In an interview with the semi-official Tasnim news agency, IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi called Trump’s claim a “delusion,” saying no dialogue is going on between the IRGC officials and the Americans.
Even Iran’s diplomatic apparatus is not currently negotiating with the United States owing to Washington’s “breach of promises,” Mohebbi added.
Separately, at Monday’s press conference, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei denied media reports of unofficial contact between Washington and the IRGC via Iraqi Kurdistan officials and an alleged secret U.S.-Iran meeting in Erbil.
The news is “media techniques and psychological operations used to sow discord among Iran’s decision-making bodies,” Baghaei said.
Fox News reported earlier that Trump confirmed there is a backchannel for peace talks between Washington and the IRGC.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that there is a backchannel for talks between Washington and the IRGC.
Just 33 percent of respondents in the four-day survey said they approved of Trump’s performance in the White House, while 64 percent disapproved, the poll showed.
It noted that Trump’s approval rating, down from 35 percent in a poll that closed earlier this month and lower than at any point in his current term, “has now tied the lowest level of his prior term reached in December 2017.”
The latest poll was released as a 60-day negotiation period under a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding was set to expire Monday, with no progress toward a broader peace agreement between the two sides.
Trump has sought to ease public concerns over high gas prices in recent remarks. At a political rally in Garden City, New York on Friday, Trump said that paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” is worth the cost of ensuring “a very evil country” cannot have a nuclear weapon.
Meanwhile, a Financial Times poll released Sunday showed that 53 percent of U.S. voters said they had become worse off under Trump, amid growing discontent over his handling of the economy and cost of living.
“Inflation is outstripping wage gains and people are having difficulty paying their bills. Many feel they are falling behind and not able to keep up with the cost of food, gas, and healthcare,” Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell to 33 percent, the lowest level of his presidency, amid public concerns over the U.S. war against Iran, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded Monday.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a press statement that the meetings are part of the movement’s ongoing “contacts and diplomatic efforts with mediators to inform them of Israeli violations.”
Qassem provided no further details about the visit.
A source within Hamas told Xinhua that a delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo late Saturday, marking his first visit since assuming the post of head of Hamas’ political bureau in July.
The source said the delegation is expected to meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad to discuss developments concerning the Palestinian issue and efforts to consolidate the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
The visit comes as mediators from Egypt, Türkiye and Qatar continue efforts to consolidate the ceasefire agreement amid disagreements over the implementation of its next phases.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally rejected a U.S.-backed 15-point plan for ending the Gaza conflict, insisting that Israel will not withdraw its forces from the enclave until Hamas is fully disarmed.
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said Sunday that its delegation is holding meetings in the Egyptian capital Cairo to ensure Israel’s compliance with a roadmap agreed upon with the U.S.-led “Board of Peace.”
The Israeli military said in a statement that Abu Hassan Alaa was killed late on Saturday in the strike on Deir al-Zahrani. It described the attack as “a response” to an earlier Hezbollah drone strike targeting Israeli troops in southern Lebanon that wounded three soldiers.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli warplanes struck a two-story building, killing at least four people and wounding five.
Also on Saturday, seven people were killed in heavy Israeli airstrikes on the southern village of Ansar, one of the deadliest Israeli attacks since a ceasefire was reached in 2024.
Israeli attacks have killed at least 4,300 people in Lebanon since the latest round of fighting began on March 2.
The Israeli military said in a statement that Abu Hassan Alaa was killed late on Saturday in the strike on Deir al-Zahrani. It described the attack as “a response” to an earlier Hezbollah drone strike targeting Israeli troops in southern Lebanon that wounded three soldiers.
The USS George Washington, the U.S. Navy’s “premier forward-deployed aircraft carrier” in the Pacific, was spotted Thursday transiting the Strait of Malacca, which links the Pacific and Indian oceans.
A Navy official confirmed to USNI News, the U.S. Naval Institute’s online news and analysis portal, that the aircraft carrier was moving westward after passing through the Singapore Strait.
The deployment came amid growing concerns over conditions aboard the Lincoln, including reported shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deck safety concerns, mail disruptions, and deteriorating mental health among the crew onboard.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal said the Lincoln hasn’t made a port call in 200 days during its extended deployment in the Iran war, setting a record for consecutive days at sea.
Amid the strain of the war, the U.S. military has lost about 25 percent of its MQ-9 Reaper drones, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing three U.S. officials.
