A supertanker apparently hit a sea mine in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard reports an explosion and fire on board. The ship is said to be carrying more than two million barrels (159 liter barrels each) of crude oil, Iranian media said, citing the powerful military organization. Accordingly, the tanker tried to pass through the strait illegally using deceptive maneuvers and with the support of the US military. The Strait of Hormuz is closed, the Revolutionary Guard emphasized. The information has not yet been independently verified.
The extent of the tanker fire remains unclear, as does the whereabouts and well-being of the crew members. The responsible regional command of the US military (Centcom) and the British Maritime Safety Authority (UKMTO) did not provide any information on the incident reported by Iran that night.
The Strait of Hormuz, which is only 35 to 40 kilometers wide at its narrowest point, has become the central point of conflict between Tehran and Washington in the Iran War. Since the war began at the end of February, Iran has largely blocked traffic with threats and attacks on ships.
Two rockets hit Aden international airport in southern Yemen. Authorities in Aden blame the Iranian-allied Houthi militia for the attack. There were no casualties, although a passenger plane was preparing to take off for Cairo at the time of the detonation.
The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia says it intercepted a ballistic missile aimed at the Saudi oil town of Yanbu on the Red Sea. The military coalition also destroyed two cruise missiles over the Red Sea and three drones in Saudi Arabia. The aggressors were not named. Saudi Arabia handles oil exports through the port city of Yanbu in the west of the country in order to bypass the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in the east of the Arabian Peninsula.
Attacks by radical Israeli settlers in various locations in the occupied West Bank have reportedly resulted in a number of injuries. In addition to several Palestinians, a foreign journalist was also treated in hospital, Palestinian and Israeli media reported. The violence was primarily directed against Palestinian helpers during the olive harvest.
In an incident in the town of Abu Falah, settlers are said to have beaten two Palestinians, according to a report by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Another man was reportedly shot in the leg. The Israeli military said in the afternoon that soldiers fired warning shots into the air and fired toward a suspicious person in the area. The Palestinian ran towards them with a sharp object.
Israel's army said it was investigating the incident in Abu Falah, in which the journalist was also injured. She spoke of a “violent confrontation”. Israeli forces ended this. According to Wafa, Israel's military is said to have used tear gas against Palestinians.
Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival in Israel's 11-day parliamentary election, Gadi Eisenkot, condemned the settler violence. “These handful of rioters do not represent the Israeli public,” he said at the same time. The ex-military chief called for tough police action against them. Israel's army said: "Attacks and violence against innocent civilians are serious and unacceptable acts."
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing eyewitnesses in a village near the city of Ramallah, reported that about 30 masked settlers attacked harvest workers and ordered them to leave. Israeli security forces arrived but did not arrest any of the attackers.
The situation in the occupied West Bank has deteriorated again since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023 and the Gaza war that it triggered. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 1,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli military operations, armed clashes or their own attacks in the West Bank. At the same time, violence by radical Israeli settlers against Palestinians has increased sharply. The Israeli military is repeatedly accused of not taking decisive action against it.
The European Union has postponed the summit with the Gulf states in Saudi Arabia planned for October 24th. The EU did not give a reason for this, it simply stated that a new date would be announced in due course. However, the background to the decision is likely to be increasing security concerns due to the attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Houthi militia from Yemen, which is allied with Iran.
Last weekend, 13 people were killed and hundreds more injured in an attack on the international airport in the capital Riyadh. The airport where the delegations were supposed to land has been closed since then. The postponement of the meeting in Riyadh is a setback for Saudi Arabia's efforts to present itself as a host of major international events despite the escalating conflict with the Houthis. The EU wanted to use the meeting to demonstrate its solidarity with the Gulf states. Despite the rejection, the EU emphasized the great strategic importance of relations with the region.
According to Saudi sources, the Houthi militia in Yemen has attacked Riyadh's international airport twenty times in the past two weeks alone. This was said by Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led military alliance to fight the Houthis. A total of 17 people were killed and more than 330 injured.
Since Saudi Arabia entered the civil war in Yemen in 2015, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked targets in the kingdom. Attacks on oil facilities belonging to the state-owned Aramco company using drones and missiles in 2019 disrupted around half of Saudi oil production and around five percent of global oil supplies.
According to a media report, the US military has prepared attack plans against the Islamic Republic's energy and nuclear facilities in the event of new fighting in the Iran War, which also includes the use of its heaviest conventional bomb. This is reported by CNN, citing US representatives familiar with the process. If US President Donald Trump orders such attacks, the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb – also known as the “mother of all bombs” – could be dropped. The use of the largest non-nuclear weapon in the US arsenal would mean a significant escalation of the conflict.
