Amnesty says Iran committed ‘crimes against humanity’ in protests crackdown– www.france24.com News Source EXCERPT:
Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity in the crackdown on 2022 protests that left hundreds dead, Amnesty International said Wednesday, adding Tehran’s suppression of new demonstrations this year bore the “same hallmarks” but on an even wider scale. FRANCE 24’s Mark Owen speaks with Amnesty International Iran Researcher Raha Bahreini. She calls for the establishment of an international criminal justice mechanism to prosecute those responsible for the crimes.
China’s top diplomat urges Iran, US to show restraint, revive talks– www.channelnewsasia.com News Source
EXCERPT:
BEIJING: China encourages Iran and the US to remain rational, exercise restraint, return to the interim peace deal they signed in June and “engage in substantive consultations”, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart in Beijing on Wednesday (Sep 16).
“We urge all parties to take effective measures to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at an early date” to safeguard the stability of international energy transport and supply chains, Wang said, according to China’s foreign ministry, adding that China “does not want to see regional tensions to spill over further into Yemen and the Red Sea”.
Tehran and Washington should “rebuild the negotiation mechanism based on the consensus reached so far”, Wang told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is on a one-day visit to Beijing.
“Iran, while fully prepared to powerfully defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity and safeguard its security … against aggressors, welcomes diplomatic solutions that ensure the rights of the Iranian nation,” Araghchi said, according to Iranian state media.
The talks between the two diplomats came a week ahead of an expected meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Washington.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said Trump and Xi would continue discussions on Iran and China’s financial links to Tehran, which Washington has been seeking to shut out of western financial systems.
Yemen’s Houthis claim they shot down Saudi fighter jet, deny targeting Mecca– www.euronews.com News Source
EXCERPT:
Yemen’s Houthis on Wednesday said they shot down a Saudi fighter jet, claiming they used munitions made by the group to target the warplane.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces, with Allah’s aid and grace, succeeded in shooting down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet while it was carrying out hostile operations,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on social media, while accusing Saudi Arabia of launching 450 strikes.
He said the aircraft had been targeted “using a locally made air-to-air missile”.
The spokesman also dismissed Saudi claims that the Houthis had targeted Islam’s holy city of Mecca.
“Our operations target its oil facilities and military bases, which are far removed from the sacred sites,” he said, adding that “fabrications and lies propagated by the criminal al-Saud regime cannot deceive anyone.”
The Saudi coalition vowed retaliation, warning that the security of holy sites was a “red line”.
“The security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a red line, and the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will not hesitate to take the necessary and deterrent measures against the terrorist Houthi militia,” the coalition said in a statement shared by spokesman Turki al-Maliki on X.
Ahead of the Israeli national elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being accused of knowing about October 7 in advance. The accusation comes from former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff Dan Halutz. He accused the Prime Minister of ignoring and concealing warning signs that led to the “successful” assault by Hamas terrorists.
Netanyahu accused Halutz of lying. Halutz doubled down, claiming he was involved with numerous conversations that validate this claim, and that from those conversations he was convinced Netanyahu knew more than he said he did.
Netanyahu ‘concealed’ warnings of Oct. 7 Hamas attack – former IDF chief — RT World News– www.rt.com News Source
EXCERPT:
Dan Halutz has laid ultimate responsibility for the deadly security failure on the Israeli prime minister
Former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff Dan Halutz has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of concealing warnings ahead of the October 7 attack and laid ultimate responsibility for the deadly security failure on him.
Halutz was responding to a Haaretz report alleging that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed had warned Netanyahu about a major operation being planned by Hamas ten days before the incursion. Netanyahu reportedly downplayed the threat and did not alert Israel’s security chiefs.
Netanyahu’s office called the report an “absolute lie,” while the UAE neither confirmed nor denied the allegation.
In an interview aired by Israeli radio station 103FM on Sunday, Halutz said he believed the reported conversation had indeed occurred and claimed there were multiple indications that Netanyahu knew more than he disclosed.
“What could be simpler for the Emirati prince than to say there was no conversation if there was no conversation?… There are so many supporting reasons to understand that the man knew far more than he told those responsible for solving the problems afterward. Because he was incapable of solving the problems. He knew and concealed it,” Halutz said.
“I don’t know how to get inside the mind of this psychopath. What goes through his head? Only he knows,” he added when asked why Netanyahu had allegedly failed to act.
U.S. watchdog tallies Iran war’s hit to weapons stockpiles, military bases and more– www.washingtontimes.com News Source
EXCERPT:
A U.S. government watchdog released its first report on the impact of the Iran war on Monday, acknowledging the military’s advanced weapons shortfalls and offering the first public look at the damage to American aircraft, bases and diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.
