets.","Iran\u2019s Gasoline Problem","President Pezeshkian said in an interview on Friday that \u201cWe have to accept that we are in a war situation. Now the route is closed and goods are not coming in. One of these goods is gasoline.\u201d He was confirming an earlier statement by Iranian Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohammad-Jafar Ghaem-Panah that Iran cannot import gasoline because of the blockade, and that domestic production is not enough to meet demand.","Long lines have formed at gas stations across Tehran in recent days, with some stations reportedly closing.","Although Iran produces plenty of crude oil, its refineries aren\u2019t built to turn enough of it into gasoline. (For more about Iran and oil, check out my previous Iran briefing \u201c10 Things about Iran and Oil.\u201d )","The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company has denied reports of a gasoline shortage, saying that production, transportation, and distribution are operating at maximum capacity.","The company has asked people not to go to gas stations simply because of rumors, thereby creating kilometer-long queues.","Less than a decade ago, rising fuel prices led to a nationwide protest and several hundred protesters were killed in the ensuing government crackdown. Officials have been chary of raising gasoline prices since then.","Ghalibaf and Kayhan Editor Clash Over Negotiations","A disagreement over negotiations with the United States has been aired in the pages of Iranian newspapers. Keyhan \u2019s conservative editor-in-chief, Hossein Shariatmadari, criticized Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran\u2019s parliament and head of the negotiating team, who responded to him in an open letter.","Negotiations, Ghalibaf said , are not automatically good or bad, and should not be considered a taboo. He stressed that negotiations can be useful when they help advance national interests, secure the rights of the people, end injustice and maintain the gains of \u201cthe resistance.\u201d","\u201cWe must take responsibility and protect the tools of power we have, so that we can keep the gains of the war and help the country get through the serious dangers that its enemies have planned for it,\u201d Ghalibaf wrote.","He also said that, just as he has drawn a clear line against Westernization, deviation and sedition, he also opposes extremism, indiscipline in words and actions, and what he called selective adherence to the Supreme Leader.","\u201cI believe that revolutionary rationality is the missing element of revolutionary politics,\u201d he wrote.","Earlier, Shariatmadari had warned Ghalibaf about the direction of his political positions. He said that a pro-Western faction and some reformists were trying to change Ghalibaf\u2019s \u201csocial base\u201d and move it from the large and devoted masses of the people toward reformists and pro-Western groups.","The exchange is notable because both men are part of the conservative and revolutionary establishment.","An Iranian actress performs in a scene from Shakespeare\u2019s King Lear in a city theatre complex in Tehran. Photo: Reuters.","When Theater Becomes a Luxury","The rising cost of almost everything in Iran has also reached theater tickets. A ticket for a theatrical performance can now cost close to 50 million rials, or approx. $24, making theater a luxury for many ordinary people.","In a report last week on the high price of theater tickets, Mehr News highlighted the price of entry to the theatrical-orchestral show Arash, which will be performed at the Royal Hall of Espinas in Tehran. The show features well-known figures from Iranian cinema, theater and music.","\u201cIf watching a show is to become an experience reserved for the wealthy,\u201d the article asks, \u201chow can theater connect with society? How can we expect the younger generation, students, and ordinary audiences to have a continued connection with this art form when the price of a night at the theater is a significant portion of many families\u2019 monthly income?\u201d","The average salary of workers in Iran in 2026 is around 200 million rials, or approx. $100 a month.","Highlighting the same show, another Iranian news site, Fararu, said the price of a ticket to Arash \u201ccan turn the decision to see the show into a serious financial choice.\u201d"],"audio_source_url":null,"author":"Andres Ilves","available_dubs":[],"downloadable_assets":[],"duration_display":"0:00","duration_seconds":null,"embed_url":null,"id":14153,"image_caption":null,"image_url":"https://i0.wp.com/alhurra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2026-08-31T080949Z_866503310_RC2I9NAP2X0W_RTRMADP_3_IRAN-CRISIS-OMAN-HORMUZ.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1","is_clip":false,"is_youtube_embed":false,"item_type":"article","item_type_label":"Article","language_label":"English","media_credit":"Andres Ilves","micro_label":"Photo","micro_label_kind":"gallery","network_label":"Alhurra","network_logo_url":"/static/uploads/direct_network_logos/alhurra_d529a7a850f2.png","published_at":"2026-08-31T17:16:17","published_at_display":"31 Aug 2026, 17:16 GMT","sequence_badge_label":null,"sequence_count":null,"sequence_count_label":null,"sequence_frames":[],"sequence_kind":null,"source_name":"alhurra","source_name_label":"Alhurra","source_type":"scrape","summary":"Welcome back to the MBN Iran Briefing. You can read it in Arabic here, and check out MBN\u2019s flagship Arabic-language Alhurra news platform (also in English). If you were forwarded the MBN Iran Briefing, please subscribe. Here is what you need to know this week. In Washington\u2019s first attack on Iran in a month, U.S. forces [\u2026]","title":"Hormuz Under Fire","topic":"Iran Briefing","translation_language":"","url":"https://alhurra.com/en/36765","video_url":null,"youtube_conversion_active":false,"youtube_conversion_error":"","youtube_conversion_status":""}],"next_num":null,"page":1,"pages":1,"per_page":20,"prev_num":null,"total":2}