War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iranian defense ministry spokesperson, Reza Talaei-Nik, says any US or Israeli aggression against Iran will face a firm response, stressing the country’s readiness to counter threats, IRNA reports.

Talaei-Nik said the resistance and national power were key to completing “the enemy’s defeat and safeguarding Iran’s rights”.

He also said domestic production of weapons and defence equipment had reached 2.5 times its level before the recent war, up from double the pre-war level announced three months earlier.

The increase was attributed to the capacity of knowledge-based companies and Iran’s defence industries, with production of some weapons rising more than threefold through private-sector participation.

Talaei-Nik warned that any renewed miscalculation by Iran’s adversaries would be met by more advanced weapons and equipment and a heavier response from the armed forces.

The Saudi cabinet has issued a statement, reiterating support for the Presidential Leadership Council and the Yemeni people “to end the coup” and “restore the state and its institutions from the terrorist Houthi militia”, Al Jazeera reports, citing the Saudi Press Agency.

It accused Houthi forces of choosing military escalation as an alternative to peace and of deepening humanitarian suffering as a result.

Houthi forces continue to “threaten the region and navigation in the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb strait”, the cabinet added.

The internationally recognised Yemeni government’s forces have shot down a Houthi drone west of the Marib governorate in a single shot, according to the forces and Yemeni media, Al Jazeera reports.

Footage circulating in Yemeni media showed the armed forces boasting about what they called the “ghost” drone being brought down, while an incapacitated device lay in the sand.

A suspected plot involving Iran to launch a complex drone attack on a key British airbase led the United States to remove its B-1 bomber aircraft from the base, two US officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iran has denied any involvement in any alleged plot at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers. British police said they had arrested a 22-year-old British man in London on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts as part of their investigation into the suspected plot.

A spokesperson for the US military’s European Command declined to comment, saying: “It is inappropriate to discuss matters of intelligence, and we will not discuss specific force protection measures.

“As demonstrated across multiple operations, America’s bombers, including B-1s, B-2s, and B-52s can deliver precision global strike capabilities including through operations that launch and recover from the continental United States anywhere, anytime,” the spokesperson said.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) raised its oil price forecast for this year and next year, as global stockpiles fall rapidly and diesel markets remain tight due to the ongoing Iran war, Reuters reports.

Global benchmark Brent crude is now expected to average about $98 a barrel in 2026, up 8 per cent from the EIA’s previous forecast, the agency said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook.

Oil and fuel prices have risen dramatically due to the US-Israeli war on Iran, which in turn has disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about 20pc of global oil supplies before the war.

The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthis said that its forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the group at the kingdom’s southwest.

The coalition’s spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said it “intercepted and destroyed” the missile launched towards Khamis Mushait, which is home to an airbase.

The League of Arab States has denounced what is said were Houthi attacks on two airports in Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement, the league condemned the attacks on the airports near the Yemeni border – King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International in Jazan and Najran – adding that putting travellers and staff in danger was a clear violation of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty.

The league, consisting of 22 members across the Middle East and North Africa, also reaffirmed their support for the internationally recognised Yemeni government.

The White House has pushed back after Democrats accused President Donald Trump of suggesting Iran should “take out” the major US cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, AFP reports.

Viral footage showed comments by Trump at a midterm elections rally in Nebraska on Monday, where he said high oil prices from the Iran war were justified by the need to stop Tehran getting nuclear weapons.

The White House insisted Trump was talking about the threat posed by Iran, branding it a “media freakout” that was “not rooted in reality.”

“He was clearly stating US cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said on X.

The West’s energy watchdog will meet next week to work out the details of a diesel stock release as market confusion grows over how many barrels Europe and the US plan to make available to address shortages and record-high prices, sources say according to Reuters.

The governing board of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises industrialised countries and manages their strategic oil reserves, is expected to decide the details of the stocks release at an Oct 14-15 board meeting, two people close to the matter say.

The IEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what was expected to be decided at the board meeting.

Mohsen Rezaei, the chairman of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, says that the US has lost the military war and “will fail in the economic war, too”.

Commenting on the US Treasury secretary’s forecasts on the Iranian economy, he said that these “delusional forecasts never had any credibility in the first place”. “His latest propaganda will have an equally short shelf life.”

“You lost the military war. You will fail in the economic war, too,” he declared, adding, “Hormuz will not be opened by threats or pressure. Iran will not back down.”

Iran’s defence ministry spokesperson says that the country’s weapons capacity has greatly increased since before the war began, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

“Iran’s capacity to produce weapons and defence equipment has increased 2.5 times compared with before the Ramadan war,” IRIB quoted the spokesperson as saying.

He added that the production of some weapons had risen more than threefold.

US Central Command (Centcom) refutes Iranian media’s claim that a US Navy MH-60R helicopter crashed in the Red Sea last night.

In a post on X, Centcom said, “Reports of a downed US Navy helicopter in the Red Sea are not true. All US military aircraft and personnel across the Middle East are safe and accounted for.”

