Smoke and flame rise from King Khalid International Airport after a strike by Yemen’s Houthis, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, October 8, 2026 (Reuters)
UPDATES: US War on Iran, Day 221 — Trump Camp Sending 3rd Aircraft Carrier
UPDATE 0458 GMT:
The New York Times reports that the Trump Administration has ordered plans for a return to full-scale war on Iran, even as Donald Trump declared on Thursday that strikes will not restart before the mid-term elections on November 3.
The Times said Trump asked the Pentagon to develop plans targeting Iran’s drone and missile arsenal, energy facilities, and other military sites. The “short, intense campaign lasting about three days” was discussed last Friday by Trump’s senior officials and commanders at Camp David.
Officials said US national security advisors and the Pentagon have made five proposals to Trump for major operations against either Iran or Yemen’s Houthis. Trump has vetoed the plans on each occasion.
Since September, Iran has struck at least 13 ships, according to a monitoring group run by the UK Navy. Intelligence reports put the number at nearly 20.
Trump insisted on Thursday that none of the oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz is coming from Iran. However, “people briefed on intelligence reports” said Iran allows some vessels to pass that have paid fees or that potentially carry some of its oil. Tehran also has its own dark fleet of tankers, said current and former officials.
On Thursday, the US Treasury sanctioned 17 vessels which it alleged area part of Iran’s shadow fleet.
UPDATE, OCT 9:
An attack by Yemen’s Houthis on the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh set afire and heavily damaged a Saudia Airlines commercial plane on Thursday, say “three people briefed on the matter”.
The Houthis claimed they struck the airport with a ballistic missile. Saudi authorities did not comment.
Sources said they believed no passengers were on the plane, but they could not rule out casualties. One witness said fire and ambulance crews were deployed, as flames and a thick black column of smoke rose above the site.
A witness said outgoing flights were halted, and passengers were instructed to evacuate the airport.
Lufthansa and Air India confirmed they are suspending flights to Riyadh.
Saudi authorities said on Wednesday that three people had been killed this week in strikes on airports in Riyadh and Abha in southwest Saudi Arabia.
UPDATE 1417 GMT:
Saudi Arabia says it intercepted Houthi ballistic missiles targeting the capital Riyadh.
“Material damage” from falling shrapnel was reported at a kindergarten and medical clinic.
UPDATE 0901 GMT:
Israeli artillery fire has targeted several areas in south Lebanon, including Wadi Zibqin and the town of al-Mansouri. Israeli forces opened fire on the outskirts of the villages of Hadatha and Baraachit.
UPDATE 0633 GMT:
US officials say the Pentagon instructed Central Command several days ago to conclude preparations for a resumption of major combat operations inside Iran.
The officials said the directive does not include a specific date for launching strikes, and noted that Donald Trump has not made final decisions. American and Israeli sources claimed the renewed war could happen before US midterm elections on November 3 and possibly before Israeli elections a week earlier.
The officials said the operations would include massive bombing of Iranian energy, infrastructure, and nuclear targets.
Trump spoke Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, their second call in days after barely speaking for weeks.
A US official said Trump and Netanyahu spoke about “remembrance and respect for the victims of the October 7 massacre” by Hamas in 2023. However, the call took place after Netanyahu held a meeting with his national security team about Iran.
UPDATE, OCT 8:
A tanker sailing off the north coast of Qatar was attacked on Wednesday, causing an unknown number of casualties, reports the UK Maritime Trade Operations center.
The vessel was in the Persian Gulf, about 500 km (300 miles) west of the Strait, when it reported being struck “by multiple projectiles”.
In the week up to Monday, there were at least 12 attacks on oil, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas tankers around the Strait. That was the highest weekly number since the start of the US-Israel War on Iran on February 28.
On Tuesday, 12 crew — 11 of them Indian — were injured by an attack on a Panama-flagged oil tanker passing through the Strait.
Iran said yesterday that the US-backed route through the waterway, along the Omani coast, will soon be shut. Revolutionary Guards officer Mohammadreza Naqdi insisted, “The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have full control over it.”
Only seven commodity vessels passed through the Strait on Tuesday, the lowest figure since July 23. It rose slightly to 10 on Wednesday, still well short of the more than 20 each on Sunday and on Monday.
The shipping monitor Kpler reported:
Crude crossing the strait fell 27% from a wartime high the week before, to at least 10.1 million barrels a day.
That is back to its September average, but 74% of its pre-war level.
The price for Brent crude oil rose more than 2% this morning to $102.43 per barrel.
