Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
State media in Iran has reported that IranâÂÂs delegation to the UN General Assembly had no talks planned with the United States, after US president Donald Trump said he expected more negotiations.
âÂÂIranâÂÂs delegation in New York has no plans for negotiations with the United States,â said the official IRNA news agency, citing an unnamed source close to the group.
Trump told media outlet Axios on Sunday that he expected talks to resume soon, a day after he rejected a proposal by Tehran to reopen the strait of Hormuz within seven days.
âÂÂIranâÂÂs views and positions were conveyed clearly and explicitly to the US side... via a Qatari mediator,â IRNA said, adding that the Iranian delegation would return to Tehran on Tuesday.
Iran says it presented seven conditions for ending the war and reopening the strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which roughly 20% of the worldâÂÂs oil and gas flowed before the war.
The strait lies at the heart of the conflict that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. Following that attack, Tehran placed a chokehold on the waterway, and Washington responded with a blockade of Iranian ports.
Axios said indirect talks mediated by Qatar could take place as early as today, less than a week after similar discussions between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
Iran demands a seven-day ceasefire across the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where its ally Hezbollah is regularly bombarded by Israel.
It also demands the unfreezing of its foreign assets, lifting sanctions on its oil sector, and an end to the US naval blockade. Trump rejected their demands on Saturday.
In other developments:
-
The Trump administration on Monday plans to release new fuel economy standards that would relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks. President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social media account on Saturday that the less stringent mileage requirements would âÂÂtake the waste out of building cars in Americaâ and save families âÂÂthousands on a new, beautiful and safe car,â while boosting auto production in the US.
-
Donald TrumpâÂÂs attorney general Todd Blanche argued on Sunday that the administration was permitted to ban three news outlets from the White House because âÂÂit is a privilege and not a right to be thereâÂÂ. Appearing on the ABC News program This Week during the second week of the White HouseâÂÂs dispute over press credentialing and access, Blanche also said that the administration took the decision to ban CNN, MS Now and Politico beginning on 19 September because the president was âÂÂsick and tiredâ of what he considered to be those media outletsâ inaccurate reporting.
-
US senator Thom Tillis on Sunday criticized Donald Trump, his fellow Republican, for the presidentâÂÂs support of Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Senate Republican primary. âÂÂHe made a colossal mistake,â Tillis, a frequent Trump critic from North Carolina, said during an interview on CNNâÂÂs State of the Union in reference to the presidentâÂÂs support of Paxton who defeated Cornyn in the May primary.
-
The United States and China released Monday reciprocal lists of products worth about $30bn each that will see tariff cuts, in a deal expected to boost bilateral trade. The details came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with president Donald Trump in Washington in his first state visit to the US since 2015.
-
Trump justified the pending US arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese president Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world - even asking Xi if heâÂÂd be in the market for US arms, TrumpâÂÂs ambassador to China said on Sunday.
-
House Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda, with investigations of Trump, his family and his administration if the party sweeps control of the chamber from Republicans in the November elections. The undertaking is as robust as it is daunting, spanning several House committees.
