DUBAI/RIYADH: Iran reported three more tankers had been damaged in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, making clear that shipping would remain in peril as long as the war in the Gulf is unresolved, now that US voters have punished President Donald Trump for waging it.
The electoral rout that cost Trump’s Republicans control of Congress has prompted a stark reassessment of the conflict’s political cost in Washington, led by Vice President JD Vance, who said in a long social media post on Wednesday that the war was to blame for his party’s defeat.
In a mocking reply on Thursday, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Vance’s opposite number at previous peace talks, accused Vance of letting Trump double down like a “losing gambler” by planning more US strikes.
If Vance believed the war was a mistake he should persuade Trump to call it off, Qalibaf said: “Skip the TED talk. Why not say this to your boss?” Oil prices have plunged in recent days as traders wagered that Trump, chastened by voters, may be less likely to restart the strikes he launched alongside Israel as “Operation Epic Fury” in February. Prices bounced back slightly on Thursday but are down more than $20 a barrel from last week.
Saudi coalition intercepts missile fired at Madina
Iranian officials have been meeting with Qatari mediators since last week to discuss proposals to end the hostilities. But neither side has announced any breakthroughs on the major issues that have prevented any peace agreement so far.
Attacks on tankers at record pace
Meanwhile, attacks on tankers in the Gulf are still running close to a record pace. At least five vessels have reported incidents since Sunday, according to UK maritime security agency UKMTO, around the same rate as in October when the agency said 35 vessels were hit, the most of any month of the war.
The UKMTO reported that a vessel had been struck by two unidentified projectiles late on Wednesday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who do not typically acknowledge firing on merchant ships but say the transit route is unsafe without Tehran’s consent, said two tankers had struck naval mines and another had caught fire on Thursday.
Saudi coalition intercepts missile
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis on Thursday said it intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the group at the Madina region. The announcement came just minutes after the kingdom’s civil defence agency warned of potential danger in the area near the strategic port of Yanbu. It was unclear if the two events were connected.
“Air defence intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward the Medina region,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said in a post on X.
The Houthis rejected any suggestion they were targeting the city, saying such accusations were a “blatant and grave falsehood”.
Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2026
