War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree has claimed attacks on positions and weapon depots belonging to Saudi-led forces in Yemen’s Midi and Al-Ghumbar regions.

In a post on X, he writes that the targets were struck with unmanned aerial vehicles.

“The strikes were precise and direct … resulting in dead and wounded, as well as the destruction of several weapons depots,” he adds.

The Iran conflict is causing the oil services industry to increase its cost assessments for projects due to rising shipping, fuel and security costs, which are affecting its Middle Eastern contract performance, Reuters reports citing executives at a conference in Abu Dhabi.

“What we are facing now with our contracts in the Middle East is that logistics costs have increased — sometimes threefold. Fuel costs have doubled, labour costs have increased 30 to 40 per cent,” says Alessandro Bernini, Chief Executive Officer of Italian engineering group Maire.

He adds that the cost jump is eating into margins of service companies, raising the cost of projects and ultimately translating into higher energy prices and inflation around the world.

Logistics have become a problem due to the difficulty of delivering equipment, says Alessandro Puliti, CEO of Italian energy contractor Saipem.

“We have been sitting outside Hormuz for months,” he tells the conference.

Iran’s national security chief Mohsen Rezaei says on X that the US response to the country’s demands “was not convincing” and that Washington must fully and explicitly address and act upon Tehran’s seven conditions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran and the US are still far from a deal to end their war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, while mediator Qatar stepped up efforts to bridge differences and avert a renewed escalation after the US midterm elections.

“Mediators are working hard to narrow gaps between Tehran and Washington,” the official said. “Tehran’s conditions must be met if the US wants Hormuz reopened.”

US President Donald Trump says he has made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that Washington will no longer be providing military aid to Israel after the end of this year, Reuters reports.

Speaking to Fox News’ ‘Fox and Friends’, Trump says Israel no longer needs it and that some Democrats and left-wing politicians are using this US funding to Israel as a talking point to criticise Republicans. He also claims that Netanyahu raised the idea himself.

“Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we’re stopping,” Trump says. “We’ve already agreed that by the end of this year we won’t be paying Israel. Now we’ll help Israel if they need it.”

US President Donald Trump claims that Washington struck an “anti-aircraft facility” overnight, while speaking on Fox News programme ‘Fox and Friends’.

“They built an anti-aircraft facility; it took them about two months. We watched it get built; as soon as it was completed, we hit it last night very nicely,” he says, calling the operation “just a minor attack. It wasn’t war.”

US President Donald Trump has delivered a blunt statement on the conflict in Iran, telling Fox News programme ‘Fox and Friends’, “I’m not looking to, you know, kill lots of people, but if we have to, we’ll have to.”

Citing the military operations in Venezuela at the start of this year, Trump says that in the aftermath of the operation, “Now we’re getting hundreds of millions of dollars every week, and we’re getting millions of barrels of oil every week … we paid for the cost of the war.

“Well, Iran, could be the same thing, but in a way better,” he adds, claiming that Tehran would have been able to possess a nuclear weapon if the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — which Trump tore up in 2018 — remained in force.

Three oil tankers have struck naval mines and caught fire while navigating “unauthorised” routes through the Strait of Hormuz, Anadolu reports citing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy.

The Tasnim News Agency, citing a statement from the IRGC Navy’s public relations office, reports that the three tankers experienced explosions and severe fires after entering “unauthorised” shipping routes with their navigation and identification systems switched off.

The IRGC said the tankers had been abandoned near the southern shores of the Strait of Hormuz and remained engulfed in flames, adding that Iranian regulations governing navigation through the strait have repeatedly been communicated to vessels through radio broadcasts and official naval notices.

It warns that ships disregarding these regulations and cooperating with the US military to cross unauthorised routes could face similar incidents.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree claims that the group has struck airports in Saudi Arabia’s Abha and Khamis Mushait areas.

“The first operation targeted Abha International Airport with a drone, and the strike was precise, leading to the disruption of air traffic at the airport,” he writes on X. “Meanwhile, the second operation targeted Khamis Mushait Airbase with a ballistic missile, and the strike was direct.”

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree claims that the group has struck “[the] Saudi enemy’s mobilisations” in the Ras Al-Aara and Al-Mudharaba areas of Yemen.

In a post on X, Saree adds that the areas have been struck using “a number of ballistic missiles, and the strikes were precise … resulting in dozens of dead and wounded, including leaders”.

In a separate post, Saree further claims attacks on Saudi-led forces east of Al-Jawf Governorate with ballistic missiles, adding, “The strikes were direct, resulting in a large number of dead and wounded, as well as the destruction and burning of several vehicles.”

US President Donald Trump says that Iran is “not in a good negotiating position”, while denying that the conflict is a “war”.

“What’s a war? A war is fighting … When was the last time you saw us fighting with them?” he tells Fox News. “We go months and months; we talk. They’re not in a good negotiating position; their economy is cratering … they have 301 per cent inflation; they don’t have money.”

He adds that the war could go on if no agreement is made, but stresses that Iran wants “to make a deal really badly” and that there is a “very good chance” of a deal being struck.

