War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

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.

Yemeni government forces have carried out nine airstrikes targeting Houthi fighters and military equipment in the country’s southwestern Taiz province, as escalation continues to rage across the country, Anadolu reports citing the Yemeni military.

The Taiz Military Axis Media Centre says warplanes belonging to the Yemeni armed forces carried out five strikes in the Al-Dhabab area and four others in Al-Misrakh district, targeting Houthi personnel and military equipment.

It adds that clashes are also ongoing between government forces and Houthi fighters on the Al-Shaqab front south of Taiz.

The military has not provided details on casualties or damage.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has held a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Reuters reports citing the German government.

Berlin adds that Iran must engage in serious negotiations and stop destabilising the region.

Oil prices have fallen by two per cent a day after benchmark Brent hit an almost one-month high, as traders monitor attacks on Saudi Arabia and prospects for additional diesel supply from Russia, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures are down $2.02, or 1.89pc, to $104.63 a barrel as of 1049 GMT (3:49pm PKT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $1.89, or 2.02pc, at $91.85 a barrel.

Hezbollah announced an aid program for Lebanese who lost their homes in the war with Israel, with benefits capped at $14,000 per household, despite US and Lebanese sanctions on the militant group, AFP reports.

The announcement also comes despite US sanctions on Iran, which backs Hezbollah with weapons and resources, and tighter controls by the Lebanese authorities on Hezbollah’s funding and supply routes, after the group emerged weakened from two wars with Israel since 2023.

At a press conference in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, Ali Daamouch, announced aid worth $14,000 per household for residents of Beirut and its southern suburbs, and $12,000 for other regions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the country is pursuing diplomatic avenues with seriousness to safeguard Iran’s national interests and defend its rights and interests internationally, IRNA reports.

Araghchi also highlighted the need to maximise the potential of economic diplomacy to neutralise sanctions, as well as strengthen public and media diplomacy to explain Iran’s positions and perspectives.

Fatemeh Mohajerani, the spokesperson of the Iranian government, says that Iran will continue its international legal efforts to secure the rights of victims of the school attack in Minab until a final result is achieved, IRNA reports.

The Red Cross called for urgent de-escalation in the Middle East, warning that further fighting would be disastrous for tens of millions of civilians, Reuters reports.

Yemen’s civil war — in which a Saudi-led military coalition supports the government against the Houthis — reignited in July, months into the wider regional conflict that has roiled energy markets and plunged the Middle East into crisis.

“Civilians are paying an unacceptable price as a result of military operations in the Middle East,” said Mirjana Spoljaric, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Iran has temporarily suspended vehicle imports by hoteliers and Iranians living abroad as part of efforts to conserve foreign currency for essential goods and medicine, according to gov’t spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, Al Jazeera reports.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has rejected an Israeli push to join the military campaign against Yemen’s Houthi group, despite efforts to secure Riyadh’s approval through US mediation, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

The daily, citing an unnamed diplomatic source, said the crown prince was not interested in Israeli military assistance, fearing that cooperation with Israel could provoke a negative reaction among the Saudi public.

Another source familiar with the matter said Israel hoped military cooperation with Saudi Arabia would strengthen bilateral ties and pave the way for a future normalisation agreement.

Addressing security challenges in the Middle East and East Africa, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani reaffirmed his country’s commitment to diplomatic efforts, saying, “We reaffirm our steadfast positions to find solutions to the crises in the region,” Al Jazeera reports.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that while low-income developing countries were dealing with the disproportionate impacts of the Iran war-fuelled energy shock, many had “no choice” but to cut spending or potentially face debt restructuring, AFP reports.

Speaking to AFP on the sidelines of the organisation’s Annual Meetings in Bangkok, IMF deputy director of research Petya Koeva Brooks said heavily indebted, oil-importing countries were facing the worst of the energy shock, and had difficult choices in helping their citizens through the crisis.

“Unfortunately, after years of the global economy being hit (by) shock after shock, debt levels have increased quite a lot, and at the same time, inflation has become a problem,” she said.

The US war on Iran has plunged the Middle East into conflict and sent global energy prices soaring, as Tehran’s retaliatory action targeted Washington’s Gulf allies and curtailed oil and gas supplies.

Those prices have begun to bleed into other goods, with the crisis also having an effect on crucial fertiliser supplies.

Football Australia tells AFP it was “closely monitoring” the situation in 2027 Asian Cup host Saudi Arabia following attacks by the Houthi group.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr had their Asian Champions League match delayed by an hour yesterday after the Saudi-led military coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired by the Houthis towards Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia, which is due to host Asia’s continental showpiece in January and February, has recently come under a series of attacks from the group, including strikes on oil facilities, tankers and transport hubs.

Oil prices fell and were on track for their first decline in nearly a week, as traders assessed supply risks from attacks on Saudi Arabia while weighing the prospect of additional diesel supplies from Russia, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures fell $1.30, or 1.2 per cent, to $105.35 a barrel by 0329 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $1.25, or 1.3pc, at $92.49 a barrel.

Both benchmarks climbed nearly $2 a barrel in the previous session, with Brent settling at its highest since September 15.

President Trump has suggested the US may have gone too far in targeting Iran’s leadership, saying Washington is struggling to identify officials with whom it can negotiate, Al Jazeera reports.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sharply cut growth forecasts for the Middle East and Central Asia in 2026, as the ongoing war has sent economies into a tailspin, Reuters reports.

In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the IMF said the regional economy was projected to contract by 0.3 per cent, compared to its projected 1.9 percent growth six months ago.

It cited “a longer closure of the Strait of Hormuz, compared with the baseline assumptions in the April” report, predicting a major rebound in 2027 based on the expected reopening of the waterway.

Since the Middle East war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Tehran has sought to impose its control over the Strait of Hormuz, repeatedly attacking ships that transit without its authorisation.

President Donald Trump said late on Monday he did not believe that China and Russia were helping Iran “at all,” adding that Moscow and Beijing had “too much to lose” if they enabled Tehran, Reuters reports.

Trump said on Truth Social that he had seen comments from his critics and opponents that China and Russia were helping Iran.

“If they are, it’s at a very low level, but I don’t believe they are at all. They have too much to lose, and we would know about it, and know about it very fast,” Trump wrote.

Etihad Airways said it had cancelled flights between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam due to “regional disruption”, as Yemen’s Houthi group continues to carry out attacks on the Saudi kingdom, AFP reports.

All flights between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have been cancelled until October 19, it said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck a vessel that was attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is crucial to global energy flows, AFP reports.

The Guards’ navy said in a statement published on the force’s news platform, Sepah News, that “a supertanker, was hit in the Strait of Hormuz and caught fire”.

The ship targeted had tried to sail through the area “by disabling its transponders” and “by ignoring warnings from the Guards’ Navy”, the statement said.