Two alliances just failed Saudi Arabia. Then they called Trump– www.washingtonexaminer.com News Source
EXCERPT:
Five weeks ago, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. An armed attack on one, the text says, is an attack on all. Commentators called it an Islamic NATO.
This week it was tested. On Sept. 8, Houthi missiles and drones hit four Saudi cities, wounding 73 civilians and halting operations at energy facilities. Two days later, the Houthis took Mokha, their largest territorial gain since the 2022 truce. On Friday, they took Dhubab and crossed to Perim, the island splitting the Bab el-Mandeb at its narrowest point. A military official told AFP they also took Greater and Lesser Hanish, leaving all four of the strait’s strategic islands in their hands, and that the takeover of the Bab el-Mandeb was complete. Tareq Saleh, deputy chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, acknowledged losing Mokha and said Iran had planned and backed the attack. The United Nations counted at least 46,000 people displaced.
Trump wants Iran to fold — Xi Jinping won’t allow it. Here’s his missing move– www.washingtonexaminer.com News Source
EXCERPT:
President Donald Trump’s economic D-Day is already hurting the Iranian regime’s revenues, but unilateral U.S. sanctions can only do so much. If the president wants Iran to fold, he’ll have to play a much better card — cutting it off from China by enforcing tough U.N. embargoes.
Despite its name, Trump’s Operation Economic Outcast does not block Beijing’s vital support for the regime in Tehran. In fact, at a recent summit, China and Iran jointly condemned and vowed to defy the new U.S. strategy.
NY Times Gaza war coverage painted Israel as ‘sole aggressor’ while Hamas violence disappeared from narrative: Yale study | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com News Source
EXCERPT: A peer-reviewed analysis of 1,559 New York Times articles found the paper’s Gaza war coverage increasingly portrayed Israel as the “sole aggressor.”
A damning new peer-reviewed study of more than 1,500 New York Times articles found the paper’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war overwhelmingly emphasized Palestinian suffering while minimizing Hamas terrorists, Israeli casualties, and Palestinian violence after the Oct. 7 massacre.
Yale School of Management professor Edieal Pinker analyzed 1,559 Times articles published between Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack and June 7, 2024, finding a persistent imbalance that increasingly portrayed Israel as the “sole aggressor” while Hamas’s continuing role in the war largely disappeared from the narrative.
“Drawing on a corpus of 1,559 news articles, I document a dominant narrative consistent with a framing that assigns near-exclusive agency and responsibility to Israel while diminishing Hamas’s role in sustaining the conflict,” Pinker wrote.
The Houthis just handed Trump leverage over China. Here’s when he can use it– www.washingtonexaminer.com News Source
EXCERPT:
The fall of Mokha was a lesson for Riyadh about alliances: the Mecca pact produced a courier, America’s older allies produced restrictions on American access, and the only partnership that has actually fought Iran’s network this year has an American hand on it. This is the lesson for Washington, and it has a date on it.
Consider the geometry the Houthis left behind. Hormuz is running at a fraction of pre-war volume — Tehran calls it closed, Washington insists it is open, and IMF PortWatch counted six transits on Sept. 6 against a pre-crisis norm of near 85 a day. The Houthis now hold the ground overlooking Bab el-Mandeb, and are threatening to close it altogether if Washington intervenes.
Houthis capture more Yemeni Red Sea islands, tightening grip on Bab el-Mandeb– www.euronews.com News Source
EXCERPT:
Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthis captured more islands in the southern Red Sea, government and Houthi officials said Monday, strengthening their control of a major maritime shipping route.
The capture of the islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish is the latest in the group’s swift advance around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key passage for oil shipments that has become even more crucial during the Iran war as the Strait of Hormuz remains under US and Iranian blockades.
Like Hormuz, located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula — is a chokepoint that connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, making it a key waterway for cargo traffic to the Mediterranean Sea.
For more than a month, the Houthis have been striking Saudi oil infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea, stepping up pressure on global oil prices and boosting Iran’s leverage in its war with the US.
The Houthis have successfully seized the seaport of Mokha, a pro-government Yemeni port. The attack was sudden. It captured the entire city off-guard as residents quickly moved to evacuate it. The Saudis have responded by hitting Mokha’s now captured airport.
Yemen’s Houthis seize strategic Red Sea port of Mokha– www.bbc.co.uk News Source
EXCERPT:
Mokha residents said Houthi fighters moved into the city after fierce clashes with pro-government forces on Wednesday night, prompting many families to flee their homes.
“The takeover came without warning. Panic spread throughout the area, forcing people to flee amid distressing scenes of injured people lying in the streets with no-one there to help them,” one man told BBC Arabic’s Middle East Lifeline programme.
