US Strike on Alleged Drug-smuggling Boat Kills Two

An alleged drug-trafficking ship burns off the coast of Venezuela in this screenshot taken from a video posted by US President Donald Trump on October 14, 2025. Donald Trump, Truth Social via Reuters

Asharq Al Awsat

08:38-24 August 2026 AD ـ 11 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

08:38-24 August 2026 AD ـ 11 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

US Strike on Alleged Drug-smuggling Boat Kills Two

An alleged drug-trafficking ship burns off the coast of Venezuela in this screenshot taken from a video posted by US President Donald Trump on October 14, 2025. Donald Trump, Truth Social via Reuters

The United States military said Monday it carried out a strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people.

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that the strike, which took place Sunday, targeted a vessel "operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific."

"Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel's active involvement in narco-trafficking," it added.

"This operation is a clear and decisive reminder that SOUTHCOM is taking the fight directly to the cartels," SOUTHCOM said.

Grainy black-and-white video footage accompanying the post showed a boat moving through the water before a large explosion.

The US military launched operation "Southern Spear" in early September, with President Donald Trump arguing Washington is effectively at war with drug cartels operating out of Latin America.

Since then, more than 200 people have been killed in strikes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, according to a tally by AFP.

Trump's administration has not provided definitive evidence that the vessels it has been striking are involved in drug trafficking.

Legal experts and rights groups say the strikes could amount to extrajudicial killings.

Report: Pakistan’s Munir Spoke to Trump Ahead of Tehran Visit

Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir. (Reuters file)

11:09-24 August 2026 AD ـ 11 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Report: Pakistan’s Munir Spoke to Trump Ahead of Tehran Visit

Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir. (Reuters file)

Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir spoke with US President Donald Trump last week, according to three Pakistani sources, days before Munir was expected to hold talks in the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday.

The call, which has not been previously reported, came as the US threatened to roll out major economic sanctions targeting Iran and its trade partners.

The White House Office of the Press Secretary did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was unclear what Munir and Trump ‌discussed.

Pakistan's military ‌confirmed the visit on Monday, saying ‌it was "part ⁠of Pakistan’s efforts ⁠to promote regional peace and stability." Iranian officials had confirmed the visit on Sunday, saying it was focused on security and peace.

Trump last week warned of economic consequences against any country that provided "any type of lifeline to Iran" as he seeks to isolate the country. Iran in turn vowed ⁠to shut down all oil exports from the ‌Gulf.

Pakistan, which has played ‌a key mediating role between the US and Iran this year, has ‌remained a trading partner of Iran throughout the recent ‌fighting.

Munir was expected to meet with people close to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Monday, one Pakistani source said.

Pakistan's earlier mediation efforts between the US and Iran resulted in an interim peace agreement signed in June. But the Islamabad Memorandum quickly faltered, amid new fighting between Iran and the US that has threatened to spiral into a wider regional conflict in recent weeks.

"There is a trust deficit on both sides," a third Pakistani source said about the US and Iran, adding that Munir's aim was to mitigate the lack of mutual trust on Monday.

World

Iran Says France's Move to Expel Two Iranian Diplomats 'Illegal'

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)

Asharq Al Awsat

10:06-24 August 2026 AD ـ 11 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

10:06-24 August 2026 AD ـ 11 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Iran Says France's Move to Expel Two Iranian Diplomats 'Illegal'

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)

Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that France's decision to expel two Iranian diplomats in response to Tehran's ban on two French diplomats was "illegal".

"The action that France took is an illegal action in response to Iran's legal action, and is in no way helpful to bilateral relations," ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press conference.

Last week, Baqaei said two French diplomats who were briefly arrested in Iran in July over "interference" in Iran's internal affairs "would not be permitted to return".

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot responded by saying that two Iranian diplomats in France would be expelled "in the coming days".

Barrot said the French move was a consequence of "intolerable" treatment of the French diplomats, who were briefly detained last month in Tehran.

He said the pair had been targeted by Iranian officials "in flagrant violation of diplomatic immunity".

They had also suffered "an extremely serious act of intimidation" at the hands of Iran's security service, he added.

Baqaei had previously said Paris should apologize for the actions of the French diplomats, which he said had violated the Vienna Convention.

World

Iran’s Currency Hits New Record Low as US Prepares to Announce More Sanctions

People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 23, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

09:43-24 August 2026 AD ـ 11 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Iran’s Currency Hits New Record Low as US Prepares to Announce More Sanctions

People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 23, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran’s currency hit a new record low Monday as Washington prepared to announce new sanctions it said would be an “economic D-Day” and would add further pressure on an economy already battered by previous sanctions and a US naval blockade.

The rial dropped to 2.02 million to the US dollar as trading opened on informal currency markets. Iran’s official Central Bank rate stood at around 1.5 million rial to the dollar, but the informal rate is what most Iranians pay.

The currency had already been under pressure before the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, with double-digit inflation and negative growth, but has been hitting new record lows as nearly six months of war have taken an even greater toll.

Still, US President Donald Trump has been unable to win concessions from Iran, which continues to keep a firm grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil transited freely before the war began.

Iranian attacks and threats have severely hampered that traffic during the war.

US Strike on Alleged Drug-smuggling Boat Kills Two

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Report: Pakistan’s Munir Spoke to Trump Ahead of Tehran Visit

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Iran’s Currency Hits New Record Low as US Prepares to Announce More Sanctions

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