Iran warns of a harsh response to anticipated US sanctions and other Middle East news

Iran warned that U.S. sanctions set to be announced Monday would not bring peace to the region. Meanwhile, Israeli and Syrian officials met less than a week after Israeli strikes in Syria. And Israel said it killed a Hamas commander in Gaza.

Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Monday. Full coverage can be found here.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned that Tehran would respond harshly to expanded U.S. sanctions, including measures against countries it sees as cooperating with Washington.

“Any escalation of this situation will undoubtedly bring about consequences,” Esmail Baghaei said. “Our hands are not tied.” The new head of Iran’s top security body warned Sunday that Tehran will see any country’s support for the sanctions as an “act of war."

The expanded sanctions come after weeks of impasse. The United States has not dislodged Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passed before the war started nearly six months ago.

Iran's demands for reopening the strait include lifting the U.S. naval blockade, withdrawing U.S. forces from the region and reparations for damages sustained in the war. It has held separate talks with Oman, on the other side of the strait, on jointly managing the waterway regardless of whether a new deal is brokered with the U.S.

Sanctions have historically raised prices of basic goods in Iran, but after decades of withstanding them, Iran’s economy has adapted through finding new trading partners and building domestic industries.

Ahead of the expected U.S. announcement, the country's currency hit a record low on Monday.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met over the weekend with a high-level Israeli delegation in Jordan to try to defuse tensions after Israel last week struck an air base in northern Syria, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

The U.S.-mediated discussions on Sunday focused on restarting negotiations for a future security agreement, SANA said.

Israel struck the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib province, saying it aimed to stop Turkey — which has supported the new Syrian government’s efforts to rebuild its armed forces after 14 years of civil war — from establishing a presence there.

Syrian officials during the talks asserted the right to develop an army and freely forge alliances with any country, SANA said.

They also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from a buffer zone in southern Syria they have occupied since December 2024, and reiterated Syria’s stance that the Golan Heights — which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed — is Syrian territory.

Israeli officials didn't immediately comment on the meeting.

Israel’s military said it killed a militant affiliated with Hamas’ special forces unit in an overnight airstrike, the latest targeted killing announced since U.S. officials met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week hoping to push last year’s ceasefire deal forward.

Israel says it targets and kills Palestinian militants it says participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war.

Israel has announced targeted strikes on six of the seven days since U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu.

At least 1,288 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect last October, according to Gaza's health ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. Its numbers are generally considered reliable by the international community.

The Palestinian American homeowner whose residence was besieged this month by Israeli settlers said he remained unable to move freely in the village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank. Loui Ridi traveled from Ohio to join his relatives defending his home a week ago.

The Israeli military declared the area a closed zone to restore order in Qusra. Ridi said settlers returned throughout the week to the hill above his house.

Since Israeli settlers surrounded the house more than two weeks ago, preventing occupants from leaving, Israeli soldiers have encouraged them to leave but Israel’s police have not announced arrests.

The siege and Israel’s response have sparked condemnation from Israeli rights groups and foreign officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who called the violence terrorism.

Palestinians consider the West Bank, home to some 3 million Palestinians and 560,000 Israeli settlers, the heart of any future state and have condemned Israel's expansion there. This year has seen a dramatic spike in violence carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

FILE - Former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei casts his ballot during the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Israeli army soldiers block the road leading to the houses of three Palestinian families that have been besieged by Israeli settlers for six days, while activists march to deliver food and water supplies for the residents, in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, south of Nablus, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

FILE - Decommissioned Syrian air force planes are seen at the Abu Duhur military air base east of Idlib, following the takeover of the area by Syrian opposition fighters on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam, File)

Women walk past a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the U.S. and Israel strike on Feb. 28, and images of the Iranian flag, on a sidewalk in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch broadcaster announced Monday it is boycotting the Eurovision Song Contest for a second year, calling it a “platform for division” because of tensions over Israel's involvement.

The decision by AVROTROS comes after broadcasters in the Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland, Slovenia and Spain refused to take part in this year's contest because of Israel's participation.

“AVROTROS will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027 because the event can no longer be considered neutral, with a participating country still involved in a large-scale military conflict,” it said.

The Dutch broadcaster, which has a long history of involvement with the competition, said it was leaving it up to the public network NPO to decide on any Dutch involvement.

“The Eurovision Song Contest was originally created to bring people and countries together. It is undeniable that international conflicts are increasingly affecting the contest, undermining its neutral character,” AVROTROS director-general Taco Zimmerman said in a statement. “The Eurovision Song Contest has therefore become a platform for division.”

In a statement, the NPO said it respected the decision.

“We also recognize that the geopolitical tensions are having a divisive effect. That’s why this hasn’t been an easy decision for our colleagues. We will reflect on the upcoming edition and will come back to this at the right moment,” NPO said, adding that is was “too early to comment on the next steps at this point; we’re currently deliberating on that.”

AVROTROS said it has called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to establish transparent rules for the participation of countries involved in military conflicts. “However, the recently announced changes by the EBU do not provide sufficient confidence that the independent and neutral character of the Eurovision Song Contest has been restored,” it said.

The Geneva-based EBU — a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs Eurovision — did not immediately comment.

While AVROTROS did not mention Israel by name, it said the network will boycott Eurovision in 2027 “because the event can no longer be considered neutral, with a participating country still involved in a large-scale military conflict.”

It added: “The severe humanitarian suffering in Gaza and the ongoing restrictions on press freedom have contributed to increasing divisions surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest in recent years.”

The contest was founded in 1956, in part to help unite a shattered continent after World War II. It pits acts from dozens of countries against one another for the continent’s musical crown. Bulgarian singer Dara won the event this year with her infectious party anthem “Bangaranga.”

A number of performers and countries have called for the exclusion of Israel, which has taken part in Eurovision since 1973, one of a few non-European countries to compete.

An Eurovision flag flies at the port of Burgas, on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, which will host the 71st Eurovision Song Contest in 2027, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

FILE - Dara from Bulgaria attends a press conference with the trophy after winning the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, on May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)