War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has warned that countries aiding the US in aggression against Iran have “no legal grounds to demand compensation,” Press TV reports.

“Countries that provided territory and airspace for attacks on Iran must pay compensation,” Baqaei said.

Yemeni forces say they are withdrawing from an area overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, leaving the Houthis in control, Reuters reports.

The government’s retreat ​from the Bab al-Mandab area hands the Houthis greater leverage over the maritime chokepoint, creating ‌a potent pressure point on global shipping.

The southern Yemeni forces say they are ⁠redeploying toward Aden, where the government is based, as the Houthis — who control much of the north, ​including the capital Sanaa and Yemen’s most populous areas — increase pressure on the southern areas still under government control.

“The Southern ​Armed Forces announce the implementation of a redeployment operation for its forces from Dhubab Airport and the Bab al-Mandab area, west of Taiz Governorate,” the southern forces have said in a statement.

“This step is taken based on the priority of securing the ​capital, Aden, and the neighbouring governorates, as well as strengthening the front lines and addressing existing threats.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has spoken to Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in a telephone conversation about regional issues and peace and stability in the region, Foreign Office (FO) says.

They have “exchanged views on regional and international developments”, discussing the upcoming R4 and R4+E4 meetings in Europe.

“Both ministers underscored the importance of strengthening coordination on regional issues and advancing efforts for peace and stability,” FO says.

“Both ministers agreed to maintain close contact and continue consultations on matters of mutual interest,” it adds.

Bahrain intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks, while Tehran said it had struck a US military base in the Gulf kingdom amid uncertainty over a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, Reuters reports.

The first such interceptions by Bahraini air defences since September followed two warnings of potential threats, urging residents to seek shelter.

Iran’s IRGC said it had attacked a US military base in Bahrain in retaliation for “hostile US actions”, Iran’s Fars news agency reported.

The Bahraini military said its air defences had intercepted several Iranian aerial attacks before they reached their targets, accusing Tehran of continuing its “systematic hostile approach” towards the kingdom.

The Revolutionary Guards said they had launched six drones targeting US air defence radar at the Al-Rifaa helicopter base in Bahrain, Iranian state-run Press TV reported. There was no immediate confirmation from US or Bahraini authorities.

Aside from the ongoing conflict with Washington, Tehran’s biggest challenge is the “field of production and the livelihood of the people”, Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says, Al Jazeera reports.

“Inflation, unemployment and price fluctuations are not issues that can be solved with a speech or a circular,” Ghalibaf says in comments reported by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

The government has a duty to protect “the people who have resisted one of the greatest wars in history for more than eight months”, he has added.

Iran has dealt with rising inflation and investment losses for years, a situation that has been worsened by major hits to its oil and gas sector during the US-Israel war.

Recent government data show gross domestic product shrank by 10.1 percent year-on-year from March 21 to June 20, the first quarter of the Persian calendar.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say their forces carried out a drone attack on a US radar system at a base in Bahrain, according to a statement carried by the Iranian state broadcaster, AFP reports.

“The US air defence radar system at the Al-Riffa helicopter base in Bahrain was targeted by six drones belonging to the IRGC Aerospace Force,” the Guards say in a statement posted by the state broadcaster on Telegram.

Previously, Bahrain issued two separate alerts about potential threats in posts on social media platform X on Sunday, the first such warnings by the Gulf country since September.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says on Sunday it had intercepted three drones in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province, Reuters reports.

The Eastern Province, the economic powerhouse of Saudi Arabia, has been subject to multiple attacks by Houthis in the past few weeks.

It contains the majority of the kingdom’s oil and gas reserves and is home to Aramco’s headquarters, which suffered extensive damage in an attack in October.

Saudi air defences have intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh, Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Major-General Turki al-Maliki says in a post on X, Al Jazeera reports.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has said slammed the US officials for coming up with “a new deceptive narrative to evade responsibility for the catastrophic human, economic, and geopolitical consequences of their unlawful aggression against Iran”

He said in a post on X that the US assertion that Iran started the ongoing conflict with Iran with the 1979 Revolution was a “fabrication is so blatant that any reasonable person would recognise it as false with no hesitation”.

“The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was about reclaiming the country’s sovereignty, freedom, and human dignity. And, of course, the bitter memory of American interference, particularly the 1953 CIA-backed coup was still fresh in the minds of Iranians then, just as it is today,” he added.

Baqaei went on to say that military aggression had a clear definition.

“No matter how desperately American officials try to evade the issue, they cannot erase from the minds of the American people or the world the fact that it was the United States that twice, in less than nine months, launched unprovoked aggression against Iran in the midst of diplomatic negotiations. They assassinated Iran’s supreme leader and senior Iranian officials, killed and wounded our women and children, and destroyed our vital infrastructure.

“Now that the US administration has run into a military and political dead end, it is trying both to deny responsibility for starting the war and to conceal its failure to achieve its objectives behind a narrative of victory. This is despite the fact that, at the highest levels, the American political establishment has acknowledged that the war against Iran was the principal cause of its electoral defeat,” he said.

Baqaei said the US could “not escape responsibility for its decision to launch unlawful war of choice against Iran on Feb 28, 2026 by turning back the clock or redefining the meaning of war. The United States has been both the instigator of historical hostility toward the Iranian nation and the initiator of military aggression against Iran”.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says it has intercepted two ballistic missiles launched by the group towards the Saudi capital Riyadh, reports Reuters.

