UPDATE 0555 GMT:

Israeli forces are bombing the town of Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon.

Earlier the Israelis shelled in and near the towns of Aita al-Jabal and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, and they bombed Wadi al-Salouqi, Wadi al-Hujeir, al-Mansouri, and the outskirts of Beit al-Sayyad.

UPDATE, SEPT 20:

The US Embassy in Israel has issued a security alert for American citizens in the Middle East amid the escalation the Saudi-Houthi conflict.

US citizens should “exercise heightened vigilance and be aware of potential flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions”. With the Houthis targeting civilian airports, “the military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly”.

UPDATE 1657 GMT:

US Central Command head Adm. Brad Cooper claims American forces have helped more than 1 billion barrels of crude oil exit the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz in recent months.

Cooper declared in a video, “Primary transit lanes in the strait are clear of mines….Thousands of ships have passed through the Strait.”

The amount is equivalent to about 50 days of oil moved through the Strait before the US-Israel War on Iran.

UPDATE 1653 GMT:

An Aramco fuel tank near Riyadh’s International Airport is on fire, reports an AFP journalist.

Firefighters are trying to extinguish the flames of the burnt-out fuel tank.

Witnesses reported two explosions in the Saudi capital early this morning.

UPDATE 1646 GMT:

Iran has conveyed its conditions to mediators for re-engaging in negotiations over the US War, says Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the State National Security Council.

The conditions include ending the war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian funds abroad, and ending the US naval blockade.

Rezaei said consultations are continuing with Qatari and Pakistani mediators, with Tehran awaiting a response from Donald Trump.

UPDATE 0908 GMT:

Iran has hanged another detainee, accusing him of passing missile site intelligence to Israel during the Israeli’s 12-day war in June 2025.

Hossein Pedaran was hanged after the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence. He allegedly provided Israel’s Mossad intelligence service with information on sensitive military sites in Isfahan Province in central Iran.

Executions in Iran have surged during the US-Israel War.

UPDATE 0832 GMT:

An American intelligence report produced by AI almost started a war between US and China, according to “sources familiar with the episode”.

The report mistakenly said a Chinese ship was carrying nuclear components to Iran. The US military prepared to seize the vessel, and warplanes were in the air.

Officials investigated and realized the report was written with the help of a chatbot that misidentified the cargo. It is unknown what the ship was actually carrying.

It is unclear whether the bot was a commercial or government product.

UPDATE, SEPT 19:

Two explosions were heard in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday amid an air raid alert.

The Saudi civil defense agency later issued an all-clear for Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj, east of the capital.

The alert was the first for the area since conflict escalated between the kingdom and Yemen’s Houthis. It came hours after a Houthi military spokesperson said the group had foiled Saudi-backed “criminal attempts” in the Yemeni capital Sana’a.

The Houthis said Saudi Arabia carried out 26 strikes inside Yemen in the past 24 hours and 300 on Houthi-held territory over the past week.

Yemen’s government, backed by Saudi Arabia, said on Friday that its forces had killed 30 Houthis and wounded more than 60 in clashes in the al-Wazi’iyah district of Taiz Province.

UPDATE 0637 GMT:

President Lee Jae Myung says South Korea will not deploy military troops in the US War on Iran.

Lee confirmed that the government would take minimal action to safeguard South Korea’s merchant ships and oil transport routes.

Donald Trump has pressured Seoul to commit naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz. South Korean officials had said they were reviewing the situation.

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UPDATE 0625 GMT:

Italy will deploy warships to ensure safe passage for its commercial vessels through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, controlled by Yemen’s Houthis.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said, “Rome would not wait for a joint decision from the European Union.”

He asserted, “We have the capabilities to protect the passage.” If the waterway became impassable, the economic consequences would be severe.

UPDATE 0620 GMT:

Israeli forces have shelled al-Mansouri and Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon.

The sound of blasts was audible through the night in the city of Tyre and other villages and towns.

Israeli military vehicles advanced from the town of Tiri towards the outskirts of Haddatha in the Bint Jbeil district.

UPDATE 0433 GMT:

Only four monitored cargo ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, down from six ships on Wednesday and below the 10-day average of about 16 ships.

Before the US-Israel War on Iran, around 125 ships passed through the Strait daily.

UPDATE 0430 GMT:

Senior UN official Rania al-Mashat says the US-Israel War on Iran cost Arab economies around $150 billion in its first month.

Al-Mashat, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, said the losses were equivalent to about 4% of the region’s gross domestic product.

Al-Mashat warned that the war could delay investment and economic diversification across the Arab world. She called for efforts to prevent the conflict from expanding, to preserve freedom of navigation, and to strengthen regional preparedness for further disruptions to essential supplies and services.

UPDATE, SEPT 18:

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim they struck a Togo-flagged oil tanker attempting an “illegal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz.

The tanker came to a halt after catching fire, the Guards Navy said.

UPDATE 1959 GMT:

US officials confirm that Iran’s forces downed at least two American MQ-1 unmanned aircraft in recent days.