UPDATE 1855 GMT:
Three people have been killed by Houthi attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia, says the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority.
One person was slain and eight injured by the strikes on King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Two were killed and 28 injured in an attack on facilities at Abha airport.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it destroyed the ballistic missile launch platform used in the attack on Riyadh.
“The destruction operation took place in Yemen’s capital of Sana’a during preparations for an imminent attack against the Kingdom,” posted coalition spokesperson Col. Turki al-Maliki.
UPDATE 1520 GMT:
The member governments of the International Energy Agency have expressed support for accelerating oil stock releases, seeking to reduce rising fuel prices caused by Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said governments affirmed their commitment to the March 2026 Collective Action, in which they agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves.
He said about 325 million barrels of oil have already been released under the agreement. The release of all the oil stocks pledged but not yet deployed will bring about 100 million barrels to market.
Birol noted that some IEA member countries had released “greater volumes than they initially pledged”. IEA countries “still have significant levels of publicly held emergency oil stocks – equivalent to around 1.1 billion barrels, including over 200 million barrels of diesel”.
The Trump Administration claims oil flows from the region are close to or even surpassing pre-war levels through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran claims a 60% decrease in the Strait to around 9.3 million barrels per day.
UPDATE 0523 GMT:
Oman’s Air Force evacuated 10 crew members of a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker following an attack in the Strait of Hormuz.
The tanker On Peace was struck 9 nautical miles off the Omani port city of Limah on Tuesday, setting a fire.
The crew were transported to the Khasab hospital in Musandam Province and received medical treatment.
UPDATE, OCT 7:
The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says, “A ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia north of Riyadh was intercepted and destroyed.”
The coalition earlier said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile launched towards Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis fired two missiles and several drones on the Aden International Airport in southern Yemen. No casualties were reported.
A civilian flight from Cairo diverted to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
UPDATE 1431 GMT:
US Central Command says Iranian State media claims of a US Navy helicopter crash in the Red Sea on Monday are “false reports”: “Military aircraft and personnel across the Middle East are safe and accounted for”.
UPDATE 0916 GMT:
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Jazan and Najran Airport were struck in two Houthi attacks on Monday evening, injuring three people, confirms the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority.
The authority said it is assessing damage and taking all necessary measures “to ensure the safety of passengers and airport personnel and maintain the security and safety of the Kingdom’s civil aviation system”.
UPDATE 0733 GMT:
The US military has abruptly withdrawn all 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from the RAF Fairford base in southern England because of a potential drone attack by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, say US and British officials.
The officials said the suspected attack sought to strike aircraft and kill some of the several hundred American personnel stationed at the base. They believed it was loosely modeled on Ukraine’s “Spider’s Web” operation inside Russia in 2025, in which drones smuggled in trucks destroyed or damaged 13 warplanes.
On September 27 UK police arrested five men travelling in three white vans near the base. All were released on bail a day later after the authorities did not discover explosives.
A UK-Iranian dual national was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
The withdrawal order for the bombers was so urgent that some left as aerial refueling aircraft, to support their flights to the US, were being prepared.
UPDATE 0632 GMT:
Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of the towns of Haddatha and Baraachit in southern Lebanon.
The Israelis opened machinegun fire at dawn towards the town of Buyout al-Sayyad and the outskirts of al-Mansouri. An Israeli drone dropped a sound bomb on a house near the town of Haris.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Saudi-led forces of Yemen’s Government have launched a counter-offensive against Iran-backed Houthis.
The Houthis have controlled much of the country since 2014. Last month, they captured the Red Sea coast, taking control of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on the southern side of the Arabian Peninsula.
Yemeni Government officials claimed on Monday that the Saudi-led forces have retaken several key areas around the Strait, including the strategic town of Dhubab just north of the waterway; Bab; and Hadeid. Witnesses said Government tanks and forces entered the towns.
The counter-offensive was launched early Monday, with the Saudis providing air cover, aiming not only to regain recently-lost territory but to take other areas.
The spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said 100 fighter jets were carrying out operations. He claimed they secured “air protection” of the Strait and destroyed hundreds of Houthi targets.
However, the Houthis said they advanced in southwest Yemen, taking the key town of Turbah and advancing toward Taiz, the country’s third-largest city.
The Houthis cut a vital supply route linking Taiz with the Government’s interim capital Aden, said four security sources.
Sources from both sides said on Sunday that fighting in and around Taiz Province had killed more than 70 people within 24 hours.
