War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said it had intercepted five drones launched towards the kingdom, including in the Madina region home to one of Islam’s holiest cities.

“Four drones launched toward the Kingdom have been intercepted and destroyed,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki posted on X, adding in a second post that the interceptions took place in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern region as well as Madina.

Al-Malki, who did not specify who was behind the launches, later said another drone had been intercepted, also in the Eastern region.

Oil prices gain over $1 on Wednesday as escalating Middle East tensions fuel fears of supply disruptions, while falling US crude and product inventories lend support to the market, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures rose $1.59, or 1.5 per cent, to $110.38 per barrel as of 0350 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $1.36, or 1.4pc, to $99.18 per barrel.

Prices fell in the previous trading session after Iran’s president discussed mediation efforts in a meeting with Pakistan’s army chief in Tehran, though Brent hit a five-month high before easing.

“Oil prices have been having a bit of wild ride in the last couple of sessions,” said Suvro Sarkar, head of energy research at DBS.

The UN warned that the humanitarian situation in Yemen’s Taiz is worsening, as road closures and insecurity block vital supplies from reaching millions, Anadolu reports.

Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference that “road closures and insecurity are preventing vital supplies, including fuel, from entering the city and surrounding areas, leaving millions of people at risk of losing access to essential goods and services.”

Dujarric said the situation in Taiz “is deteriorating,” citing colleagues on the ground.

King Charles III praised Oman’s peacemaking attempts in the Middle East Tuesday as Sultan Haitham bin Tariq began the first state visit by an Omani ruler to the UK in nearly half a century, Reuters reports.

Hailing longstanding diplomatic, military and royal ties at a Windsor Castle banquet, the British monarch paid tribute to Muscat’s “noble efforts” to help reopen the choked Strait of Hormuz.

“I would especially like to recognise, at a time when conflict has returned so painfully to the region, Oman’s enduring commitment as a trusted interlocutor to all parties,” Charles told around 160 guests at the lavish dinner.

“Oman’s role across the Gulf and her ‘constructive neutrality’ – as you put it – matters far beyond Hormuz, and is worthy of our utmost respect,” Britain’s king added in a toast to the Omani sultan.

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.