War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Canada’s central bank has raised its key interest rate to 2.5 per cent, its first hike since 2023, citing rising oil prices driven by the ongoing war, Reuters reports.

The Bank of Canada has maintained that the economy faces two competing pressures: growth is being hampered by President Donald Trump’s trade war, but inflation is rising due to the US conflict with Iran.

The bank said Wednesday that Canadian businesses are “adapting” to the changing trade relationship with the US, suggesting growth could be stronger than initially expected.

The World Bank warns that global commodity prices are set to increase by 23 per cent by the end of 2026, with energy prices at four-year highs due to the war on Iran and food prices driven up by global conflicts and El Nino, AFP reports.

“Commodity markets are being hit by several major shocks at once,” says the lender’s deputy chief economist Ayhan Kose in a statement, accompanying the release of the organization’s Commodity Markets Outlook report.

“Higher energy costs and trade disruptions are driving up prices across a broad range of commodities, threatening to worsen inflation, food insecurity, and economic growth.”

Food prices are expected to rise by 10 percent in 2026 and another seven percent next year, due to conflict-affected grain supply lines, the effects of an extreme El Nino phenomenon and high fuel and fertilizer prices.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has promised to fulfil a recent directive from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to end the current state of “neither war nor peace”, according to state news agency IRNA.

Chairing a cabinet meeting, Pezeshkian says the government will “pursue the realisation and fulfilment of the leader’s decree earnestly, and with all its capacity”.

Global commodity prices are set to surge 23 per cent in 2026, the World Bank said, citing rising energy prices and disruptions to cargo shipping during the Middle East war, grain shipment problems in the Black Sea and high demand for safe-haven assets such as gold, Reuters reports.

Oil, natural gas, food and metals prices all rose sharply this year as global shocks mounted, the World Bank said in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook.

It said the situation could worsen if the conflict in the Middle East ratcheted up and damage to Russian oil infrastructure continued.

Kuwait has summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest a statement by the Iranian embassy which it said amounted to interference in its internal affairs, Reuters reports citing the foreign ministry.

Earlier, the Iranian embassy in Kuwait rejected what it described as Kuwaiti allegations that Iranian nationals were involved in a plot to assassinate individuals and undermine the Gulf state’s security.

Kuwait rejected any interference in rulings issued by its courts and called on Iran to comply with international law and the UN Charter, particularly the principle of good-neighbourliness, the ministry says in a statement.

A missile has targeted Yemen’s Aden airport for the second time, a police official tells AFP, after the Houthi rebels called for the evacuation of the facility.

“A Houthi missile targeted the area under Saudi forces’ control inside the perimeter of Aden airport,” the Aden police official tells AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive topics.

Yemen’s Houthis claim that Saudi strikes on its territory have killed a dozen people, AFP reports.

Houthi broadcaster Al Masirah reports 14 dead “and 10 wounded, including women and children in a preliminary toll”, in attacks blamed on Saudi Arabia that hit a market and a petrol station in the northwestern Jawf province.

The US has told several Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a “short, intense military campaign” against Iran after the Nov 3 midterm elections, Anadolu reports citing The Wall Street Journal, which cited people briefed on the conversations.

The messages, conveyed through diplomatic and military channels, are among growing signs that the US and Israel are preparing a new round of heavy combat operations to weaken Iran and push it toward negotiations, according to the report.

Washington is moving a Patriot missile defense system from Texas to the region and has moved troops from bases where they were vulnerable, while US forces are restocking munitions and preparing bombers and fighter jets for strikes, the newspaper says, citing officials.

An additional aircraft carrier strike group and a Marine expeditionary unit are expected to join roughly 20 US warships in the Middle East next month, it adds.

US President Donald Trump has not made a final decision but is leaning toward a “large postelection attack” that could target Iranian infrastructure and nuclear sites, the report says, citing people familiar with his thinking.

German chemicals giant BASF raised its 2026 profit outlook for the second time this year after increasing prices to clients following the outbreak of the ongoing war, AFP reports.

The maker of products ranging from automotive paints to sunscreen ingredients now expects a core profit of 7.4 billion to 7.8bn euros ($8.2 to $8.7bn) this year, up from a previous forecast of 6.9bn to 7.7bn euros.

Oil prices have risen by one per cent after an attack on a refinery in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, renews concerns about supply risks due to the conflicts in the Middle East, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures are up $1.31, or 1.2pc, to $115.19 a barrel as of 1115 GMT (4:15pm PKT). US West Texas Intermediate crude has gained $1.75, or 1.8pc, at $101.65.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has exchanged views on regional developments in a phone call with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, with the pair reaffirming their “shared commitment to regional peace and stability”, the Foreign Office says.

