Iran threatens energy sites, pens letter to US voters as it awaits response
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
Iran threatened to attack energy infrastructure across the Middle East if its security is not guaranteed, its chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on September 29. The threat came as Tehran awaited a US response to its plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC also published a letter to American voters blaming the US for starting the war.
Key Facts
- Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf threatened attacks on energy infrastructure if Iran's security is not guaranteed, in a video broadcast on September 29.
- The IRGC published a letter to American voters on September 29, blaming the US for starting the war on February 28.
- The letter claimed more than 3,600 Iranians, mostly civilians including 400 children, were killed during the war.
- The United States says it has lost 18 troops in the war.
- US midterm elections are scheduled for November 3, with all 435 House seats and one-third of the Senate contested.
Threats and Negotiations
Iran threatened to attack energy infrastructure across the Middle East if its security is not guaranteed, chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in a video broadcast by state TV on September 29. Qalibaf stated that in a region where Iran cannot sell oil, no one else will sell oil either, and no infrastructure will remain safe if Iran's security is not guaranteed. The threat came as Iran awaited an official US response to a plan Tehran offered last week to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war handled about one-fifth of the world's gas and oil supply. US President Donald Trump dismissed the plan, which proposed reopening the strait and restarting nuclear talks in seven days contingent on lifting the naval blockade, removing oil sanctions, and re-imposing a regional cease-fire. Trump said he expects more talks between US and Iranian negotiators this week.
Letter to American Voters
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps published a letter to American voters on September 29, blaming the United States for starting the war on February 28. The letter claimed more than 3,600 Iranians, mostly civilians including 400 children, were killed during the war. The United States says it has lost 18 troops in the war. The letter conceded that air strikes destroyed part of Iran's nuclear industry and a limited number of air defense sites, while repeating Tehran's assertion that its nuclear program is solely civilian. RFE/RL reached out to the US State Department for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
US Midterm Elections
US voters head to the polls in midterm elections on November 3. All 435 seats of the House of Representatives are being contested, as well as one-third of the Senate's 100 seats.
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