Smoke rises near Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh amid strikes by Yemen’s Houthis, September 19, 2026 (Sky)

UPDATE 0504 GMT:

Nine monitored vessel crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, down from 14 on Wednesday and the 10-day average of around 18.

UPDATE 0458 GMT:

Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian has said, in an interview with US outlet Fox TV, “We do not wish to continue [this war]. It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not.”

The President said, “When we can resolve issues through dialogue, we shouldn’t resort to killing one another. But with the instigations conducted by Israel, they have imposed this war on us.”

UPDATE, SEPT 25:

Oil prices have risen to a one-week high after Yemen’s Houthis fired six ballistic missiles on Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

The Saudis said they intercepted the missiles ⁠aimed at Taif in western Saudi Arabia and the Yanbu area on the Red Sea. The Houthis claimed they were attacking “a sensitive target” in the capital Riyadh and on Saudi Aramco oil facilities in Tanbu.

The Brent oil price climbed around 3% before easing back by almost 1% to $105.59 on Friday morning.

The price neared $108 last week, the highest level since July, before it fell amid reports of the Trump Administration and Iran discussing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

UPDATE 1255 GMT:

The UAE is the latest country to suspend flights of Iranian airlines under pressure from US sanctions.

An Iran Airtour flight from Tehran to Dubai was cancelled shortly before its scheduled departure this morning, after tickets had been issued.

In the past week, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Oman have suspended flights. Iran has halted flights to Qatar and to Iraq’s capital Baghdad, although services to Najaf and Sulaimaniyah continue.

UPDATE 1225 GMT:

Saudi Arabia says it intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houhtis on the Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu.

“Escalations and violations by the terrorist Houthi militia will be dealt with firmly,” posted spokesperson Turki al-Maliki.

UPDATE 0631 GMT:

Amid Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon, there was a large explosion near the town of Khiam just after midnight.

The shockwave reached the towns of Jdeidet Marjayoun and al-Qlaiaa.

Israeli artillery shelled the town of al-Mansouri and the valleys next to the town of Zibqin at dawn.

UPDATE 0611 GMT:

Ten monitored commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, up from seven on Tuesday but below the 10-day moving average of around 17.

UPDATE, SEPT 24: Citing customs data, The Wall Street Journal says China has sent around 1,300 air shipments with drone and missile parts to Iran this year through the end of June.

One shipment arrived on the first day of a US-Iran ceasefire in April. Another two days later had drone parts worth more than $6 million.

UPDATE 1453 GMT:

Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian has addressed the UN General Assembly in New York.

Replying to Donald Trump’s threat of “annihilation” in his speech on Tuesday, Pezeshkian said, “The US President described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism.”

He noted the American bombing of a girls’ school in Minab in southern Iran on February 28, the first day of the US-Israel War. At least 156 people were killed, including 120 children and 20 teachers.

“Children perished under bombs with weapons used by the US and Israel,” Pezeshkian said. Iran “did not bow our head…and responded, but we did not hit civilian populations….[We] only defended ourselves – we are not terrorists.”

The US delegation walked out as Pezeshian continued:

Those who are committing terrorism, and committing crimes – are they they protectors of peace and stability? None of the international laws have been adhered to by them….

We will not bow our head and give up the right that is inherently ours. We say it clearly no nuclear weapons and no limitations to peaceful nuclear technology. Our peace will not come in the field of battle. They must give the needed security to the people and nation of Iran.

The President assured:

[Trump] must know that the resistance of the Iranian people will only increase in the face of sanctions, increased pressure, increased bullying.

We will never bow our head or bend at the knee.

Iran must be understood by Mr Trump and those who seek to bully us; that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations – without accepting the language of force.

UPDATE 1326 GMT:

Yemen’s Houthis have warned that they will retaliate against US interests in the Middle East if the Trump Administration supports Saudi Arabia with strikes on Yemeni territory.

Houthi official Abed Mohammed al-Thawr said:

If America dares to intervene militarily with its fleets or tries to take control of [the] Bab al-Mandeb [Strait], it is a red line for them and anyone else….We will fight over it.

If America gambles on supporting Saudi Arabia with air strikes or air support…we will consider any American interests around us to be targets.

After an appeal by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last Thursday, Donald Trump approved US strikes inside Yemen. However, he called off the operations on Sunday at the last minute.

UPDATE 1203 GMT:

A cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz has been struck and set afire by an unidentified projectile, causing two casualties, reports the UK Maritime Trade Operations center.

All crew have been evacuated, and there are no reports of any environmental impact.

UPDATE 0920 GMT:

Iran has been forced to cancel international flights because of pressure from US sanctions.

Iraq and Oman are not receiving flights from Iran from Wednesday morning, following the announcement of additional measures on Iran’s aviation sector. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened states with exclusion from the US dollar system if they supplied Iranian airlines with fuel, provided landing services, or sold tickets on their behalf.

Majid Akhavan, a spokesman for the Iranian aviation authority, said Iran is working to redirect flights to Iraq through a different airport.

Iranian flights to neighboring Azerbaijan have also been suspended with immediate effect.

UPDATE 0651 GMT:

An overnight Israeli air attack on al-Khiam in southern Lebanon has damaged power supply lines, cutting off electricity in the Nabaa el-Hamas area.

THe explosion in al-Khiam, in the Nabatieh Governorate, sent shockwaves throughout the south.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Trump Administration and Iranian officials held a 3-hour indirect meeting in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, on Tuesday.

Donald Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Diplomats from Qatar mediated, shuttling between the two sides/

The meeting was initially revealed by Trump in a press appearance. He said the encounter “went very well” while repeating his threat, made in his morning speech to the General Assembly, that Iran must choose between “potential greatness or obliteration”.

Trump said a further meeting will be arranged in the very near future.

Witkoff proclaimed, “I feel very good right now.” He later posted, “[The mediators] successfully completed a round of discussions that we hope will prove constructive and promising. [They] will continue their work.”

A senior Iranian official earlier said Tehran is prepared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, provided the US returns to negotiations, moves toward an end of its military blockade of Iranian ports, and halts other military operations. He said the position has been approved by Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council.

However, Araghchi reiterated Iran’s previous conditions: “The immediate lifting of the (US) naval blockade, the prompt payment of all Iranian assets that have been frozen, and an end to the war on all resistance fronts”.

The meeting was the first US-Iran contact since Vice President JD Vance and an Iranian delegation agreed a Memorandum of Understanding in Switzerland in June.

The Trump Administration soon pulled back from the Memorandum, based on 14 Iranian points. Attacks resumed in the Strait of Hormuz and inside Iran, and the Administration proclaimed economic warfare to break the Iranian regime.

UPDATES: US War on Iran, Day 211 — Houthis Fire Missiles on Saudi Arabia