War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in strategic directives to senior armed forces commanders, says that “every form of enemy threat must be met with immediate response, without geographical limitations,” Press TV reports.

“All material and non-material assets of the US-Israeli enemy must be within Iran’s reach,” the supreme leader said.

“If the enemies once again begin military or terrorist attacks, it is the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation that will determine the time and conditions of its end.

“Intelligent combat readiness for a powerful confrontation with enemies is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving maximum deterrence.”

Armed forces, nation would determine timing and terms of any future war, Mojtaba said.

Iran’s army warned Saturday that any new US attack would only spread their war wider, following threats by America and Israel of further military action as they hold crucial elections, AFP reports.

The Iranian warning comes with fresh diplomatic efforts underway to avert a resumption of fighting, with Qatari mediators in Tehran and US Vice President JD Vance reportedly sending a letter to Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei.

“If the US president once again embarks on more regional adventurism under pressure from, and in an attempt to appease, the Zionists, the flames of war will undoubtedly engulf a much wider geographical area,” Iranian army spokesman Mohammad Akraminia said without elaborating.

An “enemy” drone attacked two fishing boats 14 nautical miles south of Iran’s Qeshm Island, leaving two fishermen missing and two wounded, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reports.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said he was “extremely worried” that a new round of escalation in the war between the United States and Iran would be more destructive and have a major impact, Reuters reports.

He was speaking at the IISS Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain.

Trump may be more inclined to launch a major military operation against Iran if Republicans lose ground in midterms, Axios reports, as Qatari mediators race to revive stalled US-Iran talks.

US oil companies are investing to squeeze out more fuel from refineries and bringing shuttered plants back online in response to conflicts in Russia and Iran that have crimped supplies, Reuters reports.

ExxonMobil Chief Executive Darren Woods said Friday the company had achieved “record fuels utilization” outside of the Middle East, pointing to 100 percent crude utilization at US Gulf Coast refineries.

The statements come as US gasoline prices remain above the politically sensitive $4 per gallon level and as diesel prices linger near all-time highs above $6 per gallon.

“In the third quarter, we continued to rise to the challenge of meeting global energy needs,” Woods said in a press release.

Yemen’s armed forces said they had neutralised around 336 Houthi fighters and commanders during ongoing military operations under the “Dawn of Yemen” offensive, Anadolu reports.

Military spokesman Col. Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili said government forces had carried out 1,087 strikes in recent hours using warplanes, drones, field artillery, and rocket launchers.

He said the strikes targeted Houthi command and control centers, troop concentrations, reinforcements, firing positions, fortifications, and supply routes.

Saudi air defences intercepted a drone in the Riyadh region on Saturday, according to the spokesman for the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia fighting Yemen’s Houthis.

“Air defences intercepted and destroyed a hostile drone in the Riyadh region,” Turki al-Malki said, adding that “debris from the interception fell without causing injuries”.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says 8,956 people have been killed and 30,664 wounded since October 2023, amid continued Israeli military aggression, IRNA reports.

The ministry reported that 4,389 people were killed and 12,428 injured between March 2 and October 30, 2026, Al-Manar TV network reported Friday night, citing the ministry.

The Israeli regime launched a large-scale offensive against Lebanon on March 2, displacing more than one million people. The regime’s forces continue to occupy areas in southern Lebanon.

Israeli forces intensified attacks in southern Lebanon on Friday, blowing up homes and other structures while carrying out artillery shelling and machine-gun fire in several areas, according to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA).

Israeli forces carried out extensive machine-gun fire in the towns of Khiam and Qantara, while homes were also set on fire in Qantara, the NNA said.

The agency said the Israeli army carried out an explosion in the town of Tayri in the Bint Jbeil district, while artillery fire targeted Wadi al-Hujeir toward the town of Touline with 155-millimeter shells.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said Friday that a fourth oil tanker had struck a mine and caught fire while attempting to pass through an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz, IRNA reports.

The navy’s public relations office said the supertanker, carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil, ignored repeated radio warnings against using the southern passage through the strategic waterway.

The vessel was struck by a mine, triggering a powerful explosion and leaving it burning, according to the statement.

Oman said it had rescued 25 sailors from a merchant ship set ablaze in an attack, as Iran reported three oil tankers were halted while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, reports AFP.

