Iran rejects Rubio's economic argument as Ynet reports a heated Trump-Netanyahu call

Araghchi rejects Rubio's economic argument

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, rejected remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and accused him of repeating nonsense. Rubio had said in Paris on 10 November that Iran's shaky economy would influence the choices Tehran makes in its conflict with the United States. In a post on X, Araghchi compared Rubio to former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who had told Iranians eight years earlier that they must follow White House dictates if they wanted to eat. Araghchi argued that a government sooner or later has to feed its people and pay its fighters and security forces. He added that illusions were producing a failed American policy and noted that Rubio's Cuban compatriots were victims of the same approach.

Reported heated call between Trump and Netanyahu

Israel's Ynet reported that US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a furious phone call over the weekend of 7 and 8 November, focused on Iran and on disagreement over whether to resume the war against the Islamic Republic. According to Israeli officials who spoke to Ynet, Netanyahu pressed Trump to resume significant combat operations while figures in and around the White House were trying to stop him. Netanyahu's office categorically denied the account, calling it false news and nonsense and saying the call had not been difficult at all. A senior Israeli official confirmed that the call took place but said it was not tense in the least. In the call, Netanyahu reportedly argued that Iran was working to restore its nuclear threat and that only toppling the ayatollahs' regime would end it.

Iranian military warnings and a tanker incident near Hormuz

Ali Abdollahi, chief of the general staff of Iran's armed forces, warned that the United States and Israel would face even more devastating blows if they made a miscalculation, according to the agency IRNA. He said any source of threat against Iran would become a direct target of asymmetric operations and described the threat as credible, resting on the capabilities of the armed forces. Iran's navy said that early in the morning a tanker in breach of rules had caught fire after hitting a naval mine in a prohibited zone east of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement broadcast on state television. Adnkronos separately reported that the United Kingdom had flagged an incident involving a tanker at Hormuz, with the condition of its crew unknown. The reports did not give a casualty figure.

Diplomacy, US security and midterm politics

Russia's permanent representative to international organisations, Mikhail Ulyanov, wrote on X that Iran is ready to negotiate with the United States on the basis of mutual respect, and that Washington must take the word mutual into account. Earlier, Araghchi had said the conflict would not end through military means or tougher sanctions, only through respectful language and if the United States acted on Iran's demands and conditions. The New York Times, citing three sources, reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent moved from his home near Washington to a military base after Iranian threats against his life. The newspaper said Iranian plans against US officials and former officials had reached a more advanced stage, though the details remain to be clarified. Open reported that AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, emerged weakened from the US midterm elections after candidates who criticised US-Israel ties won, and some Republicans have begun rejecting its support. In the Michigan Senate race, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who opposes US funding of the Israeli military, faced tens of millions of dollars in lobby spending for his opponents in the primaries and the November vote, spending that paradoxically strengthened his message.