Economy
US introduces new Iran-related sanctions, now on Russia’s VTB
The U.S. said on Monday it introduced new Iran-related sanctions on Russia’s VTB Bank Public Joint Stock Company, accusing it of involvement in Iranian sanctions evasion, according to the Treasury Department, as Washington seeks to further step up economic pressure on Tehran.
The action builds on sanctions imposed against VTB, Russia’s second-largest lender, in 2022, when the bank was targeted following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Under Operation Economic Outcast, Treasury will continue to target and disrupt those who provide material, technological, or financial support that allows the Iranian regime to sustain its terrorist enterprise,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.
“Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s enablers.”
Bessent warned last week that President Donald Trump’s administration would sanction a large bank as it continues to apply economic pressure on Tehran to end a more than six-month U.S. conflict with Iran.
The U.S. has imposed a range of economic measures against Iran since the conflict began in February, targeting oil exports, shipping networks, weapons procurement channels, financial intermediaries, digital asset exchanges and aviation links.
Global stocks extended their decline on Tuesday following the previous session’s selloff, while U.S. Treasury yields climbed to their highest level since 2007 as investors worried that oil prices staying above $100 could intensify the energy shock.
U.S. yields have climbed over the past month as investors grapple with rising rate expectations, heavy debt issuance, solid economic growth and worries about the country’s long-term fiscal outlook.
Markets were shifting their focus to the Federal Reserve (Fed), with traders wagering on a quarter-point rate hike and indications that further policy tightening lies ahead, although Fed Chair Kevin Warsh dislikes giving any guidance about the rate path.
MSCI’s main world stocks index fell 0.28% on Tuesday, after dropping 0.65% the day before.
Europe’s STOXX 600 was down 0.89% to 630.30, its lowest level since June 12. The European tech stock index fell 0.40%, after shedding more than 2% the day before.
Nasdaq futures were down 0.44% and S&P 500 futures fell 0.45%.
Taiwan shed 0.77% while Japan’s Nikkei ended flat after swinging between gains and losses.
Oil prices were up, with benchmark Brent crude futures above $107 per barrel as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched a new wave of attacks on Saudi Arabia and were digging into positions on the western coast of Yemen along the Red Sea.
“Several weeks ago, there may not have been a strong reason to believe that crude would rally further, but there is now: Iran’s strategic military doctrine has shifted toward pre-emptive attack,” Thierry Wizman, global forex and rates strategist at Macquarie Group, said.
“And the U.S. administration may have no choice but to move back to kinetic war after the midterm elections,” he added.
Central banks in focus
U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hit peaks not seen since 2007 on Tuesday as traders priced in a series of rate increases from the Federal Reserve.
German Bund yields, the euro area’s benchmark, rose to their highest level in over 17 years at 3.56%, as traders boosted bets on European Central Bank (ECB) rate hikes, with a depo rate seen at 3.45% at the end of 2027, from the current 2.50%.
“The market sees a total of nearly four rate hikes (from the Fed) through the end of next year,” John Velis, head of Americas strategy at BNY, said.
“We think that by then the economy won’t be able to handle rates that high for very long, and the Fed will be contemplating dialing back its restrictiveness toward the second half of the year,” he added.
A hawkish repricing of the Fed’s rate path supported the dollar, but some strategists said higher yields were also stoking concerns about a deeper correction in risk assets, prompting investors to seek refuge in the U.S. currency.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.15% to 99.65. The European single currency was down 0.1% on the day at $1.1537, while the dollar rose 0.40% against the yen to 154.95 .
The Bank of Japan is widely expected to raise its interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25% at the end of its two-day meeting on Friday and signal more tightening ahead. Policymakers are seeking to shore up the yen after intervention helped steer the currency away from a 40-year low.
Gold was slightly higher. Spot gold traded at $4,288 per ounce.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 2.30% to $77,288.
Norway could impose prison sentences of up to three years on individuals or companies that trade with illegal Israeli settlements under proposed legislation set to be considered by parliament this fall, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said, according to public broadcaster NRK on Sunday.
The Norwegian government has proposed banning trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, with the consultation period ending Saturday.
