Tehran

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi in Beijing and called for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen at an early date.

Wang urged Washington and Tehran to act rationally and return to the Islamabad MoU brokered by Pakistan in June. Beijing also cautioned against the conflict spreading into Yemen and the Red Sea.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken:

The Gulf states are all looking to talk to Tehran, maybe cut a deal with Tehran.

They’re looking to cut deals because they know that, unfortunately, what they’ve seen is we can’t necessarily defend them.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday vowed to respond "decisively" to attacks by Yemen's Houthis, AFP reports. The pledge followed a strike by the Tehran-backed group using ballistic missiles and drones that wounded 13 people inside the kingdom.

Iran launched at least 35 ballistic missiles at U.S. positions in Jordan tonight.

Tehran may now be on the menu.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry: Doha is working with China and regional partners to resume Tehran-Washington talks.

Israel’s opening strike on Iran was years in the making. Deception, Mossad operatives inside Iran, 200 fighter jets and a coordinated attack designed to cripple Tehran before it could respond.

Episode 3 drops Thursday on YouTube.

(Our best one yet. Link below)

Tehran hosted a Hamas delegation for talks with senior Iranian officials. Among those they met were Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Bassem Naim, the Hamas official for Islamic relations, held a meeting in Tehran with Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf.

NEW: Air defenses activated east of Tehran, according to Mehr.

Fire reported in southwestern Tehran, south of Mehrabad Airport.

A senior Iranian source to Reuters:

The response to the American strikes proved "there is no target in the region beyond Tehran's reach."

The source said conditions in the Strait of Hormuz will be made harsher for vessels violating the rules Iran has set, and described the recent confrontations between Iran and the U.S. as remaining a "limited and contained conflict" between the two sides.

Footage from Vanak, Tehran, last month shows a hospital wall covered with phone numbers posted by people struggling with poverty and seeking to sell their kidneys.

A Lebanese official to Nida' al-Watan: "What is happening in southern Lebanon is dangerous. No one is able to stop the progress of the Israeli war machine."

The source added that no one knows where things lead, especially after Hezbollah refused to hand its tunnels to the Lebanese army. Tehran, he said, cannot help Hezbollah and will not start a war on its behalf.

REPORT FROM IRAN: Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport has been closed until further notice.

Want to understand what has happened to Iran’s economy?

This photo was taken in 2002 at a coin dealer on Jomhouri Street in central Tehran.

An Emami gold coin was selling for 59,800 tomans. At today’s exchange rate, that is just $0.29.

Today, the same coin costs around 220 million tomans, about $1,068.

That is a roughly 367,793% increase in toman terms.

Do you want to understand how Irans economy is doing?

This image is from 2002 showing a coin dealer’s window on Jomhouri Street, central Tehran, Iran.

Sign reads: An Emami gold coin cost 59,800 tomans. (That would be $.29 at today’s exchange rate)

Today, that same coin cost 220 million tomans ($1068)

That is roughly a 367,793% increase.

Iran's Ebrahim Azizi addressed the U.S :

The only path left is to surrender, accept all of Tehran's conditions, and fully commit to them.

Qatar’s economy is projected to shrink 8.6% after Iranian attacks crippled its gas infrastructure and LNG exports.

Today, Qatar’s prime minister is in Tehran hugging the regime.

Long fuel lines reported across Tehran, fuel shortage takes hold.

As fuel runs short and queues stretch outside stations, Tehran sent inspectors with a message for Iranians: don't form lines, sort out alternatives on your own.

@ariel_oseran

The Tehran visit by Iraq's Shia judiciary chief Faeq Zidan focused on disbanding the Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, Iraqi government sources told Lebanon's Al-Akhbar.

A senior figure in the armed militias told the paper Iran fears rapid disarmament would create a vacuum Israel could exploit, as in Syria.

Qatari PM and FM Mohammed Al-Thani travels to Tehran tomorrow to meet senior officials on de-escalation, per Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari.

"Death to America" and "death to Israel" chanted at the opening of Iran's parliament in Tehran today.

IRAN FUEL CRISIS: The following stations are currently out of service in Tehran:

Pasdaran, Mirdamad, Shariati Park, Damavand, Mirza ye Shirazi and Dolat.

Some stations are reportedly limiting purchases to 20 liters per vehicle.

With estimates that restoring oil and gas output to prewar levels could take up to 2 years, the regime faces a difficult choice: raise fuel prices and risk unrest, or maintain current prices as shortages deepen.

It’s only getting worse from here.

Iran and Oman's foreign ministers held talks in Tehran.