War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

US President Donald Trump has said that Washington is doing “very well” in Iran and that he needs to “make a final decision of which way do we want to win”.

“Do we want to win the nice way, or the not-nice way?” he tells reporters in the Oval Office at the White House, adding that he has spoken with European leaders and asked whether they will help, but they have declined.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy says a supertanker has caught fire after striking a sea mine south of the Strait of Hormuz while “violating” Iranian regulations, Reuters reports citing Iranian media.

UK police say they have re-arrested two men suspected of spying for Iran, amid an investigation into a security scare at a British airbase used by the United States, AFP reports.

Counter-terrorism police say a 24-year-old British citizen and a 25-year-old dual UK-Iranian national, both from London, were arrested “on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service” over last month’s incident at the Fairford Royal Air Force (RAF) base in southwest England.

“The country to which the investigation relates is Iran,” the police statement says.

Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei has told Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir that Tehran will not allow nuclear material to leave the country, AFP reports according to state TV.

“Not even a tiny bit of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran. Such materials constitute a major asset and national wealth for the Iranian people, intended for use within the country,” said Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in a meeting with the visiting army chief.

“There will be no negotiations until America takes steps to build trust — a process that must begin with the fulfilment of Iran’s conditions.”

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf says that Iran has “no new message” for the US, in a meeting with Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

He adds that the US “cannot gain Iran’s trust except by implementing the seven conditions” put forward by Iran.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has discussed mediation efforts and regional developments during a meeting with Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir in Tehran, Reuters reports citing Iran’s Nour News outlet.

More than 1.6 million children in Yemen’s Taiz governorate risk losing access to water as fighting and fuel shortages threaten critical services, Anadolu reports citing warnings by UN agencies.

Unicef Representative in Yemen Akhil Iyer tells reporters in Geneva that water systems serving an estimated 3 million people, including at least 1.6 million children, are at risk as fighting disrupts critical supply routes.

“Diesel shortages threaten to bring water pumps to a halt, while the cost of trucked water has tripled since this latest escalation,” Iyer says, adding that over 168,000 children have been screened for malnutrition in Taiz this year, with over 52,000 found to be acutely malnourished, nearly one in three screened.

“For children in Taiz, hunger, unsafe water and disease are becoming an increasingly dangerous combination,” he warns.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has warned that if any attacks from Lebanon target northern Israeli communities, Tel Aviv will respond by targeting Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, Al Jazeera reports.

“This policy establishes deterrence,” Katz says in comments shared by the Israeli military, warning Hezbollah from participating in any future Iranian attack on Israel, as its military would deal the group a “severe blow” if it does.

Katz has also threatened that the Israeli army could capture more territory in southern Lebanon, including in the Litani region, and permanently incorporate it into what he calls Israel’s “security zone”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he spoke with US President Donald Trump on Sunday about the importance of eliminating Iran’s regime, Reuters reports.

“We are committed to completing the elimination of the Iranian regime,” Netanyahu says in a statement released by his office. “I have discussed this with Trump many times, including yesterday.”

The Saudi-led coalition against the Yemeni Houthis says a drone has been intercepted and destroyed over Riyadh, according to a post on X by their spokesperson.

Al Jazeera reports that Yemeni government forces claim to have repelled a Houthi “infiltration attempt” north of Taiz and shot down a Houthi drone south of the city.

Diesel prices are higher than anyone wants right now and the US is working with refiners to seek ways to produce more, Reuters reports quoting US Energy Department Under Secretary Kyle Haustveit.

“We are working with our industry to find every nook and cranny to squeeze more crude put through our refining complex,” he says at the Drake Forum in Titusville, Pennsylvania.

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) sees little chance of a return to normal oil market conditions next year, as the ongoing Middle East war keeps prices high, AFP reports.

“I personally don’t see any credible pathway that 2027 will be a year of normalisation” after the Gulf supply disruptions caused by the US and Israeli attacks on Iran last February, Fatih Birol tells a conference organised by The Financial Times.

“If there’s an overlapping crisis in the Middle East, I cannot exclude that our governments will look at the other options,” Birol tells The FT’s Energy Transition conference. “It’s a big thing, 400 million barrels, but it’s only 20 per cent of the oil we have — 80pc is in the pocket.”

Birol also laments that the war has shifted attention away from the risks of climate change, despite confirmation from scientists that the burning of fossil fuels is a clear cause of global warming.

“Climate change is sliding down in the international policy agenda despite the number, the frequency, and the intensity of extreme weather,” he says. “In a normal world … there’d be more interest, but it is going down.”

Riyadh’s Ambassador Khaled Alsharif participated in the 52nd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, which denounced Houthi attacks on the kingdom, its ministry says.

More than 250,000 people have been internally displaced in Yemen since the war reignited, Al Jazeera reports citing the UN.

“UNHCR is obviously deeply concerned about the escalating displacement situation,” Matthew Saltmarsh, spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency, tells a press conference in Geneva. “The numbers [of] displaced have now reached over 250,000. These are people who have been internally displaced in Yemen between August 1 and October 17.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has secured the delivery of an additional 200,000 tonnes of diesel per month from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during a tour of the Gulf, AFP reports citing the French presidency.

He has obtained commitments for around 100,000 tonnes per month from the UAE, while an additional 100,000 tonnes monthly will be secured during the stop in Bahrain, the Elysee Palace says.

With the addition of deliveries from Saudi Arabia, France has commitments for 295,000 tonnes per month, representing just over 10 per cent of its consumption, the presidency adds.

The United Nations insists that aid must immediately be allowed to enter Yemen’s third-biggest city Taiz, besieged by Houthi fighters blocking all supplies, AFP reports.

“Humanitarian aid must be immediately allowed to enter the city and its passage must be facilitated,” UN rights chief Volker Turk says in a statement, warning that civilians were being placed “at grave risk”.

Airlines are cancelling flights to Saudi Arabia following the deadly attacks on Riyadh airport by Yemen’s Houthis earlier this week, extending disruption to air travel across the region, Reuters reports.

The airport has reopened, but airlines are required to seek permission from Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority for any departures or landings.

The main US oil contract has soared more than five per cent in trading on increased concerns over tight supplies as a result of the Middle East conflict, AFP reports.

West Texas Intermediate has surged 5.7pc to $109.60 per barrel.

The main international benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, has jumped 2pc to $111.69 per barrel.

Iran warned that any US military attack would be met with retaliation, dismissing claims that Washington had conveyed a message expecting Tehran not to respond to a potential strike, Anadolu reports.

Speaking at his weekly press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei described suggestions that the US could attack Iran without facing retaliation as an “illusion.”

Baqaei rejected claims that Washington had sent a message based on the premise that Iran should refrain from responding to a potential US attack.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it had received a report of an incident involving a tanker and military forces approximately 121 nautical miles east of Duqm in Oman, Reuters reports.

Reports indicated the tanker was subject to interaction as part of ongoing military activity in the region, it added.