Another man said that Houthi fighters were patrolling the streets of Mokha on Thursday, while government offices and shops were closed.
“At the moment, we don’t know what Ansar Allah will do,” he added, using the group’s formal name. “Everyone is afraid for their safety.”
Many displaced families are heading east towards the city of Aden, where Yemen’s internationally recognised Presidential Leadership Council and government are based.
“We fled with our children and kept running. We have no bedding, no home, nothing with us. Everything was destroyed within an hour. They didn’t even give us a chance or warn us beforehand,” one woman told BBC Arabic.
Pakistan Warns Iran to Keep the Houthis Away from Saudi Arabia– www.breitbart.com News Source
EXCERPT:
Pakistan delivered a warning to Iran on Wednesday that if Tehran’s terrorist proxies in Yemen, the Houthis, continue attacking cities and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan may be obliged to intervene under its defense pact with the Saudis.
Pakistan gave notice to Iran the day after Houthi insurgents launched drone and missile attacks against four cities in Saudi Arabia, damaging oil infrastructure and wounding dozens of civilians.
Saudi forces, working with the internationally-recognized government of Yemen, responded with airstrikes and ground action against the Houthis, who captured Yemen’s capital city of Sanaa and much other territory in 2014.
In a television interview on Wednesday, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said that further Houthi attacks could trigger the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a pact Pakistan signed with Saudi Arabia and Turkey in August. The pact includes a mutual defense commitment similar to NATO Article V.
“An aggression on one country will be considered an aggression on all three countries,” Asif said. “There is no ambiguity or doubt. Unprovoked aggression or spillover into Saudi Arabia will definitely make this agreement operational.”
A senior diplomatic source told Reuters the Pakistani government conveyed this message to Tehran privately within the past 24 hours, and advised the Iranians to pull the Houthis back from attacking Saudi Arabia. The response from Tehran was reportedly: “Iran does not control the Houthis.”
Oil prices jumped to their highest levels since May amid renewed fighting in the Persian Gulf and investor concerns that the war in Iran will persist longer than previously thought.
Brent crude futures crossed above $107 a barrel and WTI futures neared $102. The possibility of a near-term contraction in oil supplies and a protracted war has been pushing up energy prices for several weeks, with the climb accelerating this week.
Yields on bonds issued by the U.S. government climbed to new multiyear highs. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries climbed 0.082 percent to 4.922 percent. That matched the post-pandemic highs hit amid raging inflation and Federal Reserve interest rate increases aimed at restoring price stability.
Shorter-term Treasury yields also rose, reflecting increased expectations for rate increases from the Fed. The yield on the 2-year Treasury rose sharply, climbing 0.114 percent to 4.541 percent.
Yields on government bonds around the world climbed. Yields on government bonds issued by Germany, the U.K., France, and Japan were higher.
Bond yield rise when bond prices fall. A rising yield reflects investors requiring higher returns for holding government securities. This can be due to rising inflation expectations, rising competition from other securities when investors expect faster growth and higher returns on stocks or corporate bonds, or a more aggressive monetary policy.
The major stock indexes in the U.S. were all down by around six-tenths of a percentage point on Thursday morning. Nine of the eleven sectors of the S&P 500 declined, with consumer staples the only one to rise. The tech heavy communications services sector was flat.
After the UK made moves to sanction Israel over its occupation of “Palestinian” territories, Israel has countered by supporting Argentina’s claims on the Falkland Islands. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel ’s minister for national security, posted on X, “It’s time for the State of Israel to publicly recognize that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people. The British are not content with merely occupying the territory; they also carry out oil drilling there and steal the money from the Argentine people. I call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Argentina’s sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues.”
Israeli minister demands UK ‘end occupation of Falklands’ and hand islands back to Argentina– www.mirror.co.uk News Source
EXCERPT:
Israel’s Minister of National Security and leader of Otzma Yehudit, Itamar Ben Gvir(Image: Getty Images)
A member of the Israeli government has claimed the Falkland Islands are ‘Argentine territory under occupation’ and called for ‘sanctions’ against the UK.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel ’s minister for national security, issued a statement late on Monday evening (September 7), just hours after it became public knowledge the UK government is due to announce new sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, is expected to outline new trade restrictions on goods coming out of the illegal settlements in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory, on Tuesday (September 8).
As soon as rumours emerged of Andy Burnham ’s ‘reset’ of relations, Israeli officials threatened to ‘act against Britain’. Itamar Ben-Gvir has now publicly called for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognise the Atlantic archipelago as Argentinian.
Somaliland’s President Seeks Israeli Military Presence as Regional Threats Grow– legalinsurrection.com News Source
EXCERPT:
The East African nation of Somaliland has sought Israeli military presence amid growing regional threats. “We will cooperate with any friendly country, and we need security partners, including Israel,” Somaliland’s President Abdirahman Abdullahi said recently. “If Israel is present, it will provide deterrence.”
