War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth says the articles to impeach him “mock the constitution, attack the chain of command and criminalise the warfighters who execute lawful orders”.

“This process hands our adversaries a propaganda victory and wastes the time of Congress, that should instead be focused on protecting the American people,” he tells a press conference.

British foreign minister Ed Miliband has urged an “all-out diplomatic effort” to end the conflict between Iran and the United States, warning a stalemate of “no war, no peace” was causing economic damage, AFP reports.

Welcoming comments by US President Donald Trump overnight that a return to major combat operations was unlikely, as well as mediation efforts by Qatar, Miliband said at the G7 in Paris: “We need to move beyond the ‘no war, no peace’ stalemate, which is causing deep economic pain for our countries.”

Continuing his comments on articles of impeachment filed against him, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stresses that military campaigns under his oversight have been “lawful”.

“Make no mistake about what is happening. This is not about me; politicians in Washington have accused the sailors and pilots who struck narco-terrorist boats of war crimes for doing their job. Senators, in cute videos, have suggested the same,” he tells a press conference.

“This resolution is the next step: put the secretary on trial today and the men and women who carried out those orders tomorrow,” he adds. If they want to come for the warriors, they’re going to have to come through me.

He emphasises that every one of the campaigns in Iran, Yemen and Venezuela was “a lawful operation ordered by the Commander-in-Chief, then ordered by myself, notified to Congress and executed by American warriors who did their jobs”.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has called moves to impeach him over abuse of power in the Iran war a farce that would fail, according to Reuters.

Hegseth has made the comment at a news conference a day after US Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, introduced eight articles of impeachment against him.

“These resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime,” he says, referring to personnel who served in the Iran war. “Their service was not a crime. These are heroes and no politician in Washington will tell them otherwise while I hold this office.”

He adds, “I stand beside every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow.”

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has reiterated the necessity of the Iran war during a press briefing.

“By every measure, we achieved a historic military victory,” he says, reiterating that Iran’s navy was sunk and its defence-industrial base was destroyed within 40 days of sustained combat operations.

“History will judge the Iran war quite differently than conventional wisdom right now. We didn’t start this war; Iran did 47 years ago,” Hegseth adds. “But President [Donald] Trump was willing to do what no other president would. He did the tough, right thing. Not for politics, but for the safety and security of the American people.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been calling US President Donald Trump “every day” to urge him to resume military action against Iran despite diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, Anadolu reports citing The Financial Times.

“Netanyahu calls him every day [to urge him to resume the war],” a person briefed on the discussions has told the British newspaper, adding that figures inside and outside the White House who oppose renewed fighting have been trying to counter Netanyahu’s pressure to resume the war.

“The regional leaders are telling him (Trump) not to escalate and prioritise negotiations,” the source says.

Another person familiar with the situation in Israel says Netanyahu wants military action against Iran to resume, but there is currently no coordinated “push” to persuade Trump.

The Financial Times says Arab and Muslim leaders have been alarmed by Netanyahu’s persistent lobbying for a resumption of the Iran war.

Iraq has barred a plane carrying Iran’s national football team from landing at Basra airport, a decision by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority linked to US sanctions imposed on Iranian airlines, Reuters reports citing two Basra airport officials.

The plane returned to Iran and landed at Abadan airport, and the team will now travel overland to Basra, an Iranian consulate official in the Iraqi city says.

The Iranian team was travelling to Iraq to participate in a four-nation tournament in Basra, also involving Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed reports that the country’s national security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, has had a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, according to state broadcaster Press TV.

“These speculations and media reports are entirely baseless, and there are no plans to hold such a meeting,” Araghchi tells state news agency IRNA.

In his comments, he adds that US President Donald Trump “should have realised much earlier that he has failed to achieve any of his objectives in the war against Iran, and will never achieve them”.

Yemen’s Houthis claim that airstrikes have targeted sites in several governorates, including Hodeidah and Saada, Al Jazeera reports.

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref says, “Whether peace is achieved or not, the confrontation with the enemy continues, and we must have the upper hand in science and technology,” according to Al Jazeera.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy says two oil tankers “were halted by powerful explosions” while travelling along an unauthorised route in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Canada says it is reimposing sanctions against 11 Iranian companies in the energy and banking sectors for reportedly contributing to Tehran’s nuclear drive, ballistic missile programme or the financing of “malign activities”, AFP reports.

The companies, which include the National Iranian Oil Company and leading banks Mellat and Melli, were delisted from Canadian sanctions in 2016.

But the measures have now been reimposed “to disrupt Iranian financial networks supporting its nuclear program”, the Canadian foreign ministry says in a statement on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Paris.

The United Arab Emirates has offered to sell Saudi oil from a supertanker that was attacked and leaked off its coast, according to three trade sources and a tender document, Reuters reports.

The crude was aboard the Gem No. 2 tanker, which was struck by an unidentified projectile last month.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to maintain crude exports despite threats and attacks on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

UAE authorities stopped the leak in late October while continuing cleanup operations along its coast.

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.