War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iranian Army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akrami-Nia has said Iran will conduct preemptive operations if circumstances require it to prevent any act of aggression or intrusion by the enemy, IRNA reports.

Iran has failed to take advantage of “multiple opportunities” to reach an agreement with the United States on its nuclear programme, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, Al Jazeera reports.

Iraq’s central bank has devalued the dinar currency against the dollar, with the country facing a deepening crisis brought on by the war, AFP reports.

Consumer prices have also risen, while Iraq’s foreign currency reserves have fallen by around $20 billion.

The central bank said in a statement that based on a government decision, “it had decided to adopt… a selling price of the US dollar to the public of 1,520 dinars”.

Iran has “lost complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday, adding that Tehran’s economy was “in total and complete freefall,” AFP reports.

“There’s almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began. So they’ve lost complete control of the Straits,” Rubio said during a visit to Athens.

Oil prices were stable, with Brent futures holding above $100 a barrel, as investors weighed higher Gulf exports against ongoing supply risks from the Middle East conflict and a storm heading for oil-producing regions in the United States, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures rose 35 cents, or 0.35 per cent, to $100.93 a barrel by 0800 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 15 cents, or 0.17pc, to $89.59.

The market is likely to remain nervous about any potential supply disruptions, ING commodity strategists said, adding that Middle East supply risks are still very real with continued attacks on ships.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Abdolnaser Hemmati, has assured the Iranian public that the national economy will not break under the weight of US economic warfare, revealing that Tehran has successfully thwarted Washington’s primary objective of triggering catastrophic hyperinflation, IRNA reports.

In a televised interview, Hemmati provided an assessment of the country’s economic battlefield, acknowledging the daily pressures felt by citizens while firmly stating that the Islamic Republic has neutralized the most severe threats engineered by the United States and the Israeli regime.

The enemy made a grave miscalculation by believing that military attacks, sanctions, unrest, and assassination of Iranian officials could create a power vacuum and lead to the collapse of the country within a week, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Political Deputy Brigadier General Yadollah Javani says, IRNA reports.

Speaking at a specialized training course for school managers in Hormuzgan Province late on Tuesday, Javani said the enemy assumed that the killing of leaders and commanders would cause Iran’s defense systems and the government’s resolve to disintegrate.

“However, every time, it faced the solid wall of national unity and the people’s vigilance,” he said.

Two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthi group targeted Aden International Airport in southern Yemen, said local security authorities, Anadolu reports.

Aden’s Security Department said no casualties had been reported.

The situation was stable now, it said, adding that the security forces were at the “highest level of readiness.”

Local Yemeni outlets earlier published footage showing explosions during the attack.

The attack comes amid escalating fighting as Yemeni government forces press ahead with Operation Dawn of Yemen.

Iraq’s central bank set the dinar exchange rate at 1,520 per US dollar, Reuters reports.

Iraq formally ended its dollar auction system at the start of 2025 under US pressure to curb the diversion of dollars to sanctioned entities, especially Iran.

Heavy curbs on US dollar supply led to a parallel, informal market for dollars, resulting in a price spread between the official exchange rate set by the central bank and that on the black market.

In a message regarding the visit of the Armenian Foreign Minister to Tehran, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, has emphasized that continued dialogue and cooperation with neighbors is the path prioritized by the Islamic Republic of Iran for building a region that is more secure, stable, and prosperous, IRNA reports.

In a message regarding the visit of his Armenian counterpart, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran wrote that on Monday, I hosted Ararat Mirzoyan, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia, in Tehran.

Araghchi added that during this meeting, the expanding relations between Tehran and Yerevan were reviewed, as were ways to deepen cooperation in the areas of economy, trade, transportation, energy, and other fields of mutual interest.

Yemen’s Houthis say they had targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital with a ballistic missile, the latest in repeated salvos aimed at the site, AFP reports.

“Our armed forces have just targeted King Khalid Airport in Riyadh with a ballistic missile. The strike was accurate, by God’s grace, and led to a disruption of air traffic at the airport,” says Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree in a statement on X.

In a separate post the Houthis have said they also targeted an area near the airport in the interim government capital of Aden.

India’s central bank hiked its main interest rate for the first time in more than three years, as the Middle East conflict stokes inflation in Asia’s third-largest economy and batters a weakened rupee.

Reserve Bank of India governor Sanjay Malhotra said the benchmark repurchase rate, the level at which it lends to commercial banks, would be raised by 25 basis points to 5.50 per cent, after a unanimous vote by a six-member panel.

US President Donald Trump has said the biggest problem for him is that nobody knows who is running Iran, Reuters reports.

“Their second group of leaders are gone, and the biggest problem I have is nobody knows who the hell is running the country,” Trump said.

US Vice President JD Vance has said in an exclusive interview with Reuters that Iran must make a meaningful reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity to satisfy US demands and end the country’s seven-month war, even as Washington was unsure how Tehran makes decisions in negotiations.

