Tehran offers US seven-day plan to open Strait of Hormuz

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Iran proposes a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in 7 days if the US meets its conditions

Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the United States lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi detailed the proposal in a private gathering on Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, according to one attendee.

UN rights chief 'deeply alarmed' by escalating fighting in Ethiopia

The United Nations rights chief warned of the threat the escalating fighting in Ethiopia poses to civilians, adding that "deeply troubling" internet and telecommunications interruptions were increasing the risks.

"I am deeply alarmed by the recent escalation in hostilities between Ethiopian Government forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front and its allies, and the harmful impacts it is already having on civilians," Volker Turk said in a statement, calling on all parties to "urgently de-escalate tensions and avoid a return to full-scale war".

Yemen's president calls on Yemenis to mobilise

⁠Rashid ⁠al-Alimi, ​the ​Riyadh-based president of Yemen's Saudi-backed, internationally ​recognised government, ‌called ⁠on ‌Yemenis on Friday ⁠to mobilise and ​join the armed ‌forces.

He also offered ‌a future ​general amnesty to Houthi fighters and affiliates ​who ​leave ​the group ​starting September 26.

Iran will make no nuclear concessions, Iranian official says

Iran will show no flexibility over its nuclear program even if the United States accepts its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which calls for steps including the lifting of a US ​naval blockade ‌on Iranian ports, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.

The official, speaking ⁠on condition of anonymity, said the waterway would remain closed until “all of Iran’s conditions are met” by the United States. 

Under Iran’s proposal, Tehran has offered to ‌reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

At least 13 Afghan Taliban personnel killed in overnight border clash, Pakistan says. Kabul denies the claim

Overnight fighting along the southwestern border left at least 13 Afghan Taliban personnel dead, Pakistan said Friday, in a claim Afghanistan denied. It was the latest escalation between the neighbours following Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory.

Pakistan’s Information Ministry said in a post on X that its forces repelled what it called an “attempted Afghan aggression” in the Gulistan sector of southwestern Balochistan province. It said “at least 13 Afghan Taliban personnel were killed and several injured” Thursday night.

The strikes marked a sharp escalation in fighting between the two South Asian countries and risked further complicating international efforts to ease tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.

Pakistan routinely accuses Kabul of allowing militants, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, to operate from Afghan territory and launch attacks across the border. Kabul denies the accusation.

Colombia's new US-backed government cuts ties with Iran

Colombia said on Thursday it had cut diplomatic ties with Iran, the latest Washington ally in Latin America to sever links with the US arch-foe.

Colombia's new right-wing president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has redrawn Colombia's alliances since taking over from his leftist predecessor Gustavo Petro on August 7 with the full-throated endorsement of US President Donald Trump.

Before his inauguration, De la Espriella also announced plans to sever ties with authoritarian leftist governments in Cuba and Nicaragua, though he has yet to do so.

His government said on Thursday that the decision to cut ties with Iran, which took effect on September 19, was based on "hemispheric national security" considerations.

Lebanon PM calls on Israel to withdraw from his country's territory

Lebanon PM says his country must not become a battleground for the conflicts of other nations

Lebanon PM stresses need to 'avert vacuum' if UN force leaves

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam insisted at the UN on the need to "avert the vacuum" that would be caused by withdrawing the UN peacekeeping mission deployed in the south of his country without a viable replacement.

"What we wish to stress here and today is the need to avert the vacuum that UNIFIL's withdrawal could create, were it to take place without agreement on a new international force to replace it," he said.

UN refugees chief warns conditions in W.Sahara 'deteriorating'

The UN's top official for refugees warned that conditions for long-displaced people in Western Sahara were getting worse and that their humanitarian needs were starkly underfunded.

"Today conditions are deteriorating, and humanitarian needs remain significantly underfunded," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih, himself a former refugee, told the UN Security Council.

"But after more than 50 years, managing displacement indefinitely cannot be the measure of our collective ambition. The status quo is untenable, unsustainable."

UN Security Council condemns Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia

The United Nations Security Council condemned Friday escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemeni Houthi rebels in a rare show of unity from the UN's top body.

"The members of the Security Council condemned, in the strongest terms, continued Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including attacks impacting civilian and energy infrastructure, which have resulted in the injury of civilians, including women and children," said the rotating president of the Council, French UN envoy Jerome Bonnafont, delivering a joint statement.

Iran has suggested a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in 7 days

Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the United States lifts its naval blockade, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi detailed the proposal in a private gathering on Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, according to one attendee.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute think tank, who attended, said Araghchi suggested that a speedy agreement would help US President Donald Trump ahead of November's midterm elections.

There was no immediate comment from Iran's UN mission or other Iranian officials.

Senior Sunni cleric shot dead by unidentified gunmen in southeast Iran - Iranian state media

⁠Molavi ⁠Yusef ​Gorgij, a ​senior Sunni Muslim cleric, was ​shot ‌dead ⁠by unidentified ‌gunmen in southeastern Iran ⁠on Monday, the official ​news agency ‌IRNA reported.

IRNA quoted a ‌local governor ​as saying Gorgij "was active in the fight ​against ​divisive elements ​and Zionism", ​a description suggesting the cleric was pro-government.

Trump says meeting with China's Xi was 'very productive'

⁠US ​President ​Donald Trump said ⁠he ‌had ⁠a "very productive ​meeting" ‌with Chinese President ‌Xi ​Jinping and that "tremendous ​things ​will ​be happening", ​without offering further ⁠details.

🎥 Each side feels it 'could get a decisive military victory' in Sudan, Trump's Africa envoy says

In an interview with FRANCE 24 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Trump's Africa envoy Massad Boulos said each side in Sudan feels it "could get a decisive military victory".

Asked about Western Sahara, he acknowledged there is no "imminent solution that we can feel or touch".

He also rejected Rwanda's accusations of bias over US sanctions, saying they "can easily be reversed".

Zelensky says Trump made 'final decision' to give Ukraine Patriot licence

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said US President Donald Trump told him he would allow Ukraine to produce advanced Patriot air defence missiles, after a series of reversals on the issue.

Kyiv is facing a shortage of the missiles needed to counter Russia's increasing drone and missile attacks on the country, the latest of which killed a 14-year-old boy in the capital on Friday. 

Zelensky during his latest visit to the United States this week renewed calls for air defence support, and for the Patriots, which remain the only system reliably able to counter Russia's powerful ballistic missiles.

Threat to 'life and existence': Major takeaways from Palestinian president's UN speech

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had to deliver his address to the UN General Assembly in prerecorded remarks from his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah after the US denied him and other Palestinian officials visas to attend the gathering for the second year in a row.

“The Palestinian people face one of the most dangerous times in its history,” Abbas said.

FRANCE 24's Kethevane Gorjestani takes a look at some of the main takeaways from his address.

Iran proposes reopening Hormuz within seven days, media reports

Iran has submitted a proposal to the US to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

"If certain conditions are met, the strait will be open within seven days and talks will start," Araghchi, who is in the US for the UN General Assembly, told a number of media outlets.

The latest plan calls for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East for seven days, including in Lebanon, the New York Times quoted Araghchi as saying.

It also calls for the release of frozen Iranian assets estimated to be worth at least $12 billion, as well as the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade of Iran.

On the seventh day of the truce, Iran would reopen Hormuz. 

Araghchi said he was waiting for a US response to the plan and maintained that China supported the proposal.