War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The Qatari Foreign Ministry says Doha is “working tirelessly to end the uncertainty over the crisis between Washington and Tehran” during its weekly news briefing, adding that mediation efforts are still ongoing, Al Jazeera reports.

Two tankers caught fire after hitting naval mines on “the unauthorised route” in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy said in a statement, AFP reports.

An adviser to the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force has highlighted a significant shift in the technological trajectory of Iran’s missile programme, noting how its activities have progressed “beyond reverse-engineering” foreign weapons systems.

Speaking in an interview on the occasion of the IRGC Aerospace Force Day, Brigadier General Ali Belali said the expansion of domestic technical expertise has paved the way for Iranian specialists to design and manufacture new missiles according to the operational requirements of the country’s Armed Forces.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states have approved the establishment of an advanced headquarters for their unified military command in Kuwait and the deployment of “appropriate” forces to it, the bloc’s secretary-general said, according to Saudi state television Al Ekhbariya, Reuters reports,

No further details on the command or the forces to be deployed were immediately available.

Iraqi authorities have reopened a border crossing with Iran after closing it last month amid mounting US pressure to isolate Tehran, AFP reports.

The Iraqi government closed the Al-Sheeb crossing in Missan province in October. Two political sources told AFP that the US was pressuring Baghdad to close most crossings with neighbouring Iran.

The head of Iraq’s border crossings authority Alaa al-Waeli told the state news agency (INA) that Al-Sheeb crossing would reopen Tuesday morning after the completion of the “necessary procedures” required to resume operations and “ensure the smooth movement of travellers and goods”.

He added that authorities would temporarily close the Al-Mandali border crossing in Diyala province starting on Friday for “maintenance”.

The closure of the Al-Sheeb crossing sparked tensions between the central government and local authorities in Missan, with several protests erupting over the shutdown of a key route.

Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi says that the war on Iran will “not end either through military means or by increasing sanctions,” but only through “using the language of respect” and for the US “to act on Iran’s demands and conditions,” Al Jazeera reports.

Qatar’s prime minister will meet European powers and Saudi Arabia in an unscheduled stop at the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris after holding talks on Monday with US President Donald Trump on the Iran conflict, reports Reuters.

“On this occasion, the ministers will discuss the situation in the Near and Middle East in particular the Iranian crisis and its security and economic repercussions, both for the region and for the international community as a whole,” France’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who also serves as Qatar’s foreign minister, was scheduled to meet with the ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia, which had already been invited for broader G7 talks on the situation in the Middle East.

Iran’s armed forces said navigation systems on a rock in the southern Strait of Hormuz had been targeted, alleging that the systems were being used by the United States to facilitate oil smuggling.

UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have observed what appeared to be preparations for a sustained Israeli military presence amid continued airstrikes, artillery fire and restrictions on their movements, a UN spokesman said, AFP reports.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported Israeli military activity across its area of operations from Thursday through Sunday, including drone operations, engineering work and road construction.

Peacekeepers recorded three Israeli airstrikes Thursday and three more Sunday, as well as 360 artillery trajectories during the four-day period, deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York.

The US military evacuated aircraft from a second airbase in Britain after a threat from Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, weeks after the US withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford airbase over a suspected Iran-linked security incident.

Two US refueling tankers that were using the RAF Mildenhall military base diverted to Germany earlier on Monday, while several other tankers at the base were moved to Germany and other locations later in the day, the WSJ report said.

According to the Journal, the precise nature of the threat to RAF Mildenhall remains under discussion among US officials.

We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations. Aircraft and other assets move regularly according to operational requirements, a British ministry of defense spokesperson said.

Multiple explosions were heard in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, AFP journalists said, following weeks of attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.

Residents also received a text-message alert on their mobile phones instructing them to take shelter due to an “aerial threat” with a later message from the country’s civil defence agency saying the danger had passed.

US President Donald Trump said there was momentum toward ending the war with Iran, as he declared that the country “militarily, is effectively over,” but kept open the possibility of new strikes, reports AFP.

Trump said that he believed further strikes were “quite unlikely” given that key US allies in the Gulf “would prefer the status quo.” “We are seeing positive momentum toward an end to this Conflict, and will ensure that America’s interests are at all times protected,” Trump said.

The Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Houthis has said air defences in the kingdom has intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Yemeni group toward Riyadh. The coalition added that a a cruise missile launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh had also been intercepted and destroyed.

Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has told the US that it’s time to “surrender” to Tehran’s seven conditions to end the conflict.

“The war on Iran has already wrecked the US government. But Washington flails like a desperate gambler. FOLD YOUR HAND. STOP manufacturing FAKE NEWS about imaginary talks. Stop denying the West Asian NEW ORDER. Time to SURRENDER to the seven conditions Iran has repeatedly set out,” he posted on X.

Qatar’s PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has confirmed he met Trump and VP JD Vance.

“We discussed the situation in the region and ways to progress the US-Iran talks. Grateful for the positive discussions on reaching a deal and bringing peace to the region,” he wrote on X.

US President Donald Trump has said he had an “excellent conversation” during his meeting with Qatar’s PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, wherein “much was discussed” with respect to Iran.

“Most importantly, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and others, would prefer the status quo, in other words, a continuation of the Greatest Naval Blockade in History, and the new Operation Iron Gate — Therefore, Land and Sea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He said all countries agreed that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, adding that is non-negotiable.

“Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East, the United States of America is ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to go.

“At this point, however, that seems to be quite unlikely,” he added.

Trump asserted that Israel and the entire Middle East was protected from “Iranian danger and threats”.

“We are seeing positive momentum toward an end to this Conflict, and will ensure that America’s interests are at all times protected,” he declared.

Schools in the Saudi capital Riyadh will return to online classes as Yemen’s Houthis step up attacks on the kingdom, according to a message to parents seen by AFP.

“As part of the ongoing precautionary measures, we would like to confirm that classes will be online beginning tomorrow, Tuesday,” the message reads, without specifying how long the measure is expected to last.

The Saudi-led coalition says it has destroyed several facilities used by the Houthis to produce components for missiles and drones.

According to a statement by spokesperson Major General Turki Al-Maliki, coalition forces have destroyed a factory which assembled and produced ballistic missile components, a chemical plant which produced solid fuel for missiles and drones and an electronics workshop which produced electronic guidance systems.

“We continue to weaken and dismantle the terrorist Houthi militia’s ballistic missile network,” he says in a separate statement.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has categorically rejected transferring enriched uranium out of Iran, stressing that the option is “off the table” and that there is no justification for such a move, according to state-run IRNA.

Speaking to Al Mayadeen, Baqaei said Iran remains committed to a diplomatic solution without compromising its national interests and security.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says that the US and its allies “are headed straight for a dark age” unless they abandon an “Israel first” mindset.

“Israelis are working overtime to drag the US into an endless war with Iran, a quagmire that no president, now or in the future, Republican or Democrat, could escape,” he writes on X.

Stocks of crude oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 279.5 million barrels last week, the lowest level since October 1982, Reuters reports citing data from the US Department of Energy.

The recent drawdowns have been part of a US agreement to release 172 million barrels from the facility.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of being responsible for a recent cyberattack on French supermarket fridges, saying there would be consequences for Tehran, Reuters reports.

An official in the Saudi energy ministry says that the East–West Pipeline in the Madina region has been targeted, causing a limited fire that was extinguished by emergency response teams, according to a statement carried by Saudi state media.

No injuries or fatalities have been reported and pipeline operations are unaffected.

The official adds that emergency response teams and specialised technical teams responded immediately following the attack and took the necessary measures to secure the site and ensure its safety.

French officials suspect that Iranian state-backed hackers were behind the cyberattacks that knocked out commercial refrigerators and freezers across France last month, Reuters reports, citing two people familiar with the matter.

This would make the hacks among the most disruptive cyberattacks of the Middle East war, which began in February, which include disruptions to the Los Angeles transit system in March, to US water treatment plants in July and to ships bound for the United States in August.

The French foreign ministry and the Paris prosecutor’s office have not immediately responded to requests for comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations has not returned messages seeking comment.

Iran routinely denies carrying out malicious cyber operations.

A senior security official has told Iranian state media that the country has no plans to negotiate with the United States unless Washington takes practical steps to meet Tehran’s seven conditions, according to Reuters.