War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei says the country is ready to use all of its capabilities to repel enemy aggression, state news agency IRNA reports.

In an interview, he stresses that Iran’s experience in “three rounds of heroic defence” has strengthened Tehran’s readiness to confront threats.

The Houthis’ health ministry says two people have been killed when an oil company in Yemen’s Hodeidah province was attacked, blaming Saudi Arabia for the strike, Reuters reports.

There has been no immediate Saudi confirmation.

The Saudi cabinet, in a meeting led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, vows that it will not allow threats to the kingdom’s security or Red Sea shipping, AFP reports.

According to the official Saudi Press Agency, the cabinet says the kingdom “will not allow its security or freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait to be threatened”.

Asked about his next step with Iran, US President Donald Trump has said Washington will “make a decision … very soon”.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he reiterates his claim that Iran has a struggling economy, and that the US is in total control of the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump has told reporters that Yemen’s Houthis have been “behaving very badly” when asked if Washington will strike the rebel group.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has condemned Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia in a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Al Jazeera reports citing the Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, says Yemen’s Houthi rebels will face “consequences” for their repeated attacks on the kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reports.

The US embassy in Riyadh has issued a level three travel advisory urging American nationals to reconsider travel to Saudi Arabia.

According to the advisory, travel is being discouraged due to the “risk of drone and missile targeting of American interests by Iran and the Iranian-supported Houthis, armed conflict, terrorism, exit bans and local laws regarding social media activity”.

It further warns against travel near the Yemen border due to terrorism.

Iranian attacks on vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz have reached their highest pace since the US-Israeli war on the country began on Feb 28, with six ships targeted in a single day, Anadolu reports citing data from the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) and international maritime security sources.

Data shows that more than 18 commercial vessels were targeted by Iran during the first 12 days of October, including six a day prior.

Between Oct 5 and 12 alone, at least 14 attacks, attempted attacks and interceptions involving vessels were recorded in and around the strait, according to the same sources.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claims that an oil facility in Sanaa targeted by Saudi airstrikes “is empty of petroleum derivatives and has no military value for targeting”, he writes on X, citing a source within the oil company.

In a separate statement, he further claims that Houthi forces are “confronting the Saudi enemy’s combat formations”.

The UK’s domestic spy chief warns that Iran is ramping up attempts to hit harder targets, such as military sites, in the United Kingdom, after Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Iran played a role in a recent incident at the RAF Fairford airbase, Al Jazeera reports.

In his annual speech on ranging threats to the UK, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum says that while he cannot speak about the Fairford incident because of an ongoing investigation, he says a major shift this year in “Iranian ambitions to come at harder targets, like military sites” has been observed.

“The RAF Fairford incident … is not unique. There have been other examples, not just in the UK but around the world,” he says.

Al-Jazeera correspondents on the ground in Sanaa have reported hearing explosions in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital.

Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV has reported an attack on the Yemen Oil Company in Sanaa, according to Reuters.

Yemen’s Houthis have warned they would target Riyadh’s airport, a refinery, and an Aramco facility in Dammam if the Saudi-led coalition follows through on its threat to strike an oil facility in Sanaa, AFP reports.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces urge all citizens to immediately evacuate and move away from targets that our forces will strike should the Saudi enemy target” a site in Sanaa, military spokesman Yahya Saree posted on X, identifying the three targets as Aramco’s headquarters in Dammam, as well as the airport and an Aramco refinery in Riyadh.

Qatar’s revenues have fallen by 42 per cent in the first half of 2026, its emir says, as gas infrastructure and exports took a severe hit during the Middle East war, according to AFP.

Qatar, the world’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after the US, lost a “significant proportion” of its exports, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani tells the annual session of the Shura Council advisory body in Doha.

“The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, together with the direct damage inflicted on some energy facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City, disrupted a significant portion of the country’s exports,” the emir outlines.

“It is only natural that the crisis would have a negative impact on public finances, as the total revenues declined by 42pc during the first half of the year,” he adds.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty is prepared to provide Saudi Arabia with “any kind” of support, as the kingdom faces intensified Houthi attacks, Anadolu reports.

“Whatever is being asked by the Saudis, of course we will respond,” Abdelatty tells Bloomberg Television when asked whether Egypt could provide military support to Saudi Arabia.

“Without any reservation, we provide all kinds of support,” he adds in an interview on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund in Bangkok.

Abdelatty also says Egypt is seriously considering joining the Mecca Joint Defence Alliance.

“The issue is under serious consideration by the Egyptian side,” he adds.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have renewed their warning to staff at Saudi oil facilities to stay away from them, “so as not to put their lives at risk”.

“This applies to facilities that have previously been targeted as well as others,” Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree says in a post on X.

The group has also renewed its warning to airliners operating in Saudi airspace and airports, as well as to passengers and staff at those locations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty have discussed regional developments, including the situation in Yemen, in a phone call on Tuesday, state-run IRNA reports.

The two top diplomats exchanged views on the latest regional developments and also discussed diplomatic initiatives aimed at de-escalating tensions across the region.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call that Turkiye will continue to stand by Saudi Arabia amid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Reuters reports citing the Turkish presidency.

In a statement, the presidency says Erdogan also condemns in the strongest terms the Houthi attacks and has told the crown prince that he believes “this challenge will be overcome”.

Yemen’s Houthis have warned Saudi Arabia against hitting Sanaa, shortly after the Saudi-led coalition issued an evacuation order ahead of an operation in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital, AFP reports.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces warn the Saudi enemy that any targeting of the capital, Sanaa, will be met with a tough and painful response in the enemy’s capital of Riyadh,” military spokesman Yahya Saree posts on X.

France’s embassy in Saudi Arabia has told its citizens to avoid airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam and advised against travelling to those cities following a series of Houthi attacks, AFP reports.

“Given the security situation, French nationals are strictly advised against travelling to or transiting through King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, and King Fahd Airport in Dammam,” the embassy says in a statement, adding, “It is also not advised to travel to Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam unless necessary.”

The Saudi-led coalition has ordered the evacuation of civilians from a location in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, ahead of an operation there, AFP reports.

“The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition requests civilians to evacuate the site of the Yemeni Oil Company/Al-Sabah Central Station in Sanaa, according to the illustrative map of the site, for their safety,” Major General Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the coalition, writes on X, attaching a satellite image.

A senior official in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says the US made a “strategic miscalculation” during its war on Iran by assuming that the assassination of Tehran’s leadership, attacks on political and security structures, and attempts to create chaos would bring down the authorities, state broadcaster Press TV reports.

IRGC Deputy Commander for Political Affairs Brigadier General Yadollah Javani says the US failed because they did not consider the resilience of the Iranian people.

“The enemy imagined that with the martyrdom of the Leader of the Revolution, striking political and security structures, and creating chaos in the streets, it could tear the system apart, but this calculation did not match the reality of the Iranian society,” he adds.

The Saudi-led coalition says it has destroyed three drones north of the Saudi capital Riyadh, as hostilities with Yemen’s Houthi rebels persist, Reuters reports.