U.S. President Donald Trump says it’s “possible” he may ramp up bombing of Iran after the Nov. 3 midterm elections and that he rejected Iran’s latest peace offer because it’s not good enough.
Fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces overnight stirred fears that the Iran-backed rebels may be advancing toward Taiz City in southwestern Yemen.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Thursday.
Full coverage is available here
U.S. could have 3 carriers in the Mideast soon, official says
Three U.S. ships that together carry over 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines are heading to the Middle East, a U.S. official said.
That includes the recently deployed USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group. It could mean three carriers are in the region as early as the end of October, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
That would be an unusually high U.S. naval presence of more than 20,000 sailors and Marines and hundreds of aircraft. It comes as the war with Iran stretches past seven months. The Navy previously had three carriers in the Middle East in April -- the first time since 2003.
The USS George H.W. Bush and the USS George Washington are there now, along with the USS Boxer amphibious readiness group. The Pacific-based Washington had moved to the Middle East to relieve the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln.
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Konstantin Toropin, The Associated Press
Tanker hit in the Strait of Hormuz
A tanker was struck by an “unknown projectile” while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to the British military, which said it received the report from a third party. The attack resulted in a fire, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO) said, adding that the crew was reported safe.
UKMTO also did not identify the tanker and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Iranian forces have been regularly firing at vessels transiting the strait to maintain control over the crucial waterway.
Shipping has been disrupted and the strait virtually closed since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28. Before the war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, about one-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 doesn’t measure up
Trump said in a Time magazine interview published Thursday that he won’t now accept proposals from Iran that “he wouldn’t have approved a year ago.”
He left open the possibility of resuming bombing Iran after the Nov. 3 election. He refused to offer details, telling journalists, “I can’t tell you that because look, you know, you’re asking, where are you going to bomb?”
Trump rejects reports Israeli leader was warned about Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack
The U.S. president told Time magazine that he only heard about those reports on the same day that the Sept. 28 interview was conducted with Time reporters, adding “I can’t imagine this.”
Trump said had Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu been forewarned, “he would have done something about it” or “would have had people at least alert.”
An Israeli newspaper reported that Netanyahu was directly warned by the president of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a major offensive just days before the militant group attacked on Oct. 7, 2023.
Netanyahu strongly rejected the report.
U.S. takes aim at Iran’s automotive and rail industries
The Trump administration on Thursday announced sanctions on Iran’s automotive and rail industries in an attempt to get the country to capitulate, citing entities based in Indonesia, the UAE and Germany, among other countries.
Two of Iran’s largest auto manufacturers, Iran Khodro Co. and SAIPA Iranian Automobile Manufacturing Co., were sanctioned alongside several foreign companies that provide auto parts and raw materials.
The actions by the U.S. Treasury come as Trump officials highlight how Iran’s currency has fallen to new record lows. The administration credits the continued erosion of the Iranian economy to its months-long economic campaign and has no plans to cease the financial penalties anytime soon even as negotiations between the two countries have restarted.
Fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces, Saudi Arabia
In Yemen, Iran-backed Houthi rebels clashed with government forces overnight into Thursday in residential neighborhoods in eastern Taiz, located about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Mokha, which the Houthis seized last month. A main road linking Taiz and Aden was cut off due to the latest clashes, a local military official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to talk to the media.
Al-Thawra Hospital, located a few kilometers from the clashes, received six bodies and 35 wounded people Thursday, according to hospital manager Abdelrahman al-Sabry.
Renewed violence in Yemen has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands. The Houthis captured the strategic city of Mokha and a number of Red Sea islands last month, extending their reach to the key maritime waterway of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It was the Houthis’ biggest land grab in years and ended a 2022 ceasefire that largely stopped major fighting in Yemen’s 12-year civil war.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said that it intercepted two ballistic missiles over the cities of Jazan and Khamis Mushait, as well as four drones over Khamis Mushait. The statement did not specify when the attacks happened, nor who carried them out. However, Gen. Turki al-Maliki, the Saudi spokesman, said in a separate social media post that the country is continuing to take measures to “deter the terrorist Houthi militia.”
Saudi Arabia also said Thursday the rebels targeted a power distribution station in the area of Medina two days earlier. The strike shut down a transformer, but didn’t affect the power grid. The Houthis have yet to respond to the claim.
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Marzouk al-Jaberi and Fatma Khaled, The Associated Press
Iran admonishes U.K. for linking Tehran to air base sabotage plot
Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Britain’s ambassador in Tehran on Thursday to “strongly protest” allegations by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham linking Iran to a sabotage plot at RAF Fairford, Iranian state television reported.
The ministry dismissed allegations that Iran was connected to the alleged plot as “baseless” and called on the British government to provide an official explanation and change its approach toward Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had also posted on X that the U.K. was “barking up the wrong tree.”
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
