War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The first liquefied natural gas (LNG) train under QatarEnergy’s North Field East (NFE) expansion project is ready to start operations and is expected to produce its first gas in November, Reuters reports citing two people with knowledge of the matter, which could offer Qatar a path to restoring some lost output due to Iranian attacks.

Governments supporting households and businesses grappling with high energy costs by increasing budget deficits is unsustainable, International Monetary Fund boss Kristalina Georgieva tells AFP, citing rising interest rates and borrowing costs.

“We had Covid, we had the war in Ukraine, we had then inflation shock, interest rates jumping and now we have the energy shock [over the Middle East war]. Every time, the governments came to the rescue of people and businesses by borrowing and increasing the deficit, and that just cannot go on any longer,” Georgieva says in an interview in Singapore.

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warns of a “devastating toll” in Yemen amid an escalating conflict, Anadolu reports.

“The escalating conflict in Yemen is taking a devastating toll. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed, more than 4,200 injured and almost 198,000 displaced since the latest escalation, amid outbreaks of cholera and measles,” Ghebreyesus outlines.

The WHO chief, in a post on X, says that the body’s immediate funding requirement has more than tripled from $9 million to $31m due to growing needs.

“We urgently call on donors to step up. Lives depend on humanitarian and health aid,” Tedros adds.

Washington’s “requests and ideas” about Iran’s nuclear programme are at odds with Tehran’s demands, a senior Iranian official tells Reuters when asked about US Vice President JD Vance’s comment that Tehran must cut enrichment to end the war with Washington.

“Vance’s comments are Washington’s ideas and requests … Americans are free to make requests and have ideas, but they are at odds with Iran’s demands,” the senior Iranian official, who is directly involved in indirect negotiations with the United States, says.

The official adds that no negotiations have taken place with the US about Iran’s nuclear programme and that Washington must first meet Tehran’s conditions before nuclear talks can start.

They note that US recognition of Iran’s right to nuclear enrichment is Tehran’s red line, which “it will not show flexibility on in any way. However, he added that details of enrichment can be discussed later.

More than 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes since fighting in Yemen began in recent weeks, according to data released on Wednesday by the United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration, Reuters reports.

IOM described the crisis sparked by renewed fighting between the Iran-backed Houthi group and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen as alarming, with displacement figures surging from 76,000 in mid-September to more than 200,000 as of Wednesday - nearly all of whom fled since fighting began in early September.

Oil prices have risen, with Brent futures holding above $100 a barrel, on continued Middle East supply risks and a storm heading for oil-producing regions in the United States, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures are up by $1.22, or 1.21 per cent, to $101.80 a barrel as of 1008 GMT (3:08pm PKT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 46 cents, or 0.51pc, to $89.90.

Japan will provide $10m in emergency aid to Yemen and Djibouti in response to Yemen’s worsening humanitarian situation as the war’s effects spill over into neighbouring countries, Al Jazeera reports.

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”.