West Asia war LIVE: Trump 'low-key' bets on economic pressure against Iran

Home News World 'We’re only semi-negotiating with them; we are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money', said U.S. President Donald Trump Updated - August 13, 2026 06:53 am IST U.S. President Donald Trump. File | Photo Credit: AP Keeping a low profile doesn’t come naturally to Donald Trump.Yet that is the strategy the American President says he now favors in the war against Iran, and he is betting on economic pressure over diplomacy or new strikes.Also read | Do not write the obituary of international law yet“We are low-keying it,” Mr. Trump told news site Axios by phone Sunday (August 9, 2026).“We’re only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.”Also read | A new security triangle emerges with the Makkah Pact The billionaire has since repeated that he is keeping the option of striking Tehran on the table, but prefers to stress the economic damage inflicted on the country through economic sanctions.Follow here for LIVE updates:August 13, 2026 06:45 Israel Defence Minister vows troops to stay in Lebanon, Syria, GazaIsrael’s Defence Minister Israel Katz visited southern Lebanon yesterday, vowing to destroy infrastructure and keep troops in a so-called “security zone” as well as in Syria and Gaza.The comments came almost two months after Israel and Lebanon agreed to a U.S.-sponsored framework deal that involves the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon’s south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as “pilot zones”.The United States plans new talks in early September in Rome between Israel and Lebanon.- AFPAugust 13, 2026 06:43 More than 25 countries condemn in 'strongest terms' Iran executions: statementMore than 25 nations, including France, the U.K. and Canada, yesterday condemned the use of capital punishment by Iranian authorities, saying in a joint statement the Islamic republic was executing protesters to “silence dissent”.The countries, joined by the European Union’s top diplomat, “condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing executions of protesters and use of the death penalty” by Iran.“The use of capital punishment to silence dissent, intimidate communities, and punish individuals exercising their human rights can never be justified,” the statement said.- AFPAugust 13, 2026 06:41 Trump says U.S. will 'keep' Hormuz Strait controlU.S. President Donald Trump yesterday said the United States is in control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz and will “keep it.”“The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it.”- AFPAugust 13, 2026 06:32 Lebanon condemns 'systematic' Israeli destruction in southLebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam yesterday condemned Israel’s “systematic destruction” in the country’s south as a violation of international law, as Israel’s Defence Minister said its military was “destroying all the houses” there.Mr. Salam said Israeli “attacks, incursions, demolitions and the systematic destruction of homes”, infrastructure, government buildings and places of worship “represent a serious violation of the principles and rules of international law and international humanitarian law”.Claiming that villages and towns “are entirely ‘military facilities’ does not stand up to any logic and cannot be used as an excuse for destroying them, displacing their inhabitants and preventing them from returning”, he said in a statement.- AFP Published - August 13, 2026 06:29 am IST