Day 211 of the WarSaturday, September 26, 2026

Day 211 — Trump Rejects Tehran's Seven-Day Hormuz Plan; Explosions Reported Off Sirik; Kayhan: 'Trump Must Be Killed'

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WashingtonSirik · Strait of HormuzTehranEvin PrisonRiyadh · Bogotá

Iran

Rebuking Pezeshkian for saying his government does not seek to assassinate Trump or his family, Kayhan ran a piece headlined 'Avenging the Blood Is the Demand of the Iranian Nation; Trump Must Be Killed,' calling revenge 'a divine and irrevocable mission,' per Iran International.source
MP Hossein-Ali Hajji Deligani said 'all of their palaces must be targeted' in Gulf states used to attack Iran and urged steps toward nuclear deterrence; he called impeaching the president mere 'discussion' and said parliament wants a UN delegate fired for attending Trump's speech, per Iran International.source
Assembly of Experts member Mohsen Heydari told Al-Araby that Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in the February 28 strike on the Leader's office and was later pulled from the rubble of the third Tehran hospital to be bombed, adding that the Assembly has verified he is healthy and fit to lead, per Iran International.source
IRGC-affiliated Tasnim called reports of an Iranian technical delegation traveling to New York for talks with the U.S. a 'media fabrication,' saying Araghchi's team will return to Iran on Tuesday as planned, per Iran International.source

Iran

The lawyer for Reza Valizadeh, the Iranian-American journalist held in Evin, told PBS News his health has sharply deteriorated and he struggles to breathe, citing overcrowding, food shortages and the return of tuberculosis since Israel's strike on the prison, per Iran International.source
In a voice message aired by PBS, Valizadeh said his 10-year sentence 'pales in comparison' to families forced to open body bags in search of loved ones, and that he refused an IRGC Intelligence offer to lure colleagues to Iran: 'I chose prison, and I will not beg anyone for my freedom.'source
Masih Alinejad said Pezeshkian's Fox News claim that only 'armed' protesters were killed in January amounts to 'a confession': 'Armed with what, exactly? Watch the videos... Then show us the weapons.'source

Gulf & Naval

Several large explosions were heard in Sirik in southern Iran and in the Strait of Hormuz, with local sources describing 'a serious naval conflict,' at least one vessel reportedly hit and IRGC Navy speedboats operating, per Open Source Intel.source
Senior armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi told state TV that 'any ship that passes outside the route designated by Iran will not have security,' and vowed Trump and Netanyahu will face retribution 'whether they are in power or not,' per Iran International.source
Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani told the UN that Gulf states and Jordan have faced nearly 7,000 Iranian attacks — 1,700 ballistic missiles, 80 cruise missiles and 5,220 drones — with 72 merchant ships hit and 22 seafarers killed, and rejected any Hormuz toll system, per Iran International.source
Saudi air defenses intercepted two Houthi drones aimed at Riyadh and two ballistic missiles fired at Khamis Mushait, which hosts an air base; a Houthi political official called it 'a small-scale exercise for a full-scale escalation,' per RadioFarda.source

Global

Trump told reporters outside the White House he received and rejected Tehran's proposal: 'They want to make a deal under which the strait would be opened immediately, because they are losing badly'; he said the U.S. has 'complete control' of Hormuz and 29 ships left it overnight, per Iran International.source
Hours earlier, The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported Trump had told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterms, and that Washington told Tehran and the mediators it will not lift the blockade, per Iran International and LiveIranNews.source
Axios says Araghchi gave the plan to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on September 22: an end to the blockade and oil sanctions plus a region-wide ceasefire, in return for reopening Hormuz and nuclear talks within a week; U.S. negotiators said Tehran does not control the strait, per Iran International.source
Pezeshkian told CBS that if Washington accepts the plan, implementation would begin immediately and Iran's armed forces would abide by it; he told Al Jazeera Tehran no longer trusts talks with Washington, but Qatar and Pakistan are carrying messages between the two sides, per Iran International.source

Global

A CNN investigation found Iran relied on Russian spy-satellite intelligence for its March 27 strike on Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh, which wounded 12 U.S. service members and destroyed an E-3 AWACS; 14 Russian satellites passed over the base two days earlier, per Visegrád 24.source
After cutting diplomatic ties, Colombia designated the IRGC a terrorist group, calling it a serious threat to international peace, citing its repression of Iranians and covert cross-border operations, and pledging tighter entry controls, per LiveIranNews.source
The army chiefs of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey held an emergency meeting on implementing the Mecca Pact and deepening intelligence and military coordination, as Shehbaz Sharif told the UN that Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab must not become 'chokepoints of confrontation,' per Iran International.source

Sources