September 24th, 2026: Iran Returns to the Negotiating Table as Sanctions Bite & Zelensky Seeks a Winter Arsenal
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What is the opening overview of today’s President’s Daily Brief?
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 U.S., but the regime is reportedly negotiating again as new U.S. 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 Poseshkin says his country will not surrender to the U.S., 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 U.N. yesterday, Pozeshkin 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 U.S. 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 Pozeshkin was talking tough publicly, Tehran and Washington were talking again privately. According to Reuters, U.S. and Iranian officials held their first known indirect talks since the ceasefire collapsed back in July. A Qatari mediator spent roughly two hours carrying messages between the two delegations in New York.
How are new U.S. sanctions tightening pressure on Iran’s aviation sector?
That sounds like fun. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, communicated with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner through intermediaries. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the two sides remained 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 U.S. 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.
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