Muscat’s navy “carried out an evacuation operation for 25 crew members of the merchant ship RITI, flying the Panamanian flag, after it was targeted, which led to a fire breaking out on board,” Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said in a statement.

The crew members were provided with medical care, the Omani statement said, without giving details.

The Marine Traffic ship-tracking website described the RITI as a crude oil tanker.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Region as attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis group continue, AFP reports.

Cross-border fighting involving the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government, and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa, has intensified amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, opening another front in the conflict.

Two blasts have been heard in Aden, the seat of the country’s internationally recognised Yemeni government, residents and an AFP journalist reported.

The Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa, most recently struck the perimeter of Aden’s airport on Wednesday after saying they had targeted a naval base and a military camp last week amid the country’s revived civil war.

The US embassy in Riyadh has issued a security alert for its missions in Saudi Arabia, ordering all non-emergency American government staff and the families of employees to leave the country due to Houthi attacks on the kingdom.

“Iranian-supported Houthis have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” the advisory reads. “The hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly beyond that immediate area.”

It adds that US government personnel must request permission from the chief of mission to use Saudi airports following Houthi attacks, and to exercise extreme caution.

Oil prices have risen to their highest levels since the end of April, putting them on track for a fourth straight month of gains, as traders braced for a potential escalation in the Iran war after the US midterm elections, with an attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz highlighting supply risks.

Brent crude futures for December, which expire on Friday, are up $2.287, or 2.5 per cent, at $117.75 a barrel as of 1707 GMT (10:07pm PKT), after touching a high of $118. The more active January contract has gained $3.23 to $114.03.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed $2.74, or 2.7pc, to $104.79.

The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East are expected to slow European air traffic growth, leading to a loss of around 110,000 flights in 2026, Anadolu reports citing forecasts from aviation agency Eurocontrol.

The number of flights in the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) region is expected to grow by 1.7 per cent this year to 11.2 million, below the previously projected 2.7pc growth, marking a 1-percentage-point downward revision.

Saudi Arabia’s crude exports have risen in October compared with September, according to two of three ship-tracking companies, despite Iranian attacks on shipping in the Gulf and claims by Yemen’s Houthis of attacks on Saudi oil facilities, Reuters reports.

Kpler, the third ship tracker, showed a fall in exports, and many tankers have switched off their tracking signals, which makes the true volumes hard to pin down.

Saudi crude exports averaged about 7.9 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first 29 days of the month, says TankerTrackers.com, up from 5.8m bpd in September. This comprises 3.32m bpd from the western coast and 4.55m bpd from the east, the preliminary data shows.

Exports from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port are higher following a dip in September, said tanker tracker Petro-Logistics.

“Total volumes coming out of the Strait [of Hormuz] have fallen by 2-3m bpd from the peak levels seen earlier in October,” says Virginie Bahnik of Petro-Logistics. But Saudi exports overall are still strong and will end the month higher than in September.

Data from Kpler shows total Saudi crude exports at 5.72m bpd so far in October, compared to 6.70m bpd in September.

The Saudi-led coalition says in a statement that it has intercepted a drone targeting the kingdom’s Riyadh area.

In a separate statement, it says that a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards the southern region has been intercepted.

An early warning alert placed by Saudi Arabia’s Directorate of Civil Defence in Khamis Mushait has been lifted, according to Al Jazeera.

Yemen’s foreign ministry has called on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to take urgent action and prevent the Houthis from carrying out mine operations in civilian areas, Al Jazeera reports.

The ministry of the internationally recognised government has strongly condemned the group’s “continued intensive and indiscriminate planting of mines, particularly in villages and populated areas” in a post on X, saying it is “fully responsible for the humanitarian repercussions arising from these practices”.

German inflation slowed more than expected in October, following the government’s introduction of fuel subsidies to ease the energy price surge triggered by the Iran war, Reuters reports citing official data.

Annual consumer prices have risen by 2.8 per cent across the month, with energy costs up around 12pc, according to preliminary data from statistics agency Destatis.

Inflation is down from 3.3pc in September, when energy price rises had been running at nearly 15pc.

Saudi Arabia’s Directorate of Civil Defence has issued an early warning in the kingdom’s Jizan area to alert of a “potential danger”, a statement says.