War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, according to state broadcaster Press TV, with the latter stressing national unity and the need for more joint efforts by the government and parliament to address economic issues.

Ayatollah Khamenei has also called on both institutions to “work towards advancing affairs related with Iran’s strategic partners”.

The Saudi-led coalition says it has intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone headed for the kingdom’s southern regions.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has met Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, in Riyadh, where he received a written message for Saudi King Salman from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and discussed the latest regional developments, Reuters reports citing the Saudi Press Agency.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi says Cairo’s proposed military support for Riyadh is to “defend Saudi territory, and does not include an attack on Yemen,” AFP reports citing state-linked media.

Al-Qahera News reports that he also said “the stability of our brothers in the Gulf concerns Egypt’s national security,” in a speech that has yet to be aired.

The deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major-General Mostafa Izadi, says the country has the capacity to target US naval vessels with missiles, Al Jazeera reports citing the Fars News Agency.

“Our missile capabilities have not only increased in terms of quantity, but also in terms of technology,” he says.

Iranian armed forces spokesperson Brigadier-General Abolfazl Shekarchi has issued a warning to “twin toddlers” US President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Al Jazeera reports Iran’s Fars News Agency.

“You are on a path to decline and will not be able to escape the quagmire of death you are trapped in through boasting and threats,” he is quoted as saying.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the only way to remove the threat posed by Iran is to topple its government, AFP reports.

“Iran wanted to destroy us; we stopped them. They wanted to produce nuclear bombs; we stopped them … Yet they persist,” he says during an election rally in the southern town of Dimona. “Therefore, there is only one way to end this: by toppling this regime.

“This is the directive I have issued to the Israel Defence Forces, to the Mossad, and to all our security branches,” he adds, without specifying when or how that directive would be executed.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to supply extra diesel to France “for as many months as necessary,” AFP reports, citing the Elysee Palace, as President Emmanuel Macron was visiting Riyadh days after violent rioting across France.

Macron and de facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman met in Riyadh where they also agreed to consult on expanding security cooperation and infrastructure projects to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, the palace added.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has condemned attacks targeting the country’s Aden and Al Rayyan airports with ballistic missiles and drones, Al Jazeera reports.

The Ministry of Transport says Al Rayyan Airport was attacked by three drones, all of which fell near the airport’s runways, and warns against “threatening the safety of civil aviation and the lives of passengers”.

It adds that the attack on Aden International Airport, which it says had been attacked for a fourth time, occurred shortly after two flights departed for Oman and Cairo and moments after a plane carrying personnel from the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders landed.

“We stopped and postponed two flights to Addis Ababa and Cairo and evacuated Aden Airport of passengers and workers to ensure their safety,” the ministry says, noting that no casualties, injuries or damage were reported at Al Rayyan Airport.

It adds, “Aden and Al Rayyan airports will continue to serve citizens and humanitarian flights despite operational risks.”

The deputy to the chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Yadollah Javani, has warned that Iran may target undersea internet cables passing through the Strait of Hormuz if the country’s infrastructure is attacked, state broadcaster Press TV reports.

In an interview with Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam TV channel, he addresses the possibility of strikes against undersea Internet infrastructure, noting that Iran will use its full capabilities if the country’s own infrastructure comes under attack.

“The United States and its allies have substantial investments,” he says.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says any interference in the Yemen war by Egypt or any other country will make the situation “more difficult”, AFP reports.

“Egypt has sufficient experience to avoid entangling itself in such a highly complex conflict,” Iran’s top diplomat says in an interview with Iraqi state broadcaster Al-Iraqiya. “We believe that any foreign presence or interference will only make resolving this issue more difficult.”

He adds that Egypt has said it “will not enter Yemen or engage in a war against Yemen”.

Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, says that the country is prepared to rid the region of evil “once and for all” in response to the slightest operational error.

“Whatever the outcome of your elections may be, we have no doubt about your enmity,” he wrote on X. “We are prepared to rid the region of your evil once and for all in response to the slightest operational error on your part.”

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has said that the US cannot launch the war of choice, nor can it evade responsibility by turning the aggressor into the accuser.

In a post in X, he wrote: “They attacked Iran twice in less than nine months — while negotiations were underway. They massacred our children in Minab, murdered our daughters in Lamerd, assassinated our leaders, and intensified sanctions on our people.”

“They destroyed the very MoU (memorandum of understanding) they signed on 17 June, and now they demand that the world condemn Iran!” Baqaei added.

The world was paying the price of your unlawful aggression through regional instability and global economic insecurity, he contended.