Saudi civil defence had issued an alert warning of potential danger in Riyadh before announcing the threat had passed.

Bahrain’s interior ministry has issued an alert of a potential threat in a post on social media platform X, urging citizens and residents to remain calm and proceed to the nearest safe location, reports Reuters.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has dismissed nine officials following an investigation into allegations of oil smuggling in the Jurf al-Sakher area, a stronghold of the pro-Iran Kataeb Hezbollah group, AFP reports.

“In light of the investigation’s findings” Zaidi “ordered that all individuals accused of involvement in oil smuggling operations be referred to the judiciary,” his military spokesman Sabah al-Numan says, without identifying the suspects.

The premier “also ordered the dismissal” of nine officials, including from the security and oil sectors.

Iran’s Ambassador to India Mohammad Fathali has said Tehran welcomes India’s initiatives and diplomatic efforts to help establish peace in the region, IRNA reports.

In an interview with Indian news channel CNBC-TV18, Fathali said India, as a major power with considerable standing and influence on the international stage, can play a constructive and effective role in promoting regional peace and stability.

He added that Tehran expects influential countries to make more active use of their political and diplomatic capacities to support dialogue, respect nations’ rights, and counter actions that escalate tensions.

The ambassador emphasised the considerable potential for cooperation between the two countries, noting that numerous opportunities exist to further develop ties across various fields.

The Houthis claim Saudi-led coalition forces carried out 72 air strikes over the past 24 hours in the governorates of Saada, Taiz, Lahij and al-Jawf, Al Jazeera reports.

That raises the total number of air strikes and missile attacks since fighting renewed over the summer in Yemen to 5,020, military spokesman Yahya Saree posted on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Tel Aviv “must remove this existential threat from above our heads once and for all”, according to a post on his X account.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot on Thursday, where he stressed the need for a national unity government.

“The Iranian regime, which seeks to destroy Israel, is once again working to revive its nuclear programme,” Netanyahu alleged, claiming that Tehran will do so once it is able to resume enriching uranium and developing nuclear weapons.

“And let this be clear: this murderous regime, which did not hesitate to murder many thousands of its own people, will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against us.”

Antony Blinken, formerly Washington’s top diplomat, says that in resolving the Strait of Hormuz crisis, a solution will mean giving concessions to Iran.

“On the Strait of Hormuz, which was not a problem before this war started, now it’s a problem that has to be dealt with and the resolution almost certainly gives Iran something,” he says on a panel discussion. “I would hate to have to do this, but it might just be the reality: a toll that’s not called a toll.”

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called Washington’s military campaign against Iran a “mistake”, noting that every previous administration looked at it as a last resort.

“Something that President Trump chose, military action, I think … was a mistake, because every previous administration had looked at it and decided that it needed to be a last resort, because even if you did it, you could set Iran back for a little while, but you would really likely only get a setback of a couple of years,” Blinken says on a panel discussion, footage of which has been shared by Iran’s Fars News Agency.

“The programme would have been more deeply buried underground and they would come back and do even more.”

The US Mission in Saudi Arabia has issued a nationwide security alert urging Americans to exercise “heightened vigilance,” citing an increased threat of attacks by Houthis, Anadolu reports.

The mission says Houthi attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia have “caused civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions”, warning that hostilities could spread “rapidly”.

“Please take extreme caution if you choose to use airports in Saudi Arabia,” the mission adds, urging travellers to confirm their flight status directly with both their airline and the airport.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has accused the US of trying to starve Iranians, referring to remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio from earlier this week in which he said Iranians “eventually have to eat” and need to make a deal to end economic pressure by Washington.

He writes on X that Rubio is “openly and insolently threatening to starve Iranians through a blockade” and calls the comments “yet another admission that Washington is pursuing war crimes, compounding the atrocities it has already committed in its wars of aggression and economic terrorism against Iran”.

“After decades of failed coercion, threats, sanctions, terrorism, and aggression, the United States continues to repeat the same mistakes, merely repackaging them under new names,” Baqaei writes, saying that Washington’s approach is a “textbook example” of a ’“March of Folly: a government persisting in a disastrous course of action, refusing to learn from its failures, and becoming even more entrenched in its mistakes with every successive defeat”.

Iranian Finance Minister Seyed Ali Madanizadeh says US threats against Iran’s economy are “ineffective” and just an attempt to create “pressure”, Al Jazeera reports citing the semi-official Mehr News Agency.

He says that the country has stockpiles of basic goods and exports are rising, along with trade with neighbouring countries.

Iranian Vice President for Legal Affairs Majid Ansari has emphasised that Tehran only seeks fair treatment and respect for its nuclear rights, as well as territorial sovereignty and authority over the Strait of Hormuz, state news agency IRNA reports.

He has expressed hope that the US, instead of resorting to threats, will “show respect for the Iranian nation and deal with Iran in accordance with international laws and principles”, IRNA adds.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree has claimed that the group targeted Saudi-led forces in Yemen’s Lahj governorate with ballistic missiles.

“The strikes were precise and direct … leaving dozens dead and wounded and destroying a large number of vehicles,” he writes on X.

Iran has shot down a US MQ-1 drone over Qeshm Island, claiming that it is the 17th such unmanned aerial vehicle it has destroyed, according to state broadcaster Press TV.

It cites a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) public relations office, which says the reconnaissance and combat drone was shot down by an advanced air defence system operated by the IRGC Aerospace Force, calling the interception “another failure of enemy reconnaissance missions”.