War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Saudi Arabia’s crude exports have risen in October compared with September, according to two of three ship-tracking companies, despite Iranian attacks on shipping in the Gulf and claims by Yemen’s Houthis of attacks on Saudi oil facilities, Reuters reports.

Kpler, the third ship tracker, showed a fall in exports, and many tankers have switched off their tracking signals, which makes the true volumes hard to pin down.

Saudi crude exports averaged about 7.9 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first 29 days of the month, says TankerTrackers.com, up from 5.8m bpd in September. This comprises 3.32m bpd from the western coast and 4.55m bpd from the east, the preliminary data shows.

Exports from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port are higher following a dip in September, said tanker tracker Petro-Logistics.

“Total volumes coming out of the Strait [of Hormuz] have fallen by 2-3m bpd from the peak levels seen earlier in October,” says Virginie Bahnik of Petro-Logistics. But Saudi exports overall are still strong and will end the month higher than in September.

Data from Kpler shows total Saudi crude exports at 5.72m bpd so far in October, compared to 6.70m bpd in September.

The Saudi-led coalition says in a statement that it has intercepted a drone targeting the kingdom’s Riyadh area.

In a separate statement, it says that a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis towards the southern region has been intercepted.

An early warning alert placed by Saudi Arabia’s Directorate of Civil Defence in Khamis Mushait has been lifted, according to Al Jazeera.

Yemen’s foreign ministry has called on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to take urgent action and prevent the Houthis from carrying out mine operations in civilian areas, Al Jazeera reports.

The ministry of the internationally recognised government has strongly condemned the group’s “continued intensive and indiscriminate planting of mines, particularly in villages and populated areas” in a post on X, saying it is “fully responsible for the humanitarian repercussions arising from these practices”.

German inflation slowed more than expected in October, following the government’s introduction of fuel subsidies to ease the energy price surge triggered by the Iran war, Reuters reports citing official data.

Annual consumer prices have risen by 2.8 per cent across the month, with energy costs up around 12pc, according to preliminary data from statistics agency Destatis.

Inflation is down from 3.3pc in September, when energy price rises had been running at nearly 15pc.

Saudi Arabia’s Directorate of Civil Defence has issued an early warning in the kingdom’s Jizan area to alert of a “potential danger”, a statement says.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to strengthen strategic cooperation in oil storage, refinery upgrades, crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) procurement, and the minerals sector to promote bilateral economic ties, according to a statement issued by the Petroleum Division.

Pakistan has been planning to boost domestic storage for crude oil and refined products to increase its energy security. With no strategic petroleum reserves, the country has been left exposed to oil supply shocks resulting from the US-Iran war that has choked supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Under this framework, Saudi companies can establish commercial oil reserves in Pakistan without local tax liabilities, offering an opportunity to diversify maritime transit risks associated with the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab while facilitating access to Asian markets,” the statement reads.

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The Iranian navy says it has destroyed an enemy unmanned surface vehicle in the eastern Strait of Hormuz, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reports that a supertanker laden with over 2 million barrels of oil has exploded after striking a sea mine in the Strait of Hormuz.

The tanker, still ablaze, is the third to strike mines in the “unauthorised route” within the key waterway, IRIB adds.

The Royal Oman Navy has carried out an evacuation operation for 25 crew members aboard the commercial vessel RITI in cooperation and coordination with the Maritime Security Centre, after the Panama-flagged vessel was targeted, resulting in a fire breaking out on board.

“The incident occurred approximately 106 nautical miles off the coast of Musandam Governorate. The crew members were provided with the necessary medical care,” the Maritime Security Centre says in a statement.

US President Donald Trump, speaking ahead of the November 3 midterm congressional elections, has said he believes the war with Iran will end soon, but did not say how that would happen, Reuters reports.

“It’s going to get wrapped up soon,” Trump said in an interview with Kansas City radio station KCMO. “We need a guarantee there’ll never be a nuclear weapon.”

Trump has said the US would not strike Iran before the elections.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said two oil tankers had been halted after encountering unspecified “incidents” while attempting to transit what Tehran considers an unauthorised route in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

“Two offending oil tankers, one in the eastern part and the other in the western part of the Strait of Hormuz, which were attempting to pass through the unauthorised route, encountered incidents and were brought to a halt in the waters south of the strait,” the IRGC said in a statement.