Vance, a longtime sceptic of US involvement in foreign wars, has taken a leading role in negotiating a settlement to the conflict and brokered a provisional peace agreement in June that quickly fell apart. The war has jolted global energy markets and become a political liability for President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans ahead of November midterm elections.

Speaking on Monday after a campaign trip in Alaska, Vance said any agreement would require Iran to reduce its nuclear enrichment capacity, rather than offer assurances of future nuclear drawdowns.

“If you don’t want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60 per cent enriched fuel? And if you want to show commitment to not building a nuclear weapon, don’t build highly enriched fuel. That’s a very basic threshold issue,” Vance said.

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The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis said Wednesday it had shot down a ballistic missile north of Riyadh, AFP reports.

“A ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia north of Riyadh was intercepted and destroyed,” the coalition’s spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki wrote on X.

Oil prices rose Wednesday and stocks fell amid fresh concerns about Middle East supplies following a warning that Iran appeared to be stepping up attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

The retreat came as investors brushed off another record day on Wall Street where the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were boosted by a rush back into the AI trade that saw chip titan Nvidia push towards a $6 trillion market capitalisation.

However, both contracts rebounded on Tuesday and rose in early Asian trade, as figures showed Tehran had increased strikes on tankers in the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

UK Maritime Trade Operations said there had been nine attacks so far this month, half of all of September in the waterway and Persian Gulf combined.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis claimed an attack on Riyadh’s main airport and denied reports it had been pushed back by government forces, who have launched a major operation to recapture lost territory.

The Kuwaiti cabinet has strongly condemned Houthi attacks against Makkah and Madina in Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera reports, citing the Kuwait News Agency.

The cabinet affirmed that the attacks “constitute a provocation to the feelings of Muslims around the world and a dangerous escalation in violating the sanctity of Islamic holy sites”.

Six civilians have been killed in attacks launched by the Houthis in Yemen’s al-Mawasit and al-Misrakh districts in the southern Taiz governorate, Al Jazeera reports, citing the interior ministry.

Women and children were among four others injured in the attacks, it said.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree says the group has thwarted attempts by Yemeni government forces to advance towards the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important shipping routes, Al Jazeera reports.

According to Saree, the Houthis – also known as Ansarullah – targeted the internationally recognised government forces with 10 ballistic missiles, resulting in dozens of casualties and the destruction of several vehicles.

Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has appreciated Pakistan, along with Qatar, for their role as a mediator in regional developments, Press TV reports, citing the statement by the minister.

He had a meeting with Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani during his visit to Doha.

“We discussed regional developments and expressed our appreciation for the fair and mediating role of Qatar, together with Pakistan,” he said.

Iranian defense ministry spokesperson, Reza Talaei-Nik, says any US or Israeli aggression against Iran will face a firm response, stressing the country’s readiness to counter threats, IRNA reports.

Talaei-Nik said the resistance and national power were key to completing “the enemy’s defeat and safeguarding Iran’s rights”.

He also said domestic production of weapons and defence equipment had reached 2.5 times its level before the recent war, up from double the pre-war level announced three months earlier.

The increase was attributed to the capacity of knowledge-based companies and Iran’s defence industries, with production of some weapons rising more than threefold through private-sector participation.

Talaei-Nik warned that any renewed miscalculation by Iran’s adversaries would be met by more advanced weapons and equipment and a heavier response from the armed forces.

The Saudi cabinet has issued a statement, reiterating support for the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni people “to end the coup” and “restore the state and its institutions from the terrorist Houthi militia”, Al Jazeera reports, citing the Saudi Press Agency.

It accused Houthi forces of choosing military escalation as an alternative to peace and of deepening humanitarian suffering as a result.

Houthi forces continue to “threaten the region and navigation in the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb strait”, the cabinet added.

The internationally recognised Yemeni government’s forces have shot down a Houthi drone west of the Marib governorate in a single shot, according to the forces and Yemeni media, Al Jazeera reports.

Footage circulating in Yemeni media showed the armed forces boasting about what they called the “ghost” drone being brought down, while an incapacitated device lay in the sand.

A suspected plot involving Iran to launch a complex drone attack on a key British airbase led the United States to remove its B-1 bomber aircraft from the base, two US officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iran has denied any involvement in any alleged plot at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers. British police said they had arrested a 22-year-old British man in London on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts as part of their investigation into the suspected plot.

A spokesperson for the US military’s European Command declined to comment, saying: “It is inappropriate to discuss matters of intelligence, and we will not discuss specific force protection measures.

“As demonstrated across multiple operations, America’s bombers, including B-1s, B-2s, and B-52s can deliver precision global strike capabilities including through operations that launch and recover from the continental United States anywhere, anytime,” the spokesperson said.