War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his close relationship with US President Donald Trump will help them “eliminate the Iranian threat” if he wins the tight election race, shortly after the US leader endorsed him, reports AFP.

In a video released by his Likud party, Netanyahu called on voters to heed Trump’s words, assuring them “we have crushed Iran” and adding that their partnership “will continue in order to eliminate the Iranian threat over the next two years, or even sooner”.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has criticised French President Emmanuel Macron over his response to unrest in France, recalling that the president prescribed “peaceful assembly without fear of punishment” during protests in Iran but was unwilling to do the same at home.

“We have not forgotten how, prior to the aggression against Iran, you messaged the US president: ‘We can do great things on Iran,’” Baqaei said on X.

“It soon became clear that your version of ‘great things’ meant aligning with a campaign of aggression and atrocities that eventually engulfed the region and the world.”

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf warns regional governments, funds and firms against providing resources to AI or data companies “aiding invasions or killing children”, announcing that a body to oversee data in the region, the “Persian Gulf Data Authority”, is soon to be established.

“No finance, equity, land and energy. Assist them and face our enforcement,” he said in a post on X.

Hossein Taeb, the head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary organisation, says the US has accepted defeat in the military confrontation with Iran after miscalculating the country’s resilience, state-run IRNA reports.

Speaking at a meeting in Tehran, Taeb said the US and Israel had expected Iran to capitulate within days or weeks, but it had stood firm. Instead, the US and Israel had faced limitations in ammunition supplies and air defence capabilities and were forced to shift their strategy.

He described the conflict as a contest of endurance, stressing that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz had also imposed significant costs on the US and global economies.

The Saudi directorate of civil defence says that an enemy projectile has injured six people in Najran, a few hours after issuing an alert that the “danger had passed” in the city.

“An enemy projectile fell in Najran city, resulting in injuries to six citizens,” it said on X, adding that the projectile also caused material damage to three houses and three vehicles.

UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has discussed developments in the Middle East with Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman during a visit by the Saudi minister to Abu Dhabi, the Emirati state news agency WAM reports according to Reuters.

The talks came a few weeks after Sheikh Mansour visited Riyadh, the first trip by a senior UAE official to the kingdom since a deep rift emerged between the two Gulf powers last year.

The visit comes as Yemen’s Houthis intensify attacks on the kingdom.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major General Ahmad Vahidi says the IRGC is ready for “strategic synergy” with the country’s defence ministry with regards to “enemy” threats, state-run IRNA reports.

“Within the framework of its assigned missions, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stands ready to expand strategic synergy and collaboration with the Ministry of Defence … particularly in the realm of successfully countering the enemy’s hybrid threats,” Vahidi said.

An alleged Saudi airstrike in Yemen has killed at least nine people and wounded 16 others, Houthi media reports according to AFP, as fighting between the two sides in the country’s revived civil war escalates further.

The group’s Saba news agency said an airstrike on a home in Saada governorate in Yemen’s north “led to the martyrdom of nine and the injury of 16 others, most of them women and children”, adding that the toll was not final.

Egypt’s parliament has postponed a vote on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s request to authorise military support for Saudi Arabia, two lawmakers told AFP, extending deliberations to Monday.

One lawmaker said the session was extended “to give all lawmakers the opportunity to speak and express their views”, while another said proceedings would continue on Monday “to allow all lawmakers to be heard”.

In a telephonic conversation with Iran’s FM Araghchi, Deputy PM and FM Ishaq Dar underscored the importance of continued dialogue and diplomacy in addressing regional challenges, according to a statement by the Foreign Office (FO).

“The two leaders discussed the evolving regional situation and the ongoing Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Baghdad,” FO said.

They also agreed to maintain close contact.

The internationally recognised Yemeni government has called on the UN Security Council to condemn the targeting of government and service facilities, residential neighbourhoods, and civilian infrastructure by the Houthi fighters, Al Jazeera reports.

“This was conveyed in two letters addressed by the foreign ministry to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council’s president for October, Greek diplomat Aglaya Balta, regarding the Houthi escalation and the attack on the Maashiq Presidential Palace in Aden,” says the report.