“Yes, I actually think so,” Eide said when asked whether the law would be passed this fall.
“The arguments have only become stronger because the situation in the West Bank has become even worse,” he said.
He added that several other countries are pursuing similar measures.
The proposed Norwegian law would cover goods and services, including construction-related activities in settlements. Trade with settlements is relatively limited, with wine and some agricultural products among the goods involved, Eide said.
“The economic volume is not that large,” he said.
“The relevant goods are, for example, wine and some agricultural products.”
Eide described the measure as “the lowest scale of sanctions that can be imposed against the occupation.”
‘Occupation should not be profitable’
Jorgen Jensehaugen, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Peace Research, said the proposal would primarily affect agricultural products and would not amount to major economic sanctions.
“But the Israeli economy is closely tied to the settlements, since they are an integral part of the state,” he said.
He added that broader measures targeting companies operating in settlements would have a greater economic impact.
He described the proposal as “a kind of minimum,” while also saying it was economically important that “occupation should not be financially profitable.”
Eide said the measure is part of a broader international push for stronger action over Israeli settlements.
“If the largest countries do not stand up for international law, human rights and international law, then the rest of us will have to do it,” he said.
The proposed Norwegian ban would also cover East Jerusalem, which Israel considers part of its capital.
Eide said he expected a measured response from the U.S. to countries considering sanctions against Israeli settlements.
The U.K. has already adopted restrictions on purchasing goods from Israeli settlements.
The Norwegian government’s proposal is now subject to consultation before potential consideration by the Storting, Norway’s parliament.
Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Norway are all preparing measures targeting trade with Israeli settlements.
Turkish defense firm Roketsan successfully destroyed a moving target during a first test firing of its Sungur air defense missile from a mobile armored vehicle.
The test marked the addition of a new firing capability to Türkiye’s layered air defense architecture, the company said in a statement.
A video released by Roketsan showed Sungur missile being integrated into the Burç mobile air defense system, before striking a moving aerial target.
Burç combines Sungur missiles and a 20/30-millimeter cannon with active and passive sensors to engage current and future aerial threats on the battlefield.
Roketsan describes the system as a next-generation, cost-effective mobile air defense solution designed to provide the firepower and operational flexibility required against a range of threats.
It is intended to protect mobile and fixed military units and facilities in both forward and rear areas against short-range aerial threats.
The Sungur missile has a range of more than 8 kilometers (around 5 miles) and is designed for shoulder-launched air defense missions. It can also be integrated with different platforms.
More than 70% of Turkish users say they are using artificial intelligence every day, putting Türkiye among the countries where consumer AI adoption is advancing most rapidly, a senior executive of Russian tech giant Yandex said Monday.
Alexander Popovskiy, international CEO of Yandex Search and general manager of Yandex Türkiye, said generative AI was becoming part of consumers’ daily lives faster than expected and that Türkiye was one of the most advanced markets in this respect.
“More than 70% of Turkish users say they used AI every day last week. This is an extremely striking rate,” Popovskiy said, citing Yandex data. “For example, this rate is much higher than in Russia, another market where we operate.”
Users initially experimented with generative AI for entertainment, image creation and animating photographs, but increasingly began incorporating the technology into their everyday routines, he told Anadolu Agency (AA).
AI applications have already begun to emerge as alternatives to traditional internet searches and browsers, according to Popovskiy.
Turkish users were not limiting AI use to complex tasks, he said, noting that they also used it for everyday needs such as getting news, following football matches and understanding the latest developments in television series.
“Turkish users are using AI to make their experiences easier across all their traditional areas of interest,” Popovskiy said. “They even use AI to understand what happened in the latest episode of a television series and what might happen in the next one.”
Local companies need share of AI market
Popovskiy said Turkish stakeholders understood the importance of developing local AI models and data centers, but argued that AI sovereignty involved more than building domestic models and infrastructure.
“The more important issue in AI sovereignty is gaining a share as the market grows and being able to engage directly with users,” he said.
Consumers should be able to use AI services from Turkish companies as well as global firms, Popovskiy said, adding that Yandex was ready to support local businesses by offering proven solutions through a white-label model.
