US President Donald Trump said it was “possible” he would step up bombing against Iran after the November 3 midterm elections and rejected Iran’s latest peace offer because it is not enough.
Fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces has raised fears that Iran-backed rebels are advancing toward the city of Taiz in southwest Yemen.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East this Thursday. Full coverage is available here.
US may soon have three carriers in Middle East, official says
Three U.S. ships carrying more than 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines together are heading to the Middle East, a U.S. official said.
This includes the recently deployed USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and the USS Makin Island Amphibious Readiness Group. That could mean three carriers would be in the region as early as late October, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
This would represent an unusually high U.S. naval presence of more than 20,000 sailors and Marines and hundreds of aircraft. This comes as the war with Iran has lasted seven months. The Navy already deployed three aircraft carriers to the Middle East in April, for the first time since 2003.
The USS George HW Bush and the USS George Washington are now located there, as well as the USS Boxer Amphibious Readiness Group. Washington, based in the Pacific, had moved to the Middle East to relieve the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln.
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By Konstantin Toropin
Oil tanker hit in Strait of Hormuz
An oil tanker was hit by an “unknown projectile” while passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to the British military, which said it had received the report from a third party. The attack caused a fire, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO) said, adding that the crew was safe.
The UKMTO also did not identify the tanker and responsibility for the attack was not immediately claimed, but Iranian forces have regularly fired on ships transiting the strait to maintain control of this crucial waterway.
Navigation has been disrupted and the strait virtually closed since the start of the war in Iran on February 28. Before the war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, about a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Trump says Iran’s peace offer falls short
Trump said in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday that he would no longer accept proposals from Iran that “he would not have approved of a year ago.”
He left open the possibility of resuming bombing on Iran after the November 3 elections. He declined to provide details, telling reporters: “I can’t tell you because look, you know, you ask, where are you going to bomb? »
Trump rejects reports that Israeli leader was warned of Hamas attack on October 7
The US president told Time magazine that he had only heard of these reports the same day the September 28 interview was conducted with Time journalists, adding “I can’t imagine that.”
Trump said that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been warned, “he would have done something” or “at least alerted people.”
An Israeli newspaper reported that Netanyahu was directly warned by the president of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was preparing a major offensive just days before the militant group attacked on October 7, 2023.
Netanyahu strongly rejected the report.
US targets Iran’s auto, rail industries
The Trump administration announced sanctions on Iran’s auto and rail sectors on Thursday in an attempt to get the country to capitulate, citing entities based in Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Germany, among other countries.
Two of Iran’s largest automakers, Iran Khodro Co. and SAIPAIranian Automobile Manufacturing Co., were sanctioned alongside several foreign companies that supply auto parts and raw materials.
The moves by the U.S. Treasury come as Trump officials point out that Iran’s currency has fallen to new record lows. The administration attributes the continued erosion of Iran’s economy to its months-long economic campaign and has no plans to end financial sanctions in the near future, even though negotiations between the two countries have resumed.
Fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces, Saudi Arabia
In Yemen, Iran-backed Houthi rebels Clashes with government forces took place overnight Thursday in residential areas of eastern Taiz, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Mokha, which the Houthis seized last month. A main road linking Taiz and Aden was cut due to the latest clashes, a local military official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Al-Thawra hospital, located a few kilometers from the clashes, received six bodies and 35 wounded on Thursday, according to the hospital director, Abdelrahman al-Sabry.
Renewed violence in Yemen has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands. The Houthis captured the strategic town of Mokha and a number of Red Sea islands last month, extending their reach to the main maritime waterway of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It was the largest land grab by the Houthis in years and ended a 2022 ceasefire that largely ended major fighting in Yemen’s 12-year civil war.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted two ballistic missiles over the towns of Jazan and Khamis Mushait, as well as four drones over Khamis Mushait. The statement did not specify when the attacks took place or who carried them out. However, General Turki al-Maliki, a Saudi spokesperson, said in another social media post that the country continues to take measures to “deter the Houthi terrorist militia.”
Saudi Arabia also said Thursday that rebels had targeted an electricity distribution station in the Medina region two days earlier. The strike shut down a transformer, but did not affect the power grid. The Houthis have not yet responded to this claim.
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By Marzouk al-Jaberi and Fatma Khaled
Iran reprimands UK for linking Tehran to air base sabotage plot
Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to Tehran on Thursday to “strongly protest” British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s allegations linking Iran to a sabotage plot at RAF Fairford, Iranian state television reported.
The ministry rejected claims that Iran was linked to the alleged plot, calling them “baseless” and called on the British government to provide an official explanation and change its approach towards Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also posted on X that the United Kingdom was “wrong tree”.
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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
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