The statement comes as Iranian-backed Houthis reportedly seized the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha, tightening their hold over the Strait of Bab al-Mandab. According to Reuters on Thursday, the Iranian proxy terror militia has “reached the Red Sea islands of Hanish after capturing the coastal city of Mocha, … in a dramatic strategic shift that could threaten the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important shipping routes.”
WHAT HAPPENED IN YEMEN OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS?
On Wednesday, Saudi-backed Yemeni forces announced they had made significant achievements on the ground in the north and central desert areas and appeared to have broken through Houthi lines.
Iran War Updates: Oil hits $100 per barrel as Tehran fires missiles in retaliation for U.S. blowing up tankers– www.cbsnews.com News Source EXCERPT:
Iran says “prohibited zone” near Hormuz to cover parts of Gulf of Oman and beyond
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that a new “prohibited zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz would cover parts of the Gulf of Oman and beyond, adding they would announce the exact coordinates later.
“It approximately starts from the direction of Chabahar, covering part of the Sea of Oman and another part of the Arabian Sea,” IRGC Spokesman Hossein Mohebi told state television. “If a vessel enters that area without coordination, it will be subject to our sanctions.”
On Monday, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tehran was planning to announce a maritime “exclusion zone” outside the strait where it intends to stop vessels attempting to transit the waterway without Iranian permission.
CBS/AFP
Houthis accuse Saudi Arabia of striking Yemeni prison, killing inmates and visitors
The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia on Wednesday of carrying out an airstrike on a Yemeni prison, killing inmates as well as women and children who were visiting.
In a statement on X, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the alleged strike on the prison in Al-Hazm, the capital of Yemen’s Al-Jawf province, took place on Monday and killed “a large number of prison inmates, along with a number of visitors including children and women.”
“The attempts by the Saudi enemy to evade responsibility for its crimes and aggression against our country will not exempt it from the consequences and repercussions of this aggression and criminality, no matter how much it tries to cover it up,” he added.
The Saudis have not responded to the Houthi claims.
The Houthis on Wednesday also accused Saudi Arabia of launching more than 30 strikes on several regions of Yemen, a day after Saudi authorities reported Houthi attacks had injured 73 people early on Tuesday, and temporarily shut several oil facilities.
Fighting in Yemen reignited last week, when the Houthis launched a major campaign to seize territory near the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait.
Iran condemns U.S. strike on oil tankers
Iran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday strongly condemned U.S. strikes on its oil tankers, describing the attacks the previous day as a threat to regional security.
“The aggressive actions by the United States against Iranian commercial vessels not only increase the dangers of tensions in the region but are also considered an overt threat to regional and international peace and security,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that Iranian forces had targeted U.S. military facilities in the region in “self-defense”.
U.S. Central Command said it disabled five Iranian tankers on Tuesday with strikes launched in response to unsuccessful Iranian missile attacks targeting a U.S. warship in recent days.
Several vessels in Gulf damaged, British maritime agency reports
Several vessels in the Persian Gulf region were on fire Wednesday, a U.K. Navy agency reported, after Iran said it had attacked more than a dozen ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz without its permission.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center (UKMTO) said “several merchant vessels in the Northern Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman” were hit by “disabling fire as part of ongoing military activity in the region.”
The center did not name the ships in question, but the U.S. said Tuesday night it had destroyed 5 Iranian oil tankers in the gulf.
It also said a vessel 24 nautical miles northwest of Port Rashid, in the UAE, was listing, potentially due to an attack.
“The Master of a tanker has reported sighting a vessel listing while at anchor, possibly indicating water ingress following an attack from an unknown projectile,” it said.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had attacked two U.S. warships, eight oil tankers and 10 “non-compliant vessels” trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military’s Central Command quickly denied that any American ships had been struck.
U.S. military denies Iran’s claim to have damaged U.S. warships with missile attack
The U.S. military’s Central Command denied on Wednesday Iran’s claim to have inflicted “heavy damage” on U.S. warships.
“No U.S. Navy warship has been struck; all IRGC attempted attacks failed,” CENTCOM said in a post on social media.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed earlier that its naval forces had targeted two U.S. warships, along with eight other vessels, and “inflicted heavy damage on them.”
CENTCOM dismissed the claim as “completely FALSE” and said U.S. forces had destroyed 10 Iranian tankers “just in the last week.”
Oil prices could hit $120, analysis finds, as Americans absorb $100 billion fuel hit
An analysis by Goldman Sachs has forecast that heightened attacks in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea could push global oil prices above $120 a barrel, which would add to the surging fuel costs Americans have faced during the Iran war.