Each drone can cost between 30 million U.S. dollars and 50 million dollars depending on the type of sensors and weapons it carries, putting the total value of the losses at more than 1.3 billion dollars, it said.
The US Navy has confirmed that the George Washington carrier group is moving through the Strait of Malacca toward the Indian Ocean and the Middle East.
U.S. news outlet The Intercept and non-profit Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) alleged that the paid Truth Social service violates two parts of the Constitution: the First Amendment right to access a president’s comments on equal terms with other members of the press and public, and the Fifth Amendment prohibitions on charging unreasonable conditions for government benefits.
The plaintiffs said delayed access to the president’s statements would harm their ability to produce or support journalism, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
“A president selling priority access to news he himself generates for the benefit of a private company he controls is so blatantly corrupt and unconstitutional that it would have been hard to even fathom just a few years ago,” said Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the FPF.
As general counsel to The Intercept, David Bralow said: “Nothing could be more antithetical to the free, independent press than the president charging for early access to his public announcements.”
The paid Truth Social service, named Truth API, allows subscribers to receive Trump’s posts seconds before they appear for the general public. Seeking to block the plan, the two groups said those moments matter because Trump’s posts often move stocks, oil and other financial markets with announcements about government policy, military actions and other decisions, as seen during the Middle East conflicts and renewed U.S. tariff measures.
Many big investment firms have developed automated systems to monitor Truth Social, detect important keywords and take action, often within a fraction of a second, such as initiating or canceling positions, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing traders.
A Wall Street Journal review of trading data showed how quickly some traders have pounced on the president’s online comments. In the minute following two of Trump’s posts about Iran in June, investors traded more than 2 million shares, according to data from DTN, a global data and technology company. These trades caused swings of more than 2 percent in almost two dozen energy and industrial stocks.
The plaintiffs argued that the setup gave an unfair advantage to those who can afford it, creating a system where market-sensitive information reaches paying clients first, according to the BBC.
Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), Truth Social’s parent company, announced that Truth API charges up to 100,000 U.S. dollars a month for early access to 10 high-profile Truth Social accounts, including Trump’s own, or 60,000 dollars per month if users commit to three years.
Trump has the largest following on the platform, with about 13 million followers, followed by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., with around 7.5 million.
Other accounts offered through Truth API include those of Vice President JD Vance, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., FBI Director Kash Patel and the White House itself, the complaint said.
The service came as the publicly traded TMTG lost hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter and its stock has dropped below 10 dollars from 62 dollars shortly after going public two years ago.
Trump is the largest shareholder of TMTG, with a 41.3 percent stake worth approximately 950 million dollars, held through his Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., serves as a director of TMTG and oversees the trust, while the president is the trust’s sole beneficiary, the BBC reported.
Even before the new API service was launched, ethics watchdogs criticized Trump’s posting on Truth Social as a brash attempt to profit off the presidency, linking it to other money-making ventures, including those related to cryptocurrencies.
Earlier this year, the president filed a required annual financial disclosure report showing that he had taken in more than 1 billion dollars in 2025 from new crypto businesses subject to regulation by his administration, according to AP.
The Wall Street Journal reported that trading firms were among the first subscribers to the service, with more than 10 customers having signed up. In this business, getting to data nanoseconds faster than competitors can amount to a sizable advantage.
“This scheme is profoundly corrupt,” the two organizations said in their complaint. “The president stands to gain financially by giving ‘market-moving’ government information to those who are willing and able to pay his personal company.”
The plan also drew backlash from Democratic lawmakers, who called for a probe into the service by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
U.S. President Donald Trump was sued Wednesday by two media organizations
According to a military source and eyewitnesses, the attacks targeted Khartoum, as well as El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State; Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan State; and Atbara and Al-Damar in River Nile State, while the army’s air defenses and ground-based anti-aircraft systems confronted a new wave of drones.
A Sudanese military source told Xinhua that the army’s ground and air defenses repelled widespread drone attacks on Wednesday and Thursday targeting several cities and military positions. The source said more than 35 drones, which he attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), were shot down on Wednesday over areas including Atbara, Al-Damar and El Obeid.
On Thursday, the forces shot down 10 drones in Omdurman, three in River Nile State and five in South Kordofan State, the source said, adding that the defenses prevented drones from reaching a number of vital targets.
An eyewitness in Omdurman told Xinhua that loud explosions were heard and columns of smoke rose over the city as air defenses engaged a swarm of drones. In El Obeid, another eyewitness reported successive explosions and the activation of army ground defenses as several drones attacked the city.