“You cannot launch a war of choice, set the region ablaze, unleash global chaos, and then play the victim,” he warned, saying, “You cannot evade responsibility by turning the aggressor into the accuser and the victim into the culprit.”

The Dakar Rally will return to Africa for its 49th edition due to the situation in the Middle East and in particular in Saudi Arabia, where the race has been held since 2020, three people involved in the World Rally-Raid Championship tell Reuters.

According to the sources — two drivers and a team manager — the race will start in Europe with a prologue either in Spain or Portugal, before heading to Morocco for the remainder of the event, which is expected to feature around 12 stages.

The Dakar Rally is scheduled to run from January 9 to 22.

Race organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the International Automobile Federation and the International Motorcycling Federation have not immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment.

The Middle East situation has forced organisers to adapt their plan amid escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi movement, which has stepped up attacks on Saudi cities, airports and energy infrastructure.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that threats and sanctions must be “practically lifted in action, so that the ground for dialogue can be provided”.

“One cannot increase the intensity of sanctions and pressures every day, close the paths of interaction, and simultaneously speak of negotiation,” he said in an X post.

“Dialogue with the language of threats and pressure has no meaning.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has landed in Riyadh, according to an AFP reporter, for a surprise stop on his Gulf tour after weeks of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.

He is the first Western head of state to visit since the Yemeni rebel group intensified their attacks on the kingdom this month.

Saudi Arabian crude oil exports in August rose by about 7.9 per cent from July to 4.451 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest level since March, Reuters reports citing data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI).

Exports rose even as oil production fell to a record low of 6.24 million bpd from 8.135 million bpd in July, the data shows.

As exports increased, Saudi refinery crude throughput dropped by 181,000 bpd to 2.297 million bpd in August from 2.478 million bpd the previous month, it further indicates. Direct crude-burning increased by 43,000 bpd to 604,097 bpd.

Shipments from the Middle East have been severely disrupted since the US-Israeli war with Iran, begun at the end of February, led Iran to block exports through the Strait of Hormuz.

French President Emmanuel Macron says his country will organise a conference to support the Lebanese armed forces after the Israeli elections this month, as truce talks between the two sides stall, AFP reports.

“We will also coordinate to carry out this work of support for the Lebanese armed forces and a conference will be set up in the coming weeks by France … I think it is useless to do it before the Israeli elections, but we will organise such a conference because it is unavoidable,” he tells reporters in Qatar.

Oil prices have jumped by more than $2 after Iran said there was little reason to expect diplomatic progress with the US, leaving the Brent benchmark hovering near five-month highs, with further market support from falling US crude and product inventories, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures are up $2.06, or 1.9 per cent, to $110.85 a barrel as of 1048 GMT (3:48pm PKT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude is up $2.13, or 2.2pc, at $99.95.

Yemen’s Houthis have targeted a military base at an airport in the southern city of Al Mukalla, which is controlled by Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, AFP reports, citing two military officials.

“The Houthis used missiles and drones to target a military base housing forces from the Saudi-led coalition at Al Rayyan airport,” said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

French President Emmanuel Macron says France is holding talks with all parties in an effort to de-escalate tensions in the region, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking to reporters in Doha, he also said discussions would be held on providing support to the Lebanese army, which he said enjoys the backing of international forces.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he had secured gas from Qatar during his Gulf tour, AFP reports.

“We secured during the winter period the equivalent of two terawatt-hours per month of LNG, which was important for us and which will allow us to move forward,” he told reporters in the Qatari capital Doha.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that the US cannot expect dialogue with Iran while blockading and threatening it, according to Al Jazeera.

“It is unacceptable to block all avenues and issue threats while simultaneously demanding talks,” he said.

“I believe that one should not enter into a pact lightly, but once a pact is made, one must remain committed to it until the end — even if it proves disadvantageous,” Pezeshkian added.

A ship was struck by “an unknown projectile” off the coast of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a fire, a British maritime security agency said, Reuters reports.

The tanker, 11 nautical miles (around 20 kilometres) off the town of Bukha, is “now at anchor”, the UKMTO reported.

“All crew are reported as safe. There is no reported environmental impact at this time,” it said.

The US is pressuring Iraq to close more border crossings to tighten pressure on Tehran after Baghdad closed the Sheeb crossing to all passengers, vehicles and commercial trucks, AFP reported, citing two anonymous sources.

A source at Iraq’s border crossings authority told AFP that the al-Sheeb crossing “has been closed since this morning until an unspecified date”, without specifying the reason.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website confirmed the closure, adding that it came “following a decision by the Iraqi prime minister’s office”.