The investment bank’s forecast implies a roughly 20% increase in the cost of Brent crude, the international benchmark, which is trading at nearly $100 a barrel. Oil prices have spiked in recent weeks as the Middle East conflict drags on, with U.S. military forces striking three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday and the Houthi rebels attacking Saudi oil facilities.
Iranian forces say they targeted American warships again
Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday that it had targeted two U.S. warships and eight other vessels in retaliation for U.S. strikes on five Iranian oil tankers the previous day.
The IRGC said its naval forces had targeted the vessels in the Persian Gulf region, claiming to have “inflicted heavy damage on them.”
There was no immediate response from the U.S. military, which said Tuesday that it had warned the crews of the five Iranian tankers to abandon ship “before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable.”
The new attacks claimed by the IRGC are the latest in a series of flare-ups in fighting between the U.S. and Iran since a ceasefire agreed to by both sides in June fell apart over disagreements regarding control over ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil hits $100 per barrel for first time since July amid fighting flare-up
The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, hit $100 per barrel Wednesday morning, the highest it’s been since late July.
The increase is a continuation of an upward trend seen since August and follows a flare-up in fighting between the U.S. and Iran.
The U.S. announced late Tuesday it had struck 5 Iranian oil tankers in response to an attempted attack on its warships in the region. Iran retaliated by targeting a military base in Jordan that hosts U.S. forces. The Jordanian military said it intercepted 18 Iranian missiles and reported no casualties.
Protesters urge South Korea to not join U.S. war with Iran
Dozens of South Koreans urged their government on Wednesday not to deploy troops to the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The protesters across from the U.S. embassy compound in Seoul waved signs saying “Do not join a war of aggression” as the country’s leaders weigh a “contribution” to the waterway’s security.
“We cannot send our young people into a sea of death!” chanted the protesters on the steps outside Seoul’s Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.
The protest came a day after South Korean defence authorities said they had sent a fact-finding mission to assess the situation in Hormuz, while stressing that no decision had been made on any deployment.
South Korea said Friday it was considering “contributions” to U.S. security efforts along the strait provided that its own military readiness was not compromised.
Iran has warned that any South Korean deployment would be “regarded as direct support for the party responsible for that aggression and will have serious consequences.”
Iran-backed Houthi group reports over 30 strikes across Yemen
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis reported more than 30 Saudi strikes on several regions on Wednesday, a day after the rebels launched major attacks on their neighbor, injuring dozens of people.
There has been no official comment from Saudi Arabia about the Houthi report.
Saudi authorities previously said that Houthi attacks caused temporary shutdowns at oil sites and injured 73 people early Tuesday. The rebels reported Saudi airstrikes following the attacks.
Deadly fighting reignited in Yemen last week, when the Houthis launched a major campaign to seize territory near the Bab al-Mandab strait.
The strait has become an increasingly important route for Saudi oil since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, choking Gulf exports.
CBS/AFP
Price of oil trades at $99 per barrel again as open hostilities resume
The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, was trading at over $99 early Wednesday, in a continuation of the upward trend seen since August.
Meanwhile, the benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.2% to $94.17 a barrel.
Before the war began in February, a fifth of the world’s oil flowed through the Strait of Hormuz but since then, traffic has plummeted, with only small periods of temporary and limited recovery.
Iran launches missiles at U.S. targets in Jordan, state media says
Iran has launched missiles toward U.S. targets in Jordan, Iranian state-run media said, following the latest American strikes.
It’s the latest tit-for-tat retaliation after the U.S. military said it destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers following two attacks on a U.S. warship by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard over the past two days.
U.S. Central Command, when asked about the strikes on the Jordanian air base, said it had no information to offer.
Jordan’s military said its air defense systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles launched toward its territory and two others fell in places where people do not live. It says it had no reports of casualties.
Jordan is a staunch U.S. ally that hosts American forces, making the kingdom’s military bases a target of repeated Iranian strikes.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy also warned crews of oil tankers near ports in Kuwait and Bahrain to immediately leave their vessels, saying the ships could be targeted in retaliation for the U.S. attacks on Iranian tankers.
CENTCOM confirms it struck five Iranian oil tankers
The U.S. military’s Central Command confirmed Tuesday it “destroyed” five oil tankers associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In a statement accompanied by video footage of the operation, CENTCOM said the strikes were in response to a set of unsuccessful Iranian missile attacks against a U.S. warship in recent days.
Four of the tankers were struck in the Gulf of Oman, according to CENTCOM, and a fifth was hit near Kharg Island, an island in the Persian Gulf that serves as Iran’s primary terminal for crude oil exports. It alleged the ships were part of Iran’s shadow fleet, a network of tankers used by Iran to export oil and generate revenue for the regime.
