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After the Deadline, the Reckoning
By Behnam Mohammadi
The sand has run out on Islamabad’s MOU. Trump says no more talks, leaving the Islamic Republic buried in lost time and missed chances. What will fall next?
The Hanging Regime
By Ahmad Barakizadeh
With the memorandum’s two-month deadline passing and its leverage dwindling, the Islamic Republic is left clinging to power.
Welcome to the Kayhan Life Week in Review
Washington shifted its focus from military pressure to economic strangulation of the Islamic Republic, as the war entered a new phase. President Trump also took aim at any country offering the Iranian regime a lifeline. Repression against ordinary Iranians intensified inside: the Islamic Consultative Assembly moved to criminalize contact with foreign media, another January protester was executed, and the year’s execution toll reached at least 932. In Los Angeles, Iranian political figure Foad Pashaei was critically injured in an apparent assassination attempt that Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi blamed on Tehran. On a more upbeat note, Iranian American artist Saya Behnam transformed mineral pigments from the Strait of Hormuz into works exploring the fragile divide between nature and destruction, beauty and war.
►With diplomacy stalled, Washington opened an economic front. Already battered by war, the regime feared that further hardship could reignite unrest and accelerate its loss of legitimacy.
Trump Warns of Economic Consequences for Any Country That Supports Iran
Bessent Says US Will Impose Toughest Ever Sanctions on Iran, Urges China to Cooperate
U.S. Targets Hezbollah With Fresh Sanctions, Emphasizes Ties to Iranian Government
Battered by War, Iran’s Rulers Wary of More Economic Pain and Unrest if U.S. Tightens Pressure
Trump Wants More Economic Pressure on Iran. What Are His Options?
Iranian Oil Offers to Chinese Buyers Fall as US Blockade Bites
►The Islamic Republic threatened a “crushing, punishing and devastating” response even as its escalating aggression further alienated its neighbors. Missiles launched toward maritime traffic near the UAE prompted Abu Dhabi to suspend financial and commercial ties with Tehran. Tensions with Qatar also deepened after Doha denied holding Iranian pilots who had entered its airspace in March, saying one pilot’s remains had been recovered, contradicting Tehran’s claim that three were captured alive.
Iran Vows ‘Devastating’ Response as US Threatens Toughest Ever Economic Hit
UAE’s Financial Embargo on Iran After Missile Threat Puts Rivalry Back in Spotlight
Qatar Denies Holding Iranian Pilots
►Amid widespread cyber incidents targeting local water systems in multiple states in recent weeks linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, U.S. agencies warned of attempts to breach Siemens controllers used in water systems and other critical infrastructure. In a further development, the Justice Department charged 17 people tied to the Mabna Institute over an alleged IRGC-backed campaign targeting universities, businesses and government agencies.
US Warns Siemens Devices Can Be Hacked Amid Fears Iran Is Breaching Water Plants
DOJ Unseals New Charges Against 17 Hackers in Iran-Backed Campaign
►The Islamic Republic’s growing isolation was further underscored by its dispute with France. Tehran barred two French Embassy employees from returning after accusing them of supporting Iranian civil society. Paris denounced the action as intolerable and retaliated by expelling two Iranian diplomats.
Iran Says Two French Embassy Employees Barred From Returning
France to Expel Two Iranian Diplomats in Coming Days, Foreign Minister Says
►Beyond Iran’s borders, Foad Pashaei, secretary-general of the Constitutionalist Party of Iran (Liberal Democrat), was seriously injured in what the exiled group described as an assassination attempt at his Los Angeles home. The FBI joined the investigation, while Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi accused the Islamic Republic of ordering the attack. In London, a British teenager pleaded guilty to an arson attack at Iran International offices earlier this year.
Leader of Constitutionalist Party of Iran Seriously Injured in Los Angeles Attack
Teen Pleads Guilty Over Arson Attack on Iran International Offices in London
►Inside Iran, as fears of renewed unrest mount, the Islamic Republic’s parliament advanced legislation threatening prison terms for Iranians who speak with media deemed hostile and requiring official permission for certain contacts with foreign outlets, embassies and organizations.
Iranian Parliament Votes to Further Criminalise Interviews With ‘Hostile Media’
►The Islamic Republic executed a man convicted of deliberately driving into police officers during January’s protests. According to the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, at least 932 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2026, including 28 in August—an average of more than four executions a day during the year’s first seven months.
Iran Executes Man Convicted of Running Over Police During January Protests
►A potential environmental disaster began unfolding outside the Strait of Hormuz. Two oil slicks appeared in Iranian waters amid attacks on commercial shipping, while a grounded tanker carrying Russian crude produced a spill estimated at up to 2,000 square kilometers off the coast of Oman. Although the tanker incident was unrelated to the war, it threatened a protected marine habitat.
Two Slicks Appear in the Persian Gulf as Huge Oil Spill off Oman Threatens Disaster
►Finally, in culture, the Strait of Hormuz inspired a new body of work by Iranian-American artist Saya Behnam. Using mineral ochre pigments gathered from the region by friends and family, Behnam explores the tension between natural beauty and wartime destruction. Her work “Hormuz 3” will be on view at the Commission’s Eye St. Gallery in Washington, D.C., from September through December.
‘Strait of Hormuz’ Work by Artist Saya Behnam Is Shortlisted for Grant
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