Iran in September 2026: the most important developments in politics
In September 2026 Iran's politics centred on whether the war with the United States could be ended by negotiation. On September 25 Iran presented a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, with a return to nuclear talks. Iranian state media said it had the backing of the supreme leader. Donald Trump rejected it on September 26, said he expected bombing to resume after the US midterm elections, and called the offer unacceptable. Iran said on September 27 it would not soften its demands, and on September 28 its leadership signalled it would not return to talks while tensions over the strait persisted. On September 30 Iran said it had received a US response through Qatari mediators, whose contents were not made public, and Axios reported that the talks had yielded no results and hostilities might resume.
The UN General Assembly was the second focus. Trump spoke on September 22, threatened to annihilate Iran if no deal was reached, and said direct talks had taken place. Masoud Pezeshkian told the assembly on September 23 that Iran would not surrender, called Trump a bully, and said Iran was open to negotiations. On September 23 the two sides held their first talks since June, which Steve Witkoff described as indirect. Eighty countries demanded the reopening of the strait at the UN.
In the United States the war drew scrutiny. The House voted 220 to 204 on September 16 to end US involvement, with seven Republicans joining Democrats, while the Senate rejected a resolution curbing Trump's war powers on September 24. A UN fact-finding mission said on September 17 there were reasonable grounds to believe the United States committed war crimes in strikes on Iran, and that it also found grounds to believe Tehran committed crimes against humanity.
Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution on Iran and an extension of the Iran sanctions panel. China pressed Iran to rein in the Houthis.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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