Yemen’s Houthis have called for the immediate evacuation of the airport in Aden, seat of the Saudi-backed internationally recognised government, a city that has been targeted several times by the Houthis in recent weeks, AFP reports.

“Our armed forces call on those present at Aden airport to immediately evacuate due to the presence of a military cargo plane belonging to the Saudi enemy transporting weapons to kill the sons of the Yemeni people,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a post on Telegram.

A Houthi missile fell inside the perimeter of the airport in Aden, the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, shortly before the group had issued a call to evacuate the area, AFP reports, citing a police source who spoke on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday that any Israeli-instigated attack in the Gulf region would have a “devastating impact” on global markets.

“Devastating impact on int’l markets of any Israel-instigated military misadventure in Persian Gulf region remains major concern for both gas suppliers and consumers,” Araghchi said in a post on X.

The United States and Israel have in recent days raised the prospect of renewed attacks on Iran in the Middle East war which began in February with strikes on the Islamic republic.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called the recent meeting between Iranian, Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish military officials in Tehran a “valuable opportunity” to advance dialogue on regional peace and security, Al Jazeera reports.

In comments shared on Araghchi’s Telegram account, he said there was an opportunity for “enduring cooperation,” but the nations would need to agree on core principles, build trust, and display mutual respect for national sovereignty.

Sustainable security, he said, must be created by nations of the region, without foreign military interference, he added.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has hailed the advancement of the country’s energy diplomacy at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit in Moscow, Russia.

In a post on X, he wrote, “Iran’s energy diplomacy advanced at the GECF Summit. Discussions focused on global gas markets and energy security.”

“Devastating impact on [international] markets of any Israel-instigated military misadventure in the Persian Gulf region remains a major concern for both gas suppliers and consumers,” he said.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says a quadrilateral meeting in Tehran provided an important opportunity to advance dialogue on regional peace and security, stressing that sustained cooperation would require confidence-building, mutual respect for sovereignty and practical commitments, IRNA reports.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Araghchi referred to the recent meeting involving Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkiye, describing their agreement to continue consultations as a significant step.

He said turning the diplomatic opportunity into lasting cooperation would depend on agreement on common principles, confidence-building measures, respect for countries’ sovereignty and concrete commitments.

Yemeni government forces say they struck Houthi positions in Taiz and Lahij, targeting fighters and vehicles as part of their “Dawn of Yemen” operation aimed at recapturing Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, Al Jazeera reports.

Qatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal on Sunday to end the US-Israeli war on the country, which Tehran is considering and expected to send a response to by the end of the week, an official briefed on the negotiations said, Reuters reports.

There were concerns ahead of Sunday’s meeting in Tehran that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu could resume attacks on the Islamic Republic this week, the official added.

Yair Golan, the head of Israel’s main left-wing party, called on Wednesday for his opposition allies to work with Arab parties to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as partial election results showed their support would be crucial to reaching a governing coalition, Reuters reports.

“We must no longer accept Netanyahu’s racist division between Jewish votes and Arab votes,” he said on X. “We have a responsibility. And we have an opportunity to form a government of change in partnership with Israel’s Arab citizens”.

Gholamhossein Darzi, Iran’s ambassador and chargé d’affaires to the United Nations, has described sanctions as a form of economic terrorism, saying they constitute acts of aggression under international law, IRNA reports.

“Sanctions are examples of economic terrorism, while blockades enforced by armed force constitute acts of aggression under international law,” Darzi said while addressing the United Nations General Assembly on the “Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial, and Financial Embargo Imposed by the United States of America Against Cuba”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has urged Qatar to exercise greater caution in its media statements and uphold the principles of mediation, citing Doha’s role in ongoing diplomatic efforts, IRNA reports.

Mahmoud Maleki, head of the Public Relations Department of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, made the remarks on Wednesday in response to comments by Ibrahim bin Sultan Al-Hashmi, director of the Media and Communication Department at Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regarding the visit of senior Pakistani, Turkish, and Saudi officials to Tehran.

On Tuesday, al-Hashmi said, “The ball was in Iran’s court to demonstrate its commitment to regional security principles and prove its goodwill by ending threats against regional countries and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seeking to form a new government after close elections, said on Wednesday he could work with US President Donald Trump to eliminate the “existential threat” posed by Iran, Reuters reports.

“Israel has a unique opportunity with our partner President Trump to forever eliminate the existential threat of Iran,” Netanyahu told reporters, after days of brandishing threats of a new bombing campaign against the cleric-run nation.