Trump and Iran exchange threats as UNGA begins; Pakistan arrests Imran Khan’s sisters; ICE shoots DoorDash driver

U.S. President Donald Trump is seen aboard Marine One as it lands at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on September 19, 2026. Photo by Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images. Monday, September 21, 2026 – Four workers killed in Saudi airstrikes on telecom towers in Yemen. Ansarallah targeted Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu. Saudi-backed forces claim to recapture positions near Taiz. Ansarallah reiterates Saudi ships are the sole target in Red Sea. U.S. urges Americans to “seriously reconsider” Middle East travel, warns of rapid escalation. Tanker struck by projectile in Strait of Hormuz, two crew injured. Iran says it shot down U.S. MQ-1 drone over Hormuz. President Donald Trump threatens to “blow up all of Iran,” says he is open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran says it sent mediators conditions for starting negotiations to end war. “All Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” U.S. Treasury Secretary says. U.S. refuses visas for Iranian president’s communications team. Bloomberg: Pentagon probe found “cascade of preventable failures” behind U.S. strike on Iranian school. WaPo: More U.S. troops have died in Iran war than publicly disclosed. Israeli attacks kill three Palestinians, including child, wound several across Gaza. Israeli forces kill one Palestinian, carry out mass detentions and closures across the occupied West Bank. Israeli settler killed in shooting near West Bank settlement. Gaza hospital suspends nearly all medical services as fuel deliveries halt. Senate war vote looms. Israeli weapons transfer still lacks Senate objector. Crypto super PAC Fairshake launches $30 million campaign against Former Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio. ICE officer shoots, seriously wounds DoorDash driver in Austin. CNN, MS NOW, Politico sue Trump administration over revoked White House press access. Huckabee aide with top-secret clearance solicited cash wedding gifts from Israelis, sparking security concerns. Pro-Israel Democrat Henry Beck to fundraise for Maine’s Troy Jackson. White House drafts order to give political panel veto power over NIH research grants. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley calls on Trump to embargo diesel exports. Trump announces “Historic” U.S., Greenland, Denmark Agreement. Pakistan detains three sisters of jailed former PM Imran Khan ahead of planned protest march. Pakistani air raids kill at least three civilians in Afghanistan. Pakistani forces kill five militants, free 23 hostages in Balochistan operation. Explosions at weapons depot in northern Syria injure at least four. Ukraine launches mass drone strike on Moscow on final day of Russian election, killing two. Russia continues to strike Ukraine, killing five. Zelenskyy plans to meet with Trump in New York. Three South Korean soldiers wounded in DMZ explosion. 18 suspects in Haitian President Jovenal Moïse’s assassination extradited to US. Australia to see more deaths than births by 2060s, Treasury report forecasts. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she will ban burqas and niqabs in Italian schools. Trump administration prepares additional sanctions against ICC. German far right wins more regional elections, Chancellor Friedrich Merz continues to suffer. Seven Ethiopian armed groups announce alliance to oust President Abiy Ahmed’s government. This is Drop Site Daily, our free news recap We send it Monday – Friday Subscribe Yemen Four workers killed in Saudi airstrikes on telecom towers in Yemen: Four workers were killed and three wounded in Saudi airstrikes on telecommunications towers in Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf province on Sunday, according to Ansarallah-affiliated Al Masirah. Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said Saudi F-15 and Typhoon jets carried out 28 airstrikes in Taiz, Al-Jawf, and Marib over 24 hours, bringing the group’s claimed total since the latest escalation to 760. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said it struck Ansarallah forces in Al-Bayda, while an army officer claimed more than 80 Ansarallah fighters were killed in fighting around oil and gas rich Marib. Ansarallah targeted Riyadh, Aramco facilities in Yanbu: Ansarallah targeted “sensitive sites” in Riyadh and Aramco facilities in Yanbu on Saturday using a large number of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones. Saudi Civil Defense alerts were triggered multiple times for 10 different cities and provinces during the attacks. NASA FIRMS data confirmed that fuel storage at the Aramco Central Region Distribution facility was struck causing a fire. Photos and videos circulating online showed a large smoke column rising from the vicinity of King Khalid International Airport, where the Aramco distribution facility is located. Saudi-backed forces claim to recapture positions near Taiz: Saudi-backed Yemeni forces recaptured several front-line positions near Taiz city from Ansarallah, the chief of staff of the Taiz military force told state-run Saba news agency. Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, has been divided along front lines between Ansarallah and the internationally recognized government since 2015. Taiz governorate remains the epicenter of displacement in Yemen, with more than 63,000 people displaced, as the nationwide total surpassed 104,796 people, according to the International Organization for Migration. Ansarallah reiterates Saudi ships are the sole target in Red Sea: Mahdi Al-Mashat, president of the Ansarallah-run Supreme Political Council in Sana’a, said Saudi Arabia will be forced to pay compensation for its “unjust blockade” of Yemen, reaffirming an “equation of blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation.” Al-Mashat said Yemen would press ahead until airports and ports are reopened, national resources restored, compensation paid, and Saudi forces withdrawn from “occupied” territory. He added that international shipping through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab “will face no danger from Yemen.” Saudi crude exports surge as kingdom shifts more oil to Gulf terminals: Saudi Arabia’s September crude exports are averaging 4.60 million barrels per day (bpd), up 2.16 million bpd from August but still 1.89 million below a year earlier, according to Kpler. The sharp increase suggests the kingdom is shifting substantial volumes from Yanbu and the disrupted Red Sea route to eastern Gulf terminals, sending them through Hormuz instead. Bloomberg energy columnist Javier Blas said satellite imagery showed seven supertankers, capable of