“This would help them develop their own services around this technology and gain a share of the growing AI sector,” he said.
Popovskiy identified telecommunications as the sector with the greatest potential for consumer AI, followed by banks and other financial institutions.
Companies in these sectors have large customer bases and digital platforms through which they can offer additional services, he said.
AI could be used not only to improve customer support but also to strengthen customer relationships and increase loyalty by providing access to AI assistants and chatbots as part of a broader service ecosystem, Popovskiy added.
He said Yandex was holding talks with telecommunications companies and banks in Türkiye and other markets on developing white-label AI applications.
Yandex AI use rises
Sedat Öztürk, general manager of Yandex Search and AI, said Türkiye had been quick to adopt new technologies and that the share of Yandex AI users in the country had risen by nearly 75% over the past two to three months.
AI integration could make a range of telecommunications services more intelligent, including starting or ending subscriptions, changing packages, checking tariffs for use abroad and accessing billing information, Öztürk said.
He also highlighted the importance of developing skilled human resources if Türkiye is to become a regional AI and datacenter hub.
Yandex Türkiye has established Türkiye’s first master’s program in AI engineering with Middle East Technical University (METU), he said.
Öztürk added that Yandex Türkiye had launched work with the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK) on “BILGE,” a Turkish large language model.
Through its “Yandex AI for Business” solution, the company aims to help businesses develop their own applications around AI or integrate their existing services with Yandex AI, he said.
In e-commerce, an AI assistant could help users search for products more intelligently, provide style and purchasing recommendations, analyze previous purchases and manage budgets more effectively, Öztürk said.
“We have prepared our products and functions to make customer journeys fully AI-based,” he said. “We have already started discussions with some companies.”
One of Türkiye’s leading telecoms and tech companies, Türk Telekom will serve as a “Global Digital Transformation and Technology” supporter of this year’s U.N.-backed climate conference, it said Monday.
The COP31 is scheduled for November in the southern Antalya province, marking the first time Türkiye hosts the most significant gathering on the global climate agenda.
“With sustainability at the heart of its business strategy and a commitment to leaving a more livable world for future generations, Türk Telekom will serve as a ‘Master Partner,’ the highest sponsorship tier,” of the conference, the company said in a statement.
“As COP31’s ‘Global Digital Transformation and Technology’ supporter, Türk Telekom will also provide the event’s entire technology infrastructure,” it noted.
Bringing its robust digital infrastructure and technological expertise, Türk Telekom said it will help ensure the “landmark event in Türkiye’s climate diplomacy runs seamlessly, supported by reliable technology infrastructure.”
“As we prepare for COP31, we are bringing together the public and private sectors, the financial community and civil society, translating our commitment to climate action into concrete partnerships,” Murat Kurum, minister of environment, urbanization and climate change, said.
“As part of the efforts, Türk Telekom, one of the leaders of our country’s digital transformation, has become COP31’s ‘Global Digital Transformation and Technology Partner,'” said Kurum, who will also chair the COP31.
Türk Telekom CEO Ebubekir Şahin said: “As a leader in Türkiye’s digital transformation, we are delighted to bring our technological capabilities to the 31st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), COP31, which will be hosted by our country.”
“In addition to serving as a Master Partner of COP31, one of the world’s most important climate gatherings, we will provide the event’s entire technology infrastructure as its ‘Global Digital Transformation and Technology’ supporter.”
A key Saudi oil pipeline hit in an attack will be largely out of service for weeks while repairs are carried out, two regional officials said Monday, as Yemen’s Houthi rebels seized more islands along Red Sea shipping lanes in another setback for Saudi Arabia’s oil exports.
Oil prices gained more than 2% amid growing worries about global petroleum supplies as the new developments strained efforts by Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter, to get its crude to market.
The Iran war has forced the kingdom to shift its exports away from the Persian Gulf, since Iranian attacks have stifled shipping through the gulf’s sole exit, the Strait of Hormuz.