“The letters demanded an end to Houthi attacks and accountability for their actions.”

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi has called on Iran and its allies to “cease their aggressions against the Gulf Cooperation Council states and Jordan”, Al Jazeera reports.

His statement, according to the report, comes a day after Raggi had a lengthy meeting with Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has spoken on the telephone with Egypt’s FM Dr Badr Abdelatty, the Foreign Office (FO) says.

“The two leaders exchanged views on recent regional developments and strongly condemned the Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, reaffirming their full solidarity with the Kingdom and support for its sovereignty, territorial integrity and security.”

They also discussed cooperation under the R-4 (Pakistan, Egypt, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia) framework and looked forward to the next meeting of the R-4 soon to further strengthen mutual ties and to coordinate on the regional issues, the statement added.

Riyadh is unlikely to request Egyptian military support in the immediate future, even if Egypt’s parliament approves an intervention, Al Jazeera reports, citing Middle East security expert Talha Abdulrazaq.

According to the report, the security analyst said the Makkah defence pact countries, Pakistan and Turkiye, are likely to be Saudi Arabia’s first port of call to defend the kingdom’s territory.

The Saudi directorate of civil defence has issued brief alerts for Najran City and As Sulayyil Governorate, saying “the danger has passed” in these areas.

“For your safety, continue following Civil Defence instructions and avoid gathering and filming,” it added in its alerts on social media.

Saaid Said Omar, acting country director for Islamic Relief in Yemen, tells Al Jazeera that cholera is spreading rapidly in overcrowded camps lacking clean water and sanitation, with children and pregnant women most at risk.

Iran’s offer to the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days is still on the table, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told Iranian media outlets, Reuters reports.

If Washington accepts Tehran’s conditions, the strategic waterway would be open within six days, and US-Iran talks would resume on the seventh day, he added.

Newly appointed Iranian defence minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi has threatened to inflict “enormous damage” on the United States and its allies in the Middle East if Washington resumes its military campaign against the country, AFP reports.

“People can rest assured that they will most likely not dare to attack us,” Akhlaghi told reporters shortly after securing the vote of confidence. “If they (the US) do, they themselves and the region will suffer enormous damage.”

Egypt will provide Saudi Arabia with all necessary and possible support to defend its security and stability, its presidency says, according to Reuters.

Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, says that Tehran’s armed forces have prepared a plan to respond to US aggression “more devastating” than seen in previous conflicts between the two countries, IRIB reports.

“Iran’s armed forces have prepared a PLAN to RESPOND to any new U.S. adventure that is MORE DEVASTATING than the 12-day and 40-day wars,” IRIB quoted Rezaei as saying.

Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, has warned the United States against repeating “past mistakes”, saying that Iran’s response will be “according to rules they do not know,” IRIB news reports.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country will not “bow down to the excesses of aggressor countries”, Al Jazeera reports.

“We will not allow the enemies to covet our country’s soil, just as we do not covet the soil of other countries,” he says during a meeting to review the qualifications of the proposed minister of defence, according to the news agency ISNA.

Egypt’s House of Representatives will hold an emergency session at 1pm local time (10:00 GMT) to consider President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s request to authorise defensive assistance to Saudi Arabia if Riyadh requests it, Al Jazeera reports.

The session comes a day after el-Sisi pledged to take any measure to protect Saudi Arabia, while stressing that any Egyptian involvement would be strictly defensive.

He has acknowledged parliament must approve the move, saying he hoped it would convene to grant authorisation “if it is requested of us”.

Riyadh’s Kingdom Centre skyscraper, one of the city’s major landmarks, ordered its office tenants to work remotely “until further notice,” after repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.

“Kindly refrain from attending the offices during this period,” the office management said in an email to tenants, according to AFP.

The mall at the foot of the 99-storey building remains open.

Iranian lawmakers have approved Mehrdad Akhlaghi as the country’s new defence minister, replacing his predecessor, who was killed on the first day of the war with the United States, AFP reports.

“Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly today gave vote of confidence to Mehrdad Akhlaghi, the nominee for minister of defence and armed forces logistics,” state television reported, nearly eight months after the initial US-Israeli strikes that sparked the conflict.