carrying roughly 14 million barrels combined, loading simultaneously on September 20. TankerTrackers said Saudi east-coast crude exports have “picked up massively” over the past two weeks. Casualty toll continues to rise in Yemen: Over 160 people were killed and more than 500 injured across Yemen between September 12 and 18, according to the World Health Organization, bringing the total number of casualties since the fighting resumed on August 6 to 674 killed and nearly 3,000 injured. An estimated 125,000 people have been displaced over the same period. U.S. urges Americans to “seriously reconsider” Middle East travel, warns of rapid escalation: The U.S. State Department urged Americans outside the Middle East to “seriously reconsider” travel to and through the region, warning that the military conflict “has the potential to escalate rapidly.” It cited ongoing hostilities, including Ansarallah attacks on Saudi Arabia, and warned of possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and travel disruptions. Iran Tanker struck by projectile in Strait of Hormuz, two crew injured: A tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz was struck by an unknown projectile on Monday, leaving two crew members with minor injuries, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said. The vessel was entering the Strait and continued toward its next port under its own power. No environmental impact was reported. Iran says it shot down U.S. MQ-1 drone over Hormuz: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Monday it intercepted and destroyed another U.S. MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported. The IRGC claimed the U.S. had returned the older MQ-1 to service after losing a large number of MQ-9 drones. There was no immediate U.S. confirmation of the reported shootdown. Trump threatens to “blow up all of Iran,” says he is open to meeting Pezeshkian: President Donald Trump escalated his threats against Iran in a Fox News interview on Sunday, saying Washington’s options are “to obliterate Iran, letting it rot economically, or reach a deal.” “My question is when—and if—I will blow up all of Iran, and they had better behave themselves,” Trump added. Trump also said he is open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week. He claimed some Iranian officials are hiding and it’s impossible to find the contacts to strike a deal. The U.S. remains in “constant contact” with Yemen’s Ansarallah, Trump said, adding that they have agreed not to fight U.S. forces. Iran says it sent mediators conditions for starting negotiations to end war: Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s National Security Council Secretary, told Al Jazeera Tehran shared seven conditions for negotiating an end to the war with mediators, Rezaei said, including an end to attacks on all fronts, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and ending the U.S.’s naval blockade. “The U.S. President’s assessments and calculations regarding Iran were flawed, and the war was instigated by Netanyahu,” Rezaei said. “Trump’s threats will yield no results. We are prepared for a decisive war.” Iran says U.S. planning renewed attacks, warns of retaliation “without limitations”: Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters—Iran’s conventional joint military command—said it had received information indicating the U.S. was planning to resume attacks on Iran and warned it would retaliate “without limitations.” The military command also warned regional countries against supporting any U.S. attacks. Iran’s IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said Monday the war had not ended and the IRGC was prepared for a prolonged conflict, warning that any renewed confrontation would involve new targets, a changed “geography of war,” and weapons and capabilities not previously used that would “surprise the world.” “All Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” U.S. Treasury Secretary says: “On September 23rd, all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Monday, announcing new sanctions targeting Iran’s civil aviation network. Bessent said foreign airports and companies that refuel Iranian aircraft, provide landing services or sell tickets could risk losing access to the U.S. banking system. Iran has not publicly responded. U.S. refuses visas for Iranian president’s communications team: The Trump administration has refused to issue visas for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s communications team for the UN General Assembly opening in New York this week, according to Iranian state media. While entry visas were granted to President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and other key Iranian officials, the U.S. imposed restrictions on the delegation’s movement in New York, limiting officials to areas in and around the UN headquarters. Bloomberg: Pentagon probe found “cascade of preventable failures” behind U.S. strike on Iranian school: “Within hours of a February 28 missile attack that hit an Iranian school, some Pentagon personnel knew the U.S. was responsible, according to officials involved in an internal investigation of the incident,” Bloomberg reported . The report added that Pentagon investigators found a “cascade of preventable failures” behind the U.S. strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed more than 150 people, including at least 123 children, though Washington still has not publicly accepted responsibility. The probe found outdated intelligence, missed evidence the site had operated openly as a school for years, and overreliance inside CENTCOM on Palantir’s AI-enabled “Maven” system. The investigation that began in March has been nearly complete for months but remains unreleased. CENTCOM claims Hormuz shipping at six-month high; Iran rejects account: CENTCOM claimed the volume of oil, cargo, and liquefied natural gas moving through the Strait of Hormuz during the past two weeks was higher than at any point in the previous six months. Admiral Brad Cooper said on Saturday that U.S. forces had supported the passage of more than 2,000 transits and one billion barrels of Gulf crude through Hormuz over the “last couple of months.” That figure, if Cooper begins the count on July 13, when the U.S. announced it was resuming its naval blockade, would equal about 14.7 million bpd. Reuters recently cited Vortexa data estimating that crude and fuel flows through Hormuz were closer to 8 million bpd, while Goldman Sachs placed exports through all Gulf routes combined at 15–16 million bpd. Iranian military spokesperson Abolfazl Shekarchi rejected CENTCOM’s account as a “failed psychological operation” intended to boost U.S. troop morale and justify the war’s enormous human and financial costs. Oil flows out