A top Revolutionary Guards commander has claimed that US forces have “fled” and moved back to positions at least 1,000km from Iran’s borders.
Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said that for the first time since the conflict began, there were no US vessels in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman or even the northern Indian Ocean, claiming US warships were “100 per cent vulnerable” to Iranian strikes.
Earlier, Iran’s influential parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said his country would keep the Strait of Hormuz closed until the conditions it laid out in an interim agreement in June are met, according to Nournews.
Traffic through the strait has effectively come to a standstill with attacks in the vicinity of the waterway reported over the weekend.
“The Americans, who say something different in the media, have recently put forward proposals through a mediator. But they must understand that the period of dragging out the process and dictating one-sided demands is over,” Ghalibaf said on Sunday.
Terror at 34,000ft: How ‘Israel’s 9/11’ averted after midair stabbing
When the first reports about a diverted flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv came through on Wednesday, it appeared to have been caused by a tussle between two pilots.
Early claims even suggested one was Russian and the other Ukrainian.
But, in the age of social media, the true chaos aboard the Flydubai flight FZ1073 quickly came to light. Footage and images sent from the plane by blood-covered passengers showed them overpowering the co-pilot, who it later emerged was an Omani national.
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Major oil exporters agree to keep production steady in November
Seven major oil-exporting countries agreed Sunday to keep production steady in November at a time when the Iran war has driven the price of benchmark Brent crude oil above $100 a barrel.
The so-called OPEC+ subgroup — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman — will meet again on Nov. 1 to review conditions in the oil market.
The Group of Seven wealthy democracies said Friday that they plan to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products in the coming weeks, starting with “substantial” amounts of diesel.
Diesel prices recently hit record highs in the United States, squeezing farmers, truckers and consumers who depend on the fuel.
Trump says ‘threats’ led to US decision to remove bombers from RAF Fairford
Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States pulled its strategic bomber warplanes out of RAF Fairford due to undisclosed “threats”.
“We actually know the people who made the threat,” the US president told reporters outside the White House, a day after the Pentagon confirmed it was removing aircraft from the base in the United Kingdom.
Asked whether there was a specific decision that led to the withdrawal, Trump said: “Yeah I think we can say that. They didn’t fly out by accident. There were some threats.”
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Top story: US Air Force removes all bombers from British air base targeted by a suspected terror attack
The U.S. Air Force has brought home its bombers stationed at a U.S.-run military air base in England used to strike Iran following an investigation into a planned terror attack at the RAF Fairford base.
The bombers were redeployed to their home bases in the United States, according to a Pentagon official who was not authorized to discuss sensitive military movements and spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity.
Watch: Yemen government forces announce offensive on Houthi-held territory
Mecca alliance agrees to activate collective deterrence measures
The committee of the Mecca defence pact between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan "reaffirmed the solidarity and unity of our countries in confronting the heinous attacks against the Kingdom and the holy sites," the Saudi defense minister said on X on Monday.
"The committee agreed to activate collective deterrence measures within the framework of the Alliance in response to the attacks and all those responsible for them," he said.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey agree rapid force deployment in Saudi Arabia
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have agreed to deploy military forces and capabilities rapidly in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a joint statement on Monday following an emergency meeting with the two countries.
Saudi-backed Yemeni forces seize vital strait from Houthi rebels
Yemeni government troops, supported by Saudi Arabia, captured key positions along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Monday in an effort to push back Iran-aligned Houthi fighters who gained ground last month, military and government sources said.
Having secured broad swathes of Dhubab district overlooking the strait, the troops are asserting full control with heavy air support from a Saudi-led coalition, three military sources and a government official said.
Heavy fighting has flared across several Yemeni frontlines for weeks after a dormant civil war reignited as part of broader US-Iran tensions, with Houthis attempting to secure the strategic strait while firing drones and missiles at Saudi targets.
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Iran's president says negotiation with US 'has no meaning'
Negotiation with the United States was meaningless, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Tehran on Monday according to state media.
Vance says US bombers moved from UK out of 'abundance of caution'
US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that the decision to move B-1 bombers from a British airbase was done out of an abundance of caution after a suspected Iranian plot at the site last week.
The planes had been stationed at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers, and had recently been used in US strikes on Iran. Last week, five British men were arrested near the base - which Iran's Revolutionary Guards previously said was a legitimate target - on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
"So, what you saw there is the Secretary of War, out of an abundance of caution, trying to protect our guys," Vance said as he left Washington for a trip to Alaska.
"We do feel with some confidence that the Iranians are, you know, they're trying to do what the Iranian state has done for 49 years, which is engaged in acts of terrorism against the United States (and others), so we are being extremely cautious, and that's all I'd say about that."