So the kingdom has relied on the East-West Pipeline, which runs 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) across the breadth of the country, to move its crude production from Gulf ports to ports on the Red Sea. From there it can be put on tankers for export. But authorities were forced to shut down the pipeline after an attack Thursday that Saudi Arabia blamed on drones from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.
Repairing the damage, including at a major pumping facility, could take three to five weeks, the officials, who have been briefed on the matter, told The Associated Press (AP). The line may work partially during the repairs, one of the officials said, but they could not say how much oil might get through.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.
The pipeline appeared to be moving about 4 million barrels of oil a day, about 4% of total world oil supplies, based on the amount being exported per day from its Red Sea outlet, the port of Yanbu, according to a report earlier this year by Allison Minor, director of the Atlantic Council’s Project for Middle East Integration. The pipeline has a total capacity of up to 7 million barrels per day.
The Saudi oil company Aramco, which operates the pipeline, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The government-run Center for International Communication, which oversees foreign media in the kingdom, said it was looking into an AP inquiry about how long it will take to repair the pipeline.
Houthis strengthen hold on key outlet from Red Sea
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels continued to expand their threat to Saudi shipping routes out of the Red Sea by capturing the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish, government and Houthi officials said Monday.
The islands lie 160 kilometers north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The strait is a choke point that connects the Red Sea to the open ocean and Saudi Arabia’s key Asian markets.
The Houthis’ advance also puts them just 32 kilometers from the U.S. military base in the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, on the other side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
For more than a month, the Houthis have been striking Saudi oil infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea, stepping up pressure on global oil prices and boosting Iran’s leverage in its war with the United States.
The Houthi advances have seemed to come with little resistance from Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces. The rebels deployed on the Hanish islands after hundreds of government-allied forces withdrew from the archipelago, according to two government officials and a Houthi official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.
Last week, the rebels seized the port city of Mokha and the island of Mayun, inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Government forces are now attempting to rally and fight back. On Sunday, the military said it launched airstrikes on Houthi positions in Mokha, the coastal town of Dhubab and elsewhere in Taiz province.
Houthi cross-border attacks continue
A rebel spokesperson said the Houthis fired dozens of missiles and drones at the King Khalid Air Base in the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, targeting hangars, radar installations and ammunition depots. The statement Monday by Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree did not specify when the attack took place, but the Houthis often take hours or days to claim responsibility for attacks.
Saudi authorities sounded sirens in Khamis Mushait and the nearby city of Abha Sunday afternoon, warning residents to take shelter from potential incoming fire. Both areas, near the border with Yemen, were repeatedly attacked by the Houthis in recent weeks. One projectile hit in an area near the border close to the Red Sea, injuring two people and damaging a mosque, Saudi civil defense said.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia on the Houthi claim of striking the base.
The fighting in Yemen is pushing the impoverished nation back into full-fledged civil war, after a truce that largely maintained quiet since 2022. Even as they advance along the Red Sea, the Houthis have waged an offensive farther inland, particularly in the longtime battleground province of Taiz.
Some 150 civilians have been killed in fighting since Sept. 3, including a pregnant woman killed Saturday in a village in Taiz province, the government’s Human Rights Ministry said. More than 200 civilians have been wounded, it said.
Thousands of families have fled their homes in Taiz and nearby provinces in the past day, said Khanzad Shah, acting head of Islamic Relief, a charity that operates in the area.
“Many of them don’t have enough food or water as they had to flee with whatever they could carry. In some areas, whole villages have reportedly emptied,” he said.
The United Nations has estimated that more than 80,000 people have been displaced in the past two weeks, including over 2,000 people who fled by boat to Djibouti.
The fighting threatens to reignite a war that for more than a decade brought disaster to Yemen, killing more than 150,000 people and driving the country to the brink of famine. Since 2014, the Houthis have controlled the north, including the capital, Sanaa, and much of the western heartland of the country where most of the population is located.
The internationally recognized government, backed by an array of disparate militias, controls the south and east, including the key southern port of Aden.
For years, Saudi Arabia waged a destructive air campaign against the Houthis, while backing the government and allied militias. But it has appeared reluctant to throw itself fully back into the war, despite the Houthi attacks on oil infrastructure and shipping.
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