More than 2.2 million children under five in Yemen are acutely malnourished, over half a million of them severely, the UN says, according to Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera reports that France has pledged an additional €3 million ($3.36m) to support Yemen following the internal displacement of nearly 200,000 people, according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

Fighting across Yemen has killed more than 270 government troops and Iran-backed Houthi fighters over the past day, sources on both sides told AFP.

Fighting has intensified in Yemen since the internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, launched a counter-offensive aimed at recovering territory seized by Houthi fighters last month.

Government sources told AFP on condition of anonymity that 115 troops had died over the past 24 hours, and that dozens of others were wounded in fighting, and by Houthi missile and drone attacks.

The focus of the violence is on southwest Yemen, around the Bab al-Mandab strait that is crucial to global energy flows.

Mediator Qatar said the United States and Iran were still engaged in talks to end the Middle East war, despite an apparent deadlock seven months into the conflict, AFP reports.

The indirect negotiations take account of “the concerns of the various parties”, foreign ministry official Ibrahim Al-Hashmi told a regular press briefing.

“I can confirm that the talks are continuing and the exchange of messages between different parties are continuing via Qatar and its regional partners,” he said.

“As you know, the scale of this conflict and the magnitude of the price that the whole world is paying require us to put our best efforts to end this immediately through a negotiable solution on the negotiation table,” the official added.

Chinese independent refiners have stepped up purchases of crude from Iraq and Qatar for October and November delivery to replace dwindling Iranian supplies, as exports from other Gulf producers through the Strait of Hormuz recover, traders said, Reuters reports.

Strong demand for non-sanctioned Gulf crude from private refiners has helped support the market after supply disruptions linked to the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Chinese refiners bought at least 12 million barrels of Iraqi and Qatari crude from trading houses Mercuria, Totsa and Trafigura, according to three traders close to the deals. One estimated total purchases at 15 million to 20 million barrels.

India said 12 crew members on a Panama-flagged tanker had been injured in an attack while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, with those hurt receiving medical treatment in Oman, AFP reports.

“We condemn the attack earlier today on a Panama-flagged commercial vessel MT On Peace… it was struck by a projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” New Delhi’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday lauded Pakistan’s “pivotal role” in mediating between the United States and Iran as he called on the parties to end the conflict and return to diplomacy.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, he said: “Pakistan’s spirit of engagement is front and centre on issues of international peace and security.

“I salute Pakistan’s leadership for helping to create the conditions for dialogue between the US and Iran and mediating that conflict. Your efforts helped deliver the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, the subsequent ceasefire and the framework for future negotiations. Every Pakistani should be proud of that pivotal role,” he said.

“And from Islamabad, I want to send a loud and clear message to all parties: end the conflict, return to diplomacy and restore navigational rights in accordance with international law. There will never be peace in the region until the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people is recognised, as Pakistan has long championed,” he said.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that oil pumped through the East-West Pipeline, which runs to the kingdom’s Red Sea export hub of Yanbu, reached 5.8 million barrels, Reuters reports.

Oil flows through the Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline have not been interrupted, a source told Reuters on Monday, following media reports of a recent disruption and amid hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis.

Saudi Arabia restarted operations at the East-West Pipeline, three sources briefed on the matter said, after drone attacks, which Saudi Arabia has blamed on Iraqi militias, forced the kingdom to shut the pipeline on September 11 and halted crude loadings at Yanbu.

The Iranian army has announced the accumulation of a massive stockpile of newly developed offensive and defensive weaponry, noting that the high-intensity production of advanced missiles and drones initiated during the recent war is continuing at an accelerated pace, IRNA reports.

Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, the spokesman for Iran’s army, reported the military’s enhanced readiness in an interview with Fars News Agency, signalling a significant leap in the country’s indigenous deterrence capabilities.

Addressing the army’s equipment readiness, General Akraminia confirmed that the domestic production of cutting-edge military hardware never ceased during the 40-day imposed war.

The average UK diesel price has hit a record high of close to 2 a litre (around $10 per US gallon) on the fallout from the US-Iran war, government data showed, AFP reports.

The average reached 199.52 pence a litre in the week to October 5, official figures showed, surpassing the previous record of 199.22 pence in July 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a key energy producer.

An explosion was heard in the Saudi capital Riyadh, residents told AFP, with the blast echoing in the northern parts of the city.

The incident comes after several blasts rattled the capital on Monday, as fighting with Yemen’s Houthis intensifies.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar meets United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in Islamabad, the Foreign Office says.

Dar highlights Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to promote dialogue and de-escalation, including its facilitation of the Islamabad talks between the US and Iran. He reaffirms Pakistan’s commitment to dialogue and diplomacy as the most effective means of resolving disputes, the FO says.

The UNSG appreciated Pakistan’s longstanding contribution to the UN, as well as its diplomatic efforts to promote dialogue, mediation, and de-escalation, it added.