“American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable,” CENTCOM said.
CBS News had reported on a U.S. attack against Iranian tankers earlier Tuesday.
CENTCOM also struck three Iranian oil tankers last weekend in retaliation for an earlier attempted Iranian attack against U.S. Navy ships.
Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia ignite fires at oil facilities and wound 73 people, officials say– abcnews.com News Source
EXCERPT:
CAIRO — A wave of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia Tuesday wounded more than 70 people and ignited fires at several oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom’s southern region, authorities said, a major escalation in the renewed conflict between an important U.S. ally and the Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.
The attacks come after weeks of escalating clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen, which shattered a four-year truce in the country’s civil war.
The flare-up delivered a new jolt to a region already destabilized by nearly three years of wars and brings more uncertainty for the global economy. The fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis threatens to squeeze shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical route of the Arabian Peninsula for oil and global trade. It also comes at a time when the Iran war has nearly halted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that moved about one-fifth of the world’s oil before the war.
Fighting has raged on multiple fronts including Yemen’s west coast, with government forces saying they have made territorial gains in the provinces of Hodeida, Taiz and Baydah. The Houthis have also launched attacks on Saudi oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea.
The attacks early Tuesday hit “civilian and economic facilities” in the Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait, said Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.
Al-Malki said the attacks wounded 73 people, including women and children. He didn’t provide further details.
U.S. House passes bill to withhold federal aid from colleges that boycott Israel– www.thecollegefix.com News Source
EXCERPT:
Congressman warns the bill could violate free speech
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to withhold federal aid from colleges and universities that boycott Israel.
The Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026 states that federally-funded institutions “will not engage in a nonexpressive commercial boycott of a major strategic partner of the United States.”
In addition, students cannot be “unreasonably obstructed from participating in academic programs in Israel,” the bill states.
The Republican-controlled chamber approved the measure by a 237–169 vote, with 33 Democrats supporting it and two Republicans opposing it, according to Inside Higher Ed.
The legislation will now head to the U.S. Senate.
Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who sponsored the bill, said, “No student, no professor should be shut out of research, study abroad opportunities, or academic partnerships, or feel unwelcome in the classroom because of where they’re from or what religion they practice.”
PM Benjamin Netanyahu Puts Political Survival Above Israel’s Security, Says Top Rival Gadi Eisenkot, Israeli politics– www.ndtv.com News Source
EXCERPT:
Gadi Eisenkot, the main challenger to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accused the sitting premier of looking merely after his own political survival and not the country’s security, at a rally in central Israel on Monday.
Unveiling the candidates of the Yashar party for the October 27 election, the former military commander said nothing about how he would handle the Palestinian question or the wars against Iran and Lebanon launched by Netanyahu, but accused him of ducking responsibility in the nearly three years since the massive Hamas attack.
A relative newcomer to politics, his party Yashar (Hebrew for “Upright”), founded a year ago, has surged in the polls in recent months, with many voters seeing him as a viable candidate to replace Netanyahu, thanks to his military background.
At Monday’s rally in a hall in the central Israeli city of Rosh Haayin, Eisenkot vowed to put an end to the divisions that have plagued the country since October 7, 2023 over Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza, where dozens of Israeli hostages were held, and on other fronts.
“In the face of the great rift that opened on October 7, and in the face of the immense challenges before the State of Israel, I believe we need a leadership that knows how to rise to the magnitude of the hour, that knows how to unite and bring unity around what we share, and to fundamentally restore the principles of stateliness and Zionism,” Eisenkot said.
Eisenkot also touched on other hot-button issue in the upcoming election, such as the exemptions and benefits granted to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men.
Live Updates: Iran says it will expand control in Strait of Hormuz as oil and gas prices continue to climb – CBS News– news.google.com News Source EXCERPT:
Houthis launch attack on Saudi Arabia airbase where fighter fleet is located– www.mirror.co.uk News Source
EXCERPT:
A video shows smoke and balls of fire rising from trucks at a camp of the Saudi-backed government forces
The Houthis militant group have reportedly fired ballistic missiles and drones on Saudi Arabian oil facilities and an air base.
A drone was shot down in the overnight attack over Khamis Mushait at such a low altitude that the interception shattered windows, according to reports.
Iran-Backed Proxy Group Launches Ground Offensive Aimed At Further Disrupting Global Shipping– trendingpoliticsnews.com News Source
EXCERPT:
Yemen’s Houthi militants — an Iran-backed group that has controlled large swaths of the country’s northwest for more than a decade — have launched a renewed offensive aimed at taking control of a vital Red Sea port.