“We’re dealing from total strength,“ Trump says.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said that a resumption of fighting with the United States would not benefit anyone, reiterating that his government had been granted fresh negotiating powers in exchanges with Washington, AFP reports.

During a cabinet meeting, Pezeshkian said “no one will benefit from this war”, adding that his government was trying to resolve the crisis “through dialogue” after the supreme leader granted it powers to discuss “issues that he had previously considered off-limits,” without elaborating.

Iran’s top military commander has outlined five conditions for establishing lasting security, according to Anadolu.

Major General Ali Abdollahi, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces and commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, is quoted by state broadcaster IRIB as saying that Iran has emerged as a “fourth centre of global power” through its control of the Strait of Hormuz and its ability to determine the rules governing access to the waterway.

Abdollahi outlines five conditions that Tehran considers essential for establishing lasting security:

1. Ending wars on all fronts, particularly in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, while rejecting negotiations conducted under military threats
2. The complete lifting of sanctions against Iran and the release of frozen Iranian assets
3. Compensation for damage caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran, as well as the 12-day war with Israel last year
4. Recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and the replacement of the US-led security framework with what Abdolahi describes as a “Hormuz mechanism”
5. Guarantees against renewed military attacks and the establishment of security arrangements led by countries in the region.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi has said that Tehran reserved the right to self-defence following US attacks on Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports, citing Iran’s ISNA news agency

“The Islamic Republic of Iran retains the right to legitimate self-defence until the military aggression has been completely and permanently brought to an end,” Gharibabadi said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it shot down two Lucas drones over the coastal area of Bandar Khamir, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports.

Saudi oil giant Aramco announced a 34.6 per cent surge in third-quarter net profit, as the Middle East war keeps crude prices soaring while the kingdom’s energy infrastructure comes under regular attack, AFP reports.

Yemen’s Houthis have targeted Saudi tankers, pipelines, storage facilities and refineries regularly since hostilities resumed in July, intensifying their strikes in recent weeks.

The firm said net profit hit 135.9 billion riyals ($36.2bn) in the third quarter, compared with around 101bn riyals in the same period a year earlier.

But Aramco’s boss warned that the conflict continued to weigh heavily on energy security.

In the second quarter, Aramco had reported a 44pc year-on-year increase in net profit to 122.6bn riyals.

Qatar has said it remained hopeful that a deal could be reached between the US and Iran as both sides review proposals put forward by mediators including Doha, according to AFP.

“Both parties remain committed to the negotiation process; as we mentioned, we are facilitating the real-time exchange of proposals between them,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told reporters, while adding that both sides “are currently reviewing the ideas and proposals we have presented”.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi says the US midterm elections will not affect Iran’s foreign policy strategy, Al Jazeera reports.

Tehran is neither waiting for the outcome nor shaping its policies around it, he said.

The Israeli military has said it had no involvement in reported US strikes on an Iranian island, despite PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent threats to resume war with Tehran, AFP reports.

Asked if Israel was involved in secret attacks reported by US media outlets on Qeshm Island, which lies in the Strait of Hormuz, an Israeli military spokespeson told AFP, “No”.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said it had intercepted a drone in the region of Makkah, following repeated waves of attacks on the kingdom, AFP reports.

“Interception and destruction of a drone in the Makkah region,” Turki al-Malki, the coalition’s spokesman wrote on social media, without elaborating on the source of the attack.

Iran unveiled a massive billboard and banners pledging to kill US President Donald Trump across Tehran, bringing to a new level the official rhetoric displayed in the capital, AFP reports.

“We will kill Trump”, read the billboard towering over the busy Enghelab Square in Tehran, which depicted the US president behind bars with his head bowed, according to the report.

Yemen’s Houthis have said that Saudi strikes killed 17 civilians over two days this week, as they fight a Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally recognised government, AFP reports.

The Houthi health ministry said in a statement that most of the people killed were children, “which shows that Saudi aircraft are targeting homes, residential neighbourhoods and markets”.

The UN’s relief chief warned that Yemen’s civilians are bearing the cost of an escalating conflict, with nearly 300,000 people displaced since August.

“Yemen’s civilians are paying a brutal price for this escalating conflict,” said Tom Fletcher.

Fletcher said roads are closed and supplies are running out in the besieged city of Taiz, home to around 1 million people, where water production has halved and food prices have soared by at least 50 per cent. Hospitals are running out of fuel and medicines, he added.

He said he spoke with Yemen’s Foreign Minister Afrah Abdulaziz Al-Zouba about the crisis, adding that humanitarian partners have reached nearly 260,000 displaced people, but “needs are outpacing our response.”

Oil prices rose more than $1, as an Iranian official said a deal to the end the war was far off, while the United States struck Iran’s Qeshm Island, fuelling concerns over the escalation of hostilities and risks to energy supplies, Reuters reports.

US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.6, or 1.66 per cent, at $98.06 a barrel while Brent crude futures rose $1.84, or 1.76pc, to $106.61 a barrel by 0744 GMT.

Both benchmarks had dropped more than 7pc on Monday as talks between Iranian and Qatar officials lifted hopes for an end to the US-Israeli war with Iran that were soon dashed.