The UAVs are designed for surveillance but can also carry Hellfire missiles. If the downed aircraft are older MQ-1 Predators, the loss of two is about $8 million. MQ-1 Gray Eagles are costlier, running into tens of millions of dollars.

At least 24 MQ-9 Reapers have been lost since the war with Iran began, costing roughly $720 million. An MQ-4C Triton maritime drone was destroyed, an estimated $150 million loss.

UPDATE 1946 GMT:

The US will allow Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week.

On Wednesday, Washington announced that it was barring Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from entering the country.

A State Department spokesperson said:

Consistent with our host country obligations, the core delegation from the Iranian regime will be able to attend UN General Assembly High Level Week. The delegation will be under travel restrictions and will face prohibitions on the purchase of luxury and other goods per our policy. The delegation is smaller than last year.

UPDATE 0902 GMT:

A UN fact-finding mission concludes there are reasonable grounds to believe the US committed war crimes in airstrikes on a school and a sports facility in southern Iran on February 28.

The strike on the school in Minab in Homorzgan Province, on the first day of the US-Israel War, killed at least 156 people. Among them were 120 children and 26 teachers. The attack on and near sports center in Lamerd killed 22 civilians, including four children.

The report says the US relied on intelligence suggesting a senior Iranian military commander was present at the school. It failed to verify the information adequately before launching the strike.

The experts said the school was a clearly identifiable civilian facility and found no evidence that it was being used for military purposes.

The UN mission also found that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their killing of thousands of people during nationwide protests in January.

The report described “an unprecedented escalation from previous crackdowns”. At least 221 children were reportedly killed, some as young as two. Tens of thousands of people were detained.

UPDATE 0737 GMT:

Two Saudi-led airstrikes have hit the city of Abs in Yemen, killing one person and injuring another.

Four cars were destroyed and a house damaged.

Three telecommunications towers in Taiz Province were attacked.

UPDATE, SEPT 17:

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun says Seoul has not decided on any military deployment to the Strait of Hormuz.

Cho said to reporters before departing for Washington:

Our position remains that no decision has been made yet, and we are reviewing all relevant factors.

In doing so, we will prioritise international cooperation while giving foremost consideration to the safety of our people and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Donald Trump scaled back joint military drills in August, denouncing South Korea for lack of support. But Iran warned of “serious consequences” for Seoul if it participated in the war.

Cho is expected to hold talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday.

UPDATE 1251 GMT:

US officials met representatives of Yemen’s Houthis in Oman over the weekend, say “five sources familiar with the matter”.

Three sources said the meeting was at the US Embassy in Muscat. Two said Oman’s government helped organize the encounter.

Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that the US was in contact with the Houthis.

In the Sunday meeting, the Houthis told US Embassy personnel that they have no intention of attacking American vessels and that they are committed to a 2025 ceasefire agreed with the Trump Administration, said two sources.

A Yemeni source said the Houthis also pledged not to attack Israeli ships or any commercial vessels except those belonging to Saudi Arabia.

UPDATE 0931 GMT:

The Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) says it intercepted a drone launched by Iran on northern Iraq.

The PAK said the attempted attack was on the Chamshar base of the Kurdistan National Army, north of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), the largest Iranian Kurdish dissident group, said one of its bases had been struck earlier Wednesday. A one-way attack drone carried out the operation northeast of Erbil.

On Monday, three missiles hit a camp housing families of the Iranian Kurdish group Komala in the town of Zirgwez. There was material damage but no casualties.

UPDATE 0926 GMT:

Fourteen Russian spy satellites passed over a US military base in Saudi Arabia days before Iran carried out a damaging strike, report US officials and intelligence sources.

The March 27 attack, involving at least one missile and several drones, wounded 12 US service members and destroyed or damaged several warplanes.

The sources said the timing and sequencing of the spacecraft provided information which helped Tehran conduct some of its most precise attacks against US assets.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Saudi Arabia has warned that the security of Mecca is a “red line”, claiming that it intercepted and destroyed a ⁠Houthi drone south of the holy city on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen fighting the Iran-backed Houthis said it would take necessary deterrent measures.

Mecca is Islam’s holiest ​city. Its annual ‌hajj pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam.

The coalition spokesperson, Turki al-Malki, said Tuesday’s incident was the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca, following a ballistic missile launch in July 2017.

Houthi spokesperson Hazem al-Assad countered, “The claims about targeting Mecca are a worn-out lie that has been used before and no longer fools anyone.”

But the Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemned a “heinous” attack and blamed the Houthis for the “ongoing aggression against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.

Saudi Arabia issued security alerts across the country. The US Embassy issued an advisory to “reconsider travel” to the Kingdom.

In the past week, the Houthis have advanced in Yemen against Saudi-backed Government forces. They have seized control of the Red Sea coast along the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and carried out a series of strikes on Saudi territory. On Tuesday, they claimed an assault with “dozens of ballistic missiles and drones” on the King Khalid airbase.

Saudi Arabia has responded with scores of airstrikes on the Houthis in Yemen.