War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The Saudi-led coalition says it has intercepted and destroyed a drone in the kingdom’s eastern region.

US President Donald Trump’s claim that he plans to stop providing billions of dollars in assistance annually to Israel shows he is “desperate to stave off a Blue tsunami”, Al Jazeera reports citing Congressman Ro Khanna.

“Establishment Dems, who lost to him twice, told us that was too radical,” Khanna writes on X.

“Thank you for showing us the way,” he adds, tagging Democrats who have criticised Israel such as Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani.

Gulf oil exports dipped in October from September’s levels, which were the ‌highest since the Iran war started, Reuters reports citing data from two ship-tracking companies.

Flows of crude, condensate and refined products, excluding liquefied petroleum gas, averaged 17.1 million barrels per day ​in October, according to Vortexa. This marks a drop from 18.9 million bpd in September but still ​represents roughly three-quarters of pre-war levels.

“October data shows Middle East seaborne oil exports have pulled back slightly from recent post-war highs on heightened risks in the Strait of Hormuz,” Vortexa analyst George Morris says.

Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers has reiterated the kingdom’s “unwavering commitment to defending its sovereignty and responding firmly to any threat or aggression targeting its security or the safety of its citizens and residents”, Saudi Press Agency reports.

Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman chaired the cabinet session in Riyadh.

The meeting reaffirmed the kingdom’s rejection of all violations that threaten the security and safety of maritime navigation and global energy supplies. It stressed the importance of urgent action by the international community to ensure maritime security, safeguard the flow of international trade, and enforce international law in this regard.

The ministers also reviewed international developments and Saudi Arabia’s ongoing diplomatic efforts, in coordination with brotherly and friendly nations, to consolidate the region’s security and safeguard stability.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has denounced allegations surrounding Tehran’s nuclear programme as “the century’s biggest lie”, state-run Press TV reports.

At an event in Tehran, he said the fabricated narrative has been used by the US and its allies as a pretext for decades of pressure and economic restrictions against the Iranian nation.

“Perhaps no lie as big as the ‘Iranian threat’ has been fabricated in the world over the past 70 or 80 years,” Baqaei said.

Despite finding no evidence of any diversion in Iran’s nuclear programme toward non-peaceful objectives, he added, the US and its allies had refused to abandon the allegations.

Oil prices have slid about two per cent to a three-week low in volatile trade as the market weighs talks to end the wars in Ukraine and Iran against worries about additional supply disruptions from recent attacks in both conflicts, Reuters reports.

Brent futures are down $1.63, or 2pc, to $103.14 a barrel as of 1544 GMT (8:44pm PKT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude has fallen 67 cents, or 1pc, to $95.79.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson says nothing has been agreed on during the latest exchange of peace proposals with the US, but that talks are ongoing through mediators, Al Jazeera reports.

“Past experiences close the door on any optimism regarding America’s seriousness in diplomacy,” Esmaeil Baqaei says, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

He adds that Tehran is prepared to defend itself and deliver a “crushing response” to any attack launched.

“At the same time, Iran will not miss any opportunity to use diplomacy to secure its legitimate interests and demands, deter the enemy’s aggression, and establish security in the region,” Baqaei stresses.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has reiterated Cairo’s call for regional de-escalation to stop the Middle East from “sliding into a wider cycle of conflict”, according to Al Jazeera.

Speaking in the Egyptian capital alongside visiting Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, he has also condemned threats against the security of Gulf states.

“I affirm Egypt’s full support and solidarity with our sister Arab states, based on Egypt’s steadfast position that Arab national security is an indivisible whole,” Sisi says.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree has claimed attacks on positions and weapon depots belonging to Saudi-led forces in Yemen’s Midi and Al-Ghumbar regions.

In a post on X, he writes that the targets were struck with unmanned aerial vehicles.

“The strikes were precise and direct … resulting in dead and wounded, as well as the destruction of several weapons depots,” he adds.

The Iran conflict is causing the oil services industry to increase its cost assessments for projects due to rising shipping, fuel and security costs, which are affecting its Middle Eastern contract performance, Reuters reports citing executives at a conference in Abu Dhabi.

“What we are facing now with our contracts in the Middle East is that logistics costs have increased — sometimes threefold. Fuel costs have doubled, labour costs have increased 30 to 40 per cent,” says Alessandro Bernini, Chief Executive Officer of Italian engineering group Maire.

He adds that the cost jump is eating into margins of service companies, raising the cost of projects and ultimately translating into higher energy prices and inflation around the world.

Logistics have become a problem due to the difficulty of delivering equipment, says Alessandro Puliti, CEO of Italian energy contractor Saipem.

“We have been sitting outside Hormuz for months,” he tells the conference.

Iran’s national security chief Mohsen Rezaei says on X that the US response to the country’s demands “was not convincing” and that Washington must fully and explicitly address and act upon Tehran’s seven conditions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran and the US are still far from a deal to end their war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, while mediator Qatar stepped up efforts to bridge differences and avert a renewed escalation after the US midterm elections.

“Mediators are working hard to narrow gaps between Tehran and Washington,” the official said. “Tehran’s conditions must be met if the US wants Hormuz reopened.”

US President Donald Trump says he has made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that Washington will no longer be providing military aid to Israel after the end of this year, Reuters reports.

Speaking to Fox News’ ‘Fox and Friends’, Trump says Israel no longer needs it and that some Democrats and left-wing politicians are using this US funding to Israel as a talking point to criticise Republicans. He also claims that Netanyahu raised the idea himself.

“Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump says. “We’ve already agreed that by the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel. Now we’ll help Israel if they need it.”

US President Donald Trump claims that Washington struck an “anti-aircraft facility” overnight, while speaking on Fox News programme ‘Fox and Friends’.

“They built an anti-aircraft facility; it took them about two months. We watched it get built; as soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely,” he says, calling the operation “just a minor attack. It wasn’t war.”

US President Donald Trump has delivered a blunt statement on the conflict in Iran, telling Fox News programme ‘Fox and Friends’, “I’m not looking to, you know, kill lots of people, but if we have to, we’ll have to.”

Citing the military operations in Venezuela at the start of this year, Trump says that in the aftermath of the operation, “Now we’re getting hundreds of millions of dollars every week, and we’re getting millions of barrels of oil every week … we paid for the cost of the war.

“Well, Iran, could be the same thing, but in a way better,” he adds, claiming that Tehran would have been able to possess a nuclear weapon if the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — which Trump tore up in 2018 — remained in force.

Three oil tankers have struck naval mines and caught fire while navigating “unauthorised” routes through the Strait of Hormuz, Anadolu reports citing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy.

The Tasnim News Agency, citing a statement from the IRGC Navy’s public relations office, reports that the three tankers experienced explosions and severe fires after entering “unauthorised” shipping routes with their navigation and identification systems switched off.

The IRGC said the tankers had been abandoned near the southern shores of the Strait of Hormuz and remained engulfed in flames, adding that Iranian regulations governing navigation through the strait have repeatedly been communicated to vessels through radio broadcasts and official naval notices.

It warns that ships disregarding these regulations and cooperating with the US military to cross unauthorised routes could face similar incidents.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree claims that the group has struck airports in Saudi Arabia’s Abha and Khamis Mushait areas.

“The first operation targeted Abha International Airport with a drone, and the strike was precise, leading to the disruption of air traffic at the airport,” he writes on X. “Meanwhile, the second operation targeted Khamis Mushait Airbase with a ballistic missile, and the strike was direct.”

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree claims that the group has struck “[the] Saudi enemy’s mobilisations” in the Ras Al-Aara and Al-Mudharaba areas of Yemen.

In a post on X, Saree adds that the areas have been struck using “a number of ballistic missiles, and the strikes were precise … resulting in dozens of dead and wounded, including leaders”.

In a separate post, Saree further claims attacks on Saudi-led forces east of Al-Jawf Governorate with ballistic missiles, adding, “The strikes were direct, resulting in a large number of dead and wounded, as well as the destruction and burning of several vehicles.”

US President Donald Trump says that Iran is “not in a good negotiating position”, while denying that the conflict is a “war”.

“What’s a war? A war is fighting … When was the last time you saw us fighting with them?” he tells Fox News. “We go months and months; we talk. They’re not in a good negotiating position; their economy is cratering … they have 301 per cent inflation; they don’t have money.”

He adds that the war could go on if no agreement is made, but stresses that Iran wants “to make a deal really badly” and that there is a “very good chance” of a deal being struck.

“We’re dealing from total strength,“ Trump says.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said that a resumption of fighting with the United States would not benefit anyone, reiterating that his government had been granted fresh negotiating powers in exchanges with Washington, AFP reports.

During a cabinet meeting, Pezeshkian said “no one will benefit from this war”, adding that his government was trying to resolve the crisis “through dialogue” after the supreme leader granted it powers to discuss “issues that he had previously considered off-limits,” without elaborating.

Iran’s top military commander has outlined five conditions for establishing lasting security, according to Anadolu.

Major General Ali Abdollahi, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces and commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, is quoted by state broadcaster IRIB as saying that Iran has emerged as a “fourth centre of global power” through its control of the Strait of Hormuz and its ability to determine the rules governing access to the waterway.

Abdollahi outlines five conditions that Tehran considers essential for establishing lasting security:

1. Ending wars on all fronts, particularly in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, while rejecting negotiations conducted under military threats
2. The complete lifting of sanctions against Iran and the release of frozen Iranian assets
3. Compensation for damage caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran, as well as the 12-day war with Israel last year
4. Recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and the replacement of the US-led security framework with what Abdolahi describes as a “Hormuz mechanism”
5. Guarantees against renewed military attacks and the establishment of security arrangements led by countries in the region.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi has said that Tehran reserved the right to self-defence following US attacks on Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports, citing Iran’s ISNA news agency

“The Islamic Republic of Iran retains the right to legitimate self-defence until the military aggression has been completely and permanently brought to an end,” Gharibabadi said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it shot down two Lucas drones over the coastal area of Bandar Khamir, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports.

Saudi oil giant Aramco announced a 34.6 per cent surge in third-quarter net profit, as the Middle East war keeps crude prices soaring while the kingdom’s energy infrastructure comes under regular attack, AFP reports.

Yemen’s Houthis have targeted Saudi tankers, pipelines, storage facilities and refineries regularly since hostilities resumed in July, intensifying their strikes in recent weeks.

The firm said net profit hit 135.9 billion riyals ($36.2bn) in the third quarter, compared with around 101bn riyals in the same period a year earlier.

But Aramco’s boss warned that the conflict continued to weigh heavily on energy security.

In the second quarter, Aramco had reported a 44pc year-on-year increase in net profit to 122.6bn riyals.