Araghchi to meet mediators in New York, Iranian media says

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet mediators in New York today, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency. The report comes after Araghchi said Iran is open to “real diplomacy” but ready to confront any new US attacks even if it means an “apocalyptic war”.
Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei says Iran’s military has driven the “enemy” from waters off southern Iran to the Arabian Sea, adding it will soon be kicked out of there too.
Iran seizes two light vessels, arrests 50 people for violating regulations
Iran has seized two light vessels and arrested 50 people in the coastal waters of Qeshm Island and Minab “for violating Iranian regulations”, according to the state-run broadcaster IRIB.

The report does not provide any details about the vessels, the nationalities of the arrested people or the timing of the operation.

Smoke rises in Lebanon’s al-Mansouri after Israeli attack
PM Salam pushes for full implementation of deal with Israel in Rubio meeting
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has called for a full implementation of a framework agreement with Israel, “leading to the restoration of Lebanon’s full sovereignty”, in his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC.

Salam “stressed the need to move to the stage of implementation of the tripartite framework and translation of the principles of reciprocity and phased implementation into practical steps and tangible results on the ground”, according to his office.

The steps must lead “to the restoration of Lebanon’s full sovereignty, the achievement of a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, and the confinement of weapons to the state throughout its territory”, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Salam also “called for the establishment of a credible verification mechanism to monitor implementation and ensure compliance with the commitments” and stressed the importance of continued US support to the Lebanese military, tasked with the difficult mission of disarming Hezbollah.
US deputy envoy to UN accuses Palestinian president of failing to meet commitments
Jennifer Locetta, US deputy ambassador to the UN, has accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of not following through on the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) commitment to ending its “financial and ideological support for terrorism”.

“That is why the United States continues to maintain sanctions on the PA and the Palestine Liberation Organization,” Locetta said at the UN Security Council (UNSC).

During his speech last week at the 81st UN General Assembly, Abbas rejected the US’s denial of his attendance and “the accusations and justifications on which they were based”.

“We affirm that we have fulfilled our obligations, carried out a comprehensive national reform programme,” he said, adding that the PA, “upheld our commitment to international law to shunning violence and terrorism”.

At the UNSC meeting, Locetta reiterated that the US-led Board of Peace seeks the “complete disarmament and demobilisation of Hamas”.

US wants assurances that Iran is serious about fulfilling its obligations
Despite US President Donald Trump saying on Sunday that he wasn’t interested in what Iran had to say, Al Jazeera understands discussions were continuing through intermediaries and that the Iranian diplomats did not leave the US after their engagements at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Instead, the Iranians were communicating with the US through mediators. We now have confirmation that the United States is also involved in these discussions but is not communicating with Iran with the help of the Qataris.

Despite this, the US remains sceptical of Iran’s promises because Washington says Iran broke the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in July by firing at commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. And for any deal to move forward, the US says it needs assurances that Iran is serious this time around.

What’s been happening in the occupied West Bank?
The Israeli army and settlers have carried out a series of raids, arrests and attacks against Palestinians and property across the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces used stun-grenades and rubber bullets as they raided the Abu Taiyeh neighbourhood in the town of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli forces raided the village of Shuqba, west of Ramallah city. Israeli forces arrested Qusai Najib Nasan from his home in the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah.
Israeli settlers stormed the al-Uzair shrine in the town of Ortta in the Nablus governorate.
Israeli forces used earthmovers to block the entrance to the Ein al-Beida area in the city of Jericho.
Palestinian journalist Nujoud Hamed was released after two weeks in Israeli detention.
Hundreds of Palestinians were forced to wait for hours after Israeli forces set up checkpoints at Jaba, Qalandiya, Anata and al-Jib, north of occupied East Jerusalem.