September 24th, 2026: Iran Returns to the Negotiating Table as Sanctions Bite & Zelensky Seeks a Winter Arsenal

Mike Baker (0:12)

It's Thursday, the 24th of September. Welcome to The President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, from Your Eyes and Ears, on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Iran says it will not bend to the US, but the regime is reportedly negotiating again, as new US sanctions squeeze its ability to travel and trade. Later in the show, Zelensky asks Trump for a winter weapons package, as Washington pushes a limited Russia-Ukraine ceasefire. Plus tensions continue to escalate between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with Islamabad claiming that Taliban forces shelled Pakistani border posts.

And in today's Back of the Brief, President Trump wants a drone port built into the new White House ballroom. I mean, is it really a ballroom without a drone port? However, it turns out the Secret Service already has one operating right next door. But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

Iranian President Massoud Pesachian says his country will not surrender to the US., even as Washington increases the economic pressure on Tehran and the two sides reportedly reopen diplomatic talks for the first time in months.

Speaking before the UN yesterday, Pesachian said Iran would never quote bend at the knee to American pressure. His remarks came one day after President Trump used the same forum at the United Nations to warn that the US could quote annihilate Iran if the conflict continues. Now of course Iran is saying that it's not going to surrender. No Iranian president is going to stand before the UN and announce that American pressure is working. But at the same time that Pesachian was talking tough publicly, Tehran and Washington were talking again privately. According to Reuters, US and Iranian officials held their first known indirect talks since the Seeds Fire collapsed back in July. A Qatari mediator spent roughly two hours carrying messages between the two delegations in New York. That sounds like fun. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi communicated with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner through intermediaries. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the two sides remain far apart on how to end the war, but said that diplomacy does need to continue.

And those indirect talks are restarting in a moment when the pressure on Tehran is increasing. The American naval blockade has squeezed Iran's ability to export oil and move goods by sea. Tehran's attempt to compensate by pushing more trade overland has run into bottlenecks at its borders, higher transportation costs and lengthy delays. And now Washington is going after Iran's ability to move through the air. The Trump administration announced earlier this month that Iran's entire air transport sector would be subjected to sanctions. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson warned that beginning on the 23rd of September, Iranian airlines would face increasing difficulty operating internationally. Those measures took effect yesterday and countries are already responding. Georgia, the country, not the US state, has banned flights operated by Iranian carriers. Azerbaijan has suspended Iranian airline operations. Iran's Mahan Air suspended flights to Turkey at Ankara's request. Now Iraq ordered Iranian flights into Baghdad International Airport suspended beginning yesterday, although Iraqi officials are considering allowing some of those flights to land instead in Najaf, an important destination for Shiite pilgrims. Iran's own civil aviation organization says flights from Tehran to Baghdad as well as Oman were canceled. Iranian officials also say passengers were being prevented from entering the airport in Oman while the two sides worked through the issue.

Other Iranian international flights are still operating, including some service to Istanbul and Dubai. Russia and China also continue to accept Iranian aircraft. So Iran is not being completely cut off from international air travel, but the list of places that its airlines can operate is beginning to shrink.

Now, the mechanism Washington is using here is fairly straightforward. Foreign companies that refuel, service, sell tickets for or otherwise assist sanctioned Iranian airlines can find themselves facing American secondary sanctions. That forces airports, airlines and service companies in other countries to decide whether continuing to do business with Iranian carriers is worth risking losing access to the US financial system.

For Tehran, this all comes on top of the pressure that we've already been discussing at sea and on land. Iran's reaction suggests officials in Tehran are taking this seriously.

Mohsen Rezaie, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, issued a warning yesterday to neighboring countries considering cooperation with the American sanctions campaign. Rezaie said that if neighboring governments prevent Iranian aircraft from using their airports, Iran would make sure those airports quote, could not function.

He did not explain exactly what that meant.

All right, coming up next, Zelensky in Ukraine asks Trump for more weapons as Washington pushes for a limited ceasefire. And Pakistan says Taliban forces shelled border posts and launch drones across the frontier. I'll be right back.