In Kadugli, an eyewitness said ground defenses engaged drones targeting the city and shot down several before they reached their targets.
The attacks also reached Atbara and Al-Damar in River Nile State, relatively far from the front lines, highlighting the expanding geographical scope of drone warfare in Sudan.
The Sudanese army has not issued an official statement on the latest attacks, while the RSF has not commented on allegations that it was responsible.
The escalation comes amid heavy fighting on several fronts, particularly in North Kordofan and Blue Nile.
In North Kordofan, clashes continued after the army retook several strategic areas in recent weeks and reopened parts of the vital export road linking Kordofan with Khartoum.
The general command of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said Thursday that its forces and allied troops had repelled an RSF attack on the Jabrat Al-Sheikh area in North Kordofan involving more than 250 combat vehicles. It said the attackers suffered losses in personnel and equipment and were forced to withdraw toward the outskirts of Darfur.
In Blue Nile State, fighting continued in Geisan, a locality on the border with Ethiopia, following an attack by the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, according to local authorities.
The authorities said in a statement that the attack began Wednesday morning and targeted the town during the agricultural season, describing it as a “full-fledged war crime.”
The International Organization for Migration reported that around 2,500 people, or about 500 families, were displaced from Geisan following the clashes. Most moved to other areas within the locality, while others crossed the border into Ethiopia.
Sudan has been mired in an armed conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions both domestically and abroad.
This photo taken with a mobile phone shows residents inspecting a drone-attacked mosque in Al-Droshab, north of Sudan’s capital Khartoum on August 12, 2026.
Guterres is closely following the developments related to the conflict in the Middle East, including the situation in and around the Strait of Hormuz and in the Red Sea, said Farhan Haq, his deputy spokesman.
“The secretary-general remains convinced that a comprehensive and durable settlement can only be reached through dialogue and negotiations,” said Haq. “Such a settlement would help restore stability and confidence across the region, while also safeguarding the navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz and in the Red Sea.”
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg is also continuing his efforts to de-escalate the situation in Yemen, said Haq.
Any activity that disrupts shipping around the coast of Yemen will also hinder UN efforts to bring supplies into the war-torn country, which is one of the reasons why all such obstructions in the Red Sea and around Bab al-Mandab need to stop, said the spokesman.
This handout photo provided by Houthi Media Center shows the launch of a drone allegedly toward Mocha in Yemen, on Aug. 9, 2026. (Houthi Media Center/Handout via Xinhua)
The team of a second special counsel Kwon Chang-young, who led investigations into leftover martial law allegations and other corruptions, indicted Yoon on charges stemming from his directive to spread messages to allied countries justifying his short-lived martial law declaration.
The emergency martial law was declared by Yoon on the night of Dec. 3, 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly.
Yoon was accused of ordering the dissemination of distorted messages to major allies, including the United States, between Dec. 3 and 4, 2024, to validate the legitimacy of the martial law.
The special counsel team concluded that Yoon abused his power by forcing the presidential national security office and the foreign ministry to perform duties outside their legal obligations.
Shin Won-sik, former presidential national security advisor, was indicted without detention on charges of conspiring with Yoon to distribute the justification messages.
Yoon was sentenced to life in prison in February this year for the insurrection coming from his martial law declaration and 30 years in prison in June for the general treason relevant to the infiltration of drones into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
He was indicted under detention in January 2025 as a suspected ringleader of the insurrection, becoming the first sitting president to be arrested and indicted.
Yoon was sentenced to life in prison in February this year for the insurrection coming from his martial law declaration and 30 years in prison in June for the general treason relevant to the infiltration of drones into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
“We see that the authorities of some countries, in violation of international maritime law, are trying to restrict the movement of our economic operators’ vessels, peaceful vessels, I want to emphasize,” Putin said during the final stage of the Pacific Fleet’s exercises.
Putin’s remarks come against the backdrop of recent interceptions and inspections of “shadow fleet” ships by European naval forces, including Italian-led European Union (EU) operations in the Mediterranean. At the end of July, the EU also adopted a port access ban on 41 more “shadow fleet” vessels and introduced mandatory notification requirements for the sale of liquefied natural gas tankers to Russia.
Putin has also voiced his concern over increasing tensions in the Asia-Pacific region due to “unprovoked” sanctions against Russia introduced by Japan. “Unfortunately, we are seeing changes in positions, and I would like to emphasize that these changes were not provoked by anything on our part,” said Putin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday that Russia would respond in kind if Western countries seize its merchant ships.