A Qatari delegation has arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials, AFP reports, citing state media, as mediators try to revive peace talks with the US.

According to the IRNA state news agency, the delegation, headed by a senior adviser to Qatar’s prime minister, came to meet senior Iranian officials and discuss “bilateral relations… as well as regional developments”.

Iran’s representative to the UN Security Council has fiercely condemned the US and Israel for their ongoing military aggression and naval blockade, stating that Washington’s actions are the true root cause of maritime insecurity in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, according to Press TV.

Oil prices are continuing their upward trajectory on Friday and are on track for a fourth consecutive monthly gain, Al Jazeera reports.

The increase came after a number of tankers were reported to have hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz, highlighting ongoing supply risks as the US-Israel conflict with Iran enters its eighth month.

Brent crude futures for December gained $1.20, or 1.04 per cent, to reach $116.08 a barrel as of 03:23 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went up $1.37, or 1.34pc, to $103.37 a barrel.

For the month, Brent was on course to finish nearly 11pc higher, while WTI was heading for a 14pc jump.

Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian says he has called for Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to authorise the development of an atomic bomb, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, Nabavian says he had raised the proposal during a gathering in the city of Qom, reporting that it was met with expressions of approval from the crowd.

His remarks come amid growing calls from several Iranian lawmakers to reconsider the country’s longstanding position against developing nuclear weapons.

Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a religious decree prohibiting nuclear weapons, while Tehran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is intended purely for peaceful purposes.

However, during a September interview with Al Jazeera, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran remained committed to the ruling and had not changed its nuclear doctrine, before adding: “But we do not know what will happen in the future.”

Qatari mediators return to Tehran on Friday as part of efforts to reach a deal between the US and Iran, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters.

The mediation talks have been coordinated with the US, the official says.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree has denied a Saudi-led coalition claim that it intercepted a Houthi drone over the Makkah region, saying the group “has not carried out any operation today targeting Saudi territory” and emphasising that its operations target “oil facilities and military bases”, Al Jazeera reports.

Earlier, the Saudi coalition said its air defences intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone in the Makkah region.

A Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed in the Makkah region a drone fired by Yemen’s Houthis, reports AFP.

“A drone launched by the terrorist Houthi militia has been intercepted and destroyed in the Makkah region,” the coalition wrote in a post on X.

Four tankers caught fire after hitting mines while attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s armed forces, a day after the US military claimed it cleared key routes through the waterway, reports AFP.

“Over the past 24 hours, three violating oil tankers exploded and caught fire after striking mines while attempting to pass through the unauthorised southern route of the Strait of Hormuz,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement.

Another tanker had caught fire east of the strait, after hitting mines while “operating in a restricted and dangerous area”, Iran’s army reported later Thursday.

The initial three vessels had “switched off all their radar and navigation systems” and disregarded warnings from the IRGC navy, the statement said.

It was not immediately clear when the incidents occurred or which flags the tankers were flying.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei accuses the UN’s human rights mechanism on Iran of attempting to “whitewash aggression, atrocities, and unilateral coercive measures”, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, Baqaei describes the mandate of UN Special Rapporteur Mai Sato as a “politically motivated” measure “imposed on the Human Rights Council by the UK,” adding that exploiting the role to blame Tehran for US and Israeli crimes was “deeply misleading and profoundly disingenuous”.

The spokesman’s comments follow Sato’s report to the UN General Assembly, which noted that while US and Israeli military actions compounded the suffering of Iranians, authorities in Tehran used the regional conflict to intensify their crackdown on dissent through arrests and executions.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir-Saeid Iravani, says Washington and its supporters are responsible for the insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz and the disruption to regional shipping, Al Jazeera cites Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB.

Speaking to the UN Security Council, Iravani says the US naval blockade of Iran violates the UN Charter and threatens civilians’ access to food, medicine, fuel and other essential goods. He adds that the measures amount to “collective punishment” against the Iranian people.

The US has said its blockade is effective and that no Iranian ship has been able to cross the strait.