According to insiders, however, there are doubts in military circles as to whether the strategic goals can actually be achieved with the bomb. The explosive device, which weighs around ten tons, was tested for the first time in 2003. The US armed forces used the bomb for the first time in April 2017 in the fight against the Islamist militia IS in Afghanistan. The aim at that time was a tunnel system run by the extremists.
A container ship is said to have sunk after an attack near the Strait of Hormuz. According to information from shipping security circles, this is said to be the GFS Pride, which sails under the Singapore flag. The freighter has a capacity of 2,824 standard containers. There was initially no comment from the operating company based in the United Arab Emirates. The Pakistan Shipping Authority warned about the containers of the sunken GFS Pride floating in the sea. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard had previously announced that a freighter had hit a sea mine in the waters south of the Strait of Hormuz and sank. The ship caught fire.
The GFS Pride is one of the smaller freighters that is primarily used for feeder services. According to data from the UN shipping organization IMO, the ship is the second merchant ship to sink in the region since the US-Iran war began on February 28.
The same fate threatens another ship: the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged bulk carrier Cape Dao is about to sink after an unsuccessful rescue attempt, British risk management group Vanguard said. The ship had already been hit by a projectile on September 23rd. The Cape Dao operating company, which is also based in the United Arab Emirates, could not initially be reached for comment.
Israeli settlers reportedly set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank. Footage published in Palestinian and Israeli media showed damage to the entrance to the church in the town of Michmas, north of Jerusalem. The Israeli military said the matter was under investigation.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa, among others, reported that a car that had been set on fire had also burned down completely. According to this, dozens of settlers invaded the Palestinian village of Michmas during the night. There were initially no reports of injuries.
In Yemen, the conflict between the Iran-allied Houthi rebels and the military alliance led by Saudi Arabia continues to escalate. The Houthis accused the alliance on Tuesday of attacks on the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The military alliance had previously warned civilians not to approach an oil depot on the outskirts of Sanaa. In retaliation for Saudi support for Yemeni government troops in the country's renewed civil war, the Houthis have recently repeatedly attacked airports in Saudi Arabia. A rocket attack on the capital Riyadh killed 13 people on Saturday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday that Türkiye would stand with Saudi Arabia. Turkey and Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia in the summer. US President Donald Trump said he also spoke with Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday. Trump told reporters afterwards that he might ask Erdoğan to intervene on Saudi Arabia's behalf. The USA, as Saudi Arabia's long-standing security guarantor, has so far rejected Riyadh's efforts to drag the USA directly into the war against the Houthis.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah television reported that the military alliance had attacked the Yemen Petroleum Company's (YPC) central Sabah station - a fuel depot on the outskirts of Sanaa. The alliance said other locations had also been attacked. The aim of the offensive is to eliminate the Houthis' ability to threaten Saudi Arabia, Yemen and international waterways. The Houthi rebels used locations in Sanaa, Hodeida and Dhamar to build up their arsenal of missiles and drones for attacks on Saudi Arabia and merchant ships in the Red Sea, it said.
Mutual attacks by the Houthi militia in Yemen and neighboring Saudi Arabia continue. The Houthi television channel Al-Masirah reported at least three Saudi airstrikes in Yemen's Saada province, which is considered a militia stronghold. There were also attacks during the night in the north and west of the civil war country.
The militia said it continued its attacks on Saudi Arabia. Houthi military spokesman Jahja Sari said the Houthis had once again attacked King Khalid Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh with a rocket. Travelers and business people were again urged to avoid Saudi airports. Saudi Arabia said militia rockets had been intercepted in Riyadh and Khamis Mushait in the southwest of the country.
The attacks have consequences for everyday work and business transactions in the kingdom. The financial service Bloomberg reported that executives from oil companies Shell and BP canceled their participation in the WPC energy congress, which opened on Monday in Riyadh. In addition, employees in the central business district KAFD, where the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the stock exchange and foreign companies are based, will remain in their home office for the time being.
At least 13 people were killed and 300 others injured at Riyadh airport on Saturday in the deadliest attack in Saudi Arabia in around ten years. Saudi authorities initially confirmed twelve deaths, and the Indian embassy in Riyadh then reported another death. In total, 18 people were killed in attacks at the airport over the course of a week. Air traffic is not scheduled to start again there until Sunday night.