Yemen has been divided by civil war since 2014, when Houthi forces from the country’s north seized the capital city of Sanaa. The Houthis, a Zaydi Shia movement that formed in the 1990s, now administer most of what was historically North Yemen. This includes Sanaa, the densely populated highlands, and the Red Sea port of Hodeidah.
This accounts for the majority of Yemen’s population.
The internationally recognized government, supported by Saudi Arabia and based mainly in the south, holds Aden, much of the east and south, and the oil-producing area around Marib. Taiz, one of Yemen’s largest cities, remains split. Front lines changed little after a 2022 nationwide truce until fighting intensified in 2026.
The Houthis’ current holdings give them a long coastline on the Red Sea and positions from which they can reach the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow passage connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Earlier this month, the Houthis opened a ground offensive in western Taiz governorate. The operation targeted roads linking the city of Taiz to the government-held port of Mokha and sought to move closer to high ground overlooking approaches to Bab al-Mandab.
Clashes have been the heaviest in years, with more than 300 combatants and some civilians reported killed. Government forces later recaptured parts of Hays district in Hodeidah province and some heights west of Taiz, while Houthi units cut the Taiz–Mokha road at least temporarily.
Oil hits $100 for first time since July as chaos continues in Strait of Hormuz– www.independent.co.uk News Source EXCERPT:
The price of oil crossed the $100 a barrel mark for the first time since July as continued chaos in the Middle East spooked the market.
As the market opened on Wednesday, the price for Brent Crude – the benchmark for oil across the world – hit $100.19 at around 8.15am. It later dropped slightly to $99 shortly after.
The Middle East conflict escalated this week after Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen launched strikes on several Saudi cities, drawing a key US ally further into the war.
Meanwhile, the US military has said it’s destroyed five Iranian tankers carrying crude following attempts to strike a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles.
Iran claimed to have attacked two American vessels and eight oil tankers in the Gulf. Shipping crews near Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports were warned to abandon their vesels.
The latest attacks threaten to deepen disruptions to Middle East oil supplies, already strained by strikes on regional energy infrastructure and key shipping lanes.
Brent crude prices were last this high in late July.
FLORIDA WARNS UK: Boycott Israel, Florida Will Boycott the UK– gellerreport.com News Source EXCERPT:
Britain’s threatened sanctions against Judea and Samaria will not come without a punishing price. Under Florida law, any company participating in a boycott of Israel can be stripped of state and local contracts, hit with civil penalties of at least $2 million and barred from bidding on public business for three years. As Rep. Randy Fine warns, British companies forced into London’s anti-Israel crusade could find themselves effectively shut out of one of Britain’s largest American trading partners—costing them billions. Florida’s law helped break Airbnb’s 2019 boycott of Jewish communities, and its message remains unmistakable: If Britain chooses to wage economic war on Israel, Florida can wage economic war on Britain. Boycott Israel—and Florida will boycott you.
Britain has formally announced the policy, not merely floated it. The UK will prohibit imports of goods from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and bar British companies from supplying financing, construction, infrastructure, real-estate and advertising services there. The measures are expected to take effect within six to nine months. France and Canada announced similar action, while several European governments pledged support.
Florida’s law is unusually broad because its definition of boycotting Israel expressly covers discrimination against businesses operating in “Israeli-controlled territories”—meaning Britain cannot evade it by claiming it is boycotting only Judea and Samaria, rather than Israel itself. Florida can terminate public contracts of any amount with participating entities, refuse future contracts and divest state investments after the statutory review process.
Britain’s boycott is not merely symbolic foreign-policy theater. By ordering British companies to discriminate against Jews doing business in Judea and Samaria, London is placing those companies on a collision course with Florida law—and potentially forcing them to choose between obeying Britain and retaining access to Florida’s lucrative public market. Britain wanted to punish Israel. It may instead punish its own companies, workers and economy.
As the British government considers forcing British companies to boycott portions of Israel, it should be aware that a Florida law that I passed as a member of the Legislature would ban any British company forced to comply from doing business with any state or local government in…
As the British government considers forcing British companies to boycott portions of Israel, it should be aware that a Florida law that I passed as a member of the Legislature would ban any British company forced to comply from doing business with any state or local government in Florida.
It would also end any British business participating in that boycott from doing any business in Florida if it needed any official interaction with state or local government to operate (permits, tax collection).
Florida is one of Britain’s largest trading partners. They should understand that their vanity project in support of Muslim terror could cost them billions of dollars.
And for those who doubt the power of this policy, it was this same law that broke Airbnb’s misguided effort to boycott portions of Israel in 2019. They realized that this law would have bankrupted their company.
Florida has made it clear. Any company — or nation — that boycotts Israel is boycotted by Florida.
