U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said Washington will implement coordinated economic isolation measures.

Iraq Oil Ministry spokesman Salim Rikabi said that after agreements are signed, construction of a new oil export pipeline from Basra oilfields to Hadiysa, with onward branches to Syria’s Baniyas and Turkey’s Ceyhan, could take 2–3 years. The pipeline is designed for about 2 million barrels per day capacity and the project is estimated to cost roughly $15 billion.

U.S. President Trump said on Aug. 19 he will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year; the Wall Street Journal reported he is considering holding the meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen in November. At a regular press briefing on Aug. 20, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said he had no specific information on U.S.-North Korea contacts and would not comment.