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Trump threatens to ‘hit Iran hard’ as strikes resume after month-long lull– www.france24.com News Source
EXCERPT:
US President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to hit Iran “hard” after the two foes traded fire for the first time in weeks, as his Treasury secretary vowed to keep up a pressure campaign aimed at hobbling Tehran’s economy.
After six months of war, the foes remain at an impasse, with Iran keeping the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed and the US persisting with a naval counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
On Sunday, the United States carried out strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran quickly retaliating by attacking US military targets in the Middle East.
The exchange raised fears of a return to major hostilities, with the US president vowing to respond.
“We’re going to hit them hard,” Trump said, according to a Fox News reporter who spoke to him briefly. “There will be a response.”
Breaking: US Forces Decimate Iranian Launchers, Stop IRGC’s Attempted Retaking of Hormuz– www.westernjournal.com News Source
EXCERPT:
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Military action returned to the Persian Gulf Sunday as American forces attacked Iranian rocket launchers.
“I can confirm that earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz,” a U.S. official said, according to Reuters.
The attack was the first from the United States since late July.
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Last week, U.S. Central Command cleared mines from the strait’s international shipping routes, according to Fox News.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed the U.S. strike killed and wounded several Iranian soldiers and civilians and said in a statement that the “terrorist enemy’s aggression on Larak Island will be met with punishment for the aggressor.”
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“The American-Zionist adversary, once more acting out of frustration over its domestic challenges and waning influence in the region, aims to resurrect its malevolent presence and sway public perception,” the statement read.
The Guardian reported that what appeared to be a retaliatory strike on U.S. forces in Jordan failed, with all missiles intercepted.
Tehran urges return to June deal, Trump vows to hit Iran ‘hard’– www.cnbc.com News Source
EXCERPT:
Oil prices extended gains Tuesday as traders mulled the threat of escalation, following the resumption of U.S.-Iran military strikes and more turmoil in the Strait of Hormuz.
A tanker was struck by three unknown projectiles while transiting Hormuz on Monday, according to an incident report from the the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were up 1.6% to $91.90 a barrel by 8:19 a.m. ET. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures added 2% to $87.48 per barrel.
The tanker was sailing in the southern shipping lane close to the Omani coast, the UKMTO said, adding that no casualties were reported.
Iran launched an attack on two American bases in Jordan on Monday in retaliation for the U.S. strike on its Larak Island. American forces targeted two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday, reportedly killing three, saying that Tehran intended to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the Hormuz Strait.
Bond market in open revolt as Trump declines Iranian peace deal and oil hits $92 a barrel– fortune.com News Source
EXCERPT:
President Trump’s plan for the U.S. to own majority control of Venezuelan oilfields harks back to a century-old era of colonialism and backroom dealmaking with Venezuelan oilmen and politicians, energy and geopolitical analysts told Fortune’s Jordan Blum.
“If the U.S. scheme in Venezuela sounds colonial, that’s because it is,” said Gregory Brew, senior analyst with the Eurasia Group. “This is the Trump administration trying to increase U.S. revenue from Venezuelan oil production. It’s extremely unusual. It’s probably unprecedented in the history of the international oil industry.”
Under the deal, the U.S. would control more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela.
The agreement would give the U.S. Department of Defense a 55% stake in the private Venezuelan oil producer North American Blue Energy Partners. NABEP is controlled by the Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt López and his family. López has fostered close relationships with both the Trump and Rodríguez administrations.
“From a certain angle, this looks like an insider deal to profit businessmen who are close to Delcy and who are also close to Trump and his inner circle,” Brew told Fortune.
California lawmakers pass bill allowing people to identify their Jewish ancestry on state forms– abcnews.com News Source
EXCERPT:
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California would allow Jews to voluntarily identify their Jewish heritage on state forms under a bill the state Assembly passed Monday.
The bill, which needs a final vote in the Legislature to head to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, would require state agencies that collect demographic information to add “Jewish” as an option for ethnicity or ancestry. The goal is to give state officials and researchers better data on Jewish Californians, including their unemployment rates and representation in schools.
The data would enable lawmakers to create policies that address the needs of Jews in the state, said David Bocarsly, CEO of Jewish California, an advocacy group.
“It’s about inclusion as a community,” Bocarsly said, noting the Legislature has passed laws in recent years to collect more inclusive demographic data on Middle Eastern, North African and LGBTQ+ communities.
Some opponents of the bill are worried about the idea of the state collecting such data given the traumatic history of the Nazi government keeping records of Jews during the Holocaust. The proposal would bar agencies from disclosing “personal identifying information,” and bill author Henry Stern, a Democratic state senator who is Jewish, said California already has robust privacy protections that should assuage those concerns.
Sydney Levy of Jewish Voice for Peace, a progressive anti-Zionist group, wasn’t convinced by that argument.
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